December 18, 2000

Missionaries want shepherds to see
new wonders in Bethlehem fields
___By Tobin Perry
___SBC International Mission Board
___BETHLEHEM, Israel (BP)--Hussein El Abed leans against a stone wall on the side of a narrow dirt road. The sun is just beginning to set. He waits.
___Unlike Christians around the world, this 54-year-old Palestinian shepherd in Bethlehem isn't waiting for Christmas Eve to begin. When the sun sets, Hussein and more than 1.2 billion fellow Muslims worldwide will sit down to a meal that breaks their sunrise-to-sunset Ramadan fast.
___As evening approaches, not a single star will be visible in the mostly cloudy sky, certainly not like the one that guided the shepherds 2,000 years ago. But would-be wise men can follow a modern-day light source--car lights--to Manger Square, the traditional site for Jesus' birth.
___Each year, nearly 15,000 tourists--equal to almost a third of Bethlehem's population--flood the small, not-as-sleepy-as-one-might-expect West Bank town to celebrate Christmas.
___But most of the Christians making their way to Manger Square will be coming from somewhere besides Bethlehem. In recent years, Muslims have become the majority in this small town known worldwide as the birthplace of Christianity.
___Southern Baptist representatives throughout the Middle East are earnestly trying to reach Palestinians like Hussein.
___"It's a God-sized task," said Mike Hurst, a Southern Baptist representative working with Palestinians in a country near Israel. "We have no idea how he will choose to work."
___One hopeful sign rests in the legendary hospitality of Palestinians.
___"The hospitality has always given me hope," said Hurst's wife, Sherrie. "Because if they invite me into their homes, they might invite Christ into their hearts."
___Before recent Israeli-Palestinian conflicts escalated tensions, Christians and Muslims peacefully coexisted in the area for centuries.
___"We've lived together as neighbors for generations," says Achmud Hammeeda, a shepherd who lives in an area called Beth Tamaar, just nine miles from Bethlehem. "We've lived together very peacefully."
___But for Hussein, the more important image of peace this Christmas Eve is between him and his sheep. Hussein puts his fingers to his lips and makes a high-pitched sound. Like a heavenly Christmas choir, his sheep bleat a collective "baaaah."
___"See, I told you the sheep know my voice," Hussein said with a laugh.
___Not only do the sheep know the shepherd, but the shepherd knows the sheep. Although he doesn't use human names, he does name them after prominent characteristics, such as "Black Face." In a way, Hussein sees them as part of his family.
___Unlike Christmas cards showing shepherds in fields, letting their sheep graze on rich, green pastures, Bethlehem's lack of water in recent times has reduced the landscape to rocks and dirt.
___Sometime around March, as grass starts reappearing, sheep and goats will reappear on the countryside. But until then, many of the sheep will have to be content with a diet of barley feed in their pens.
___Today, few shepherds in the Middle East actually make their living exclusively from shepherding. Achmud Hammeeda feeds his 13 children by building bricks for the construction trade.
___His family, originally Bedouin, has raised sheep for generations. His father and several brothers all live within close proximity. Evenings, especially in the month of Ramadan, are spent on Achmud's porch chatting about daily events and telling stories.
___For many Muslims, it's a time to get together with relatives and catch up on the year's activities. Spiritually, it's a time for prayer, reflection and generosity, according to Muslim tradition.
___The month is concluded with an evening called the Night of Power, when Muslims believe they have direct access to God as "the heavens open wide."

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