Dr. Yohanna Katanacho is the Academic Dean of Nazareth Evangelical College. He shared recently at Christ at the Checkpoint conference in Bethlehem and casted a powerful vision of what the Middle East might look like if the Kingdom of God was reigning here.  “I hope my dream is not your nightmare!”:

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I have a dream

I dream of a Middle East in which I have my breakfast in Jerusalem, my lunch in Beirut, and my dinner in Syria. I ride my car and drive to Iraq, to the Gulf, and I enter into Africa in the same car.

I dream of a Middle East in which people choose their own religion without fear. I dream of a Middle East in which there is no bigotry, radicalism, and hatred. I dream of a Middle East in which all human beings are equal, the ones who wear a Hijab and the ones who put a Keffiyeh are equal.

I dream of a Middle East in which Jews love Arabs and seek to uphold their rights, a Middle East in which Arabs love Jews. I dream of a Middle East without poverty, hatred, wars, and massacring human beings.

I dream of peace, peace with God and with all of our neighbors; peace with self and the angels.

I dream of a Middle East without weapons, without traffic jams, without pollution, without discrimination because of sex, religion, age, or weight. My dream is not an illusion but a step forward as I follow Jesus Christ the prince of peace.

My dream is not something that can be fulfilled in a moment, but it is a celestial kingdom that comes through many generations and many sacrifices, prayers, and tears. Before the dawn there is darkness; before joy there is the victory of sadness, before laughing weeping dominates, before the dominance of the Kingdom of God the kingdom of the devil dominates.

O Lord! May your Kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May your Kingdom come through my words, thoughts, decisions, and relationships! Turn me into a peacemaker

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Dr. Katanacho is teaching a course about Peacemaking in Christinaity at Bethlehem Bible College. He asked his students to share their own dreams. The following are some these dreams:

Daniel Aqleh -  www.comeandsee.com/view.php?sid=1312