|
Dear
Friends and Family, It has been 5 weeks since our arrival at Kibbutz
Nir Am. Please forgive me for not writing sooner. My next letter will not
be so long. We plan to be here for another three weeks and hopefully will
be better at communicating. How many times has the Lord spoken something to
you or has done something for you and you wish that you had written it
down. Or, He has told you to do something and your response is tomorrow.
Tomorrow turns into next week. The weeks become months and your intent or
direction becomes lost in time. Be encouraged by the Word of God to
motivate you to follow what the Holy Spirit has placed in your heart to do
even if it was twenty years ago or so. Let Him redeem the time and show you
how to begin to follow that calling or desire that has remained in your
heart for so long.
For those
of you who have been faithful to His calling, encourage those that you know
who are seeking that perfect will. This is exactly where I am right now in
my life, learning to surrender all to follow His call. The Lord has
been teaching me to trust him by surrendering all, including setbacks and
disappointments. Part of this surrendering process for me is growing in the
fruit of the Spirit:
Galatians
5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law.
How can I
give glory to God and expect Him to teach and lead me if I have not love?
How am I to witness without joy and peace? Is it possible to skip the part
about longsuffering? Obviously, not! This is not Club Med nor did I expect
it to be. Longsuffering is proving the most excellent way in building
character. Self-control is definitely causing me to emerge from reacting in
the flesh to reacting in faith. My ambition is to walk in the Spirit, not
in my own reason and understanding. This goes against human nature since
man tries to figure out everything with common sense and experience and
advice from whomever. So, this is part of what has been happening with me
and with Michael.
Galatians
5:24-25 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its
passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the
Spirit.
By now I
feel like a Kibbutznik: We work. We eat an Israeli lunch at the
dining hall with fellow kibbutzniks. We have Saturday off. We go back
to work on Sunday. Life is simple. Life is good. Housing,
personal possessions, food consumption, cars, and everything else is on a
much smaller scale than what the average American is used to. Cell phones
seem to be more of a necessity than a convenience. Air conditioning is not
constantly running for the summer. Fans work wonders here. Big screen TV is
only fantasy. Women do not have walk in closets. Their whole wardrobe could
fit into an industrial-sized cabinet. Coffee is quite common but not
exactly what we are used to. Instant seems to be the preferred way unless
you visit a coffee shop which are more prevalent in the bigger cities.
Smoking is more open here. Not much regard is given to those who are around
you. It seems that Israel has a healthy lifestyle. There aren't a whole lot
of people that need to go on a diet as compared to Americans that have
entire families with a weight problem.
The people
of Kibbutz Nir Am and the citizens of Sderot are overall friendly and
hospitable. Expect to relax and have refreshments when invited in. Some are
more talkative about issues. Some don't have much of an opinion. And some
politely say that they do not believe in God. No heaven. No hell. There are
liberals and there are conservatives. So, we try to have conversations as
often as we can. Glory to God we have two dinner invitations coming up. And
others have expressed interest in having us over to their place here on the
Kibbutz. August 4th will be an important day when several elder kibbutzniks
will grant us the opportunity to interview them on life here and what their
opinion is on the conflict that has been developing over the years. We may
be able to inquire of their faith and what their relationship is with God.
We are invited back to a residence in Sderot and in Old City Jerusalem.
It has
taken time to for these opportunities to come about. We are doing our
very best to make every hour count, whether we are working in the orchard,
having lunch, touring a section of Israel, researching to truly understand
the Palestine-Israel Conflict, making contacts with other Americans and
those in the Israeli press, learning Hebrew, taking pictures, laying hands
on people that need prayer, talking with the college students,
broadcasting, answering emails, or just plain waiting on the Lord. There
have been several concerns while we have been here that have caused us to
question our purpose in coming at all. However, the Lord has not failed us
yet. Every need and concern has been met. And our biggest concern of
needing a place to live upon our return to the U.S. will be met as well.
As the
days go by Michael and I feel stronger about the Lord's purpose in sending
us. Our steps have been directed not by coincidence but by the power of the
Holy Spirit. I am amazed at how the Lord has brought us to the right places
at the right times. We have had a positive and blessed relationship with
staff and management at Kibbutz Nir Am. David, in particular, has become a
dear friend. We would not have had the ease in communicating without David
there to translate. David is extremely fluent in English and is well
educated. We can talk to him about anything concerning Israel or America.
Many do speak English but there are a few that speak very little or none at
all. David was born at Kibbutz Nir Am 36 years ago and has lived his whole
life here. He works hard at his job as the groundskeeper and landscape
project manager. He lives in the tiniest apartment, earns a small salary
and is content. We will miss him sorely when it is time for us to leave. He
has been a joy to talk to and get to know.
We have
met a dear servant of Yeshua in Jerusalem. Her name is Annegrethe .
She is a native of Denmark who has been living in Jerusalem for a few
years. She is learning Hebrew and speaks English well. We have only known
Annegrethe for about three weeks and already feel like old friends.
Michael e-mailed Mary, a mutual friend, and asked if she knew of
anyone that could put us up for a night. Mary contacted Annegrethe
who was more than happy to invite us in, and subsequently invite us
back again and again. She has graciously opened her lovely spacious home to
us for the three visits so far that we have made to Jerusalem. (She lives
in French Hill, an impressive upscale area). Meeting Annegrethe has been a
divine appointment. Who else but God can bring total strangers together for
a great time of fellowship? She has prepared lovely "Danish"
dinners for us. It was such a treat to eat a familiar meal. She is a woman
of prayer and devotion. The Lord has given her a vision that will aid many
elderly Jewish people that will come to a certain place in Jerusalem for
healing and wholeness.
I could
write much more on the culture, day to day life here, political opinions,
things that have happened such as a fire and kassam rocket
that destroyed a house in Sederot less than a block from where we
stood. The day of standing inches from Obama, etc, but I will fit all of
this in as I get my thoughts together and start to write
regularly.
There are
a few websites that may be of interest. www.iron-rain.com gives a satellite
view of how close Kibbutz Nir Am is to Gaza Strip. www.sderotmedia.com is a
pro-Israel advocacy group that Michael and I are working
with. David Bedein is a foreign correspondent for this
Philadelphia newspaper, www.thebulletin.us David is an expert on the
Palestine-Israel conflict. www.jpost.com offers limited articles to
nonsubscribers. They recently published an editorial by Michael concerning
a tour that we took with liberal group Peace Now. Also there is
www.haaretz.com is a leading Israeli paper that is liberal but provides
more details that you won't see in America such as with the bulldozer
terrorist attacks. www.israelnationalnews.com is a more conservative news
source. www.foigm.org is the site for Israel My Glory magazine.
www.israeltoday.co.il is a site for news and perspective.
Israel
still is God's chosen people. I say this to the Jews here! Some believe this and
some don't. I pray that America does not fall away from support of Israel. But
we are in the Last Days and already we see many unbelievable slants against
this country from America and other countries.
If you
have a prayer need please feel free to send it to me or
Michael. Shalom,
Lisa Michelle
|
