Some of my readers will remember that I introduced Daoud to you in a previous post. I wrote about the man who refuses to make an enemy of those who want to steal his land. I received a Christmas update from him after sending him a link to my Christmas song. Please remember those people on both sides of the divide Israeli’s  and Palestinians who are praying for peace.  The Tent of Nations is seeking to build bridges at a local level to bring about peace. It is my prayer that in some small way the Church of Scotland with its footprint of the Scots Hotel in Tiberias, might one day make a contribution to peace. Here is his update:

Greetings from Bethlehem, the birth place of Jesus Christ.

We were hoping the year would end with a positive message but then the attack on Gaza came and left much pain and destruction. Where are we going from there? Do we still have the energy to stand up, heal the wounds and carry on?

Do we still have hope after we see every day how olive trees, homes and lives are destroyed? Do we still have faith to stop all this injustice, do we still have Love to love even those who hate us?

I woke up today early in the morning struggling with those questions and I asked myself, what is the message of Christmas for me this year? I opened the Bible and read the verse from John 14: 27, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

My friends, this is the message of Christmas for me this year and please allow me to share it with you.

We are always waiting for the peace that is coming from the world but this is not the peace that JESUS is talking about. It is HIS peace that we experience and feel even when we are down and in the middle of pain, sufferings, hopelessness and destruction. This is the real peace that is rooted in the ground like an olive tree.

This is the message of Faith, Love and Hope that I want to share with you this Christmas.

With the end of this year, we complete 21 years of legal battle to prevent our farm from being confiscated in a nonviolent way taking the teachings of Christ as our example with the message: “We refuse to be Enemies”.

The message of the Tent of Nations is to transform the hopelessness, the frustration, the pain and the fear into a positive power that is able to change Lives and motivate people.

In the year 2012, 6327 guests from different countries visited the Tent of Nations, including hundreds of volunteers who came and helped throughout the year.

For all who visited, helped and supported the project in the year 2012, we say thank you so much for your prayers, support, and solidarity.

We wish you happy celebrations and a wonderful new year full of faith, hope and love. Let us work together to bring justice, peace and Light to all Nations.

Blessings and Salaam

Daoud Nassar & family

Christmas 2012