Update!

Wow!!  Has it really been over a month since our last blog post?  


Just when we didn't think things could get any busier, they have!  It all started in late August when the directors of our organization went out of the country.  They came back for 2 weeks, but left again until the end of this week, for a total of almost 4 months away!  This left Jim as the "point -man", and general "go-to" person for about 30 people, both at headquarters and the distribution center.  He is many times in that role anyway, trying to lift the load for the directors as much as possible, but even more so while they are away.  

With a major renovation of the distribution center behind us, it is now time to oversee the operation there, what a blessing to give of ourselves to the new olim (immigrants) coming home to Israel.  Jim's weekly visit to the DC gives him the opportunity to give a devotional teaching each Wednesday morning to the staff as well as the teaching each Monday morning at headquarters.  Wednesday afternoons we join together for a staff meeting/event, when we invite Israeli's to share their stories with us.  It's another chance to build relationships with new friends.   With volunteers coming and going, we're trying to find someone to step in to cover absentees in the mailroom, reception, facility cleaner, cook at the distribution center, etc.  Even with 30 people, there's so much to do that sometimes the laborers are still too few.....


And then there are the facility issues....we have had some "disturbances" of late, and needed to reinstall an automatic lock on our front door with a speaker system so we can monitor entry with a bit of security.  It's been done before and we just know when we need to step up security a little.  We also are witnessing the prophesy of "the Lord is building Jerusalem" all around us.  There are very high buildings going up all around ours - literally on all sides.  A few weeks ago, we had a 2x4 come through our window!  Glad Jim was there to speak with the general contractor...

This is where volunteer Dr. Bill used to sit.
We are very happy the girl who now sits here was at lunch!
 God's protection!!

So with many early mornings, late nights and sometimes working on Sunday, time just goes very fast here.  We've heard it said, and agree, that time is faster in Israel - especially in Jerusalem!  It's the spiritual center of the world, so maybe that's why...But one thing we can say - it's very exciting!!!  Never, ever boring.  There will never again be "normal".  Each day is different and new.  Each day a new adventure.  With eyes and ears wide open, we soak it all in, and we have learned so much about Israeli society and the people here.  It truly does help to know how to communicate and relate with the people.  


And now we are getting ready to begin Hebrew lessons!  We wanted to wait until things slowed down a bit, but after a year we see that's not going to happen :) so we need to "just do it"!  There is a teacher who will come to our headquarters 2 evenings a week for 8 weeks to teach all who want to learn beginner Hebrew.  The blessing is it will only cost about $115 per person - 1/3 the price of going to Ulpan (Hebrew school).  Please pray that we learn quickly.  And that after a long day working we will be focussed, and there will be homework as well!!


So what else is going on in our lives??  We moved!!  We will be doing a blog on just this - there is so much to tell! - but it has been very intense.  When most volunteers need to move (for various reasons) they just move their personal items, our organization provides the apartment and furnishings.  But the apartment we moved from was being released, so we needed to move all the furnishings as well.  At our new apartment to be, the volunteers were moved elsewhere, so everything in that apartment was being packed up just like ours, so it was two entire house moves within 1 1/2 weeks!  


Once our new apartment was empty, we realized a lot of work needed to be done to it.  So Jim contacted the landlord to show him what needed to be done, and began negotiations.  

And so - we're having demolition begin on our apartment today - literally!! They've gutted the bathroom completely.  I guess we're getting a new bathroom, even the floor is now gone! Hope it doesn't take long... :)  They're also going to replace the kitchen lower cabinets, countertop and sink, and replace the top cabinet faces to match the new bottom ones.  They are also replacing the living room window, along with 2 bedroom windows and the bathroom window. The are going to fix the radiator in the living room that is not attached properly, and they will fix the rusted security bars outside and paint them.  Last but not least, they will fix the floor in the laundry so we will no longer hear or see our neighbors below :) Whew....that's alot of work, but Baruch HaShem - Praise His Name - the landlord has agreed to pay for all the work!!! About $20,000!!!  What a miracle!! God is so good to us!!

you can see what's left of the bathtub :)

Argh!!!! I just heard one of the workers spitting in the bathroom!!!  Since there is no toilet, sink, or bath left, where did it go????  Lord please help me....This is going to make a great blog when it's all done :)  I've also noticed that although they work very hard when they are working, they also take a break about every 45 minutes or so, almost more break time than work time :) And we found out we are expected to have coffee for them while they work - for their coffee break every hour :) So they wanted turkish coffee, and I gave them what I thought was turkish coffee, but I don't think it was, because when one guy left to get them lunch, he came back with turkish coffee and showed it to me with a smile :) What is also interesting is the workers are Arab.  If they had their own state ("Palestine"), they'd be out of a job.  Many Arabs work building Jewish homes and offices, and construction work like our apartment.  It's a catch 22 for them I think....

Coffee station set up in living room since the kitchen
 needed to be cleared for demolition :)
Note the Turkish coffee in the brown and red bag :)

In the past month while no one has heard from us, we've been packing and moving.  Not un-packing again, though, because we knew all the work to be done, no sense in unpacking until it's done.  They said it should take 2 weeks.  Please pray that it goes smoothly and on time.  Please pray for our neighbors, too.  The va'ad lady next door (you remember who the va'ad lady is, right?  She's the one you pay the va'ad money to each month - for building maintenance) told us to let her know if we needed anything - bathroom, food, even a shower!  God bless her, she has been so kind to us already.  And the neighbors downstairs have a baby, who needs a nap in the afternoon, not loud demolition noise!  When we have our new home put together, we will have a "house-warming" party for our friends, staff and new neighbors.  And we will hope the house is truly warm - with the window and radiator issues, it hasn't gotten warmer than 64 F at night - with the heat on (which only runs from 6-9 pm).


This is so exciting to experience - we keep telling ourselves that to keep the right perspective!  :)  We promise to do a blog when the renovation is done, complete with before and after pictures :)  


With the directors coming back this week, and the renovations beginning this week, we took the time to go away last weekend to the Galilee for some refreshment.  We were blessed financially with instructions to use it to "go away".  We're hoping to do this in January some time, but until then, we spent our first overnight getaway in a year looking at the Galilean sky...

Sunrise over the Kinneret - Sea of Galilee
Looks like a star of David, huh?

Thank you for all your prayers - they are much needed.  The past few months have been pretty intense in many ways.  We have quickly come to realize that it would be impossible to live in Jerusalem without a weekly day of Shabbat (Sabbath - rest).  The greeting on Friday and Saturday is to say Shabbat Shalom - peaceful rest.  We each have a choice to live daily in the realm of shalom - peace, and we pray that each of us enters into that place of habitual rest.

Feast of Tabernacles

The Feast of Tabernacles ~ in Hebrew Succot (also spelled Sukkot, as many words have more than one spelling when translating from Hebrew letters into English letters) ~ a Biblical feast of the Lord...


^"1And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. ³³ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴ “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. ³⁵ On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary workon it. ³⁶ For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.
³⁷ ‘These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day— ³⁸ besides the Sabbaths of the LORD, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the LORD.
³⁹ ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. ⁴⁰ And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. ⁴¹You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ⁴² You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, ⁴³ that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.’” ⁴⁴ So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD." Leviticus 23:1-2, 33-44

The Feast of Tabernacles (Succot) is one of the most celebrated holidays of the year.  We had never celebrated this holiday in Israel, and we were looking forward to it for many reasons.  There was such an excitement leading up to it, and we had friends coming from the states to visit that week as well!!


A few days before Succot, we began seeing the "four species" being sold in the shuk (market) and special tents set up like the one below.  This comes from the scripture:

⁴⁰ And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.  Leviticus 23:40


These four kinds of plants palm, myrtle and willow, along with the citron (fruit) are purchased, then used for worship to "rejoice before the Lord".


Remember to click on pictures to view them larger...

It's very important to choose a citron (or etrog in Hebrew) without blemish.  

Only the best for worship before the Lord.

On the first day of Succot we took a pleasant drive west of Jerusalem.  

It reminded us of where we used to live in the States.

That night we attended the opening night of the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem (ICEJ) Feast of Tabernacles celebration.  Thousands of people from nations all over the world came to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast and to support Israel. The first night they had a procession announcing each nation that was represented.  We attended 4 of the evening sessions.

There was much singing, dancing and rejoicing during the week along with a live orchestra. 

Announced during one of the evening sessions was the opportunity to donate blood.  Magan David Adom is Israel's equivalent to the Red Cross, and would be available for those who would like to support Israel through donations.  This is something Linda used to do often in the States, and was very excited to go on Sunday morning during Succot to donate blood for those in need.  She also found out she could donate every 3 months from now on.

That very day, the Jerusalem Light Rail train, which hasn't been running for very long, went on strike!!  Right during the busiest season of the year, they definitely timed it that way on purpose.  The strike lasted less than 2 days...

Next on our list for that day was to visit the Me'a She'arim neighborhood in north-central Jerusalem.  It is an ultra-orthodox religious neighborhood.  They are very observant, and steer clear of things of the world, and expect other who choose to visit their neighborhood to do the same, and to show respect - not treating them like people to be gawked at (kind of like the Amish in Pennsylvania).  

We were told if we only did one thing during Succot in Jerusalem, it should be to see the Succot (booths, tabernacles) being built, especially in this neighborhood.  We didn't build a Succa (booth) this year, but last year in the States, we did build one on our deck for the first time.  It was great fun to have coffee, read, and eat dinner in the Succa. 

⁴² You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, ⁴³ that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.  Leviticus 23:42-43

The Jewish people build Succot anywhere they can find room, usually on a balcony if they have one.

There were many other people out for a stroll as well.

Some Succot were fancier than others, and some were built with whatever was available.  

While we strolled through the neighborhoods, there were amazing smells of barbecue and instruments being played.  What a lovely atmosphere of community.  We only wish we could have you smell the yummy food!!

A take-off of Colonel Sanders?

See the pup tent on the balcony near the top?  

Next we were off the meet the mayor at his public Succa at Safra Square, the Jerusalem Municipality. 

There were many people in attendance for the mayor and his wife to greet, 

and we were each presented with a red rose.

After meeting the mayor, we went to the hotel where our friends (14!) were going to be staying while in Jerusalem for the next week.  After spending time with them, we headed home.  When passing The Great Synagogue, we heard loud joyous music and saw a huge crowd spilling out of the courtyard onto the sidewalks.  Of course we stopped to check it out!  There was a live band, and dancing going on (by the men - which may be abnormal in the States, but is most common in Israel).  They tried to encourage Jim to join them in the midst of such a joyous celebration - because it is commanded to rejoice before the Lord, especially during Succot - "you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days".

In the video you'll hear them singing "we want Meshiach now"-  Meshiach is Hebrew for Messiah.

The next night we attended the ICEJ conference again.  It was "Israeli night", when they invite the local people to attend at no cost, and use it as an opportunity to show love & support for Israel and her people.  One of the special guests that evening was Kay Wilson (seen below).  

Within the first week of our arrival in Jerusalem last year, there was a shocking stabbing, with one of the two women being murdered - Kristine Luken (a volunteer at Christ Church guesthouse).  Kay, having received 12 stab wounds, managed to pretend she was dead, until she was able to get to safety.  Due to her testimony, a terror group of 13 Muslim terrorists were arrested.  The two that attacked the women that day said they were "just looking to kill some Jews".  Kay is a local Jewish citizen and Kristine was an American Christian.  On this night, Kay was being honored for her courage, and was given a check to help support her financial needs due to hospital and court costs.  Our organization has been in contact with her as well, while also praying for her well being - both physically and spiritually.  It was an honor to hear part of her testimony, and she also played a song for us on the keyboard.

The next day was a day of great rejoicing across the nation - Gilad Schalit was being released from his captivity in Gaza by Hamas terrorists!!!!!  This young soldier - "the son of every Israeli" - had been kidnapped 5 years ago, and a swap had been arranged and approved by the Israeli government to release  1,027 convicted Palestinian terrorists (many who had committed murder) for this one IDF soldier's life.  While there is still much debate about the consequences of this action, for this one day, the nation was unified to rejoice at Gilad's homecoming.  

As a staff, we assembled around the television that morning like every other Israeli to watch the pictures and video footage of his release, and to hear the announcement that he truly had entered back into Israeli hands.  His return to his mother and father (who lived in a tent outside the prime minister's residence for 5 years) was enough to make all of our hearts cry.  What a day to rejoice and be glad!!!

So what do you do on a day like this with all the excitement of Gilad's release? How about the biggest parade of the year in the capital?  That day just happened to be the Feast of Tabernacles Jerusalem Parade, where people from all over the world come to Jerusalem to show their love, solidarity and support for Israel and the Jewish people.  And boy was the sky majestic that day....

Thousands of people marched to show their support.

Everyone was so happy to welcome Gilad home that day!!

"Welcome Home Gilad" signs were carried throughout the parade...

Just two days later it was announced to the world that Libyan dictator Muammar Gadafi was killed.  Things have been shaking and moving very quickly in the Middle East since we arrived almost 11 months ago.  We may do a blog one day just to show just how much has occurred in a short period of time.  The world is changing fast.  

On Wednesday night, Thursday, and Thursday night, there was a time of rejoicing for Simchat Torah - the joy of the Torah (the Bible).  Young and old alike take turns holding the beloved Torah (Bible) scrolls and have a procession with singing and dancing.  Much of this goes on in the synagogue, but this picture is at the Kotel (Western Wall).

As you can tell, it was a busy week during Succot.  And now that all the Fall Feasts are over, and everyone is back to work until we celebrate Hanukkah in December, we both feel the need for a vacation.... :)  

One thing we've learned since we've been in Israel - Israeli's thoroughly enjoy their Feasts & holidays, and make the most of them.  

And we love being right here by their side, 

to rejoice and celebrate our God with His people.

Holidays/Holy-Days

¹THE LORD said to Moses, Say to the Israelites, The set feasts or appointed seasons of the Lord which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, even My set feasts, are these: ²³And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the Israelites, On the first day of the seventh month [almost October], you shall observe a day of solemn [sabbatical] rest, a memorial day announced by blowing of trumpets, a holy [called] assembly. You shall do no servile work on it, but you shall present an offering made by fire to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, Also the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy [called] assembly, and you shall afflict yourselves [by fasting in penitence and humility] and present an offering made by fire to the Lord. And you shall do no work on this day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whoever is not afflicted [by fasting in penitence and humility] on this day shall be cut off from among his people [that he may not be included in the atonement made for them]. And whoever does any work on that same day I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no kind of work [on that day]. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict yourselves [by fasting in penitence and humility]. On the ninth day of the month from evening to evening you shall keep your sabbath.

Leviticus 23:1, 23-32

As we celebrate the appointments with the people of Israel that God put on His calendar over 5,000 years ago, we learn the heart of the people - their desire to love, serve, please and honor the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

Rosh Hashanah is known as the civil New Year, and the beginning of the new calendar year (the Jewish calendar, which does not follow the Greco-Roman calendar that the rest of the world adheres to).  It is celebrated as the Feast of Trumpets.

We were able to attend an opening of a new exhibit at the Bible Lands Museum called "Sound the Shofar".  

The mayor of Jerusalem was present to dedicate the exhibit.

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is the most holy day of the year on the Jewish calendar.  Until 2,000 years ago, this was the one day a year that God commanded the High Priest enter into the Holy of Holies of the Temple to make sacrifices to cleanse the sins of the people.  As believers in Yeshua (Jesus) - whose Name in Hebrew means salvation - we believe He died once for all, as the final atoning sacrifice for all that would (will) receive Him, to cleanse us from sin, providing eternal salvation.   The time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is a time of inner reflection, to search for anything not pleasing to God in our lives.  To ask forgiveness from Him, and also those in our lives we may have wronged.  In Hebrew, Teshuvah - to return is a gift from a Heavenly Father who desires to bring us into right relationship with Him.

In Israel, Yom Kippur is the one day every year that all traffic comes to a stand still in the nation - especially in Jerusalem.  Every week on Shabbat (Sabbath) there is no public transportation, but a few people will still drive and there are Arab taxis available.  But not so on Yom Kippur - there are no vehicles except emergency vehicles, and no taxis either.  What nation in the world shuts down (especially their capital) for a day to honor God?  It is an awesome thing to experience.

Because there is no traffic, this has become a day of riding bikes and playing in the streets.  A true fulfillment of Zechariah 8:1-6:

Again the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying,  Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘ I am zealous for Zion with great zeal;  With great fervor I am zealous for her.’ Thus says the LORD: ‘ I will return to Zion, And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.  Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, The Mountain of the LORD of hosts, The Holy Mountain.’ Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘ Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each one with his staff in his hand because of great age. The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.’ Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘ If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, Will it also be marvelous in My eyes?’ Says the LORD of hosts. 

I guess it's a day that's safe to park on the train tracks...

A family on their way home from Synagogue.

Children rule the roads this day.

Here are several pictures of what Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, looks like on its Holiest day of the year.  All the lights were blinking yellow.

Begin Highway (Named after Menachem Begin)- the main highway running North-South.

Central bus station - there are usually taxis offered on weekly Shabbat, but not Yom Kippur.

Dad taking his sons to Synagogue.

Below is the (empty) Sherut station (shared taxi-vans)

that mainly run to and from Ben Gurion Airport -

which was also shut down for Yom Kippur. 

Imagine that, even the only public international airport in the country

 was closed for the Day of Atonement!

Time to ride a bike through the tunnel :)

Tower of David at the Jaffa Gate of the Old City.

Just inside Jaffa Gate is not Jewish, so they are open for business as usual.

The Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City has a Succa next to it. 

Succot was coming soon! - more on that in the next blog.

The "nursery" outside the synagogue during Yom Kippur service :)

The Kotel (Western Wall) on Yom Kippur.

Everyone is gathering in the plaza of the Kotel for the end of Yom Kipuur at sunset, and the sounding of the shofar.  This is a fast day, and a poll showed that over half of the people in the country fast on this day.  Can you imagine 1/2 of your nation fasting and seeking God all on the same day?  To break the fast together, they provided free juice, cookies and bread at the Kotel.

Prayers at the end of the day.

This group of young men came singing and dancing to the Wall from their 

Yeshiva (Bible school) to end Yom Kippur.

This is our first time celebrating the High Holy days in Israel.  Although we have observed these feasts in the States, it is such a blessing to be with the people of Israel and experience this season with them.  Just a few days after Yom Kippur ended, was the 8 day celebration of Succot - the Feast of Tabernacles.  We could then could see and hear everyone all over the city beginning to build their Succah - temporary dwelling for the feast.  Our next blog will be dedicated to Succot.  Being an 8 day Feast, we can promise you it will be a very long blog....we took many pictures and videos, and a lot happened in the region, nation and city during that short period of time.  So until our next posting.....

From Zion we pray that ~ 

"The LORD bless you and keep you; 

The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; 

The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace."

Numbers 6:24-26