May 4, 2009

MAY 4, 2009
We had a wonderful time in Haifa. Wilma, Christy, Erin and I picked up our rental car (a super duper speedster we named Blue Bullet!) and headed out of Jerusalem about 2:30 Saturday afternoon. Driving in to Haifa is absolutely amazing—the view of the Mediterranean Sea as you drive down in to the city is so gorgeous. I’m sure people who live there take that view for granted, but we really enjoyed it. We stayed at The Colony Hotel—and it was so great. It is a boutique hotel—in a 103 year old building that has been completely refurbished—located on the street that leads to the Ba’Hai Gardens—which are so beautiful that you must look them up on the internet. The décor in the hotel was so tastefully done. We had adjoining rooms with big high beds and lots of pillows—and we were on the front side with big windows that opened out on to the area in front of the hotel. The area is called The German Colony & is a big tourist area of the city. People were walking everywhere—and there were many restaurants with outdoor seating and twinkling lights…Yousef, Christine, their 3 children Allan, Julie and Lina and Jack and Linda came to the hotel and we all walked to this absolutely wonderful restaurant. We went in and down to a room…and were seated around a long table…some of us were on the sofas around the table and some on small hassocks all around. And the food—the best Arab food I’ve had…we had hummous, salads, chicken, delicious hamburger meat cooked with tomatoes and seasoned just perfectly and much more—we had this lemon drink with mint that I’ve had before…but not this delicious. It was thicker and so good. We relaxed and enjoyed our time talking and laughing and eating! Just great…

They invited us to tour the recording studio…so Wilma and I went with them while Christy & Erin stayed around the hotel and enjoyed dessert, etc. at the restaurants. We were absolutely overwhelmed at the recording studio facilities—a radio station, recording room, room to film TV sets—such as Jack teaching, etc.—and much more. The ministry of that recording studio is just incredible. I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but sometimes what God has done in people’s lives just knocks me over. Actually, Yousef and Christine are incredible—so sweet, humble and fun to be with. We went up to their home and enjoyed tea and brownies with them—and another American couple from Seattle joined us. They had been there before—helped with the building of the church. He is a retired engineer—I think…really nice and fun couple.

Sunday we planned to relax and sleep later than usual, but we discovered that our beautiful room on the front with the open windows made us really close to the street traffic! It was a busy place…but we managed to rest and then enjoy a huge breakfast. I have been blessed to enjoy so many of these delicious breakfasts that I hope I will continue to have them when I come home. They had a large array of cheeses, olives, cucumber w/dill, diced tomatoes /cucumbers, yogurt w/granola & honey, cereal, freshly baked breads, boiled eggs, egg casserole and real pancakes with the trimmings.

We packed up, checked out and headed for the tourist information center…we wanted to go to Elijah’s cave—and we learned that there is a traditional site and a site that has been designated as the cave…it has all sorts of paraphernalia, etc…so we opted for the traditional site. The young girls took over the driving on Sunday…so we found our way through villages and up a mountain to the Carmelite Monastery. We would have liked to go in, but it is closed on Sunday. However, it is so beautiful up on that mountain…so we parked the car and hiked…yep, my family is not believing that I hiked, but I did. We walked around a winding road and looked down at the valley…I think it is the Valley of Jezreel, but I may be wrong. I do know that I was on Mount Carmel where Elijah confronted the Baal prophets…all in 1 Kings 18 (I think)… and it was an experience that I don’t know if I have words for. I kept thinking about how it says that when the rain cloud came, Ahab and his men in chariots began racing down the mountain and Elijah was empowered to run faster than they did…I could somehow just see this short, feisty man with his arms pumping and his legs spinning tearing down that mountain. There are many places that are vertical stone slabs embedded in the mountainside, so I think it would have been difficult to maneuver a chariot down…but that is just my imagination! There are huge boulders and multiple olive trees—with their gnarled trunks. We also saw these little animals that are so darling—hyrax—never heard of them before, but they are funny little brown furry animals with big brown eyes about the size of a small rabbit.

Being there on that mountain was really a very special experience for me….for all of us. Erin, Christy and Wilma have all been teaching here in Jerusalem for 3 years…and they had not been there…so it was really nice for all of us.

We headed back in to the city to a mall! We enjoyed a delicious meal and a couple of hours of shopping…then we headed for the hotel—so Jack & Linda could meet us and take us to church. We got a little lost—quite a bit lost actually, and ended up being late…but they met us and we got to New Covenant Church. The service was so wonderful (do I use this word too much??? ) Of course, the music is just great—Yousef is a very talented guitarist, his brother-in-law Osama is a fabulous keyboard player—then they have a drummer, another guitar player and 4 ladies singing with them. Of course, the words were Arabic, but praise music is praise music…and it was wonderful (oops!)

Yousef preached about the delights of God’s Word—and reminded us of the joys of the Word. We listened through a translator on a head set.

Linda and Jack led us from the church to the edge of town so we wouldn’t get lost, and we headed back to Jerusalem. Because of some high way problems, we were a bit later than we wanted…but it was well worth it.

I returned the car today and said Thank You Lord—once again…He has blessed me with life-changing experiences. I pray that I can share all he has done with each of you in a way that will deepen your relationship with Him as He has done with me. His grace is so completely amazing—that He would allow me to be so blessed.

However, today at school, I was questioning the blessings—two parent conferences and a plea for help from Shane with one of my classes! It’s springtime and children everywhere and of all ages are ready to be free of the constraints of the classroom! One of the dads with whom I met was so very nice and appreciative of the work we do with the kids. That’s always a blessing.

My friend Sandra broke her right hand! Please pray for her healing—and for all of those who are missing hearing her play beautiful music. I thank you for your emails and comments and most of all for your prayers. Please continue to pray for me, my family, and Jerusalem School…the high school finals are June 1, 2, 3…and then I plan to leave June 6. I have realized that as much as I look forward to coming home, I will shed tears when I say good bye to the people I’ve met here at Jerusalem School—especially the kids. Five of the students will be in Austin & San Antonio in June…and I plan to go see them…hope to take a caravan of whoever else would go with me. I want everyone to meet them. I also learned that two of my ninth graders will be going to New Hampshire (or Vermont?) to a conference called Seeds of Peace…students from all over the world gather and discuss ways they can be part of spreading peace in the world. Isn’t that something!
Love
Beth