You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November 2008.

quick note:

we now have a U.S. (Tennessee) phone number here in Israel.  so, should you want to give us a shout out… then dial (615) 653-4553 and you can reach us by phone as a local call for you.

It actually calls our comptuer, so if we have the comptuer on we’ll be able to pick up…  if we’re not online, then you can leave a voicemail and we’ll give you a ring back shortly!

yay for technology!

– kelsey

UPDATE (11/29/08) ::  We are 8 hours ahead of Central Standard Time, so… generally feel free to call anytime before 2:00 PM CST.

Happy Thanksgiving from Jerusalem!!  (a few days early, I know)

It’s funny that we have to remind ourselves that it’s Thanksgiving time of year around here.  We have not been inundated with the usual decorations, food galore and that typical fall weather that we’re used to!  We may bust out the finger pain and feathers and make us a turkey like we did in 3rd grade. 🙂

As we sat and ate our Ortega (imported, yes!) brand tacos tonight… we were talking a little about what we’re thankful for.  It’s overwhelming really to think about all the blessings in our lives.  In particular with the last few months… the Lord’s leading, providing and guidance in bringing us to Israel for this time; having my best friend and the love of my life by my side; seeing and talking to our amazing families on Skype; the love and support we feel everyday from our extended family and friends (you!); and the ministry opportunities and friendships that continue to grow here in Israel (not all we can share about via the blog).  There is fullness of joy in Him!

I’m also thankful for America.  I have become more mindful and grateful of the incredible freedoms and liberties we have, and I pray that we are challenged to give more out of the abundance that we all share.

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations. – Psalm 100

Video:

Jon and I shot this quick video a couple weeks ago for the ICEJ USA branch.  Check out a short Thanksgiving message from Malcolm Hedding, the ICEJ Executive Director: Click Here!

much love and more blogging coming soon…

gobble gobble,
kelsey

p.s. we will get to have a lovely thanksgiving dinner after work with some other americans living here in jerusalem…. so, don’t worry, we’ll get stuffed just like you guys too. 😉

Kelsey and I had a busy weekend helping out with videoing The Covenant: Live from Jerusalem DVD. I was asked to operate one of the cameras and Kelsey helped out as a producton assistant in the control room. It was a fun departure from our usual work as we were not capturing vows but a fluid musical about Gods covenat with the Jewish people. After writing that last sentence, I must say that there are similarities in the fact that marriage is an everlasting covenant as well. Kinda cool…I digress. We worked with a production team of Israelis, Finns, and Norwegians!

covenant

We had a 14 hour shoot on Saturday, a 5 hour shoot on Sunday and 4 hour shoot on Monday! We were all exhausted by the end but very happy with the results. Here are a few pics of Kelsey and I during the weekend’s festivities.

jkcovenant

All these pics were taken courtesy of one Mr. Matthias Guggisberg who’s wife, Susanna, celebrated her 26th birthday on Wednesday. Here is a pic of Matthias or as one of our Southern co-workers says, Maaaa..Tie.. Us.

n843238469_3971

quick post.  we’ve had a busy week… moved into our new apartment on Monday.  we’re excited to be here… it’s a great place, nice and homey.  it’s also closer to the Embassy and shops and all else.  so, we’re getting settled in and glad to be here.  several people have been a really great help with details about shopping/locations and “normal” everyday things you need to know.  we’re thankful for them all!

Pics below:

last week, jon bufkin (yes… jon bufkin) made a historic move and wore a tucked in shirt with a belt! ha. those of you who know him well know that he doesn’t do that often… so i snapped a photo (see below)!

jonny boy

we had dinner with some friends at a burger joint last week and had Matthias take a pic of us in front of one of the IDF soldiers.  Every Jewish male/female must serve in the Israeli Defence Force for at least two years (men for three).  you see them all around town… toting their guns along with them.

j&k & idf

Also… see Jon with Lysanne…. such a cutie!  she’s the daughter of Matthias and Susanna… some new friends from Switzerland.

jon & lysanne

We saw Bond, James Bond last weekend.  It was definitely an experience!  First, it’s all assigned seating, so when you buy your ticket determines your seating.  they apparently usually get movies much later on than the States do … but this time Bond was earlier b/c they were on the British release timeline.   we had seven seats in one row and a family of three were already sitting in my/jon/josh’s seats.  he totally refused to move, even after mgmt told him to move… so mgmt asked us to take his seats (the worst in the house, reason for said man stealing our seats), but they did give us free passes for the next time we come.  so, that was a bonus!

james bond

jon helped akon set up a blog.  we sipped on an ice coffee while doing so… yum.

jon & akon

i think they need more candles… maybe 2 or 3. 🙂  this is the church of the holy sepulchur (one of the supposed burial sites of Jesus).  also, same place that a brawl broke out at last week.

church

jon and i are helping with a new filming of a play called “The Covenant.” we will be filming on saturday/sunday and maybe monday.   it’s an awesome musical that chronicles God’s covenant with the Jewish people… from Abraham to the reestablishment of Israel in 1948.  here’s an older article i found about it.

been busy this week working on new website graphics and videos for various projects (just finished one of Malcolm regarding a Thanksgiving message for the U.S.), figuring out our december (and visa renewal) plans, and sorting out some FocalPoint business.

it’s 11pm and we’re headed to bed. had a good day and great time at a bday party. up early tomorrow!

shabbat shalom,
K

We recently had the opportunity to take a 2 day mini tour from Tel Aviv to Caesarea, Akko, Haifa, Rosh Hanikra, Nazareth, Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee. We saw all of these places in 2 days so we ended up catching the bus at 5:50am. Whew…you guys know how tough that can be for me (Jon). Kelsey and I got to stay on a kibbutz/ki-bootz/ hotel right outside of Nazareth after the first day. Kibbutzes are modern day communes where everyone works for the good of the community. They are a common way of living for many Israelis. Here is a little video we made from our first day of the tour.

[Vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/2196958%5D

Holla at us!

skype::
jonandkelsey

email::
kelseybufkin(at)yahoo.com
jonathanbufkin(at)yahoo.com

Browse: