It's time for another post. Way over-due! I am back now in my native hometown of Portland, Oregon in the USA.
I'll catch you up real quick. I had the most wonderful ending to my time in Israel. If the first three months were a crucifixion- A Sharing in His Sufferings, the last three months were like a resurrection- Joy Overflowing...Into More Joy!
One reason for this was getting to serve at the FELM (Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission) Ministry guest house. I worked with ministers from all over the world. We lived in a historic parsonage turned school turned guest house in the heart of Jerusalem.
A three-block stroll and manuevers through stone passageways rewarded you with a veiw of the Old City's Western Wall. Black and white wearing Hassidic Jews streamed down to the Jaffe Gate at all hours of the day and night--to pray and visit friends in the Old City.
Weekly, we prepared for Chinese, Korean, Ethiopian, Nigerian, Thai and Finnish fellowships meeting at the center. It was like a pre-ordained gift--to be serving alongside such awesome girls (a Canadian and two Finns) during that brief pocket of time.
We celebrated Shabbats together with wine and candles, followed by prayer and a movietime. A special memory is when we took our drinks and party cake to the roof and watched while the sun set over the Mount of Olives until the sky turned starry-blue.
Since I came back I have been staying with an internationally-hearted friend. To our great delight, a new housemate joined us who had just come back from Indonesia. (Indo was my first overseas experience at 18 years of age. We speak the Bahasa Indonesian together when it comes to mind.)
In recent news, with just two days notice, another has been added to our household: an Iraqi refugee woman. I will tell you more about it in the next post!
He has not forgotten one of His promises to us. I was discouraged being sent back home from Israel as if I had never set my face towards Jerusalem. Now I'm living with a woman from the Middle East, who speaks a semitic language and exudes Middle Eastern culture.
He let me know my time in Israel was a wave. That wave came in. It's not the end....it's just time for another wave.
If you are in between places, I just want to encourage you to step on it and look forward to what's next--in whatever frame of time you are in. He has something new for you to experience.
I'll catch you up real quick. I had the most wonderful ending to my time in Israel. If the first three months were a crucifixion- A Sharing in His Sufferings, the last three months were like a resurrection- Joy Overflowing...Into More Joy!
One reason for this was getting to serve at the FELM (Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission) Ministry guest house. I worked with ministers from all over the world. We lived in a historic parsonage turned school turned guest house in the heart of Jerusalem.
A three-block stroll and manuevers through stone passageways rewarded you with a veiw of the Old City's Western Wall. Black and white wearing Hassidic Jews streamed down to the Jaffe Gate at all hours of the day and night--to pray and visit friends in the Old City.
Weekly, we prepared for Chinese, Korean, Ethiopian, Nigerian, Thai and Finnish fellowships meeting at the center. It was like a pre-ordained gift--to be serving alongside such awesome girls (a Canadian and two Finns) during that brief pocket of time.
We celebrated Shabbats together with wine and candles, followed by prayer and a movietime. A special memory is when we took our drinks and party cake to the roof and watched while the sun set over the Mount of Olives until the sky turned starry-blue.
Since I came back I have been staying with an internationally-hearted friend. To our great delight, a new housemate joined us who had just come back from Indonesia. (Indo was my first overseas experience at 18 years of age. We speak the Bahasa Indonesian together when it comes to mind.)
In recent news, with just two days notice, another has been added to our household: an Iraqi refugee woman. I will tell you more about it in the next post!
He has not forgotten one of His promises to us. I was discouraged being sent back home from Israel as if I had never set my face towards Jerusalem. Now I'm living with a woman from the Middle East, who speaks a semitic language and exudes Middle Eastern culture.
He let me know my time in Israel was a wave. That wave came in. It's not the end....it's just time for another wave.
If you are in between places, I just want to encourage you to step on it and look forward to what's next--in whatever frame of time you are in. He has something new for you to experience.
