Sunday, January 18 dawned with light rainfall following the
sleet and snow of the night before. I was excited about doing a vigil despite
the fact that I had not heard back from anyone, except for a couple of people
who told me they could not make it. It did not look to be a promising day for Immanuel
Bible Church-going.  I had spent
a good bit of time making CDs and I had my signs and hand-out literature. That
morning I did have to stop at Kinkos to make a copy of the letter that I was
supplying with the CD. The music on the CD was intended to make people think. I
hoped that they would read the letter too.

At about 7:45
a.m. I drove to Kinkos, made
my copies, and head off to the church, which was about half-an-hour from where I
live. It was icy and wet so I had to take it slowly. I arrived at the church and
parked across the street near a McDonalds. I crossed the street with two
signs:

PROJECT
STRAIT GATE (with address and phone) and

BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS.

I planted them by the sidewalk where I hoped they would
catch the attention of church goers. I found that there was a church member out
front directing traffic so I chatted with him for a while and gave him a CD. He
was very friendly and nice.

There were a few people who came to church from the parking
lot across the street or trotted over to the McDonalds and back. I was able to
give my materials to them. Pretty soon I realized that I was probably going to
be on my own for the duration of the event. I had the problem that it was
raining and I did not want to let my papers get wet while I was folding them. I
went across to the McDonalds where I could watch my signs and fold my papers at
a table. I folded about half of them and headed back to the
church.

Pretty soon one of the preachers came out with another
person to say hello. They said they were expecting us, (see our letter to
Pastor Easley).   I said it
looked like I was a committee of one. They asked that I not have my sign on
their property. So I moved my ?BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS? to another telephone
pole. I told them that my intention was to address the church and not the
drive-by public. I told them that I was not protesting the church. I said, ?I
am opposed to war and occupation, not to churches.?

The first traffic attendant went in and a younger fellow
came out. I gave him a CD and we discussed church a little. He asked if I had
ever been to his church. I told him that I had stopped going to any church a
while back. He told me that he used to be Catholic but now he really liked this
(Immanuel Bible) church. He invited me to visit it.

Several people told me that I could go in and have some
coffee. Since I don?t drink coffee, I just said, ?Thank you.? Eventually
I had to go across the street and fold some more letters to put with my CD. When
I got back and I was standing in the rain and a woman drove by and again asked
if I would like coffee. Off she went and came back presently with a cup of hot
chocolate from 7-11 and a doughnut.

After watching another batch of church attendees come and
go and handing out a few CDs and literature. I decided to take them up on the
offer to visit their church. I went in and met the senior pastor who happened to
be out greeting people. He was very friendly and nice. I gave him one of my CDs
with my letter and the flyer asking if little Arab and
Palestinian children have a ?right to life?
too.

I stopped by the church bookstore near the lobby. Their
books on Israel seemed to be the ?Stand for
Israel? variety. They could really use a better selection. When I
went by the church the first time to check it out I spoke to the receptionist
and she told me that the church was unaffiliated with any other churches. That
is surprising to me because it is really quite a big church. Perhaps there is
something there that I am not seeing. She gave me a CD with stories about church
members; apparently a number of them are in the military.

I left a CD at the desk for the nice receptionist and then
I went over to check out the room where they welcome visitors. I asked about
Bible classes. It is extremely unlikely that I would have time to partake of any
of their Bible classes but it would be interesting to do so. We?ll see. I left
at about 10:30
a.m. because I thought I had done
enough for that day and I knew my husband was missing me.

I will probably call Pastor Easley on Tuesday to find out
if he liked my tape. I will discuss my next move with Chuck Carlson in
Arizona and we?ll decide what the next Project Strait Gate move
should be.

Although there are probably a
few advantages to being on ones own, ideally there should be 3 to 5 people at
each vigil. We don?t want to overwhelm
the congregation or make them feel threatened, but we want to be able to back
each other up as necessary.

Those interested in doing a vigil with me can reach me via
Charles Carlson at We Hold These Truths or
you can reach me through the group e-mail.

Dorie S.

480 947 3329

(Dorie@whtt.org)