9 Oct 2024

On Tuesday morning, October 8th, the war in Gaza had been officially going on for one year. I know many of you have been praying and sending messages wanting to know what happened after my last post. I don’t know if you can even talk about what happened recently, but I’ll try.

I mentioned to you that I had relocated Han and his family to the West Bank, just a little bit south of Jericho so they could have some normalcy in their life. You know one of Han’s sisters was run over by a truck early this year and his mom was shot by Hamas a few weeks back at the grocery store trying to get baby food.

His mother had been saying since they left Gaza that she wanted to go back to Gaza. She always told Han that please bury me in Gaza next to my daughter, Mary, and the other volunteer who was killed early this year. I knew Han was going to try his best to fulfill his mom’s wish. He kept saying “I want to bring my mom back to Gaza.”

I was trying to figure out how to put his mom in a casket, move her body back through the north gate, and bury her. But I knew there was no logistical way to do that……. It was at that point, I remembered the Admiral*, the man who helped me when I was shot by a sniper in Syria and he also made it possible for me to go into Gaza when we had the final staff meeting in the middle of the night last year. That’s where I found Mary.

I knew it was not going to be an easy ask, but maybe some of his soldiers could go with Han, and at least be able to give him a few moments to bury his mom. I tried to call him. I didn’t think he would answer, but I felt that I had to try my best.

As I said in my post a few days ago, sometimes the #miracle seems so impossible and all the answers don’t make sense, but we still believe God for the impossible. I talked to the Admiral on the phone, he didn’t feel like he could ask any of the soldiers in his unit for this “special deed”, as he called it, knowing that they were going to be deployed to Lebanon in just a few days.

He said maybe some of the men from the 7-man patrol that helped guard our Sunday School and the food for the kids this last Easter may be willing to help, as they saw how Han prayed, and saw the dead Palestinian boy come back to life, and how 800 Palestinians accepted Christ that morning.

You can flip back to my Facebook post from this April to read the story if you don’t know what happened.

He said maybe they could meet Han at the North Gate with his mother’s casket and they could get them across the gate to bury her. “All I can do is to ask them.” He said. I couldn’t thank him enough.

Within 2 days, three of the IDF soldiers from Easter Sunday told the Admiral that it would be an honor to help Han because they remembered Han’s mother and how she helped Han get the food and distribute it to the children. There was nothing else I could say at that point. There was a miracle in the making.

So just a few days ago on Friday, October 4th Gaza time, strangely enough, it was my #birthday. I couldn’t even make sense of it all. I think some of you know what I’m saying. Andrew got his boss from the grocery store to help with a delivery truck and loaded up the casket with Han and his little sister Nema, the last family member he has now. They drove to the North Gate, at the top of the Gaza Strip.

I had been sitting on the phone over here in Taiwan waiting to hear if the three IDF soldiers were able to help them. It was almost 1 pm on October 4th, the Admiral got the clearance stamped for the truck and them.

The three soldiers changed into civilian clothes, hopped into the back of the truck where the casket was, and drove almost 3 miles with their guns ready, just in case something happened.

Han and his little sister were so grateful. They were bringing their mom back to Gaza. His mom was the most faithful helper in our Gaza Sunday school. Han asked some of his friends to dig the grave and be ready by the time they arrived in the truck.

They dug the grave next to the open area where we did Sunday school. The same place where Han’s sister, another Sunday school worker, and Mary are buried. It was surrounded by blown-up buildings and rubble. His friends dug the grave right next to Mary.

They were standing there when Han and the truck showed up. They helped Han move the casket down out of the back of the truck and very gently lowered her to the ground. Andrew had been waiting for them at the North Gate before they crossed over. He passed a taped-up box to Han. He said, “Don’t open it until you are ready to bury your mom.” Andrew remembered some things and he wanted to honor Han’s mother in his own way.

Han’s mother had a #New #Testament in Arabic that she read every day. He put that in the box. The second thing in that box was Mary’s #blanket that Han’s mother used to keep her warm in the blown-up hospital before Mary died. “Put it in the casket to keep your mom warm,” Andrew told Han.

Andrew also took the old copy of my #book “Whose Child Is This?” That was the copy those guys read over and over again since I trained them 12 years ago. His mother also read it many, many times trying to understand what she was part of. She was so grateful that she could be part of the Sunday School.

Andrew remembered when I used to go to Tel Aviv to train those boys to do Sunday school, Han’s mother would make brownies and have Han bring them to me. I forgot all those things! But Andrew reminded me that when I came there, we would sit in the McDonald's, and she would always make sure I had brownies because she knew how much I liked them. He got a #brownie from the grocery store and put it in the box. He wanted Han to put a brownie in his mother’s hand.

Han opened the box and explained all those things to the IDF and everyone was crying. They knew they had to leave and couldn’t stay by the graveside long. Han closed the casket very gently and lowered the casket to the grave. The IDF took the shovels to cover the casket with dirt and also rubble from the blown-up area. Han asked, “Can we all sing #Amazing #Grace?”

Han’s friends knew that he would always sing Amazing Grace after Sunday School and his mother always sang it when she was working on the food for the kids. The IDF soldiers somehow knew that song too and sang it with them…. “𝘼𝙢𝙖𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚! 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙬𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙘𝙝; 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙚……” They couldn’t remember the last stanza, but Han reminded them, “𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚’𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨, 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙣. 𝙒𝙚’𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙤𝙙’𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙪𝙣.” They all stood there for a moment. Han took a little #cross out of the truck that he brought from the West Bank and put a little rose on it. Everybody bowed their head and prayed. There was too much gunfire in the background. They all knew it was time to go.

Everybody got back in the truck. The IDF soldiers and Nema waved goodbye to the grave. They drove back to the North Gate and several other soldiers were waiting at the gate to pick them up as they were going to be deployed the next day.

Andrew was waiting there as well. He hugged his friend Han and said “I hope the things in the box made sense.” And they just stood there and cried. Andrew drove off with the delivery truck back to the grocery store. Han found a man close to the gate and asked if he could help get them home back to Jericho. Everyone was gone, and the gate was closed again as if nothing had happened…..

Life is always changed in war, by war. In the middle of the blood that has been shed over there, the dead boy that was raised on Easter Sunday, the IDF volunteers that said, “We will go there to guard Han’s mother and make sure she has a proper burial.” and Andrew who had remembering the brownie that I had forgotten and Mary’s blanket….. I don’t know what else to say……

I’ve seen a lot of death with so much pain in my life and I’m sure some of you have as well.

Andrew spoke to me again last night that one of the things he remembered from reading “Whose Child Is This?” is that “𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.” Even when Akmed was killed and Han took his place, they knew their work was not done, and Han’s mother’s work was not done yet either. She was faithful till the end. She died trying to get baby food from the market to take back over to the refugee camp.

SO, while everybody went their way, soldiers were going to Lebanon, Andrew was going back to the grocery store, and Han’s friends took the shovels and left the graveside, there was still a little cross, a little spot with 4 people who loved God, loved Jesus, and they will be remembered by many kids that they led to the Christ. And an old preacher tried to tell their story…….

I just wanted to get this out to all of you.

As the old song I used to sing after I’ve done preaching, “𝙊 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚…. 𝙊 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚…... 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚, 𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙮 𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮….” AND THE IS STILL MY and it’s still yours as well.

I’m still in the hotel in this city called Hua-Lien on the east side of Taiwan getting to preach. I’ll be doing the service wishing I could have been at the graveside with the people that I’ve loved and served with all these years that are right now in the part of the world on the brink of destruction even as we speak here.

They had lived for the #ONE that died for them. There is still a little cross standing in the rubble next to where we did Sunday School even though everybody left last Friday when it was all finished. The cross stands alone because the cross always stands alone.

That’s all I have to say now, in Jesus’ name. But I will preach about the cross again tonight. I always have……. I always will……. Good night.

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