Saturday, November 10, 2007
Texans in the West Bank #5 provided by Jack
It is difficult to find words to do justice to the history and significance of the “old city” in Jerusalem. Invaded twenty-eight times, dominated by twelve different foreign powers, claimed by three world religions – Jerusalem is a multi-layered marvel, full of conflicts, contradictions and re-used stones.Today, we followed the path Jesus took from his arrest until he was laid in the tomb. (Of course, the exact location of several of these events is hotly debated and the appearance of many of them has been so radically altered by the “faithful” that they bear little, if any, resemblance to what people of Jesus time would have seen and experienced.) In spite of this, to walk some of the same paths (and even some of the same stones) that Jesus walked, to see the land and the people, and to experience some of the same conflicts and tensions that he faced, is a sobering and enriching experience. It is also sobering and encouraging to realize that Jesus’ love and salvation reach beyond human barriers and boundaries. They penetrate the hearts of people and draw them to him any time his people respond to his call.It is also difficult to find words to tell about our experience tonight at the Culture Center of Ramallah. A new film, which tells the story of Jesus’ ministry through the eyes of Mary Magdellan, was presented there and we were privileged to help. Over 1200 people came. The theater only seats 800 so many were standing. A thousand copies of the film were handed out at the end. We were divided into two groups. Some of us prayed for those who watched the film. The rest of us helped a group of about ten young Palestinian Christians work with about 120 children under ten who came. Before the showing, we met with the young Palestinians and prayed for the showing. This is the first time that the film has been shown to the public and no one was sure what would happen. But we knew who would be in control It was awesome.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Texans in the West Banks #4
Friday, November 09, 2007
Texans in the West Bank #4 provided by Jack
Early this morning our team headed for Bethlehem, birthplace of ourLord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We met with the Palestinian Christianleadership in Bethlehem in preparation to go in several teams to takefood supplies to needy Palestinian Christian families. One particular home we visited included a ninety-two year old motherand her daughter. The daughter thanked us for the food and shared howChrist had healed her from blindness. As she talked, she stood up,raised her hands in the air and began shouting praises to God for hishealing and protection. We all joined with her in praising God forHis goodness.I am always humbled by the faith Palestinians Christians have inJesus. Each team visited eight to ten families, bringing food and theblessings of Christ. We heard story after story of hardship, illnessand poverty. Yet their faith in Christ remains strong. I am always humbled by that fact.Later in the day, we drove down to Jericho to visit some believers from Gaza. They had just evacuated from the Gaza Strip, several of them having death threats on their lives from people who want them to renounce their faith in Christ. These are all members of the same church where Rami Ayaad was a member. Rami was a believer who was martyred for his faith in Christ several weeks ago. The grief and sadness of these friends was evident as we gathered with them for prayer. It was clear the Holy Spirit was present in the prayer meeting that night. God's comfort, blessings and peace was among us as we sharedour love for the believers. I pray for God to use the death of Rami to reach the people in the Gaza Strip for Jesus Christ. As we rode back to our apartment that night, we reflected on our deep abiding love for these believers and continued to pray God's blessings and protection upon them all. Please join with us in this prayer. JS
Texans in the West Bank #4 provided by Jack
Early this morning our team headed for Bethlehem, birthplace of ourLord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We met with the Palestinian Christianleadership in Bethlehem in preparation to go in several teams to takefood supplies to needy Palestinian Christian families. One particular home we visited included a ninety-two year old motherand her daughter. The daughter thanked us for the food and shared howChrist had healed her from blindness. As she talked, she stood up,raised her hands in the air and began shouting praises to God for hishealing and protection. We all joined with her in praising God forHis goodness.I am always humbled by the faith Palestinians Christians have inJesus. Each team visited eight to ten families, bringing food and theblessings of Christ. We heard story after story of hardship, illnessand poverty. Yet their faith in Christ remains strong. I am always humbled by that fact.Later in the day, we drove down to Jericho to visit some believers from Gaza. They had just evacuated from the Gaza Strip, several of them having death threats on their lives from people who want them to renounce their faith in Christ. These are all members of the same church where Rami Ayaad was a member. Rami was a believer who was martyred for his faith in Christ several weeks ago. The grief and sadness of these friends was evident as we gathered with them for prayer. It was clear the Holy Spirit was present in the prayer meeting that night. God's comfort, blessings and peace was among us as we sharedour love for the believers. I pray for God to use the death of Rami to reach the people in the Gaza Strip for Jesus Christ. As we rode back to our apartment that night, we reflected on our deep abiding love for these believers and continued to pray God's blessings and protection upon them all. Please join with us in this prayer. JS
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Texans in the West Bank #3
As posted on Wednesday, November 7 by Jack
We started the morning about 9:00 a.m. with a devotional before going out to some nearby villages. Our first stop was to deliver books to a school in a small village of about 600 people. The school has 120 elementary students in grades K-6. Upon arrival at the school, the children were on a recess break and we were greeted by both the students and school staff. We were received with many smiles by the school staff and children. The children wanted us to shake their hands as we walked into their school grounds. Numerous photos were requested, as the children wanted their pictures taken so that they could see themselves on the digital camera lcds. Here at the school we delivered 60 well-received books to their modest library. Also delivered to school staff were hunger relief supplies. From the school we walked down the road to a home that was visited by the PAL Team last year. The home is located just across a narrow street from the mosque. Last year the team painted the inside of the home and delivered items to the family. This year as we walked onto their property, we were greeted by three women and four children. We were shown yesterday's new arrivals to their small goat farm, two baby goats. The area where the goats live is attached directly to their house and just outside of the kitchen. The women invited us into their home for tea. We visited for a time, talked about their families' and gave the children some stuffed animals. We also provided some hunger relief supplies.The older woman of the home showed us some impressive needlework she has done. She showed us two dresses that were decorated with needlework. She also showed us some of her smaller items, including pillowcases and purses. A number of her wares were purchased by the PAL Team. From this house, we drove away from the Village back towards our apartment. We stopped along the way at hillside location with a view of the Village just visited. Here upon this dry and dusty hill we prayed for the small Village, the children and their families. During our prayer, we could hear the call-to-prayer sounds coming from the mosque. We proceeded next to one more home. We drove to another Village who was an acquaintance of one of the PAL Team members. Here we were greeted by a younger man then two women, one much older than the other. Here at this location we were shown the closeness of the family unit. There were five homes or so near each other. All of residents of these homes were related and it appeared to be a tight-knit family unit. There was much excitement by the family members as a brother was to be married tomorrow. His wife-to-be was from another village about 45 km away. We were served juice to drink by the young man we were visiting. This was the first time we had a man serve us while the women were present. The two women were sitting and talking with our group as the young man served us the drinks. We visited with the two women and young man for a time. The one to be most engaged in the conversation was the woman who was perhaps 35 or so. We provided hunger relief supplies to the five related families. We then joined for a prayer of blessing on tomorrows wedding, for much-needed rain and for the families. The homes visited today are stretched financially since the only work available for the men of these families is through day labor. Here it is a disgrace for a man not to work, however it is extremely challenging, if not impossible for many to sustain their families. Onward we went to our apartment for lunch and a break. From here, six of us drove to the Dead Sea. We had the opportunity to stop and take some pictures of some hillside caves. Upon arrival at the Dead Sea, we observed many uniformed teenage girls engaged in prayer. They appeared to be Hasidic Jews given their style of reading and prayer. Walking down the path to the shoreline, there were people coming up from the water whose skin looked like it was covered with tar. Some people cover their bodies with the black mud found at the bottom of the Dead Sea as a rejuvenating skin treatment. We were able to gather some stones from the shoreline and test the waters with our toes. Sunset came shortly after arrival at the shore, as the sun sets about 5:00 p.m. We could see the lights of Jordan across the Sea on our way back to the apartment. We arrived back at the apartment about 7:00 p.m. for a time of supper and fellowship.
We started the morning about 9:00 a.m. with a devotional before going out to some nearby villages. Our first stop was to deliver books to a school in a small village of about 600 people. The school has 120 elementary students in grades K-6. Upon arrival at the school, the children were on a recess break and we were greeted by both the students and school staff. We were received with many smiles by the school staff and children. The children wanted us to shake their hands as we walked into their school grounds. Numerous photos were requested, as the children wanted their pictures taken so that they could see themselves on the digital camera lcds. Here at the school we delivered 60 well-received books to their modest library. Also delivered to school staff were hunger relief supplies. From the school we walked down the road to a home that was visited by the PAL Team last year. The home is located just across a narrow street from the mosque. Last year the team painted the inside of the home and delivered items to the family. This year as we walked onto their property, we were greeted by three women and four children. We were shown yesterday's new arrivals to their small goat farm, two baby goats. The area where the goats live is attached directly to their house and just outside of the kitchen. The women invited us into their home for tea. We visited for a time, talked about their families' and gave the children some stuffed animals. We also provided some hunger relief supplies.The older woman of the home showed us some impressive needlework she has done. She showed us two dresses that were decorated with needlework. She also showed us some of her smaller items, including pillowcases and purses. A number of her wares were purchased by the PAL Team. From this house, we drove away from the Village back towards our apartment. We stopped along the way at hillside location with a view of the Village just visited. Here upon this dry and dusty hill we prayed for the small Village, the children and their families. During our prayer, we could hear the call-to-prayer sounds coming from the mosque. We proceeded next to one more home. We drove to another Village who was an acquaintance of one of the PAL Team members. Here we were greeted by a younger man then two women, one much older than the other. Here at this location we were shown the closeness of the family unit. There were five homes or so near each other. All of residents of these homes were related and it appeared to be a tight-knit family unit. There was much excitement by the family members as a brother was to be married tomorrow. His wife-to-be was from another village about 45 km away. We were served juice to drink by the young man we were visiting. This was the first time we had a man serve us while the women were present. The two women were sitting and talking with our group as the young man served us the drinks. We visited with the two women and young man for a time. The one to be most engaged in the conversation was the woman who was perhaps 35 or so. We provided hunger relief supplies to the five related families. We then joined for a prayer of blessing on tomorrows wedding, for much-needed rain and for the families. The homes visited today are stretched financially since the only work available for the men of these families is through day labor. Here it is a disgrace for a man not to work, however it is extremely challenging, if not impossible for many to sustain their families. Onward we went to our apartment for lunch and a break. From here, six of us drove to the Dead Sea. We had the opportunity to stop and take some pictures of some hillside caves. Upon arrival at the Dead Sea, we observed many uniformed teenage girls engaged in prayer. They appeared to be Hasidic Jews given their style of reading and prayer. Walking down the path to the shoreline, there were people coming up from the water whose skin looked like it was covered with tar. Some people cover their bodies with the black mud found at the bottom of the Dead Sea as a rejuvenating skin treatment. We were able to gather some stones from the shoreline and test the waters with our toes. Sunset came shortly after arrival at the shore, as the sun sets about 5:00 p.m. We could see the lights of Jordan across the Sea on our way back to the apartment. We arrived back at the apartment about 7:00 p.m. for a time of supper and fellowship.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Texans in the West Bank
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Texans in the West Bank #2
From Jack and the Team
We began the day with breakfast and prayer for the families we would visit today. Our prayer was for the H S to go before us and prepare the hearts of the people.We traveled to a village which is about 8km from the town we are staying in, but we had to travel about 25km to get there due to road access around the mountains.We divided into two teams to be able to visit more families. Our team visited with 3 families. Each visit was to a family including several generations... a mother, daughters and/or daughters-in-law and many grandchildren. Each family was obviously very poor but insisted on serving us coffee and tea, which was very good. There was only one man present in one family, none in the others. The women said the men were away looking for work. The second family, where the uncle was present, was grinding wheat to make flat bread as we arrived. After the uncle finished grinding, he came in to be with us while the daughter prepared the bread. She used an outside oven consisting of hot charcoal under stones. The dough was flattened, like tortillas, and placed on the hot stones to bake. We were given two flat breads as we were leaving. It was delicious. Each family had heavy burdens that they shared with us of poverty, lack of work, health problems and family members separated from them because borders have changed. They can no longer cross borders to visit family.Our purpose was to show them love through our visit and encouragement and small gifts for their children. My prayer is that each family will remember our visit each time they eat the food.
You may also log on to WWW.PALWALK.BLOGSPOT.COM
Texans in the West Bank #2
From Jack and the Team
We began the day with breakfast and prayer for the families we would visit today. Our prayer was for the H S to go before us and prepare the hearts of the people.We traveled to a village which is about 8km from the town we are staying in, but we had to travel about 25km to get there due to road access around the mountains.We divided into two teams to be able to visit more families. Our team visited with 3 families. Each visit was to a family including several generations... a mother, daughters and/or daughters-in-law and many grandchildren. Each family was obviously very poor but insisted on serving us coffee and tea, which was very good. There was only one man present in one family, none in the others. The women said the men were away looking for work. The second family, where the uncle was present, was grinding wheat to make flat bread as we arrived. After the uncle finished grinding, he came in to be with us while the daughter prepared the bread. She used an outside oven consisting of hot charcoal under stones. The dough was flattened, like tortillas, and placed on the hot stones to bake. We were given two flat breads as we were leaving. It was delicious. Each family had heavy burdens that they shared with us of poverty, lack of work, health problems and family members separated from them because borders have changed. They can no longer cross borders to visit family.Our purpose was to show them love through our visit and encouragement and small gifts for their children. My prayer is that each family will remember our visit each time they eat the food.
You may also log on to WWW.PALWALK.BLOGSPOT.COM
Texans in the West Bank
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Texans in the West Bank#1
We started out in New Jersey airport and ended up here. Seven of us arrived on Saturday morning and have gotten off to a great start! I and two other team members visited and encouraged a good Palestinian friend of ours, while the rest of the team toured outside the Old City of Jerusalem...seeing key Biblical sites: Mt. of Olives, Garden of Gethsemani and Caiphas' house. Virginia was taken back by the lifesize statue of Peter's denial...Peter's hands were lifted in denial and his head seemed to be shaking "No, I don't even know the Man." As I write this, I see the irony of this statement....That is why we are here! Day one was full! Today we worshipped the Lord with local Palestinian Christians. They sang in Arabic as we sang and hummed along. Some songs we recognized by the tune...but others???? No clue! I sung along inserting my own words in a form of a prayer over the church members. To my surpise, the message echoed my prayer. God is in our midst!
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Texans in the West Bank#1
We started out in New Jersey airport and ended up here. Seven of us arrived on Saturday morning and have gotten off to a great start! I and two other team members visited and encouraged a good Palestinian friend of ours, while the rest of the team toured outside the Old City of Jerusalem...seeing key Biblical sites: Mt. of Olives, Garden of Gethsemani and Caiphas' house. Virginia was taken back by the lifesize statue of Peter's denial...Peter's hands were lifted in denial and his head seemed to be shaking "No, I don't even know the Man." As I write this, I see the irony of this statement....That is why we are here! Day one was full! Today we worshipped the Lord with local Palestinian Christians. They sang in Arabic as we sang and hummed along. Some songs we recognized by the tune...but others???? No clue! I sung along inserting my own words in a form of a prayer over the church members. To my surpise, the message echoed my prayer. God is in our midst!
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