Yes… I did go to Bethlehem

If you aren’t aware of the serious issues concerning Israel with Bethlehem then you won’t understand how amazing it is that I was able to go there.  Right now citizens of Israel are not even allowed into the city, and citizens of Bethlehem are not allowed in and out at all.  Its not really encouraged to go there as a foreigner; in fact it is strongly discouraged, but hey… you only live once.

Let me start from the beginning.  I had just spent the morning in the old city and was pretty worn out.  I sat down outside Jaffa gate for a bit of rest when this man approached me.  He said hello and began talking. (FYI: I am not in the business of speaking with strange men, especially in Jerusalem, especially who are Arab; but for some reason I felt comfortable.)  

After a bit of conversation, he told me he was a believer.  Now, for someone to openly come out and say that was pretty unusual….well, extremely unusual!  I thought, either he was trying to get information out of me, or he could actually be telling the truth.  I played it safe and didn’t tell him anything about me.  Then his family came over and I talked briefly with them as well.  As time went on I felt more and more that they were in fact believers and telling the truth.

Now comes the interesting part… He tells me that he is going to Bethlehem today and asks me if I would like to come along for a tour.  (He is from Jordan; therefore, is allowed into the city.)  At this point I am at a crossroads and have two choices.  

1. Trust this man and go with him, knowing fully well that I am putting myself in a bit of danger.

2. Play it safe and don’t go.

Welllll, I said a quick, “Lord, what should I do?” and immediately felt a peace about going.  (Good thing I asked God and not my parents.  I think I know what their answer would have been.)  So, we got on a bus and took a 30 minute ride to Bethlehem.  

During the trip he was telling me all about his family, his past, his present etc.  I must say he is a very well educated and knowledgeable guy.  He also felt the need to brush me up on my Bible knowledge, even though I knew all he was telling me. It was sweet though.

Bethlehem:  The entire city is completely walled in….it’s a site to see!  You cannot get in or out without going through security checkpoint, so they have control of everything.  What happened next was pretty surreal.  We entered the city and began walking down the middle.  Bethlehem is divided into two sides: Muslim and Christian, though the Muslim percent is about 80 compared to the 20% Christian.  I can honestly say that I was the ONLY white person there.  I don’t think there’s been a time in my life when I felt more uncomfortable.  All the women were fully clothed with their head covering and here I was, walking with a tank-top and kakis in the midst of them.  I asked Ibrahaim if I should cover up and he said, “No! You’re fine.  You’re with me,” like it was a silly question.

I could go on and on about the situation there, but all I will say is that its heartbreaking!  These people are prisoners within their own city.  Living in such closed quarters with people groups that historically just do not get along, its no wonder why there is such duress there.  Constant fighting and danger is always a threat to Bethlehem. 

After walking around and meeting TONS of people (he seems to know everyone) we went to the Nativity Church, built on the site where Jesus was born.   Most of us westerners picture Jesus being born in a stable, like we see at Christmas time; but the truth is that it was more of a cave back then.  Caves were called stables, so we had to go underground to see it.  Then we slowly, but surely made our way back to the entrance to leave.

All in all I have to say it was an experience that I will NEVER forget!  Putting my faith that God would protect me was a giant leap for me.  Coming back to Tel Aviv and telling people where I went and how I got there; I realized how crazy it really was.  No one could believe I did that, and some of the girls were in amazement. None of my friends here have even been inside Bethlehem.  

I told Ibrahaim that it was a God thing that we met, and he responded, “Of coarse, sister!”  I truly believe that it was, and here I am alive and well

The wall surrounding Bethlehem

The security checkpoint leaving Bethlehem

Entering The Church of the Nativity

The star, representing the site where Jesus was born

The bread shop where they bake the pita in the hot, fiery furnace

The open market in Bethlehem

 p.s.  There is a picture of Ibrahaim on my previous blog, Jerusalem pics, in case you’re wondering.

Jerusalem pics

I just spent 2 days in Jerusalem, and I feel like I have soooo much to say, but I can’t wrap it around any tangible words.  Sometimes words just aren’t enough.  I leave you with some pics until I can manage to take what I have in my head and put it down onto paper….. (All my pics can be seen on my Facebook page)

The Old City

The Western Wall

In the Christian Quarters w/in the Old City

A Traditional Jewish family having a snack

The market inside the Muslim Quarters

Going up the stairs from a tomb under the church

My friend and guide from Jordan, Ibrhaim at the Damascus Gate

The Women's side of the Wall

A Jewish lady comes to the wall for daily prayers

The Israel flag flying proudly at the Wall

 

Word of the day: EXHAUSTED

I don’t think I’ve walked this much in one day since…..never!  I walked everywhere today from North Tel Aviv all the way down to Jaffa and around there.  My feet are begging for a break, since I’ll be walking throughout Jerusalem for the next 2 days. How did the disciples do it???? Yikes!

First day in Israel

Today was my first day out and about, and what a great day it was!  After a long trip and finally getting through customs (which is a whole other story in itself), I made it to my destination in Jaffa late last night.

This morning I took a walk down to Old Jaffa to take in all the sights and history.  It was already heating up and I was dripping after one hour.  Then I was off to visit with some new friends, who live just outside Tel Aviv in Kfar Saba.  It was a two-bus trip, and memories of Rio came flooding back.  I remembered the first time I rode a bus with Paula (my old roommate) and we totally go lost.  I was hoping this wouldn’t be a re-peat excursion, not knowing any Hebrew and never being on a bus here, but it ended out fine (thank God for numbers).  A hour and a half later, I arrived.

I was able to spend the rest of the afternoon with Sarah and Varya, my two wonderful new friends.  We talked about Israel, went out for lunch, and just enjoyed the fellowship.  Because Shabbat begins at sun-down, I had to leave early to make sure I could get a bus home.  All the public transportation and stores close from Friday evening to Saturday evening for the holy day.

Lastly, I attended my first Messianic service tonight.  I could share lots, but I’ll just say…..Awesome!  

I’m tired and hungry, so I’ll end here….lots of excitement for my first day, but there’s more to come. Stay tuned….

2 Days and Counting

I leave for Israel in two days!!!!!  I have so many mixed emotions right now…excited yet nervous…anxious but a little overwhelmed.  As I prepare to leave, I think back to where I’ve been and all the memories of Brazil and Africa.  The good, the bad, and the ugly: all have shaped me into the person I am right now and where I’ll be in the future.  I feel like I’m at a major turning point in my life, which brings back all the emotions all over again.

To add to the pot, last night we had Rick Renner as a guest speaker at our church, and his message was great.  I felt like so much of what he said was applicable with what I’m facing now.  I took home lots of good nuggets from his message, but what inspired me the most was his personal story.  Rick and his family have been serving in Russia for over 15 years!  He started with nothing but faith and baby steps, and now he has one of the biggest ministries covering all of Russia.

As for me, I am also ready to begin taking these small steps in order to fulfill God’s plan for my life. Thats what this vision trip is all about…stepping out of the boat and putting words into action.  I will try to post when I can while I’m there (I’m sure I’ll have millions of things to say), so until we meet again…..

Shalom!

Reaching the next generation

This past weekend I had the opportunity to speak at my aunts church in Minnesota about Botswana.  While speaking at churches is a regular occurance for a missionary during furlough, its usually done speaking to adults in the main service.  Now, from a missionary perspective, this is practical in many ways.  

1. Its the adults who support you financially and spiritually.

2. The adults can grasp the “big picture” of what your ministry is trying to accomplish.

3. Its just what you do.

….but sometimes we need to put practical aside and reach out beyond “practical”.

Sooooo, being that my aunt is the children’s pastor for her church, she also asked me to come back and give a presentation to the kids.  I have to say, I was more excited about the prospect of speaking with children than adults (thats probably my teaching background coming out).  I put together a slide show, I brought fun show-n-tell items for them to see, and we put together a “what they eat” segment where I actually cooked fried cabbage in front of them and they could taste it.  (Most of them weren’t too thrilled about the fried cabbage, but they LOVED the fat cakes we made.)  I also shared the differences between being a kid in the US verses being a kid in Botswana.

Overall, it was awesome!  They loved the pictures, the food, the stories, and all the animals they saw.  As I was leaving I realized how important it is to bring awareness to children about other cultures and areas of the world and how we can help them.  If we are going to try to make an impact on our world, we need to start not only reaching out to those who can help us now, but also to those who will be out there doing the work in the next generation. Adults are important to reach, but lets not forget the children! As Whitney says, “I believe the children are our future.”  hehehe

Under the Weather

I haven’t posted in a while, but I just haven’t had the words.  I was in Minnesota visiting with family, sharing about Africa, and catching up on old times.  It was an emotional trip for many reasons, and I think it took a lot out of me.  Monday, the morning we were leaving, I woke up with a horrible, burning throat. We had 11 hours of driving ahead of us, and I was supposed to do most of it.  I could barely keep my eyes open, so needless to say I did none of the driving.  Yesterday I wanted to cut my head off, and today I’ll settle for any meds I can get my hands on.  My head feels like its about to explode; I guess thats why words are escaping me at the moment.  More to come when my head doesn’t feel like a balloon about to pop.

Israel Vision Trip

I am so excited to announce that I have officially set dates for my Israel trip.  I will be visiting Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and surrounding areas August 13th through August 24th.  The overall goal of this brief trip is to “scout the land”, open my eyes to the realities of life in Israel, and get a feel of where I will be ministering in the future.  I will also be meeting with various people and organizations within the country to see how God is already at work.  There is a lot to see and do within this time frame, so I will be busy trying to get in as much as I can.  

Please be praying with me in the days leading up to the trip for safety, divine appointments, raising support for finances, and my heart to be opened to what I will see and experience.  

More updates to come….

Not only in Africa…

Yesterday afternoon we had a bit of excitement at my parents house.  My brother was outside and called for us to come quickly.  Tipsy, our cat, had cornered a snake right outside the house.  You usually only see garter snakes in Michigan, but this was no garter.  It was hissing profusely and flattened his head out like a cobra, raising it up in defense.  We immediately got the cat away from him and picked him up with the pool skimmer.  

What happened next was funny.  He opened his mouth in a lock-jaw position and laid there like he was dead.  Everyone actually thought he was dead (except me…I thought he was faking his death until the danger had receded.)  My dad then grabbed him with the pool skimmer and took him out to the woods and let him go.

This morning my mom and I looked in our handy-dandy Reptiles & Amphibians of Michigan Field Guide book to see if we could find it.  We discovered he was actually an Eastern Hognose Snake, native of Michigan. It explained that they were famous for feigning death and raising its head and flattening its neck like a cobra. What was really crazy is that they are also called Puff Adders.  YES, my beloved Puffy from Africa! I’m telling you….these guys just can’t get enough of me.  They even follow me half-way around the world!  Take a look at our beloved Eastern Hognose Snake (aka….puffy)

    

P.S. In response to “Get a Job”: I now have one…snake charmer.  Prices vary according to size and type of snake… You can call me anytime and I will come take care of your friendly neighbors.  Hope you are my first customer P.D!

Brazil Cachoeira da Grama Yellow Bourbon

My mom brought me two new types of coffee beans, one being Tanzanian Peaberry and the other, Brazil Cachoeira da Grama Yellow Bourbon.  Naturally I choose to try the Brasil one first (no offense Tanzania), but this one reigns from the state of Sao Paulo, close to the Minas Gerais state border. (I did my homework) The beans come from an organic farm, or “green” to be politically correct.  This coffee is not only award winning, Cup of Excellence, its also not massed produced, choosing quality over quantity.  

All this to say….YUMMMM! I made the right choice this morning, and I’m enjoying my Cup of Excellence from my beloved Brasil.

ps. Don’t panic!  Tomorrow I will try the Tanzanian Peaberry and let you know the outcome of that too.