September 23, 2002
In war-torn Gaza Strip, Texans bring peaceful presence
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___GAZA CITY--Three members of a Texas Baptist family had spent a long day ministering to Palestinian refugees. They had just drifted off to sleep when the roar of an Israeli F-16 missile strike awakened them.
___"We woke up at midnight to the sound of jets, followed by an incredible explosion," said Cindy Dauphin from Paulann Baptist Church in San Angelo. "The rest of the night, we heard machine-gun fire. But we were never afraid. We had a peace that God gave us."
___The Dauphins later learned that Israelis had targeted Salah Shehade, a senior figure in the Hamas military wing. He was among the 15 killed and 150 wounded in the attack on a site about a mile from where the Baptists were leading a day camp for Palestinian children.
COTTON BRIDGES of First Baptist Church in Plano works with Palestinian refugee children at a day camp in the Gaza Strip.
___Dauphin, her husband, Kirk, and their 18-year-old daughter, Ashley, were part of six-member Texas Baptist Men team serving in the Gaza Strip. The volunteers distributed food to refugee families, taught children conversational English, led classes about American culture and holidays and conducted recreation and craft times.
___Together with Cotton and Barbara Bridges from First Baptist Church in Plano and Gerald Hamilton from South Main Baptist Church in Houston, they worked with about 250 Palestinian children. They served alongside another Baptist group from Mississippi and volunteers from the Youth With a Mission parachurch organization.
___"Family and friends asked us, 'Are you sure you want to go?' I told them, 'How can we say no to God?'" Mrs. Bridges recalled. "God provided the way for us to go, and we had a complete peace about it from the beginning."
___The volunteers flew into Tel Aviv and then traveled to Gaza City, where they stayed in a dormitory-style facility that once had been a Baptist hospital. They spent two weeks leading day camps in the Gaza City-area refugee communities of Jabalia and Magasse.
___The only restrictions placed on the Baptist volunteers as they entered the Gaza Strip were prohibitions on taking photos of military personnel or equipment or at any crossing point.
___But as they led the English day camps for Muslim children, the Christian workers faced serious limits on how much they could say about their faith, particularly using the name of Jesus.
___"It was so hard not to be able to tell them about Jesus. We prayed for God to help them make the connections," Mrs. Dauphin said. "Our prayer was that the presence of Christ in us would be obvious, and they would see something different."
___The Baptists did find a few ways to share their faith subtly. In classes on American holidays, they included explanations about the religious meaning of Thanksgiving and Christmas. For instance, during the holiday study, Bridges pointed to the Christ child in a nativity scene and said, "This is the reason I celebrate Christmas."
___Along with silly songs like "Old MacDonald" and "Hokie Pokie," the Baptist volunteers taught the children Christian choruses such as "God is So Good" and "This is the Day." And the Christians demonstrated patience and compassion to children hardened by the constant threat of violence.
___"We had the ability to show love in action," Mrs. Bridges said. "We could show that we cared."
___As the volunteers worked with the children, they came away with similar reactions about the children's most obvious need. "They need hope," Mrs. Dauphin said, a sentiment echoed by the Bridgeses.
___Some of the children had been orphaned by the violence in their homeland. Many lived with relatives in homes that housed up to 30 people. Some bore physical scars or had amputated limbs. Others bore emotional and psychological scars, evidenced in the way they reacted violently to any irritation.
___"But it was the eyes that told the story," Mrs. Bridges said. "Some of the kids were as bright-eyed and interested as could be in what we were doing. Some just looked at us with vacant stares. They were capable of fun and laughter, just like any children. But for them, the happiness comes in spurts.
___"And I found myself wondering as I looked at each one, 'Will this child make it to 21?'"
___The Baptist volunteers brought with them about 100 pairs of shoes, provided by Buckner Orphan Care International and its Shoes for Orphan Souls ministry. The Texans presented the shoes, along with school supplies from Samaritan's Purse and North Carolina Baptist Men, to a group of Palestinian Christians, who in turn delivered them to Palestinian children.
___The Baptist workers also delivered food door-to-door in the refugee communities.
___"As we distributed the food, we told each person, 'We came to give you this food that God provided,'" Bridges recalled. "And we asked if we could pray for anything special for them in their homes.
___"The answer was always the same: 'Pray for peace.'"
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