Trip to Galilee

Yesterday Margaret and I went with the Serve Nazareth team on a day trip to Galilee. what a delightful time we had together. The trip was organized by our team leader, Christine Farah, and we had in our company her supervisor, two Americans, a Brit, and a Romanian. We all piled into a VW min-bus, whose driver was Arab. We first drove to Cana, where Jesus turned the water into wine. We entered a little church there where some excavations displayed first century ruins. There was also a huge vat on display. Exiting that building we swung by a souvenir shop where the proprietor was very gracious. Breakfast was zatar on bread that was wonderfully delicious. Our next major stop was Arbel National Park. We climbed down a steep descent down a cliff, overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Pictures don't capture the image as well as seeing it in real! Besides the trail, there was a castle/fortress to explore, a cool stream to wade, and ripe cactus fruit to taste! We then visited a number of churches. They all commemorated an event in Jesus ministry. The Mount of Beatitudes, the feeding of the five thousand, the place where Peter was asked 'do you love me', the ruin's of Peter's house, in the ruins of Capernaum, where Jesus did most of His ministry, and the place where Jesus called the disciples. Before returning to Nazareth, our driver took us to Tiberias, and we boarded a wooden boat for a 40 minute ride on the Sea of Galilee. This was followed by a delicious supper at the Heritage, a rather fancy restaurant in Tiberias. It was the icing on the cake of an unforgettable delightful day, all planned by Christine. We all retired for the night, tired but happy, thinking of all the sights we had seen, most of which was great scenery, which probably had not changed much in 2000 years. The other great assurance of the day was that the Bible and the stories of Jesus, are rooted in space and time. The Bible is not a just a collection of myths, but occurred in real time.

On top of Mount Arbel before our hair raising climb down!

Ruins at Capernaum

Climbing down Mount Arbel. Thankful for ropes to hang onto!

Looking out of a cave on Mount Arbel.

The beautiful Sea of Galilee.

Working at Nazareth Hospital

The normal routine is developing that on Wednesdays and Thursdays we are at Nazareth Hospital doing our duties. I have been visiting patients and having to learn names like Nehi, Husam, Mahmoud, Thabit, Xair, Delal, Belal, Hani, Yosef, Tarek, Suheil, Simon, Rose, etc., I generally need someone to translate for me, which is very awkward. There are some English speaking patients, and with them I get on quite well. I hear quite the stories. Today I met a man that said he was in the army in Gaza five years ago, and he felt the Lord telling him he had to leave, He spoke to his commanding officer who let him leave the army and Gaza. Three days later, his close army connections were all dead. This man felt that God had preserved his life, and is living near Nazareth, with his wife and children. No more war for him as he wants peace, and to serve his Lord. There are chapel services to attend, it is all in Arabic, with some translating into English, They use chorus books which you open from the back. All tunes unfamiliar to me! They sing with conviction and passion, and tell of God's goodness and their conversion to Christ. Truly my brothers and sisters in Christ! Everyone I meet is friendly, hospitable,and very helpful. We have had a couple of unusual visitors. One afternoon as Margaret and I approached the door to our flat, a grey lizard, about 10 inches long scurried away, and headed into the underbrush. Today, in chapel a six inch lizard appeared on the horizontal beam of the cross and disappeared behind the vertical one! I found it quite amusing, and was going to point at it, but no one else seemed to notice, so I just let them carry on! Margaret worked the last two days in the maternity ward. She had to bathe, change and dress the babies. She quite enjoyed herself, though it was quite busy with about 10 newborns with lots of black hair!

The chapel at Nazareth Hospital

First Days Volunteering at Nazareth Village

Last week, after some days of orientation, Margaret and I put in a couple of days on the job. We had been given some costumes and roles to play, and so starting at nine in the morning, we were at it. On the first day I was the watchman in the tower, and I was dubbed Abraham. Overlooking the vineyard, the community set up a three hour watch schedule to deter either thieves who might try to steal, or animals that might damage the ripening fruit. This was so common that the word 'watch' was used as a measurement of time. Matt. 14:25, Luke 12:38. On the second day, I became the farmer in Jesus' parables who discovered a tree that was unfruitful. Willing to give another chance, the farmer dug around the base of the tree and cultivated it, so that the tree was again producing fruit. Margaret was dubbed Deborah, and she carried water from the well, and had a 'gazillion' pictures taken of her sitting by the first century, re-constructed olive press. The olives will be ripening in two or three weeks, and we will be helping to gather and preserve the olives, as well as pressing them to extract the oil. It is really quite marvelous how the property where Nazareth Village is located has been found, and developed. Excavations of the property, about 500 meters from the center of downtown Nazareth, revealed it was used as a vineyard. They found an original wine press and vat, the ruins of three first century watchtowers. They have built a first century replica of a cistern, a tomb, and has the only full-sized replicated synagog, where you can imagine Jesus when He was asked to read the Scripture, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has appointed me to bring Good News to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim the captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord's favour has come". Many tour groups go through each day, and hear Christ's parables, in an area He probably played and worked in. This recreated first century village with its farmers, shepherds, weavers, carpenters, men, women, children and animals, has an amazing effect. Some are moved to tears thinking about how God lived His life among us, so ordinary, yet so divine, using the world around Him to portray spiritual truth. Revolutionary!

Us in our Nazareth Village roles

First Church Service in Israel

I was invited to attend the bible study at the Church of the Nazarene in Nazareth on Friday nite. It was interesting! I arrived a little early, and was warmly greeted by the pastor and his associate. They stated the study would start in about 15 minutes or thereabout, . . well this is Nazareth and things don't always start on time! I went back outside, and loved the warm, dry air, as I sat down at a picnic table, not far from a huge brick outdoor BBQ. Many of those arriving came to shake my hand and introduce themselves. Re-entering the auditorium, I was instructed to sit near the back as someone would translate for me. Sure enough, as the worship leader talked in Arabic, English was spoken into my ear by a gentleman seated right behind me. Everything was the same but very different. The worship team sang enthusiastically with three vocalists, a keyboard, and drums. the projected lyrics were all in Arabic. Someone described Arabic as 'lots of swirls and smiley faces'. In addition the words are written from right to left, rather than left to right! Not that I could read it anyway. Of the half dozen songs the congregation sang, I only recognized the tune of 'Above All' The volume of music filled the room, could even be described as loud, and the keyboardist was very adept at adding an arabic music style touch. The congregation was quite engaged, with singing, clapping, and raising their hands. The pastor then opened his Bible and spoke about the Book of Revelation, starting with a brief introduction, and then plunging right into the letters to the seven churches and their dire warnings. After his presentation, which mainly consisted of comments on the verses he read, there was a prayer, then dismissal for a thimbleful of espresso coffee back in the courtyard with the BBQ. What truly amazed me was that in the discussion which followed, Huesam offered me a ride back to my digs even though it meant an extra trip to get his family all home. What intrigued me most about the evening was the fact that the church was comfortably filled with an even mixture of young and old, men and women, on a Friday night. Sunday worship is tomorrow, and I look forward to meeting my new acquaintances, and seeing what how they are at Sunday worship!

First Impressions

We landed at Ben Gurion airport in TelAviv yesterday afternoon. We had no difficulties entering the country. We waited for a bit for our ride to Nazareth, and arrived at Nazareth Hospital about 6:30pm. We met Christine Farah, in the flesh, which was great as prior to this we had only known her via Skype! She gave us a quick tour of the grounds and ahowed us our new accommodtation. She did not linger as we were weary. We had got up in the morning at 2am to get to the plane airport by 3! We found Heathrow Airport practically empty. We had thought our flight was international, needing to be there three hours prior to take-off but as we had a stop in Vienna, in the EU, it was classified as domestic. We could have used that extra hour and a half! Christine is a delightful British expat from Manchester eho has been in Nazareth for about sixteen years. She had rounded up a supper for us and a few basic groceries to stock our fridge. She also gave us some phones, to use, and gave us each a Serve Nazareth T-Shirt. She's great. I would say the accomodation is typically student in that there have been many guest over the years. it is relativly clean and quite spacious with a fair amount of natural light. We met a number of people today. They are friendly and open. Most understood us ok. It was diconcerting, when not talking to us, that they talked together in Arabic. This, of course is Nazareth, and we will have to get used to hearing conversation we don't understand. We had been warned that the land was hilly, and so we thought we were prepared. It is steep hills and lots of rocks! They are also on tbeir dry season so everything also seems dusty. The forcast is for sun and 30 degrees everyday, but tomorrow there is a 40% chance of thunder showers. They are longing for the rain. The hospital has about 140 beds. It is a modern facility that has had a number of additions, It is right on top of a great hill. At the bottom of the same hill, we did a tour of Nazareth Viiage it really is quite amazing. This is going to be quite an experience!

UK Visit!

Last week, it was a delight to visit our UK relatives. We landed in London on Tuesday evening, we met with my father's side of the family on Wednesday in a place in Trowbridge near Bath, on Thurday evening enjoyed a BBQ with my cousin Malcolm and his family, and on Friday, met with another cousin John and his family. Everyone was very kind and hospitable. It was seven years since we had been together, yet we were able to have a get time and it not seem or feel awkward or strange. I'd like go think that is common in families. I also like to think the family of God is even more familiar and loving. What a great time we all had together, although too short. What a great reunion. We love my UK relatives! They are all invited to come stay at our house while they visit Ontario! We also had the privilege of having coffee at the Pack Horse Inn with Michael and Cheryl Nimz, who are working with the Anabaptist network in the UK, working out of Birmimngham. So delightful to learn of what they are doing and to hear their passion. We believe they will be instrumental in developing new expressions of Christ's Body in the UK.

At the airport

As we are waiting to board I think of the incredible process to get to this time.  We got the vision,  made application, we were accepted, and then we worked toward the transition.  I learned a tiny bit of a new language, and attempted to get our finances in order.  This even included adjusting our legal  Will. We had our inoculations,  made provision for our house, so that meant getting organized and clean!  We have tried to tie up all the loose ends.  The hardest part though was saying goodbye. I  know it is only for three months, but a lot can change, and when we return, everything will have changed.  We are excited for the new adventure, but wish we were taking everyone with us!  The process made me think of  the transition to the end of life and the joy that awaits the christian.  We all have to prepare now, and we are reluctant to go forward without all our loved ones.

Margaret and I have made arrangements to visit the Oakey side of the family in Bath, UK, and there is a gathering of the Harper's, my mother's side of the family, in Headley Heath.  Haven't seen these folks since they visited here about eight years ago.

We are so blessed to be able to do this!