We were fortunate to be able to attend a recent talk and presentation, organised by
dia-LOGOS, in Hartenbos, Western Cape by Dr Yohanna Katanacho, the Academic Dean of Nazareth Evangelical College. He was previously at Bethlehem Bible College.
His wife, Dina, who is the Director at the Israel Bible Society, is also travelling with him, but did not speak upfront on this particular night. We did however have a chance to have an informal chat with her afterwards.
Both are Palestinian, both are Israeli Citizens. As Dina says, “We are both. We love both.”
Dr Katanacho shared a personal story of how God helped him in loving those who could be seen as his enemy. Through Holy Spirit power he was able to say “I love you” to some soldiers while they pointed guns to his head. This moment disarmed and stunned everyone who was present. It was good to hear that no-one was hurt. God’s love had stepped into the encounter. Peaceful words were exchanged.
Dr Katanacho said, “Love is not a feeling, it’s a decision to honor Jesus.” We can’t abandon justice, but we need to pursue justice with the right motive. “Love teaches me to love those who are different to me. I am a peacemaker, someone that aims to be a blessing in a world filled with wars.”
“It’s ok to disagree, but we can learn to grow together.”
He then crammed a 3 hour history presentation of the Holy Land into 1 hour. (Edit add - I find it necessary to give a brief summary of what he mentioned in his history presentation - he spoke about decisions made decades ago (76 years back - The Balfour Agreement), the occupation of Palestine, the Nakba, the Intifada's, people internally displaced in their own land, the Oslo Accord in 1993, military law in Gaza and the West Bank, about checkpoints, walls erected, separation, power imbalances, the killing of way too many people, settlements being established, fear of the other, peace agreements breaking down, media not being honest, about the very real threat of being killed on the spot by armed settlers, so many wars over the years that have shaped the region, Oct 7 2023 where Hamas invaded Israel and the resultant current war on the people of Gaza where the reaction has gone way beyond what anyone ever expected. He stated that the killing of innocent people, whether Israeli or Palestinian, should never be accepted or supported. There's so much more, but that's all he had time for on this particular day.)
He said it’s very confusing when we use labels. “If I look at my identity, it would be a case of half of me fighting the other half of me.”
He also said we should be very careful with our assumptions. “We all see the problem or problems very differently and that is the problem!”
He asked, “where do we even start the story?” “We all tend to start at different starting points and therefore end up with different conclusions.”
He was saying that at the moment everyone is being hurt and that is not the answer and it needs to stop.
His suggestion was that the church particularly needs to make peace and not war. They need to be a part of the solution and not the problem.
He reminded us that we need to be able to cry with those who cry and mourn with those who mourn and with those who are suffering and oppressed.
To be about seeking the best interest on both sides. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to empower the church to do its work, and that is to be peacemakers and to extend love and forgiveness. Love is our worldview. We need to use the politics of love.
That comment reminded me of the book titled, ‘Politics of Love’ by Michael Cassidy, written in 1990 ahead of our 1994 elections in South Africa. He says this, ‘every Christian, from far right to extreme left, can unite and agree around the way of love. It provides a dynamic principle of unity and common resolution which has more intrinsic controlling power within it than plain patriotism and love of country, the latter being so much more prone to the corruption of selfish interpretation and sectional interest.”
Dr Katanacho reminded us that Jesus gave us solutions to bitterness, anger and killing. These things, when played out, are not helpful to our holistic well being.
This war is impacting the whole world and has serious implications for missions.
He reiterated again that war is not the answer. We need to take every possible step that is compatible to the heart of God to end this war.
He reminded us to use a lens of love and not hatred. To think and imagine a future where people live together as equals with dignity and respect. This reminds me of what it must mean to pull heaven down onto earth. This sounds like the kingdom of God.
I found he spoke with such clarity and powerful, simple truth. Jesus shone through every explanation, story and sentence.
Chatting with his wife Dina was a highlight for me. It is so evident that she loves Jesus and will honor him in life or death.
She described a big puzzle where God gets to see the whole picture. We are each a piece and an important piece. We have each been given different gifts, because why would God give us all the same, or all to some and none to others? He has been purposeful in giving different gifts because we are a body with different needs and to show us how much we need each other. Everyone playing their part is a beautiful picture. We share what gifts we have with each other, but the fruit of the Spirit should be evident in all of us, as we carry the same Spirit. Your piece in the puzzle is important to those around you and further afield. We need each other to function well as a body.
She also reiterated that war is not the answer.
I recently heard an author and human rights attorney ask the question about where will justice come from (from a human point of view, but the answer interestingly lined up with God’s expectations of us.) Their answer was we don’t need more law or politics as it won’t come through normal law or politics. Awful situations can be filled with so called lawful actions. Politics is always a negotiation over scarce resources. It creates a mutually exclusive equation. Some will have. Others will not. It’s never a mutually reinforcing possibility. So the answer is people, justice will come through people. People living and loving in community will create the alternative to law and politics, in the way they take care of one another. Hope rises for our future when we care for each other in community.
This reminds me of God’s words to us in 1 Peter 1:22, that we have sincere love for each other and love one another deeply from the heart. And again in Ephesians 4:32 where we are urged to be kind and compassionate to one another and forgiving each other.
I loved how Dina described that we are after God’s heart and we need to follow after his heart. Not our understanding, not what we think, not what is on our hearts, but God’s heart.
That caused me to pause, think and ask, so what is on God’s heart? What is his heart for this world? What does his heart look like in his kingdom that he calls us to pull down from heaven and enact on earth? Without a doubt firstly it’s to follow him as our Lord and Saviour. We also know he is a God of justice and mercy, a peacemaker and he is filled with love, compassion, humility and forgiveness. He has told us to love each other as he has loved us and more specifically children, the poor, the widows, orphans, the afflicted, destitute and the foreigner. That’s what he requires of us as we live on this earth. That’s his heart for all of us. Let us follow God’s heart.
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