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Have a very Merry Christmas!
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We miss our family and friends during this Christmas season, but we are thankful to be in Israel as well. It’s amazing to know that the King of Kings and Savior of the world, Yeshua (ישוע), was born just six miles south of where we are now in Jerusalem!
We actually live just off of בית לחם (Beit Lehem) road that leads south to the city. We were able to go to Bethlehem Saturday night to help take photos at a Christmas party (all the local Baptist churches were hosting) that ICEJ Aid was a part of… Bethlehem is controlled by the Palestinian National Authority, and Israelis are not allowed to go there, so it was interesting crossing the checkpoint in/out.
Though we’re missing the “feeling” of Christmas this time of year, it’s also been somewhat refreshing and has allowed us to reevaluate the true nature of celebration and worship of the One who came to earth as a child. His birth, life and death was and is a continuation of God’s covenant with His people, and his love and provision for all mankind.
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.” Micah 5:2“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
This season, we hope that you’re overwhelmed with the love and beauty of God, who humbled himself and came to earth as a child!
bethlehem at night
christmas party for arab christians
p.s. we’re headed out tomorrow for a christmas break, so won’t post as much…. but did have a great birthday today, fun hanging out with friends, and so thankful for all the bday wishes! loooove, kelsey
We had a busy week last week…whew! but we were able to rest most of the weekend and Jon was able to fight off a cold… so that was nice.
we’ve been working with ICEJ Aid trying to help with fundraising tools for their various projects (will post those videos when edited). ICEJ Aid is really the hands and feet of the Embassy, helping provide social assistance to Israelis all over the Land. Most of the time they do that by partnering financially with social, government and non-profit organizations. this week we visited the sites of two current projects…
Tikva :: ICEJ Aid is currently raising funds for dental care for Jewish teens and young adults (16-28) by partnering with a local organization called Tikva Israel. Tikva rescues Jewish children from the streets and state-run orphanges of Ukraine and provides housing, education and a warm Jewish community to live in there. when they turn 16, they’re given the opportunity to immigrate to Israel where Tikva Israel then helps them with continuing eduction, job placement, and other various community opportunities. dental work is not covered through the social medical system, so many of them are not able to get the adequate care they need… so, ICEJ Aid and others are helping raise funds to provided the needed dental care for these teens and young adults (we’re helping make a fundraising video). Here are a few pics from their community center:
Sderot :: ICEJ Aid is also raising funds for a teen community center in Sderot, Israel. Sderot is 1km outside the Gaza border and has been under qassam rocket attack for the past 8 years. the bomb sheltered bus stops and concrete fortresses that you see all around town are evidence of the terror and attacks. we were privileged to talk with and hear from a local social worker named Yigal. He has such a huge heart for the at-risk teens of that city. the current youth facility they have does not have adequate bomb/rocket protection should an attack occur. It is also not large enough to house and provide for the needs of more than 50 teens. They are raising funds to help build a local youth community center that is safe, fun and allows more youth from the city to thrive. We enjoyed talking with several of them… shooting video, playing pool and checking out the current facility.
*If you would like to give to one of these current projects click here.
we had such a festive and fun time hanging out with three other couples at the Guggisberg apartment to celebrate Saint Claus Day (December 6th). It’s a common European thing to do and is a bit separate from Christmas. Traditionally in Switzerland you make mini people and shapes out of yummy dough and then bake and eat it together to celebrate. We had a blast making our little people (with chocolate filled heads :)) and even whipped up a good ole gator! representin’ the homeland! The gathering made it feel a bit more like Christmas with the warm chai tea, mulled wine and classic Christmas tunes.
looking forward to the first two days of Hanukkah this weekend/next week before we head out of town. will post some pics from the neighborhood! sunday we’re headed to help with a Hanukkah party and video for a group of holocaust survivors.
This post is a little late considering we made this trip over month ago. I had high hopes of editing another video for this but I finally had to be honest with myself and realize that sometimes pics are enough. As a video guy that is hard for me to swallow. 🙂 So I decided to go old school, pardon the pun, and go textbook style. As a 3 year secondary teacher myself and from a family of teachers, I figured (pardon the pun again) this would be fun.
This is part II of our weekend tour (refer to previous blog entry)that started with our waking up from an overnight stay in a hotel outside of Nazareth. We stayed on a Kibbutz that was out from town and therefore we were limited to what the hotel had to offer which was pretty much nothing except for mainly Hebrew, Arabic and Russian stations on the TV and an internet computers from the 80’s. Kelsey and I always pack a deck of cards for such an occasion and we had a blast playing until I beat Kelsey in knock knock for the tenth time (see fig. 2). She decided to call it a night.
Once awake, we headed for Nazareth to the Church of the Annunciation (see fig. 3 and 8 ) where they think Mary’s house was. Like a lot of places in the Holy Land there is no certainty that this is the place but we are certain that this is the town Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived. Incredible!
From Nazareth we ventured southward to the Sea of Galilee(see fig. 7). Near Galilee we visited Capernaum (see fig. 1 and 6 and 9 ) which is the hometown of Peter, Andrew, James and John and where Jesus may have preached in the synagogue in Luke 4.
We then went down to the river Jordan and saw several people baptized in the same water that John baptized Jesus and the Holy Spirit descended like a dove. The Jordan is so much smaller then what I had in my my mind and it had some huge catfish in it. Give me a Zebco and we could have eaten catfish every night for the rest of our stay here! We also saw a piece of home at the Jordan. World Outreach Church, our church back in Murfreesboro, TN, has sponsored a Swedish display of Mark 1:9-11 (see fig. 4) on the wall. Swedish because they have this scripture in almost ever language imaginable. God has really used our church to grow us in our relationship with Him. What a special reminder of this.
Finally, we ended the trip with eating a delicious meal of Saint Peter’s fish known as a common fish in the Sea of Galille and could be what Peter and Andrew were fishing for when Jesus said “…follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Who knows?? They taste pretty good too. I will leave you with a pic of the Jordan River.
weekend before last we hopped on an egged bus (greyhound equivalent) with Akon and headed 4 1/2 hours south to Eilat! it was beautiful drive across the Negev desert, past the Dead Sea, then finally to Eilat. Eilat is the southern most tip of Israel which borders the Red Sea, Jordan and you can see Egypt. it’s not a real large city, but is a vacation spot for Israelis during the summer months and during winter for the Europeans and Westerners.
we stayed with a beautiful family at the Kibbutz Eilot. their hospitality and kindness was overwhelming, and we’re thankful to have met them. Akon lived there for a short time, so he gave us the official tour and we met a few of his friends as well.
here are a few pics from around Eilat… the dolphinarium, beaches, hotels, and Red Sea. We had a fairly quick trip and no time for swimming, but hope to make it back again!
p.s. we had a wonderful thanksgiving meal on Thursday after work and such a fabulous Christmas dinner on Saturday… really felt like christmas and warmed our spirits!
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