Winter brought far-flung trips for Sojourners staffers. Rose Marie Berger traveled to Colombia with Witness for Peace to learn about the front lines of the drug war there. Jim Wallis went to Jerusalem to participate in a gathering sponsored by Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center.
Trips like these don't bring the usual souvenirs. Rose brought home photos of church workers and soldiers and survivors, the broken-hearted and the hard-hearted, trying to make their way in a country racked with pain and violence. Jim smuggled rubber bullets and bullet casings-picked up as his group visited Palestinian homes and neighborhoods-back to the United States in an empty Altoids tin. He brought ashes from the damaged walls of a Palestinian home that had been shelled-an attack that narrowly missed injuring the family's small children.
Most important, each came back with the stories of those they met, experiences of suffering, endurance, despair, and faith-all gathered and carried home carefully in notebooks, minds, and hearts. Now it is spring, and in resurrection hope we bring some of these stories to you, that in informing and being informed we can all extend solidarity, action, and the power of prayer to our brothers and sisters around the corner and around the globe. You'll find some of Rose's story in this issue's feature section. Jim's reflections on the Middle East will come in future issues. -The Editors
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