Category: Uncategorized

Saturday, November 1, 2014

We left at 4:30 AM this morning for Fabens, Texas, just a few miles from the city of El Paso. I had forgotten how fabulously beautiful the mountains are in this part of the country. My road companions are Dennis, my husband, and three dear friends from our church…Penny and Galen, who are married and he is a deacon in our church at First Baptist Church in Baird. And then there’s Matthew. He is our mighty leader and had been on this mission trip before. As have the others. I am the newbie on this specific trip.

Our first stop was to visit a small church in San Elizario to visit Pastor Mario. His air conditioner and heater hasn’t worked in over a year in his little church. Dennis, Galen and Matthew brought tools to fix it. Pastor Mario was so happy. As the men were working I sat in the turquoise blue velvet pew seats. The buttons were missing and the covers had slipped out of position. I reached for the tattered bible in the slot in front of me. It was in Spanish and as I read the books of the bible I was intrigued at the book’s names not being in English. But what I noticed mostly is that very few bibles had covers, nearly all of them were missing. All were completely worn out. I looked around the church. 6 rows of pews on 2 sides. 4 slots on the back of each pew to hold bibles and hymnals. Nearly all of the slots were empty. I walked up and down the isles and there were, maybe, just 7 or 8 bibles in the entire church. 2 bibles in English and the rest in Spanish. I suddenly knew what this little church needed and when we left for the day I told Brother Mario that our church was going to send him a new set of bibles, English and Spanish. Some of the children in this community know English and like to read in English. Can’t wait to get home and ship them off for him.

As we drove back to Fabens to the Tapestries of Life compound we meet Danny Brewer and his wife Stephanie, Trinity, their daughter, Amanda Brewer, Danny’s sister and all the children that live there. There are 5 of them. They immediately take care of us and make sure we have everything that we need. The kids are vibrant and love visiting with us. I am taken with each one of them. Tomorrow, we attend a big church in the community. Looking forward to that. We met the two groups from Iowa who have come to work with us. There are about 15 of them. Some drove. Some flew. Lovely people of God. The ladies are bunking in one section of the compound and the guys are on the other side. All of the comforts of home are here. There is a large kitchen and community area. As we wound down for the evening, Matthew and I taught Penny how to shoot pool while the kids played foosball. She beat us both at pool. We think she already knew. Beginners luck. Ahaha!

Looking forward to church tomorrow in El Paso at Abundant Living Faith Center.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

We are up and out of the Tapestries of Life outpost to drive to El Paso to Abundant Living Church. Beautiful. Amazing. It’s a non-denominational mega church. The presentation of God’s word is much like the format that Beltway has in Abilene. Every person we met was welcoming and loving. I love seeing children’s ministry as a major focus on these young churches. And as I stood outside after the service, I watched as young couple after young family led their toddlers and teenagers to the service. It made my heart warm to know that these families of young and old were preparing the foundation for the future. God is good. This church had four services today, and one Saturday night. Tapestries of Life has a major presence here and the pastor recognized our attendance during the announcements. We were humbled to be there. So many handshakes and kisses on our cheeks. The love of God so present in these gracious families. They knew we were going to Juarez on Wednesday and gave us canned food to take with us. Pallets of food. What a blessing this church has for missions and people. We are blessed. I could hardly keep from weeping at this level of mercy that God presented to us.

We headed back to Tapestries of Life in Fabens for lunch. Danny, the camp leader’s son, took us into Mexico to see the orphanage outside of Guadalupe. As we crossed the border it was immediately evident what the drug cartels have done to this community. What once was a thriving community, it is clear these people are at the mercy of crime in Juarez. The homes and businesses are tattered and crumbling. There is nothing newly constructed. There is no infrastructure to support businesses. So many tiny stores with dirt porches. Men, women and children sitting in cars watching us as we drive by in two vans full of Americans. The vans have the Tapestries of Life logo and they know where we are headed. They nod and wave at us as we drive by. Smiles on their faces. It’s about 30 miles to our destination on dirt roads that wind through the hills. The mountains are beautiful. And as we pulled up to the orphanage, the overwhelming presence of God is enveloping us as we drive through the gate. This place is meant to eventually house 400 children and 25 babies, all for adoption. 55,000 square feet on 27 acres. 2 stories. The building is shaped like a giant cross from above. Each wing facing North, South, East and West. There is a 5 foot stucco fence protecting the perimeter of this place. Today we are just visiting to look around and see how much has been done since the team from our church was here in July. Although there are weekly teams that come out, our group was amazed at the progress and they were smiling as more of this place was getting finished out. Girls rooms painted with Disney princesses. Water falls. Castles. Forests with animated animals. Noah’s ark. They boys had images of shielded warriors. Medieval horses. Farm animals. I have heard the stories that his place is covered with the sweat of loving, hard working, skilled Christian men, women and children. Yes, entire families from all over the country come in the summer time and the thresholds of these rooms are designed with mosaic tiles by children. Tomorrow, we come to work.

My heart is full.

Monday, November 3, 2014

It’s 7:00 AM and we are all here at the compound. There are ladies at the orphanage who are preparing our breakfast. We will be there by 8:30. But first, Pastor Steve, gives us a word and tell us about how God is bringing money into this very large project. The kitchen needs a roof. It’s going to take $30,000. He tells us of a man he doesn’t know at Lowe’s. This man runs up to him and says, “Pastor Steve need to talk to you.” OK. “I have a very large gift I need to give you in in December.” OK. The man gives Steve a card. He owns a roofing company. The man is coming to build his $30,000 roof over the kitchen and cafeteria which is a separate building. Steve is in tears as he is telling his story. This is how God moves in the mission field for those who have the faith to follow. This is how this entire 55,000, 10 million dollar, commercial site has been built. Faith. Money and people and brick and concrete and windows and stone masons and painters. Today, I worked with a group of ladies painting children’s rooms that were unfinished. A clay pot for an unfinished butterfly bush in one of the girl’s bathrooms. Dennis is hanging light fixtures on the first floor. Some of the volunteers are laying stone in a wall, hanging windows, grouting tile, and varnishing doors. We are busy walking up and down the 2 story facility. They only need $800,000 to finish this orphanage. It will come. We know it. They know it. Working here is hard and fulfilling. I am so glad I came. This physical work is a blessing. Such a good day.

P.S. I should tell you about this evening at the compound. There is a young woman here named Jean. She lives here with the family that runs this outpost. She was rescued from the streets. Abused. She is 31. She wanders the hallways quoting scripture. She has completely covered all her body with clothes, including covering her head with a hood. She is beautiful and looks 14 years old. But she is distant and is making the others here uncomfortable with the wall she has created for herself. I was drawn to her the moment I got here on Saturday. We have become friends and many of the women here, including myself have befriended her. She is very private. She cannot be touched. Her OCD makes her wash her hands a lot. She is afraid of germs. She does not want to be touched. No hugs. No patting on the back. After talking to her tonight at length with much laughing and crying, she allowed me to hug her. Just for a moment. Twice. More on this as the week goes on. God has us here for more than one reason. For real.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Mercy Day happens when Tapestries of Life takes $4,000 and buys food at the grocery store in Juarez. We purchase enough food for 350 families that includes beans, rice, tomatoes, lettuce, jalapenos, onions, bread, cheese, bananas, eggs, butter, canned green chilies, canned vegetables, and toilet paper. Specific gifts come in boxes from churches as far away as Iowa and Pennsylvania and include tooth brushes, suckers, bibles, cookies and home made quilts for the children. There are three Tapestries of Life vans, one pulling a flatbed trailer with all of the groceries. The other two carrying the mission team of 26 people. We drive deep into the heart of Juarez, passed the fancy buildings, passed the nice neighborhoods, passed the busy streets. Suddenly, the houses get smaller, the roads very narrow and there are no yards, just dirty roads and tiny houses with tin roofs. It was like switching a channel on the TV. I can’t imagine in my mind what has happened. We drive deep into a neighborhood and up a terribly steep hill. Before I know it there are parked cars on both sides of the narrow road and we are but one lane pushing up the hill. To my right are nearly 500 people sitting outside on the side of a hill in fold out chairs, under a tarp. The pastor is a the top of the hill preaching to them in Spanish. They see us pull up and the service continues. As we pull the food from the vans and trailers, they turn to see us with these huge smiles on their faces. They know why we are there. Each family has a ticket to receive food from this church through us. As we organize the food and carry food up a steep stairway into the tiny church, the pastor continues to preach in Spanish. Before I know it, there are men and women lined up at the front of the group, about 30 of them, receiving Jesus into their lives. I know what is happening. I don’t understand their words, but I know that God is present and that these people have committed their lives at this moment. I thank God for allowing me to be here for this. We are blessed to witness such an event. I cry.

Each of us has a job here. Some are giving away food. Dennis is passing out beans and rice at his station. One of the ladies is handing out bibles, another toys, others…more food. A church up north has sewn handmade bags for these Mexican people to carry their goods in. They will use these bags again and again to carry things in them. They are happy to have them. My job is to walk among the women who have babies they are carrying. I reach out my hands to a young mother of a sleeping baby. She is not reluctant. I speak only a few words I know in Spanish. None of them know English, except “Thank you” and “God bless you.” I hug and kiss on about four of these moms and babies, and then I see out of the corner of my eye an elderly woman nearly slipping on the last step as they come down from the steep incline from the little church high above. I reach her quickly and help her down with her bag in hand. She speaks to me and kisses my cheek. So there I stayed for the rest of the time. Reaching out to each mom and grandmother there. The dads and grandfathers shook my hand and blessed me with something in Spanish. I just shook their hands and patted their backs. Their sincerity and love was overwhelming. The gratefulness in their hearts was so genuine. I am not sure I have ever experienced this kind of love from people who didn’t even know us. That’s how God is. Just love them, He said. That is the language of Jesus’ entire ministry. Just love them. There are no words necessary. We can see it in each other’s eyes and in our touch and hugs and kisses. And even though I wanted to speak something wonderful to each of them in Spanish, I knew this gift of love was enough for them. It was the same for them to me.

And as we handed out the last bag, it made my heart full to see little children running around with half eaten cookies in their hands and crumbs on their faces, wrapped in blankets that came from the sewing rooms of churches that would not see this joy. How could I be so blessed. It was also a blessing to know that each family had food for a week and that we had some to leave behind in the church for others who would not be here this day. Before we left, we all gathered in the tiny church. We prayed with the pastor and his wife and their children and immediate family and workers. We took up an offering for them in a ziplock bag and it was full of pesos and dollar bills.

Right before we left, my buddy Jason who spoke Spanish is one of our guys from Iowa. He helped me talk to a little girl named Abby. She was eight. She had a new bracelet from one of the ladies handing out toys earlier. She was looking at the bracelets on my arm and touching each one and stopped on one that had turquoise beads on it. I rolled it off my wrist and I touched her hand. As I gave her the bracelet, she grinned and rolled it up her arm. She said, “For my mama!” in English. I said yes, yes, yes. And as I leaned over to Abby and kissed her on the forehead, it dawned on me that I never wanted to leave these people. How much they have changed me.

By now it is dark. Pastor Steve did not want to leave Juarez in the dark. But I had such a peace about me, never once was there fear. Not once. Even in these dark places, no fear.

Friday, November 7, 2014

We have been so busy at the orphanage. This is the last day we are all together. Our friendships we have made here with the two teams from Iowa have become a life long bond we have with each one of these men and women of God. Each one will be missed. We have connected with each one on Facebook so that we can keep in touch. We have posted pictures on Facebook and by now many of you have seen the pictures. If you are not connected with me on Facebook, then I encourage you to send me a friend request and see the hundreds of photos that we have taken and shared with each other. My heart is so full of love for these people at the outpost and their devotion to the Mexican people, my church family that is with me, the cooks at the orphanage, the Mexican workers that we picked up in Guadalupe on the way to the orphanage, the Iowa people’s love for this place. For some of them it is their 9th visit. Our church has been here 4 times. This is my first with them. There are so many stories at so many levels. I am forever changed.

One young woman I should mention is Rut Sanchez. She lives here at the outpost for now. She quit college to live in Fabens to care for her 4 nieces and nephews that were abandoned by their mother in Oklahoma. They are Vladimir (15), Arley (12), Adaley (12) and Emilio (12)…these three are triplets. Two identical girls and a boy. We have been quite the buddies at our stay at the outpost. Their birth mother left them in a shack in Guadalupe all alone. Their grandparents who live in Guadalupe were taking care of them. These kids are American citizens. Pastor Steve found them and brought them to the outpost so that they could go to school and be taken care of here in Fabens. Rut has full custody of them. She quit school and works at the local convenience store around the corner so that she can care for them. She is the same age as Ivy. I cannot imagine such responsibility for a young woman. But she loves them and is taking such good care of them. She is waiting for housing assistance in an apartment complex down the street where she will live with them. Pray that she qualifies for help. Pray that CPS will let her keep them. Pray that she can go back to school. Rut calls me “mama!” She gave me a bracelet before I left and hugged me and said, “Please do not forget us.” I told her of course I would not. My heart is breaking as we leave tomorrow for our journey back to Baird. My mission in life has been changed and now I know of so many things that will happen because of this experience. I may ask you for help. You may feel led to reach out. Please do. I welcome it. Our mission for Fabens and Mexico will be ongoing, but I will tell you now I have many missions in mind for my local community. And even though we are so blessed here, there are still hurting people that do not know Jesus. I am making changes there too for people here.

Tomorrow is Saturday and a full day of travel for us. So much thankfulness to God for this experience and the changes we can make in our lives to help those who do not know our Lord. We are blessed.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

It is full day of church today. Morning service was awesome as our mission team is welcomed back with open arms from our church family. Hugs and love and appreciation. We have choir practice at 5:00 for our Christmas musical in about 4 weeks. I am buying groceries this afternoon. No nap today. It’s good. I am rejuvenated by my experience. I should be exhausted. Choir practice was amazing. Our evening service is time for the five of us to give an account for our trip. Our testimony. And as each of us stood in front of our church, the tears and compassion in our community was evident. I told them about my first day at San Elizario with Brother Mario and about the bibles he needed. I said all I needed was $80. $40 for 32 English bibles and $40 for 32 Spanish bibles. They have cases of them at Lifeway. I mentioned that they could get with our Pastor Jimmy about the money. By the end of the service, Pastor Jimmy came to me and showed me a handful of cash and checks over $400 and said we would be able to buy them more than paperback bibles, we could get them some nice ones. You see, God gives more that what we ask for. I am humbled by His generosity and love he places in the hearts of His people. I pray every day that I can remember to ask him for these things and expect more when His will is in our hearts. Other requests were fulfilled and I am humbled by the compassion and generosity of our little church in Baird, Texas.

P.S.S. Remember Jean? By the time we got ready to leave, I had her laughing out loud with us at the outpost. The dozens of cookies I baked before I left Baird ended up being the tool I used to get to her. She blessed me every day by thanking me for leaving her two cookies every morning and evening beside her bed on a napkin. Her appetite increased during the week. She was smiling and allowed me to hug her each day. But on the last day, when we said goodbye, I told her I needed just ONE thing from her. She smiled like a ten year old and walked up to me and gave ME the hug. This was a huge thing for her. And I could see that darkness that Satan had begun starting to leave her. I noticed her bible was in pieces and asked her if I could get her a new one. She was hesitant, but said if I could send her a Catholic bible, then she would accept. You see, the book of Maccabees is in the old testament and that is one of her favorite books. I told her I would. You see, it’s just love, just love, just love. While others were afraid of her presence, God took this big old mama’s heart, and first born sibling of my family and tugged me towards Jean. You see, she and I have the same name. I am Kathryn “Jean” Byram. God makes each of us for special things. We each have a purpose in His kingdom. Every one of us. This week, Jean was there for me to reach out to when others did not know how to help her. I was really the odd man out. But God takes our oddness, my oddness, and turns it into His work. Never doubt your place in growing the kingdom…what seems odd to you is the light of Jesus Christ to someone else, even if it‘s just for one. NEVER forget that!

Amen to you, brothers and sisters.

Follow me on Facebook to see the pictures, search “Kathy Davis Byram”

I have had a blast these past two weeks.  My first week, I did volunteer work.  The second week was a quiet and relaxing week.  Both weeks were GREAT!

I started my first week by volunteering a couple of times at Meals on Wheels.  That is always enjoyable.

But I spent the majority of that first week at Disability Resources here in Abilene, TX.

Dennis and Reegin work there full time, and are they both very impressive.

Their hearts are full of compassion and patience and are both very humble.

I had no idea what to expect and did not know what my week would include.  I came away so incredibly blessed.

Disability Resources is a Christian organization that helps others with different sets of challenges learn very useful skills.  These skills are used to socialize with others and with the hope that they can put their skills to use with a job.  They even have a set of products that they both make and sell such as salsa and chow chow.   I was greeted many times with a handshake and an introduction.  They are affectionately called, “folks.”

Some of the folks live at DRI, there are four houses off campus, and some go home at the end of the day.

My week at DRI was wonderful.  I got very attached to the folks out there and was sad to see the week pass by so quickly.

The week included activities like BINGO, and bowling, and a couple of days of one-on-one time.

My first day caught me off guard.  One of the folks decided he wanted me as his new mom.  I asked him if his dad was aware that he was trying to fix him up.  I was told, “Now, now, now, let’s just keep this on the low.”

A highlight was Tuesday evening.  Once a month, the folks have an evening worship service.  They read scripture, and provide the music.  When one of the folks finished reading scripture, she was treated like a rock star.  Everyone erupted into applause and cheering.  She was proud of herself, and rightfully so, that she pumped her fists in the air.

Another highlight was Wednesday.  Dennis and I took five of the folks bowling.  Dennis informed me that they take their bowling very seriously.  And that is very true. After every turn of one young man, he would come up to me, laugh, and say, “You’re going down.”  And he was right.  He beat me fair and square.

A very special highlight was one-on-one time with a man with Down’s Syndrome.  During free time, he was made aware that we would be hanging out together.  He was not thrilled at all that I interrupted his free time.  When free time was over, it was time for us to spend time together.  He still was not happy about that.  I can only credit God for this because it was not my doing, but at some point, he did not mind spending time with me.  When it was break time, he asked if he could have his glass of water then come back to our project:  coloring pictures.  I said that was fine.  I figured he would want some space during break time, but he came and sat next to me.  Then when we headed back to our project, he held my hand back to our table.

The next day at BINGO, he sat next to me.  He looked over and said, “You come back anytime you want.”

This was a very special week.  I hope to go back!

Thank you very much for this wonderfully amazing opportunity.  I am grateful that we have been given time to be a Helper of People.

THANKFUL is the best way to describe the last two weeks.  Thankful for the opportunity to be part of the group from Beltway Park Baptist Church who assisted the Tents of Mercy congregations in Israel with conducting a Vacation Bible School type event for area children.  Thankful for a few days to once again tour the Holy Land and see some familiar sites as well as a few that I had not seen before.  Thankful for the prayers that were offered for our safety and security.  And thankful for being back in the U S A and especially for being in TEXAS!!

The original plan for us was to have an overnight camp for the kids at the Baptist Campground in central Israel.  That proved to be unsafe due to the war that has been happening  and all the rockets that have been fired into Israel by Hamas.  So instead, the kids were hosted by volunteer families in the North and brought to one of the congregations each morning for “Vacation Bible School”.   I have to admit, when the only language you speak is “Texan” it is next to impossible to verbally communicate with kids who speak Hebrew, Russian, German, or very, very broken English.  But, as one team member reminded me, a smile is easily understood by everyone and is truly the universal language.  My primary assignment was to “coach”  the kids who were interested in  baseball.  We let them hit the ball off a batting tee and run “loosely around the bases.”  There was great joy on the faces of the kids as they were chased, (but never caught) around the bases.  Of course, no one that I can remember was ever tagged out!

The theme that the leaders at the church built the week around is Psalm 46 and it could not have been more appropriate.

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.  So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.  Let the oceans roar and foam.  Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!  A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High.  God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed.  From the very break  of day, God will protect it.  The nations are in chaos, and their kingdoms crumble!  God’s voice thunders, and the earth melts!  The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us, the God of Israel is our fortress.  Come, see the glorious works of the Lord.  See how he brings destruction upon  the world.  He causes wars to end throughout the earth.  He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire.  “Be still and know that I am God!  I will be honored by every nation.  I will be honored throughout the world.”  The Lord of Heavens’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. 

I am pretty sure that there has never been a “Vacation Bible School” like this one.  I doubt that much, if any, Bible was taught or learned.  But, what I am sure is that the kids were loved and valued and were in an environment where they were made to feel important.  I think that they were in a safe haven, a place where they could be kids.  We were thanked over and over for coming to Israel.   They would have understood if we would have backed out due to the ongoing war with Hamas, but we were determined to proceed as the feeling was that this is what God wanted us to do.   The decision to go was simply the right thing to do and I am grateful that we did.  Maybe the best thing we did was by showing up, we demonstrated that our love for them far exceeded  our fear for our own personal safety and security. After all, God is sovereign and is in control, right, Pat Baxter?

There is more that I could share about the last two weeks, but here is not the place.  You will have to ask me!  I do want to express my thanks to Kris and the Company for the Helpers of People Program that allows us the time each year to take off from work and give back to others, whether on a mission trip or a service project.   What a tremendous BLESSING this Company is!  There is not another one like it.

RANDOM THOUGHTS AND REMEMBRANCES

• Our guide, Aaron (who some of you may remember from last year’s Incentive Trip), was awakened one morning by a siren alert and had to shepherd his family to the neighborhood bomb shelter
• A young man who had attended one of the Tents of Mercies congregations as a kid, was killed in the war while we were there
• Tents of Mercies is pursuing a plan to acquire some property so that a campground for various ministry activities can occur
• I distributed our “Prayer Coins” to a couple of individuals while in Israel
• One of the team members had her backpack pick pocketed while we were walking through Jerusalem one afternoon
• A security guard at Aaron’s residential community was stabbed one morning after the tour bus had come by and picked up Aaron prior to our touring that day
• One of the kids at the VBS asked me to do something for him that absolutely made my day (Hint:  This request had never happened to me before, but it was something that I had longed for since I was in elementary school!)
• Some new sites were seen and I learned some new things throughout our touring of Israel
• Just across the street from our hotel in Jerusalem a crazed terrorist rammed a bus with his vehicle, flipping the bus over, killing a pedestrian and injuring some people.  The police shot and killed the terrorist.  This happened just before we checked into the hotel.
• Most of the Group was on international television one day – Did you see us? – Does the name Sean Hannity mean anything to you?  (I know Alvino loves his show on the Fox network.)
• Friendships were both formed and deepened
• Jesus walked on the Sea of Galilee, and all I could do was swim in it, but it was great!
• And finally, I can report with absolute certainty that the tomb in Jerusalem remains EMPTY!! Why?  Because, Matthew 28:5-6 tells us the truth:  Then the angel spoke to the women.  “Don’t be afraid!”, he said.  “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He isn’t here!  He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.”

This year I chose Love and Care Ministries for my volunteer project. I went into this with an open mind hoping to bless other people and learn something new about myself. I called Mick and set up my week and he was very nice and ready to put me to work. The first half of the week I worked in the clothing area sorting through the hundreds of bags of clothes donated and hanging them up to prepare them for the store. I have to say I was less than impressed with what some people choose to donate. I’m almost positive one of the bags I opened up was somebodies dirty laundry that had been sitting in a swampy basement for years. Quite disgusting. If anything this makes me want to shout out a PSA to everybody that has or will in the future donate clothing and such. DON’T DONATE YOUR GARBAGE!! Seriously….. It may be no big deal for you to throw some old, crappy, unwanted stuff in a garbage bag and consider it a donation but remember there are actual humans that have to sort through your nasty stuff that you so generously threw out. Be considerate! If you are wanting to help your community do it in a manner that you would want to accept it if it was given to you. End Rant. After a couple days in the clothing area I asked to move somewhere else. When you volunteer at places like this sometimes the other people in there “volunteering” along side you are actually the homeless themselves or people serving community service who don’t really want to be there. Some of the content of the conversations took on a vulgar tone and even I began to get offended which takes a lot. Mick was very understanding and moved me to the food pantry for the rest of the week. At the food pantry I met Don. He’s an older man that is retired and has been volunteering there for the last 3 years. He was a really great man and it was cool to see how he interacted with the homeless people. At the food pantry you actually get one on one face time with the homeless. Some of them are in and out with no appreciation for what they are getting. Some of them are very kind, sweet and appreciative of the tiny food kit they are given. Some are lonely and talk your ear off. Overall, I really enjoyed the food pantry and would love to go back to help sometime. I was impressed by how well the whole system is ran and how willing these people are to give so much of themselves to help other people, whether they are down on their luck or chose that lifestyle.

After my week of service I enjoyed my week of vacation that was full of school shopping, my birthday, my (almost) father in law cutting off two fingers with a table saw, lots of snocone eating and a bbq and s’mores celebration of our last day of summer. I’m glad to be back at work and my kids to be back at school. Thanks Kris and the board for another great opportunity.

It was a long drive home on Monday.  We unloaded in the church parking lot and said our goodbyes.  These were not the same people who left Abilene six days ago.  We may not have changed Chinle, but it certainly changed us.

Tuesday morning was the funeral for Michele.  As tragic as it was to lose a young friend, her service was full of hope and good memories because Michele was a Christian and we all know where she is now.  Jimmy stopped us after the service to tell us that our Navajo friend, Leroy,  had texted that his nephew had been killed on Sunday.  Jimmy has been praying for and witnessing to Leroy for 8 years.  We were all praying that Leroy might become a Christian while we were in Chinle, and we were disappointed when it didn’t happen.  But, God’s timing was at work and Leroy became a Christian on Tuesday afternoon!  We had learned early in the week that our plans are not always God’s plans – His always turn out so much better.  Once again, God said, “I’ve got this.”

We had seven days of laughter, tears, joy, sorrow, chaos, calm, excitement and amazement at what God can do.

The last revival service would be held this morning, so our Cooking Team showed up early to start preparations for our part of the lunch after the service.  It was such a fun week working with and getting to know each person on the team.

As were chopping vegetables, Pastor Jeff came in and asked if we would be serving grape Kool-Aid at lunch.  We’d made many gallons of it throughout the last week, and yes, it was on the menu for lunch.  He had found out that for various reasons Memorial Baptist had not had communion for many months, so he wanted to hold communion at the end of the service.  So…we filled communion cups with grape Kool-Aid.

The last revival service was overflowing with people, the music was great and Jeff hit a home run with the sermon.  He was able to use the unexpected death of our friend Michele as an illustration of how we never know when we might live our last day on earth.  He encouraged them to not delay the decision to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Although when no one walked down the aisle at the end of the service, it was a powerful service.

For our final lunch, we enjoyed delicious Fry Bread meal made by both our team and some of the ladies from Memorial Baptist.  We fellowshipped, exchanged email addresses and then loaded up for Albuquerque.  We left Chinle with a much lighter load after serving over 600 meals.  We left books, study materials, t-shirts and even noticed that several high school students ended up with Hardin-Simmons caps and back packs.

 We arrived in Albuquerque after at least 20 restroom stops – one 8 miles from the hotel – ok here’s where it would have been really nice to have had a bus.  We had a time of sharing about what we were taking home from the trip.  Many commented how we received a bigger blessing than the people of Chinle.  We talked about how proud we were of the students that were part of our group.  They witnessed to people in the Burger King, the streets, the baseball field and the parking lot.  They made crafts, gave piggy-back rides and loved on everyone they met.  We talked about how God had orchestrated everything we did, even though we didn’t recognize it at the time.  We reflected that just because we didn’t see results that day, everything happens in God’s timing and we felt like some seeds were planted this week that will produce positive results in the future.   Even so, it was worth every minute.

Day five was full of laughter, tears, joy, sorrow, chaos, calm, excitement and amazement at what God can do.

We took a few hours off on Saturday morning to hike Canyon de Chelly where the wind and water have carved out a beautiful desert canyon.  It’s a sacred place to the Navajo because it’s the home of their ancestors.  The path down to the bottom of the canyon was a mile and a half hike with ruins of the ancient cliff-dwellers at the bottom.  We were told that the canyon has been the site of several movies, most recently the opening scene in the remake of The Lone Ranger.

Having been to Chinle for 12 years in a row, Jimmy has made some good friends over the years.  Several of these friends, and some of the new friends that we met, went to the canyon with us so they could tell us about the canyon and their ancestors.

Our Navajo friends told us how their families have passed down the history of their ancestors.  Dennis said he learned many stories from his grandmother who still speaks only Navajo, and that she taught him the language.  His family meets in the canyon several times a year to camp.

There were five or six tables set up at the bottom of the canyon where vendors were selling jewelry and artifacts.  As I was supporting the local economy, Mark asked one of the craftsmen, a silversmith, how he learned his trade.  He proudly said that it had been passed down in his family for many generations.  He showed us a beautiful silver bracelet that told the history of his family.  It’s evident that they are very proud of their heritage, and it’s now a little easier to understand why it’s hard for them to leave the reservation even though life there has its difficulties.

When we returned from the canyon hike, we met back at the church where the Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen was holding their lunch for the community.  It is a much-needed service as evidenced by the long line of people.  Some of the ladies from our team went with them to deliver meals to the homebound.  They said that many of the homes on their stops didn’t even have electricity or running water.  Laura later commented how sad it made her that the shed where she keeps her lawnmower is nicer than some of these homes.

When we served people supper that night before the revival service, I noticed that many of them came back more than once – they were physically hungry.  God reminded me that day that I live a very fortunate life.  I have a good job, comfortable home, loving family and more stuff than I really need.  Many of the things I’ve come to consider necessities are merely just items of convenience.  The majority of people in Chinle need help with the basic necessities of life – food, water and Jesus.  While we can’t meet all of the needs in Chinle, we can change their lives by introducing them to Jesus.

Day four was full of laughter, tears, joy, sorrow, chaos, calm, excitement and amazement at what God can do.

After Thursday’s chaos, Friday was the complete opposite – it felt like the calm after the storm. Some of our college students switched from the D-Now Team to the VBS Team. VBS kids did crafts and learned Bible stories in one room, while the D-Now teens met in another room. The Baseball Camp was full of students from all ages wanting to learn about baseball. Mark and the Evangelism Team were out in the neighborhoods inviting people to the revival and meals. The Ladies’ Bible Study had so many ladies that they ran out of chairs.

My job was on the Cooking Team. We started working at 9:00 to prepare hamburgers for lunch. Even though we had some extra mouths to feed, we had food left over for the soup kitchen to freeze and use on another day. It is the Loaves and Fishes kitchen after all – so what else would you expect.

The VBS lesson for the day was “What to do When You’re Afraid”. Venita asked what things they were afraid of, and got answers like, “monsters under the bed”, “afraid of the dark” – the same as any other kids. She taught them how to talk to God whenever they’re afraid and that they will always have a friend in Jesus.
The night before when we were trying to put VBS together, Andrea had the great idea to download a Veggie Tales video on her computer for the kids to watch. When she started the video the next day, all of the adults in the room were floored. She had picked the video “Where’s God When I’m Scared?” without even knowing that it was the same theme as the VBS material! The video addressed all the same questions that Venita had asked earlier in the day. Hmmm…it seems that God really wanted us to have VBS in Chinle.

That evening we fed another 100 people spaghetti for supper, then had our first revival service. Two young men showed up after being invited to the meal and the service. After the service we immediately had our group meeting and when we were finished, we discovered that those two guys had been waiting in the parking lot for an hour to talk to Pastor Jeff. They ended up attending many of our activities during the weekend and even exchanged email addresses with several people in our group.

Day three was full of laughter, tears, joy, sorrow, chaos, calm, excitement and amazement at what God can do.

We started the morning in Albuquerque with a team pep talk and prayer. Our caravan arrived at 2:00 p.m., after at least 20 restroom stops, and pulled into the parking lot at Memorial Baptist Church – a small, five-room building with approximately 30 active members. Their soup kitchen, called Loaves and Fishes, feeds the community several times a month and delivers meals to the homebound.

Chinle is in the northwest corner of Arizona, about one hour from Gallup, NM. When I Googled “Chinle AZ”, the following information pulled up: The population of Chinle is 4518; 89.8% are American Indian; 45% of Chinle residents live in poverty; the median household income is $19,930; 31.8% of people over 25 are unemployed.  There are 7 businesses in town and little opportunity for employment.  The majority of those employed work for the schools and hospital.  Before we left I had a picture in my mind of what it would look like, and it turned out to be pretty close to what I saw when we arrived.

We unloaded all of the food and equipment and prepared for our 5:00 p.m. Session 1 activities – or at least we thought we were prepared. Mark and the other vans started off by picking up the kids for Baseball Camp and dropping them off at the high school. Then they picked up some more kids and brought them to the church for D-Now – there were a couple of teenagers and lots of elementary age kids. But wait…this isn’t what we had planned. The D-Now activities were planned for teens and would not be appropriate for the younger kids. The D-Now books we brought were for teens. The D-Now lessons were planned for teens. With children running around everywhere, the team had to launch from Disciple Now mode into Vacation Bible School mode. On the fly, they revamped the lessons, games, and music. For two hours, Alan sang every children’s song he could think of. The Cooking Team hadn’t planned VBS snacks, and these kids were starving, so we dipped out the ice cream we had bought to go on the peach cobbler for that evening’s fellowship. The afternoon felt like absolute chaos.

At 7:00 p.m., after the vans took the kids home, we moved chairs into the parking lot and had a sing-along and fellowship with the church members. Everyone was exhausted, but it was monsoon season with rain in the area and the temperature was perfect, the sunset across the desert was beautiful, and we were all calmed as we sang songs of praise.

We had our nightly group meeting after the fellowship and worked on a plan – a new plan – for the next day. We discussed the need to feed the VBS kids lunch and snacks, and whether someone would need to drive to Gallup to buy more food. Instead, a plan was devised to stretch the food we already had and make it work. Someone had already made a call to Pioneer Drive and they were emailing VBS curriculum before the night was over. Venita, from our Ladies’ Bible Study Team, said she would be glad to be in charge of the VBS. She’s an elementary school teacher and a pro at VBS. So Venita said, “Jimmy, I’ve got this.”

Day two was full of laughter, tears, joy, sorrow, chaos, calm, excitement and amazement at what God can do.

With instructions to leave town at 8:30, we were doing the last minute packing when Jimmy called with the sad news that a friend from our Sunday School Class had passed away during the night.  We could hardly believe that Michele Scott, a 46 year old wife, and mother of three teenagers, was gone.  We were numb as we thought about her husband Mike and their kids.  Then, it crossed our minds that our trip plans would probably need to be changed.

Jimmy went to the Scott’s house to see Mike and the kids.  The house was already full of friends who had already stopped by to grieve with them.  One of those people was our Youth Minister, Jeff.  Jeff had planned to go on the Chile trip to lead D-Now, but felt led to cancel since he would be gone most of the summer on youth trips, and that would be one more week away from his family.  That Wednesday morning at the Scott’s house, Jeff said “Go to Chinle…Jimmy, I’ve got this.”

The rest of us assembled in the church parking lot, waiting for word from Jimmy about whether our trip plans would be changed.  When he arrived we held a prayer time for the Scott family, and he told us the trip would go on.  Even through our sorrow, we had a mission to carry out.

So on Wednesday, July 24^th, 35 of us set out for the 703 mile trip to Chinle in four vans, one Suburban, two pick-ups and a trailer full of food, luggage and baseball equipment.  We arrived in Albuquerque for the night, after at least 20 restroom stops between Abilene and New Mexico.

After supper we held our group prayer time and talked about the plans for the next day.  It looked like Michele’s funeral service would be held on Tuesday when we returned to Abilene and the Scotts were being taken care of at home.  Jimmy talked to us about the passage in Mark when Jesus wanted to be alone right after the death of his cousin, John the Baptist, but the people needed him.  Even through His sorrow, He had a mission to carry out.  And so did we.

Day one was full of laughter, tears, joy, sorrow, chaos, calm, excitement and amazement at what God can do.

Shik’ihooldoh. I have no idea how to pronounce it, but it means “I’ve been set free” – the theme of our Revival services in Chinle, Arizona. Our group wore leather bracelets with Shik’ihooldoh printed on them as a reminder that Jesus came to set us free from all the sin and chains of this world. It’s the message that we went to share with the people of Chinle.

Jimmy Pogue, our trip organizer and leader, has taken high school students to Chinle as a service project for the last 12 years. His cousin from Arizona had introduced him to the needs of the people in Chinle, so each January the Cooper Student Council travels there to meet the physical needs of the Navajo by taking them food and clothing. But, Jimmy also saw a huge spiritual void in the lives of the Navajo people – one that only the love of Christ can fill. So in August 2011, he took the first group of Abilene church members to lead a revival and build a soup kitchen in the local Baptist church.

As with the first trip in 2011, Jimmy prayed that God would provide him with the names of the people from Abilene that He wanted to send to Chinle. Through that prayer, the 2013 Mission Chinle was assembled: a Revival Team, a Disciple Now Team, a Baseball Camp Team, a Cooking Team, a Ladies’ Bible Study Team, and Evangelism Team. I was on the Cooking Team and Mark was on the Evangelism Team. Many of those traveling with us had also been on the 2011 trip, and five were college students who had been to Chinle more than once when they were Cooper High School students. These five students were even more excited to return to Chinle to share their faith. For several months, we met on Sunday nights to make plans for the activities we would offer during the trip, and to worship together to prepare ourselves for the mission. Everyone agreed that it would be worth all the preparation if only one person made a decision for Christ.

Jimmy lined everything up, including a bus to take us to Chinle and the hotels where we would stay. In July, the bus company cancelled our reservation – because they had received a job that would pay them more money. Jimmy was discouraged and dreaded fact that we would have to caravan to Arizona instead of all riding in one bus. So he reluctantly rented 5 vans, disappointed that things weren’t working out like he planned. Later, when Jimmy talked with the pastor at Memorial Baptist, John told him there were 22 kids signed up to attend our D-Now and Baseball Camp, but they lived all over town and he didn’t know how they were going to get there. Hmmm…so maybe the vans will work out after all. And, it wasn’t the last time that God said, “Jimmy, I’ve got this.”

Lori and I were recently able to take Helpers of People leave to participate in a mission trip to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the Navajo in Chinle, Arizona. Our friend, Jimmy Pogue has led his Student Council members from Cooper High School to Chinle for 13 years each winter to bring food, clothes, and livestock feed. He has wanted to return to Chinle to share Christ’s love without carrying the shackles that come along with the public school system.

Jimmy carefully and prayerfully selected his team based on specific strengths and skills of each missionary and we carried 37 on the trip. We carried a revival pastoral team, a music team, a baseball camp team, a Disciple Now team (ministry aimed at teens), a women’s bible study team, a food team including Lori, and an evangelism team to hit the streets that included me.

Over the last year we made our plans, and then we made more plans, every “i” dotted and every “t” crossed down to the bus charter and where we would eat every meal along the way.
Then it began. A few weeks before we were leaving, the bus company sent our deposit back and informed us they were taking a charter that paid more. So we had to scramble to find vans to rent which saved us money that we were able to spend feeding people. Our plans were not His plans, so the plan was less than perfect. God speaks… You will need vans to transport my children.

One of my other responsibilities included supplying a truck to pull a trailer with equipment, food, and luggage. The morning we were leaving I was up early to go fill up the truck. As I was walking to the truck my phone rang and the ID said “Jimmy Pogue”. My response, “What does he need now?” When I answered, he informed me that one of our Sunday School members died in her sleep over night. Michele Scott was a vibrant 46 year old wife and mother of 3. Now I felt conflicted to whether we should stay to support this dear family or go at 8:30 as planned. Later, (I will come back to this) I would recognize the following verse as God speaking again in this situation: Romans 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.

We drove to Albuquerque the 1st night and we met again as a group to pray, share, and to go over our plans. We arrived in Chinle around 2:30 and unloaded to find that no advance work had been done by the new pastor. The college kids were expecting 6-8 teens for Disciple Now, the coaches expected 10-12 for baseball camp, the ladies expected 8-10 for the women’s bible study that were all running between 5:00 and 7:00 pm. The food crew expected to feed the same number. At 4:20 pm, I and 3 others pulled out of the church parking lot to go find people to attend because no one had been informed of the activities. I didn’t understand how this could be; our plans were so complete and well thought out. God speaks… Go find my children, they’re waiting.

As we arrived in the neighborhoods (tribal housing projects), the first door I went to politely said no thanks. At the next house were 3 small boys playing and I told them about baseball camp, Disciple Now and they jumped in the van. I had to drag them out and explain that we needed their parent’s permission before they could go and I was invited into their home. Now, the 3 boys were on board hanging out the windows inviting all the kids to Vacation Bible School. Keep in mind, our plan did not include Vacation Bible School! We saw more kids and got parental permission; over and over we filled the vans and turned around for another van load. We must have brought 100 kids to the church and 50 or 60 to the baseball camp and it was chaotic! At 6:50 as I was about to go back to find more kids, they asked me to stop because we were not prepared for young kids and we certainly were not prepared for the number of kids.

My perspective from the van was much different from the perspective at the church and baseball field. They were saying “Oh my gosh, look at all these kids” because they were being overwhelmed with something that we did not plan for. My perspective from the van was “Woohoo! Look at all these kids!!!!!!” God spoke again… My plan is better. You will reach My people through these kids. I AM greater than your plan.

That night, most of our team had a pity party because things didn’t go as planned. I woke up several times during the night worried the kids would not come back because we were disorganized and unprepared for what we encountered. God spoke again… I wiped out your plan because I AM sufficient.

Overnight we had Vacation Bible School plans emailed and printed and again God revealed to us His better plan. I found that my fears were also not part of God’s better plan as we went to the neighborhoods and the vans filled up once again at a more manageable level. Others in the group thought that the evangelism (van) duty was the worst job that anyone had. They were wrong! We had a vantage point no one else had. We were invited into their homes; we met moms, dads, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We were able to better see how life is lived on “the rez”.

We also were able to witness the impact that each of the ministry teams were having on these children and their families as we had windshield time and home time to fill with conversation. I witnessed 2 boys jump on the van with their new Bibles that coach Steve Coleman gave them frantically looking up John 3:16. The coach showed them his Hardin-Simmons University cap that represented a team that was very important to him. He then turned it over and showed the most important thing that has ever been known to man… under the cap’s bill the coach had written John3:16. I witnessed the kids singing songs on the van that the music team had taught them. I witnessed the kids saying that they did not have to fear as they trusted God for protection that the VBS team had taught. I saw teens rebel against peer pressure and declared to stand up for Christ in the Jr High and High Schools. I saw women bring friends, teens and children bringing their moms to the women’s bible study, which ended up near 20 in attendance. I saw more people come to the revival each evening than the night before. God speaks… Enjoy the blessing of My plan and be grateful that I AM graciously allowing you to come along for the ride.

Then there is Leroy. Leroy is an Indian man in his early to mid forties that Jimmy Pogue befriended 8 years ago during one of his student council trips. Leroy is a generous, big hearted man that was there with us the entire time helping with anything we asked of him and more. I had heard Jimmy talk about his friend Leroy for years and we had been praying for years for his salvation. Jimmy, our Associate Pastor Jeff Reid, and Gary Milliorn, all found opportunities to have deep spiritual discussions with Leroy without seeing any result. Sunday morning in the worship service Jimmy and Leroy sat in the front row. During the invitation, Jimmy told Leroy that he was never closer to salvation than he was at this moment. Leroy did not step out.

Our time in Chinle was through and we headed back to Abilene to attend the funeral of our dear friend Michele Scott. As Jimmy walked in to the service he received a text from Leroy that stated “my life is coming apart, my nephew was murdered last night”. Jimmy called him to let him know he would call him back after the funeral service. We all celebrated the life of Michele, we said our goodbyes until we reunite in the presence of God.

After the service, Jimmy and Jeff Reid called Leroy. Understandably, Leroy was distraught over the loss of his nephew. Jeff described the celebration we experienced at Michele’s funeral and explained the sorrow and grief shared by all. Then Jeff shared that while we were grieving the loss of our friend, we were celebrating Michele being home with the Father. Jeff asked “Leroy, if you die today would your funeral be a celebration?” Leroy began to weep uncontrollably and asked “What do I need to do to have that?” He was led through the process of salvation and Leroy asked Christ in to his heart as his Lord and Saviour!! He stated that he felt as if a boulder had been lifted off of him. Later Leroy confided that he had experienced joy for the first time in his life.

Now back to the verse mentioned above – Romans 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. God took two tragic circumstances and used them for good. While we would have celebrated seeing Leroy accept Christ while we were in Chinle, God chose for us to be 700 miles apart. God spoke again… This is between Me and Leroy.

Our mission trip to Chinle did not go as we planned. God wiped our plan off the table to demonstrate His power and His glory to a band of people with good intentions. We truly witnessed the hand of God at work and we were blown away by the results. The Discilple Now had the number expected, the women’s ministry and baseball camp exploded beyond our expectation. The revival, music, and food ministry was off the charts and God gave us a Vacation Bible School that we had not planned for that was unbelievable! God’s plan is better, He gave us vans that we would need, He gave us peace through our grief to be used in His plan, He provided children to us as He loves the little children, He confused our plan to show that He is God, He blessed us in multiples when we were willing to follow His plan, and God loves Leroy… and Leroy loves Him back.!

Five doctors in four days! Plus new glasses, a bone density test, and new orthotics! But the time spent in waiting rooms has been productive. I completed the book AND the study guides for the next study at work that BEGINS next week. I also finished the book for a second study with life group ladies. A friend gave me JESUS CALLING this week for my 62nd birthday and it is already significantly impacting my life. Also for my birthday, James gave me RED LETTERS, a book with the words of Jesus from the “red letter editions” of the Bible. He did not know I had recently decided to go through the Bible simply reading the “red letters.” I feel like God is honoring this choice by prompting James to give me this book. And at 9 one evening I should not have picked up one of Francine Rivers’ books, A LINEAGE OF GRACE. Her style is so captivating that it is difficult for me to put the book down! This is a great book for my “treadmill reading” activity. Also, my book and 2 DVD’s arrived this week. The title is WINDOWS 8 FOR DUMMIES AND OFFICE 2013 FOR DUMMIES. The 2 Windows 8 dummies at our house are now tackling this challenge. So far I have completed two DIG-U courses and hope to finish several more next week. So, there has been a lot of “mind and body” emphasis this past week.

Some of the above also related to “soul” since we can’t compartmentalize precisely, but additional “soul food” has been served up through delivering Meals on Wheels. I served others through this needed organization three times this week and plan to serve five times next week. I am also scheduled for a shift for the AYSA volleyball tourney. Additionally, it has been great reconnecting with friends by having lunch together, and with family from three states! Besides the DIG-Gig and a life group get together, I counted 15 friends and family member connections. I am getting caught up with all the news in the lives of friends and family. The Lord has also repeated some things He had spoken to me in the past. Specifically, “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10) and “Cease striving” which is another way of saying “Be still and know God.” “Relax” and “Let go” are additional paraphrases. I have had some sweet times of quiet with the Lord. I have let go of anxiety and worry and turned those negative emotions into prayers and the choice to trust God and speak His Word over each situation that stirs up strife. I am thankful that I do not have to lean on my own understanding because God will direct my paths as I trust in Him (Prov. 3:5-6).

Thank you, Kris, and FDLIC for this wonderful opportunity. It has been BUSY but BLESSED!

Sitting on the couch on the official first day of my mini-Sabbatical, I was excited as I thought about getting done all the things I have planned and to get to mark them off my always long to-do list. It was just like my loving Father to show me right off that He’d love to meet with “Mary” instead of chasing “Martha” around town. It was no accident that I unthinkingly selected a book that had been gathering dust on the shelf alongside the many other “wanta-read-sometime” books and was taking some time to start the day with words of wisdom. The title is HAVING A MARY SPIRIT and is written by the author of HAVING A MARY HEART IN A MARTHA WORLD. Here are things I heard God saying through this book:
1. leave duties and devote time with Jesus
2. rather than striving, learn what abiding means–don’t be continually striving and never arriving
3. through the author of the book, God reiterated R. T. Kendall’s message from Sunday – “God never withholds good except when He has something better to give. Whether it’s refusing more help in the kitchen or the miraculous healing of your brother, you can be sure Jesus knows what He’s doing when He says no to our earthly requests in order to say yes to His heavenly plan.”
4. learn the balance between “a soul at rest and a body in motion, between working hard for Christ and sitting at His feet”
5. “It is in You and through You that we find our life and have our being. You take what we are and make us what we were meant to be. Partakers of Your divine nature. Reflections of Your glory.”

So, in the midst of life, I seek LIFE.

I am eager for more abiding time to balance the being helpers of people time and exercising time and study times.

As I take time to first abide, I think that Jesus will ride by my side as I am going and doing. Sweet!

I went on Thursday to volunteer again, looking forward to helping out up at the front desk. We did have one other volunteer show up who was getting a refresher course because she used to volunteer but it had been awhile since she had been there. I read some more of the training guide and answered the phone. On this day we had mostly clients coming in for assistance with diapers, formula and wipes. If they needed someone to talk to they can also get counseled and some would request prayer. I asked the ladies if pharmaceutical reps. brought in any formula donations but they said they have tried and they do not. They rely solely on donations. We did have BeltWay show up with donations of wipes and diapers. This is my second time to do my Sabbatical at Pregnancy Resources and I have learned a lot more this time around. I have a lot of respect for what these ladies do and for the genuine care and love that they show these young girls. What they receive here sometime may be the only people they have to turn to, some do not have family here in town, others do have family but are from broken,unstable homes. I am saddened by what some of these girls have gone through in life at such a young age, but I am very relieved that we do have an organization such as Pregnancy Resources that they can turn to for help. I also got to spend much needed time with my parents and took care of many Dr. Appts. I also got to rest during our rainstorm 🙂 It was wonderful!! I feel so blessed to have had this opportunity and would like to thank Kris and the board for this, because it came at a time when I really needed it. Thank you all !!

Today was amazing!!! I took Gab to school, picked up some Tamales to take over to my parents and had breakfast with them and then I was off to my volunteer time.  I took in my paperwork that I had to complete if I wanted to be a regular volunteer and then had to have an interview with Mary.  She went over all of the requirements and she reviewed where my interest and strengths are.  I will be able to be a silent witness now and if I want to be able to do pregnancy tests I will have to volunteer a little more often.  She  trained me on the phone and explained whom took what particular calls in the office, and what services they provided and if they do not provide those services she explained which organizations I should  direct them to.  Kris trained me on how they want their charts done and what  questions to ask clients when they come to the window.  I will not be able to practice tomorrow because of Matt’s surgery but I will  be doing this on Thursday because so far I am the only other volunteer for that day and this is when they are really busy handing out diapers and formula to those families in need.  I learned a lot today and really enjoy the company of all the employees  became more familiar with the nurses. Everyone makes you feel so welcome, and they are so understanding, caring, and I feel the passion they have for their calling as they  try to help the clients that come in. Loved it!!!Until Thursday 🙂

Today I begin my sabbatical, as I wake up the first thing that pops up in my mind is how blessed I am to work for a company that allows us to have this privilege.  I begin by cooking breakfast for my parents and taking it over to their house. I stayed until it was time to go to Pregnancy Resources. When I arrived it was good to see all the friendly familiar faces Kris and Mary. They welcomed me back and I was started on reading a training manual for volunteers, its about Planting A Seed.  I am to read this manual because I want to be a silent witness when needed during the ultrasounds.  Also, because I plan to be a volunteer whenever I am able to.  I read and helped with pulling files and was to listen to phone call responses so I can also be trained in that. I feel very pleased with the time I had there and observing how everyone is so helpful and caring.  I then left and went to do some rat killing in getting paperwork, paperwork, paperwork for Matt’s hand surgery on Wednesday. Please keep him in your prayers.  Until tomorrow.

My last two weeks have been fast and furious. I started out with my vacation the first week. I was lucky enough to get to go to Vegas for the first time. We left on Sunday the 11th and got back on Tuesday the 14th. It was a lot of fun and a lot of walking. By the time we got back my feet were swollen up the size of an elephants booty. The rest of the vacation week consisted of my birthday, getting engaged (I will spare you all the mushy details), and getting the kids partially ready for school.

My sabbatical week:
I decided to use my sabbatical this year for renewing of a relationship. I have always had a strained relationship with my father and after his recent diagnoses of a brain tumor I felt like there was no better time to try to spend some time with him and reconnect at any level I could.  Lisa and I joke a lot about how we both have this National Lampoons mentality when it comes to things like vacations and special events in our lives.  There’s this grandiose idea in your head of how you want things to go and it’s a huge let down when things start lacking in your expectations.  Knowing this, I tried to not have many expectations of how things would go.  My dad has been to see specialists in Albuquerque and they said the tumor is too large to operate on so he has been taking a medicine that is suppose to shrink it.  Unfortunately, that medicine makes him feel sick.  He has lost his appetite and just feels like he’s in a haze all the time.  I spent some time with him just hanging out at my house for awhile and then we took my two younger kids to the zoo one day and had a great time.  My dad is so great with my kids.  Sometimes it makes me sad that he wasn’t that way with me when I was a kid but I’m thankful that he is with the grand kids.

With my dads recent diagnoses my mom decided she wanted to take a family vacation while we could because things like this make you realize how short our time here together can be.  So on Thursday my parents,  my 3 kids and I packed up for a fun vacation to the Great Wolf Lodge and then some school shopping at the Grapevine Mills Mall.  There was one situation that happened while we were there that made me step back and see my dad in a different light.  We were sitting at the outside pool and he said something to Hannah about something that she is very self conscious about.  She got a little upset and started to cry.  He, not knowing that he had said anything wrong, discovered that she was upset and after we walked away, he started to cry.  He was so hurt that he had hurt her feelings.  I know to most people that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but if you knew my dad you would understand.  It made him more real to me.  It made him more human.  I’ve spent a lot of time being bitter and hurt by my relationship with my dad and at that moment it made me understand….. He’s just  like me.  Human… not perfect…. flawed and he hurts too.  My National Lampoons mentality would have wanted this week to end with me and my dad having the best relationship in the world and being that close father and daughter I had always hoped for.  My reality is, I accept that it may never be the way I dreamed it would but I’m so thankful my heart was softened this week to who he is and that I was able to spend real time with him.

The week ended with my parents staying in Grapevine and extra night because he was too sick to travel and I came home with the kids and did what all people do the day before school starts….. We went to Walmart!  God Bless.

I can not put into words how thankful I am that Kris gives his employees the opportunity to have this time.  Thank you so much!

In 2011,  the worst fire in Texas history struck Bastrop County (just south of Austin).  The fire burned almost 35, 000 acres, destroyed over 1600 homes, killed 2 people, and took more than a month to contain.  The cause of this devastating fire was determined to be sparks from power lines toppled in 35 mph wind gusts.

     Our church joined forces with churches all over the state to help the rebuilding efforts in the area.  Faith Village,  an organization  formed from the inter-denominational efforts of four churches in Smithsville, TX coordinated the work crews that donated their time and energy to help this struggling community rebuild.

     On Monday, June 18^th,  at 7:00 am, nineteen volunteers from First Baptist Church, Clyde met for the five hour drive to Smithsvillle.   We arrived around 1:00 pm and after grabbing a quick bite we were divided into four work crews and started our journey to our assigned locations.  Most worksites were a 20-30 mile distance from our host church.   My crew went to a home that was under new construction.  It was close to completion and needed only a few finishing touches.   The two residents were living in a small camper close to the home and had attempted to put the floating floor in on their own but did not have the skills to do the job.  I appreciated their efforts as they represented so many individuals in the area that needed only a hand up… not a hand out!  The entire home had virtually been restored by the volunteer efforts of many churches across the state saving the owners the extensive labor costs of a new construction.                 

     Each afternoon after a full days work, we would return to Smithsville, a beautiful town that looked like it came right out of the 1950’s.  Throughout the town were gorgeous Victorian homes. An interesting piece of trivia is that this town was the site of the movie Hope Floats (starring Sandra Bullock)  The home  pictured below appeared in the movie and was only a few blocks from the church where we were staying.  We walked there as a group one afternoon and passed people sitting on porch swings, walking, jogging… it was like a scene straight out of Mayberry.

     At the end of the workday, after a meal prepared by yet more volunteers from our church , we had a meeting on the church steps of  FBC, Smithsville .  Here we shared with the other teams about our efforts during the day and had a devotional time of praise and worship.  The rest of the evening was spent with various activities…. Some played dominoes, some played basketball…. I, slept!  The fact that I am an early sleeper worked to my benefit since mattresses were in a very short supply  !

     Each day the jobs changed throughout the week consisting of weed-eating, plumbing, electrical work, etc.  One interesting resident was a woman that many groups suspected of being a witch.  The symbols of witchcraft were drawn throughout her property.  She had extensive water damage to her house due to the air drops of water in attempts to control the fire.  We will likely never know the impact that has been made on this woman’s life because of the selfless efforts of God’s people.  This image has been left as a reminder to this woman of the one that can truly change her life.

      On a personal level, likely the most meaningful event occurred on Wednesday morning.  My daughter’s boyfriend made the 80 mile trip from Belton to Smithsville to ask me for permission to marry my only daughter.   Sitting on the steps of the historic church, I could tell he was a little nervous but he made it very obvious that his intentions were sincere.  I regret not capturing a picture of that moment to share with Jenna but am proud to announce that I will be adding a new member of the family about this time next year. 

     The trip was a wonderful experience and will always be memorable for the time I got to not only help those who genuinely needed it and appreciated it but also for the milestone of passing the blessing to a prospective family member.  I remain ever grateful to a company that allows its employees the opportunity to live out its mission of being true “helpers of people”.

One of the greatest blessings of a sabbatical, a time set apart, is the time set apart for reading the Bible and hearing from God. He is always faithful in giving me new insights when I am faithful to take the time to listen! This is what He said today as I was reading Ps. 92:

We hear the slogan, “Go Green” which encourages care for our environment. Ps. 92 tells me how to stay fresh and green along with bearing fruit even in old age (got another birthday in 2 weeks!). “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree…planted in the house of the Lord.” Can you even imagine the type of loving attention and care a palm tree in the Master Gardner’s house would receive?! Isn’t it amazing that HE gives US HIS righteousness when we receive HIS gift of salvation? AND THEN HE rewards our lives as we walk in that righteousness! We stay fresh and green as we proclaim, “The Lord is upright; He is my Rock.” May we flourish, flower and bear fruit as we faithfully follow and hallow our Father!

Today is the “longest day of the year” since we will have more daylight minutes than any other day. Following today, the number of daylight minutes diminish until December’s next solstice. Then the daylight minutes will increase until June of next year, the subsequent solstice.

But the days will keep being 86,400 seconds long – they’re just a bit darker.

God exhorts us to make the most of each day especially as we seek to be “salt and light” in dealing with another kind of darkness in our world.

Hope MacDonald’s comments on Psalm 91 from my devotional Bible address this and give us encouragement. Her 6 year old grandson slept with his grandfather’s well-worn Bible under his pillow, declaring it was almost like sleeping with Jesus. Ms. MacDonald asked herself if she were also resting in the shadow of the Almighty. She challenged us to daily read Psalm 91 for 30 days because this triumphant song of faith reminds us that God is our dwelling place and refuge in the midst of the universal evil surrounding us and the dangers and heartaches we face in this lost and fallen world. However, Psalm 91 also reminds us we are not left alone, that God’s faithfulness is our constant shield, and that He is so close that we are covered by His shadow. She states, “We are given a fresh glimpse into all that is ours through Jesus Christ our Lord. We come away from this psalm with an overwhelming sense of awe and wonder at God’s continual provision for us.”

What will we do with our 86,400 seconds today??? Since I am on Sabbatical, I will again deliver Meals on Wheels, have a doctor’s appointment, do laundry for missionary friends moving their daughter to NY today, exercise, and hopefully encourage YOU! Also, I have begun my daily reading of Psalm 91 for 30 days in hopes that the light shed on life by the Light of the World will give me encouragement, courage and blessings to pass on in hopes of lighting the way for others.

Shine long and brightly!

Since I am thinking about not accomplishing all the grandiose plans I had in mind for these two weeks, I needed this reminder from a devotion I read this morning:

“Take each day one day at a time.
If things did not work out yesterday, it does not really matter.
If they don’t work out tomorrow, it does not matter either.
What does matter is today.

Too often we get caught up thinking about all the things we haven’t done or dreaming of all the things we ought to do, and we have no time to actually do the things we have set before us right now.

God’s people live in the present. They learn from the past and hope for the future, but they make the most of every single moment of every day.

Live for today and see the miracles and success!”

I heard last week about a book called MY HAIR AND GOD’S MERCIES – NEW EVERY MORNING. True dat!!! May we recognize and enjoy His fresh mercies each new day! May we enjoy the journey! I plan to rejoice and be glad today – good idea!

Yesterday was the end of my sabbatical week  and I have to say I had an amazing week. I spent my time volunteering  at Pregnancy Resources. My days were mainly filled with office work, I helped with stocking the rooms with folders and pamphlets if needed. I also made additional folders and charts for them and copies of whatever they were running low on.  I was given a tour of the building and was informed of different areas that they help out with and counsel. I was hoping to be able and sit in on a sonogram but it was a slow week due to the nurse being out.  I also learned that they have volunteers who are doing their internship and from many others who just enjoy volunteering or from stay at home moms.  I am very thankful  for all that Pregnancy Resources provides for our community and that all who are in need or have no one  to turn to can seek their guidance.

During the week I was also able to get appointments and tests run  that I have been neglecting.  I was able to visit friends and family that I usually dont have time to go visit. I was able to assist them in their yard work that they have a hard time doing due to their age which really meant alot to  both of  us.  This also gave me the time to visit my parents more often and spend quality time with them, my kids and a cousin who is here on her vacation. I was able to spend time and talk with my youngest niece and counsel her with some problems she is going through.  My yard, garage and storage bldg. also look so much better.

This week really meant alot to me it was truly a blessing.   I am very happy that Ray got me in contact with the ladies at Pregnancy Resources and that I was able to help them out.  I want to especially give my thanks to Kris and the Board and everyone else that has made this possible, especially my coworkers who have taken care of my duties while I have been gone.  Thank you All!!  

In a devotional reading in my Bible entitled “Wise Use of Rest,” the author, Glen Karssen, states that a person needs 3 attitudes to use a time of rest profitably: gratitude for previous blessings, a desire to correct past mistakes and prevent them in the future, and a willingness to occupy himself constructively.
1. Attitude of gratitude — I am blessed, blessed, blessed! And I am taking time to express this to the Lord and to FDLIC for this provision. THANK YOU!!!
2. Correction and prevention – I am taking time for people with lunch dates, going out of town to visit friends who moved a few years ago, and extra hubby time. Also correction and prevention is happening with check ups, eye exam, dentist, etc. (I have FIVE appointments!).
3. Constructive occupation – I am serving a number of times as a substitute route volunteer for Meals on Wheels, cleaning up with deep house cleaning work that has accumulated, cleaning out and giving away other accumulations and organizing what remains, hoping to learn and use our I-Pad and Pinterest and DIG-U, wanting to complete the Living Family Journal, planning to spend some time going through my current 492 messages in my email box and reading and filing or tossing them, scheduling exercise time and reading my Bible and book study material — these are a few of my favorite things that I want to wisely use this time off to do.
When I get rid of clutter, whether it is in my mind with negative thinking, or in my house with STUFF, or on my computer with unread/unfiled material, I gain a sense of accomplishment and freedom and a special kind of peace, and yes, rest and renewal. I am really looking forward to this profitable use of rest and I am very thankful for it!

I got to spend the last week working at Pregnancy Resources.  Their facility is wonderful and they have an amazing staff.  I got to do a lot of clerical work: putting together information packets, making new charts, filing charts, stocking exam rooms with information packets and pamphlets, moving boxes, and unpacking many boxes full of dozens of donated bibles and setting things up for the spiritual counseling room.  Although I didn’t really have any interaction with patients or visitors at the facility it was really touching thinking about and praying for the many people that would receive the information I was putting together.

I was also blessed with the opportunity to help a family member and his wife prepare to move into their new home.  They had several items that needed to be completed before they could close on the house so my husband, Jeremy, and I went over one night and did some painting for them.  They also happened to be expecting their first child which finally arrived 10 days after her due date this week.  It was a huge blessing to be able to pass along almost all of the baby items we are already storing from having out two little ones to them.  I am so glad it will all get some more use!

Jeremy and I also went and delivered Meals on Wheels together one day.  It was exciting introducing him to the process and he really enjoyed it I am hoping that we will get the opportunity to go again together soon!

My time off was a huge blessing spending time with family and getting to volunteer it truly was awesome and I want to thank Ray for helping coordinate my time at Pregnancy Resources and also thank Kris, the Board of Directors, my coworkers, and really just the whole FDLIC family for allowing such a wonderful opportunity.   🙂

You may recall that last year, my service project was to assist Promise Helpers in the compilation of their accounting records so that the annual Form 990 could be filed with the IRS.  Those accounting records were done by hand.   Well, I am happy to report that their accounting records were kept on Quickbooks for 2011.  (Debbie, Nancy and the other ladies with the ministry did an outstanding job making the transition from hand-prepared records to computer-based records.)  Thus, my job was much easier.   The entire project has taken the past week, but the “numbers portion” of the 990 has been completed!  There is a narrative porton of the form where you have to explain to the IRS what the ministry accomplished during the year ( the people you helped,  amount of food and clothing that was distributed, etc.).  This information is being summarized and placed on the form by the ministry’s chief executive officer.  The bottom line is that this form, which is due to be filed on May 15th, will be submitted in just a few days.   There is a Bible verse that sums up how everyone involved in this project feels – Proverbs 13:19 a “The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul.”  Going in to this week, I really thought that my services would not be needed for the preparation of the Form 990 and that I would be serving in a different capacity, but that  was not the case.  There are still some administrative and office areas where I can help with some issues that are outstanding.  For now though, I will quote James Brown, the Godfather of Soul – “I feel GOOD!”

As we all know, good things must come to an end – even if you are in Jerusalem!

Once again, we started early and headed to Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and Museum (Yad Vashem means “a place and a name”).  We spent almost two hours here, and it was not near enough.  This museum tells the story of the Holocaust from start to finish.  As a museum, Yad Vashem has lots of items on display from this horrible era which are very interesting.  However, what was most interesting to me were the stories of the Holocaust survivors.  As we walked through the museum, kiosks were set up along the way with videos playing of interviews from actual survivors. They described in detail and through tears the atrocities that the Nazis had committed on them and their families.  It was extremely moving and very difficult to watch.  That being said, I think that everyone should go through this museum or watch a documentary on the Holocaust at least once a year – in order to remember what happened and to never let such things happen ever again!

From Yad Vashem, we went to Hezekiah’s  Tunnel.  Hezekiah’s Tunnel is a tunnel that was dug underneath the City of David (located just South of the Southern Wall of the Old City)before 701B.C. during the reign of Hezekiah. The tunnel is mentioned in 2Kings 20:20 in the Bible. The Bible also tells us that King Hezekiah prepared Jerusalem for an impending siege by the Assyrians, by “blocking the source of the waters of the upper Gihon, and leading them straight down on the west to the City of David” ( 2 Chronicles 32). The tunnel has been dated both by the written inscription found on its wall (Siloam Inscription), and by dating organic matter contained in the original plastering. It is one of the few intact, 8th century BC structures in the world that the public can not only visit, but enter and walk through.  The tunnel, leading from the Gihon Spring to the Pool Siloam was designed as an aqueduct to provide Jerusalem with water during an impending siege by the Assyriams. The curving tunnel is 533 meters long, and by using a 30 cm (0.6‰) gradient altitude difference between each end, conveyed water along its length from the spring to the pool.

Believe it or not, many of us walked through Hezekiah’s Tunnel, including me.  I found out a few things while I was walking through the still functioning aqueduct: 1) The people who chiseled this tunnel were very smart – According to the Siloam inscription, the tunnel was excavated by two teams, one starting at each end of the tunnel and then meeting in the middle – later, I found out that the difficult feat of making two teams digging from opposite ends meet far underground was accomplished by directing the two teams from above using sounds generated by hammering on the solid stone through which the tunnelers were digging; 2) The water was clean, clear, and cold; and 3) Jewish men of that day were very short – I left some skin and blood from the top of my head in Hezekiah’s Tunnel!  This was one of those experiences that everyone should do once in their lifetime (and for me, once is enough!).

Next, we went through the Jaffa gate of the Old City (in the Christian quarter) and climbed stairs to the top of the Old City wall.  We walked along the wall and came to a place where we stopped and individually prayed over the city of Jerusalem.  It was an awesome and solemn time for me to pray for the city and its people.

Then, we went to Ben Yehuda Street which is a modern area of Jerusalem for some shopping and lunch.

We walked from Ben Yehuda Street for a few blocks to what is known as the Garden Tomb.  The Garden Tomb is located just outside the Old City walls and close to the Damascus Gate, and is a rock-cut tomb considered by some to be the actual site of the burial and resurrection of Jesus, in contradistinction to the traditional site – the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has its tomb just a few yards away from its Golgotha, corresponding with the account of John the Evangalist: “Now in the place where he was crucified there was a … new tomb” (John 19:41).  However, in 1869 a number of tombs had been found near the Garden Tomb which is adjacent to a solid rock structure that resembled (a still resembles) a skull, which is the meaning of the word Golgotha, and it was concluded that one of the tombs discovered must have been the tomb of Jesus.  John also specifies that Jesus’ tomb was located in a garden; consequently, an ancient wine press and cistern have been cited as evidence that the area had once been a garden, and the somewhat isolated tomb adjacent to the cistern has become identified as the Garden Tomb of Jesus. This particular tomb also has a stone groove running along the ground outside it, which could have been a slot that once housed a stone, corresponding to the Biblical account of a stone being rolled over the tomb entrance to close it.

In addition, the Garden Tomb has a different arrangement than other Jewish tombs found from the period – normally, Jewish tombs were long, not wide, with the body’s location at the end of the long tomb.  The Garden Tomb is wide not long, the only tomb found from the period like this, with the location for the body to the right (once you walk in the tomb).  And in the Gospel of Mark (16:5-6), it is written, “And  entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.  And he said to them, ‘Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified.  He is risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.'”  Obviously, there is debate about the true location of the burial and resurrection of Jesus, but we concluded that the true location is really unimportant – the important thing is that Jesus died for us, was buried, and did rise again!  With this in mind, we had a time of worship and communion in the garden of the Garden Tomb!  It was a very meaningful and moving experience!

We returned to our hotel, where we cleaned up and had dinner before leaving for the airport.

At the airport, my family and I were talking about our experience in Israel.  All of us agreed that the best part of our trip had been the kids’ camp – it was something that we did that had eternal significance!  Then, the question was raised, “how did the trip to Israel compare to other family vacations?”  Amanda, my oldest daughter, immediately said, “I think this was the best family vacation that we have ever had”!  Considering that we have taken at least one vacation per year for most of her life and that she has been to some pretty phenomenal places in her life (including Tahiti, Paris, London, and Scotland to name a few), this was a bold and significant statement.  The rest of my family agreed with Amanda!

After more than 24 hours, we are back in Abilene.  My bed and my pillow felt awesome last night!  I am glad to me home, and I am grateful that God allowed me to take my family to Israel – it was an experience of a lifetime!  I am also grateful that I have an excellent team that has taken care of our business while I was gone – without them, there is no way I could have gone on a 15 day trip.  To them, I say, “Toda raba!” (Thank you very much!)

Shalom and blessings to all of you!

I apologize for not blogging for the past couple of days – the internet service at our hotel in Jerusalem was terrible.  Isn’t it ironic that I would have better internet service at a kibbutz in the Galilee area than I did in Jerusalem?

Anyway, I have two more blog posts for you – for Wednesday and Thursday in Jerusalem (we traveled all day on Friday).  Here is the blog for Wednesday:

We started the day early – leaving the hotel at 8:30 a.m.  Our first stop was in the Muslim quarter of the Old City, where we saw the ruins of the Pools of Bethesda.  Here, according to tradition, many of the sick in Jerusalem waited near the pools so that they could be healed.  The sick would wait until the pools would be “stirred” by means of a periodic angelic visitation (Scholars are uncertain as to whether this stirring was done by angels of God or angels of satan).  Jesus performed a documented miracle here when He healed a man who had been lame for 38 years – John 5:1-16.  Jesus performed this miracle on the Sabbath, which led to controversy with certain Jewish leaders of the time.  Interestingly, there is a church at this site, and we had the chance to go in and sing a few songs  – the acoustics were incredible, making us sound really good! It was a highlight for sure.

Next, we walked through the Muslim quarter on the Via Dolorosa, which means “way of sorrow”.  This is a path that Jesus took from Pontius Pilate’s place of judgment to the place of Jesus’ Crucifixion.  You would think that this would be a somber area where visitors could take their time and really soak in the experience of what we as Christians consider the most important part of our faith.  Well, if this is what you think, you are utterly wrong!  Since the Via Dolorosa is in the Muslim quarter, the path is filled with Arab shops, and the shops have extremely pushy and irreverent sales people.  In addition, the path is crowded with people from all walks of life.  The feeling is far from serene – it is irritating, frustrating, disconcerting, uneasy, unsettling, and other adjectives that I will not share with you.  Honestly, the Muslim quarter has a heaviness about it – I really felt a spirit of darkness here.

Regardless, we made our way through all of the “stations” – locations along the path where Theologians believe specific things happened while Jesus carried the Cross to Golgotha.  The path ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  The site is venerated as Golgatha (the Hill of Calvary), where Jesus was crucified and is said to also contain the place where Jesus was buried (the sepulcher). The church has been an important Christian destination since at least the 4th century, as the purported site of the resurrection of Jesus.  Control of the church, itself, is shared between several Christian churches and secular entities in complicated arrangements essentially unchanged for centuries. The church is home to Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Roman Catholicism.

After lunch, we walked through the Jewish quarter to the Western Wall.  Almost instantly when we walked into the Jewish quarter, I felt more calm and the unsettled feeling of the Muslim quarter went away – very interesting!  We spent some time praying at the Wall, and then we went through the Rabbi’s Tunnel – underneath the surface of the Western Wall is the incredible Western retaining wall of the Herodian Temple which was completed in about 517B.C.  (Herod rebuilt Solomon’s Temple – Solomon’s Temple was built around 957 B.C. and was destroyed around 587 B.C.).

Unfortunately, we were unable to go to the Temple Mount due to August being the month of Ramadan for the Muslim faith (who control the Temple Mount).  Here is what I learned about Ramadan – More than a billion Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, and sex from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan.  Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of the religion of Islam and one of the highest forms of Islamic worship. Abstinence from earthly pleasures and curbing evil intentions and desires is regarded as an act of obedience and submission to Allah as well as an atonement for sins, errors, and mistakes. Called Ramadan (or Ramazan), Muslims fast during this month from the moment when it first starts to get light until sunset. Just after breaking the fast, and before dinner, Muslims offer the fourth of the five daily prayers, which is called the Maghrib prayer. After dinner, Muslims go to their Mosques (which I will discuss in the next paragraph) to offer the Isha prayer, which is the last of the five daily prayers. The day ends with a special voluntary prayer, the Taraweeh, offered by the congregation reciting the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam.

After dinner (around 8:00 p.m.), a subset of our group, desiring a little adventure, decided to go to the Western Wall again, at night.  So, we walked from our hotel toward the Damascus Gate of the Old City (our hotel was located just a few blocks from the Damascus Gate).  The quickest way to the Western Wall was through the Damascus Gate which caused us to walk through the Muslim quarter (not my favorite place to begin with, and now we had to walk through it at night – during Ramadan!).  Not that we would stand out – but as we walked through, I felt like the only fire hydrant at a dog show (if you know what I mean!).  I was extremely relieved to make it to the Jewish quarter with Melinda, Amanda, and Shannon stuck to me like glue.  Again, I felt relief immediately as we entered the Jewish quarter near the Western Wall.  After spending time in prayer at the Wall, we decided to head back to our hotel.   As we headed back toward the Damascus Gate, literally a flood of Muslims began to come at us through the narrow streets of the Muslim quarter of the Old City!  We did not know it, but we had left the Western Wall at the exact time that the Muslims were going to their Mosque on the Temple Mount (as I discussed in the last paragraph, “to offer the Isha prayer, which is the last of the five daily prayers” during Ramadan).  To say that we were nervous would be the understatement of the year!  We walked for 15 minutes in single file through this flood of thousands of Muslims – talk about uncomfortable (I just thought that I was uncomfortable in the Muslim Quarter before this!).  By the grace of God, we made it out of the Damascus Gate and back to our hotel without incident – what a relief!  It took me about two hours to wind down!

Thus ended another eventful day in Israel!

After all the happenings of yesterday, it was hard to get up and get moving this morning at 6:30 a.m (10:30 p.m. Abilene time – Monday night!).  However, we had lots more to see.

First, we went to Masada.  Here is some interesting facts about Masada:  “At the beginning of the Revolt of the Jews against the Romans in 66AD, a group of Jewish rebels overcame the Roman garrison of Masada. After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple (70AD) they were joined by zealots and their families who had fled from Jerusalem. With Masada as their base, they raided and harassed the Romans for two years. Then, in 73AD, the Roman governor Flavius Silva marched against Masada with the Tenth Legion, auxiliary units and thousands of Jewish prisoners-of-war. The Romans established camps at the base of Masada, laid siege to it and built a circumvallation wall. They then constructed a rampart of thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth against the western approaches of the fortress and in the spring of the year 74AD moved a battering ram up the ramp and breached the wall of the fortress.   Josephus Flavius dramatically recounts the story told him by two surviving women. The defenders almost one thousand men, women and children led by Eleazar ben Yair, decided to end their own lives, rather than be taken alive.”

Next, we went to Ein Gedi.  Ein Gedi is an oasis in the desert.  Here is some background on Ein Gedi:  “The Bible records that 3,000 years ago David hid from King Saul at Ein Gedi. When David spared the life of King Saul when King Saul went into the cave at Ein Gedi where David and his army were hiding (because Saul was the anointed of God).  Located on the Dead Sea’s western shore, Ein Gedi (“spring of the goat”) is a desert oasis with waterfalls, pools of water and two large streams. It is a hiker’s paradise with beautiful foliage, exotic birds and a range of wildlife, including rabbits, deer, and ibex.  Ein Gedi served as a water source during biblical times.  The spring begins to flow 656 feet above the Dead Sea. About a half-hour’s hike will take you to a waterfall and pool.”

The last stop of the day was the Dead Sea where we went floating – you can’t swim in the Dead Sea, you can only float.  It is the wildest feeling that I have ever experienced this was my second time.  The Dead Sea is approximately 450 meters below sea level (over 1,470 feet below sea level) – the lowest point on earth.

Again, it was awesome to experience all of this with my kids.  What a blessing!

Yesterday was a very special day.  We left our hotel on the Sea of Galilee at 8:30 a.m. and made our way to the the Southern end of the lake, where the Galilee spills into the Jordan River.  At this location of the Jordan River, an area has been established for baptisms.  In fact, while Melinda and I were visiting Israel in 2005, we both were re-baptized in the Jordan River (this was extremely powerful for me because it served as a statement that I had recommitted myself to serving Jesus Christ in a new, fresh, and better way).

As I said earlier, yesterday was very special – why?  Because I had the opportunity to re-baptize all three of my children! I know that I keep saying it in my blogs, but this was extremely powerful and meaningful!  My kids had committed themselves to following Jesus and had been baptized earlier in their lives, but  they wanted to re-commit themselves where Jesus Himself had been baptized.  How often does a dad get to make a significant life statement with his children?  This was one of those moments that Amanda, Drew, and Shannon will remember for the rest of their lives! I think I may have felt the same emotion that God felt when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, and He said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).  All I can say is praise God for this opportunity!

As a side note, the Jordan River has little fish that really enjoy nibbling on manly leg hair.  My leg hair must have been like honey to them because they were nibbling away at me!  It was extremely hard for me to keep my composure while I was baptizing with these little fish feasting on my legs!

We left the baptismal area and headed south toward Jerusalem  On the way, we stopped at a site that Melinda and I had not seen before – Bet She’an.  This was an interesting site where both the Greeks and the Romans had established cities here at different times.  This site was amazing because virtually the entire city had been preserved.  The most interesting part of the this site was the preserved bathrooms from the Roman era – a man or woman (they did not have separate bathrooms) could sit between two stones to do their business and a sophisticated sewer system would take it away – very wild!

From Bet She’an we continued our journey to Jerusalem.  When we entered Jerusalem, we went immediately to the Mount of Olives.  Our guide gave us a briefing on the Mount of Olives and the old city of Jerusalem.  For those of you who have not been to Jerusalem, the old city is only a portion of Jerusalem – it is surrounded by a wall and it has four quadrants, the Christian quarter, the Jewish quarter, Armenian quarter, and the Muslim (or Arab) quarter.  The main feature of the old city is the Temple Mount – Solomon built the first Temple in 957BC (it only existed for a few decades), Herod the Great re-built the Temple in a greater form in 20BC , and Herod’s Temple was destroyed by the Roman’s in 70AD.  The Dome of the Rock (a Muslim mosque), which is what we see on the Temple Mount today, was erected by the Muslim ruler Abd el-Malik in 688-691AD.  This shrine was covered by a lead dome from 691 until it was replaced with a gold-colored covering in 1965. Because of rust, the anodized aluminum cover was again replaced in 1993 with a gold covering.

From the Mount of Olives, we went to the Garden of Gethsemane.  We had some quite time here to visit the church on this site and to consider what Jesus was going through while He was praying just prior to Judas betraying Him.  As I walked around on my own, I couldn’t help but think about the movie – The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson’s epic movie) – when Jesus was praying so desperately, His sweat was like blood.

With this, our day ended.  What a phenomenal day!

After coming to Israel in 2005, I really felt that my touring experience would be minimal – I thought that touring would be for my kids, not for Melinda and I.  Man, was I wrong.

We started out the morning by going to the Mount Beatitudes.  When I came in ’05, we did not go to the Catholic church located there, but this time we did.  Our guide led us to the grounds around the church where we sat together for some teaching concerning the Sermon on the Mount.  After his teaching (which was excellent), Melinda, Amanda, and Shannon went off by themselves for some personal, alone time while Drew and I went to the church.  As Drew and I walked into the church, we began to hear singing – four part harmony from a choir.  It was hymn, but not a hymn I had ever heard before, and on top of that, it was being sung in German.  A group of German Christians, who were on a tour, had decided to sing while they were in the church.  I am not sure if it was the acoustics of the church, the wonderful voices of the choir, or the fact that we were standing very near where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, but it was a very, very powerful moment!  It was like the Spirit of the Lord came upon us and immediately brought a sense of peace Drew and me.  When the singing ended, I was very disappointed – if I knew how to speak any German, I would have requested more.

After our experience at Mount Beatitudes, we headed North to the Golan area of Israel – where I had not been in 2005.  We visited the ancient city of Dan.  While we were there, we saw ruins dating back to the time when Israel was separated (Israel in the North and Judah in the South), somewhere around 930 B.C. – so, we were looking at actual structures built more than 2,900 years ago by King Jeroboam (after King Solomon’s reign)!  Crazy, crazy stuff!  Our definition of old in Texas is nothing compared to Israel’s version of old!

Next, we visited a pagan site built to honor Greece and Alexander the Great.  It was a temple built for one of their gods – Pan.  The area was Caesarea Philipi.  This is also the area where Jesus led his disciples for some teaching – it is strongly believed that this was the site where Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people think that I am?”  After some discussion, Jesus asked, “Who do you think I am?”  And Peter boldly responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.”  Jesus declared that Peter was the rock and He would build His church “on the rock.”  Honestly, this area had a strange feel to it, but knowing that Jesus had used this area for teaching was somewhat comforting.

Finally, we drove back to the Galilee area and visited Capernaum.  I had visited Capernaum in ’05, and I was anxious for my kids to see this important site.  Capernaum is the home town of Peter, and experts are 99% sure that Jesus spent some time here and, in fact, healed Peter’s mother-in-law at this site (our guide made the joke, “this is why Peter denied Him 3 times”” – ha, ha, ha).  It was rewarding to watch as my children began to put the pieces of scripture together and to not only hear history, but to see it!

We had another fabulous day in Israel, and I pray continued blessings over you and our company!

Today, we went to Shabot service at Ohalei Rachamim (Tents of Mercy) today – this is the Messianic Jewish congregation that Beltway supports.  It was a wonderful service and Randy Turner gave another powerful message concerning the family.  While we were there, four of the youth counselors from the kids camp were recognized for their involvement in something called Hand-In-Hand.  At the kids camp, I had a chance to meet these four outstanding youth counselors – the boys were Vanya and Maxim; the girls were Dasha and Sara.

I am sure you are wondering, “What is Hand-In-Hand”?  I am really glad you were wondering this because it is an incredible story.  Hand-In-Hand is a program involving believers in Christ from Israel and Germany.  It was established to bring youths from the two countries together in a way that would bring healing and forgiveness to the people.  Vanya, Maxim, Dasha, and Sara gave us their testimony regarding their recent trip to Germany.  They visited historical sites together including two concentration camps, including Auschwitz (where so many autocracies occurred to the Jewish people at the hands of Nazi Germany).  As part of the Hand-In-Hand program, each Israeli believer was paired with a German believer, and they walked through these sites together “hand-in-hand”.  When you think about this concept, it is really heavy; in fact, it is hard to humanly comprehend and only possible through Christ.

For such young people, they showed a tremendous amount of maturity.  They really understood the importance of what they were doing.  As they told the stories of what they had learned about the Holocaust before, during, and after their trip, you could see how the whole process had impacted their lives.  One of the last pictures they showed us was a picture of all 8 participants in the program carrying an Israeli flag and a German flag tied together – very powerful!  Matthew 18:21 & 22 came to mind, “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’  Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^‘”

After Shabot service, we made our way to the Sea of Galilee, which, as most of you know, is a fresh water lake (not really a sea).  We got on a boat and had a time of worship while we were boating around the Galilee.  It was a wonderful experience, and our team really bonded while we were there.  Experiences like this are hard to explain, but when you consider where we were and the fact that Jesus had done so much in the Galilee area, it is easy to see how Christians can grow closer together.

Until tomorrow – Shabot Shalom!

WOW!!! Our last day at kids camp was incredible!  Let me give you some details – warning: this could be a longer blog than usual.

The day started off with Sasha’s motor oil coffee – outstanding as usual!  Then at 9:30 a.m., the fun began.  Our first group of campers came through – the 10 and 11 year old boys.  After “the Baseball Prayer,” we decided to play a game – more or less playing a real game.  We had the two best players pick teams (12 total boys played), the coaches helped in the field, and we gave each team 10 minutes to score as many runs as possible – we were able to play 3 innings like this, with the time we had.  It was so much fun – the boys really got competitive – talking smack, helping to coach their own players, encouraging each other to hit the ball, telling the players in the field the appropriate play to make, etc.! It was amazing to me that what we had shown them over just a few days stuck.  It was extremely rewarding to watch these guys, who had an extremely limited knowledge of baseball (if any at all), really playing the game I have loved and played my whole life (in fact, I cannot remember ever not knowing how to play baseball).  At the end of our time, they didn’t want to stop playing – that felt reeeeeeeaaaaalllllly good!

The rest of the morning, the Abilene baseball “geniuses” worked with the younger boys and girls and the 13 and 14 year olds.  While these groups did not have the liveliness of the older boys, our time together was fun and extremely worthwhile.

After lunch, the coaches got to hit the baseball – with a little batting practice.  It has probably been 8 years or more since I have hit a baseball – I had to come all the way to Israel to get my swing back!  It feels awesome to crush a fastball!  I am sore today, but man was it fun to hit!

By the time all the adults had hit, it was almost time for free time – where the kids got to choose what they wanted to do.  We had 16 kids come back to play baseball.  So, we cranked up another game!  Once again, Paul Lovelace would be proud – 7 hours of baseball (only breaking to eat and drink some water)!

Totally exhausted from the day, we went to dinner and then to our evening service.  Honestly, I thought I would be falling asleep, but Randy Turner spoke (with an interpreter who translated into Hebrew) with a passion to these 70 young people.  At the end of his brief message, he had all of the leaders (Abilenians and Israelis) stand up around the room, and he told the kids that if Jesus had been speaking to them and if they were asking, seeking, and knocking, then they should go talk to one of the leaders that they felt comfortable with – allowing us, as leaders, to pray for them.  As soon as Randy’s words were interpreted, all 12 of the older boys got up and went directly to our baseball leader (Thomas McAdams).  I joined him, and we prayed for these young men.  It was extremely moving – several of the boys had tears rolling down their face.  I cannot remember being so touched by an experience like this.  As I told Thomas, it is hard to believe that anyone can say that youth sports do not impact the lives of young men.  I am certain that several of these young men somehow and in some way saw Christ in us – and for me, that’s what it is all about!

But for me, it did not stop there.  After leaving Thomas, one of the boys – Natanel (we would say Nathaniel in the U.S.) – came up to me and gave me a big hug (he was the one boy that I really felt a bond with at camp – he was competitive on the field and quite off the field.  He had a fire about him that I loved.  I tried to give him encouragement all week, and we just clicked).  With tears in his eyes (and in mine) and in his broken English, he said thank you and asked if I would pray for him.  Once again, I was blown away.  As I prayed over him, I couldn’t help but thank God for allowing me to have this opportunity.  It was extremely moving and even more powerful!

Then, I saw several young men, and one in particular, come up to Drew; I saw several young ladies come up to Amanda (who led dance classes); I saw several young ladies come up to Shannon (who had been all over camp); and I saw several kids come up to Melinda (kids camp is Melinda’s world!).  It was sooooo rewarding to see that my family was doing something special, something worthwhile, something eternal.  It was a very, very proud moment for me as a father!

As the service ended and as we said our goodbyes, I continued to watch the young men we had had the privilege to teach baseball.  They had been touched by the Holy Spirit, and we were part of it, and the best part – we were blessed in the process.  What an incredible experience!!!  Thank you God for allowing me to see what I saw, and thank you Thomas for leading our baseball crew “in a way that glorified Him”.

The day started off pretty much as usual. However, I haven’t told you about Sasha’s (Craig Loper’s Israeli brother) special coffee that I have had each morning.  It is some type of Iranian coffee with cardamom – it is really tasty coffee until the last few sips, and you see this ugly, thick motor oil looking stuff in the bottom of your cup.  Sasha says it is good for the heart – I am not so sure about its nutritional value, but trust me, you do not want to argue with this guy!

The craziest thing happened this morning in baseball. Obviously, we continued to struggle with baseball terms, but something just as funny happened.  Our leader wanted each group to recite in English (we are trying to help them learn more English words) what he termed “the baseball prayer” before they could bat (they love to bat and will do most anything to have a chance to hit).  The baseball prayer goes like this, “Thank you God for baseball.  Help me to play in a way that will bring glory to You.”  It is a simple prayer that we thought would help the kids speak some English.  So, our first group of boys came in at 9:30 a.m., full of excitement, and we got them together at the first of our session so that our leader could explain what we would be doing during the session.  He lined up someone to translate, and he said, “Today, we are going to do something different.  Before you can bat you will have to say, in English, ‘the baseball prayer’.”  And in unison, the 12 boys said out loud, “DA BASBOL PRAYER”.  It was hilarious, all of the Abilenians standing around just busted out in laughter.

Our experience, here at camp, continues to be a blessing – to me and my family, to our team of true servants, and to the Israeli kids.  We are seeing God work in many ways.  The results of what we are doing for these kids will, most likely, not be felt or seen for many years, but hopefully, we are planting seeds that will grow and produce a harvest in the future. Please pray that a harvest of good fruit will be generated from our efforts here.

The great philosopher and manager of the Texas Rangers, Ron Washington, had this quote (“That the way baseball go”).  We thought about this quote often while teaching baseball to the Israeli kids here at camp.

Baseball has not “caught on” in Israel – it has grown in popularity, but it has been a very slow growth.  In fact, one of the Israeli camp counselor’s told me today that the only sport offered is soccer – he told me later that he would have loved to have played American football and baseball, but he couldn’t.  Consequently, the kids that Drew and I, along with 2 others from Abilene, were working with today had never even thrown a ball – maybe a rock, but rarely if ever a ball – nor had they ever caught a ball.  The man from Abilene who is leading this baseball education warned me, as I tried to contrive a series of drills and possible ways to help them improve their baseball skills.  His warnings were “spot on”.  These kids were eager to learn baseball, but most of them had never put on a glove or picked up a bat!  It was crazy.

So, as you can imagine, all my practice plans and grandios ideas went out the window.  We had to focus on the very basics – “this is a glove, what hand do you throw with? The glove goes on the opposite hand.  Here is how you throw a ball.  Here is how you catch a ball. Etc.”  And to complicate matters, everything we said had to be translated into Hebrew and some Russian!  Of course, the kids understood some English, but not as much as we needed them to understand.  Some interesting baseball dialog that does not translate well and leads to confused looks:

1. I am going throw you some “grounders”.
2. Now, I am going to toss you some “pop flies”.  (If you had never heard of baseball, what would you think we meant by “pop flies”?
3. David (pronounced “Dauveed”), you’re “on deck”.
4. “Foul ball”
5. You need to “touch” the bases. (We had a kid actually touch first base with their hand!)

This is just a few of issues we ran into.  The biggest problem that I had was when a boy who spoke Hebrew was standing on first base and a boy who spoke Russian was batting.  The Russian speaking boy hit the ball on the ground toward second base and the Hebrew speaking boy did not run to second.  So, we had two boys who spoke different languages standing on first base with me trying to explain what had happened in English while using baseball terms!  It almost caused an international incident!  But fortunately, we had a 10 year old boy who could speak English, Russian, and Hebrew who settled the matter!

We taught and played baseball for almost 6 hours today – Paul Lovelace would have been proud!  It is 11:21 p.m. in Israel, and I have got to get prepared for 6 more hours of baseball tomorrow.  I have so much more to tell you, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.

My last thought – I am really being stretched this week, and I cannot imagine having more fun!  I challenge the rest of you to look for opportunities to stretch yourself – it is the greatest of all Blessings!!!

Shalom!

Yesterday, Monday, was filled with lots of anticipation.  We spent the morning completing our preparations for our 70 or so campers (2nd grade through 8th graders).  When they arrived at about 11:30 a.m., we were ready.

I started off working in the kitchen – because baseball teaching did not begin until Tuesday morning.  We had to prepare meals for the 70 campers, the 20 Israeli counselors, and the 33 of us from Abilene (123 meals in all if you are counting).  The kitchen work was structured and organized, which I really liked.  And as a side benefit, I really got to know some people that I did not know very well.  Our first meal – lunch – went off without a hitch.  However, we did learn a few things that helped us improve for the next meal.

In the afternoon, I got to go shopping with Randy Turner (our leader from Beltway Park) and our driver/handyman/interpreter/maintenance guy/man-of-many-talents (essentially, Israel’s version of our very own Craig Loper).  Grocery stores are considerably different here.  The grocery store was extremely customer friendly, but the other shoppers were not.  There were stocking clerks on every aisle, who were prepared to restock the shelf as soon as a customer removed an item – it was crazy!  The whole store was immaculately clean – they had a floor cleaning person who rode a device that looked like a riding lawn mower.  When we checked out, the checkout clerk would not even look at us (we noticed that all the clerks did the same thing) – it was very customer unfriendly.  One last thing, the grocery store had no produce – we had to go to a separate store for produce!

The afternoon and evening at camp were good – as we got to know the campers and the Israeli counselors better. I worked in the kitchen again – I am certainly gaining a new respect for restaurants and commercial kitchens!

So, the question is what am I learning here?  Several things:

• How to submit to authority (the Israeli leaders of the camp) – when the authority is not completely organized (Randy keeps reminding me that this camp is so much better than the prior 3 – I am thanking God that I was not here for the prior 3!).
• My wife and kids are really good at interacting with new people.  In addition, they are all exceptional with kids – and the kids love them!
• How to let God work through my lack of experience, lack of ability, and lack of patience.
• How to “go with the flow” (this is the most difficult lesson – for whatever reason, I like to be in charge!)

I got started with baseball training today.  It has been an incredible morning! I will update you on our progress here in my next blog – stay tuned!

Yesterday, we had an opportunity to visit Joffa and Tel Aviv – these two cities are essentially together.  Most of our time was spent on the beach – interestingly, and most people do not realize it, Israel has a wonderful beach area right on the Mediterranean Sea.  It was enjoyable to watch Israeli citizens enjoying their Shabot and spending time with friends and family casually on the beach.  Other than eating some really great Israeli food at a couple of fantastic seaside restaurants, we did nothing else but relax and enjoy the day!

Today is Sunday.  We have just completed a full day of preparing for 70 kids (2nd graders through 8th graders) who are coming to a summer camp tomorrow through Friday.  We spent most of the day setting up chairs, moving chairs, removing chairs, and moving chairs again!  Seriously, we had a “chair dance” going until noon.  After lunch, Drew and I helped set up a massive cover over an area we plan to use for games and activities outside.  To top off the evening, I played ultimate frizbee for the first time!  It was incredibly fun (even though I know I will be sore tomorrow).  We played with several of the camp counselors who are Israeli citizens and Messianic Jews – ultimate frizbee was a great way to get to know new people.

It seems like we have been spending time getting acclimated to Israel and the new time zone for the past two days.  However, tomorrow we will be getting down to business.  All of us from Abilene are excited about kicking the camp off tomorrow, and we are anticipating what God is going to do in the days to come.  I am sure that I will have some interesting developments to report in the near future.

Shalom!

Well, it is Saturday morning here in Israel – about 8:00a.m. – that would be midnight in Abilene!  My body has adjusted to the new time pretty quickly since I do not sleep well on airplanes.

Speaking of airplanes, many of you may remember my airline experiences when we went to Maui for our incentive trip – I had total airplane delays of 12 hours!  Yesterday, we only had 3 hours of delays – I am not holding my breath, though, because we still have to travel home!  Trust me, I am not looking for a new world delay record!

Our journey started when we arrived at the DFW Airport at 7:10 a.m. on Thursday, July 28th.  Here was our schedule: DFW to Atlanta (layover), Atlanta to NYC (layover), NYC to Tel Aviv, Israel (10 hour flight).  By the time, we arrived at the camp where we are staying just outside Tel Aviv, it was 5:10 p.m. (Israel time) on Friday – 26 hours of travel!!!  Israel time is 8 hours ahead of Abilene time for future knowledge.

On our way to camp, we stopped at a grocery store to get a few supplies, and they would not allow us to come in because it was too close to Shabot – the Sabbath.  As you know, Israel is a Jewish state, and so they celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday (actually, sundown Friday to sundown Saturday).  During Shabot, almost all businesses shut down and work virtually ceases (kind of like America used to be on Sunday, decades ago).  We settled in at camp, had a delicious meal of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, tomatoes, and olives, and after tossing the baseball around with Drew, we went directly to bed.

Today, we will be touring in Joffa (also called Joppa – you can read about what Peter did in Joppa in Acts 9:40-43).  I will report more tomorrow.  For now, I’m signing off – thanks for your prayers and for your interest in the Seale Family journey to Israel!

Hello, my name is Kris.  It has been about 18 months since my last blog.  {But I am back in the saddle!!!!}

Melinda and I are taking all 3 of our kids on our last, true family vacation to Israel.  As most of you know, my oldest daughter, Amanda, is getting married in December.  So, the dynamics of my family are changing.  We are going to Israel to assist with a kids camp for 5 days and to do some touring for 7 days.  It promises to be a very rewarding trip.

Anyway, I will try to blog often so that I can give you a taste of what we are doing and how God is using us.  I would like to ask each of you to pray for us and our team as we embark on this journey.

Shalom. Kris