learnin’ a new language

Well I’ve decided to take the plunge, and try to learn a new language.
Sometimes I think maybe I should stop and try to master 1 of the 3 other languages that I haven’t fully conquered yet.
But no…I think I’ll tackle a new one.

Arabic

Its a new challenge.
Arabic makes noises that dont come from my vocal chords. It has 5 different ‘T’ or ‘TH’ sounds, and 3 different ‘H’ sounds.  No matter how hard I try, my H’s and T’s always sound the same.

Reading
Thats a whole other story.
I’ve always thought Arabic was one of the most beautiful written languages. And I have to admit, I feel cool writing it. But learning this alphabet….wow
Don’t be fooled. Though Arabic has 28 different letters in their alphabet, they really only have 15 characters or less, they just make different sounds depending on where you put your dots, marks, lines or squiggle. So reading it is proving to be a difficult thing.
But learning to read in any language is always the same. I have flash backs to being a kid when my Mom and Grandma were trying to teach me the English Alphabet, and spending an entire day on one letter, but then the following day I would completely forget what we learned the day before.
I am having similar experiences now…come to think of it, I was learning to read English as a second language too.

Kh-m-s-eh….kh-m-s-eh….khamsa (the number 5)
خمسة

I’m convinced if you really want to learn a new language you have to have thick skin.
I was told by a taxi driver to just speak English. Its easier!
Of course Taxi friend, it would be much easier for me to speak English. Duh! Thats the point! Obviously thats why I’m practicing.
Rejection, it comes with the territory. You have to be able to laugh at yourself. And be willing to make a fool of yourself.

So a fool I shall be.
Wish me Luck!

Internet, costumes and springtime flowers

So I’ve been without internet for almost a month now.
Its crazy, you don’t realize how dependent you are on the world wide web until you can’t access it. I have to admit, there were times I had to get past myself, and take my little ipod touch and stand near a neighbor’s house where I could bum some free wifi…ghetto I know. You would do the same!

Things in Israel are just harder than they are in the States. For those of you who have lived here, I’m sure you agree…things that are pretty straight forward and simple in the states, well, they’re just harder here. So we’ve been on a journey for the past 3 weeks to try and get internet set up in the apartment. Hopefully tomorrow, between the hours of 9am and noon, I will have internet in the comfort of my own home. We’ll see…

A lot has happened since the last time I updated this thing.

A week ago we celebrated Purim.
I happened to go for a walk with some good friends to try and find falafel for lunch (forgetting that it was Purim). We got to this little downtown area to find the streets flooded with children dressed up in all sorts of costumes, people playing live music, stores setting out samples and treats. It was so fun! My favorite of course was a little boy dressed up as a ninja turtle running around fighting everything he could. Precious.

On a more sobering note, last Wednesday there was a bombing in Jerusalem. The first of its kind since 2004. Though the attack was minor (in comparison to other attacks this city has seen), the worst part was the memories that it brought. Bombings and terrorist attacks became a common occurrence when I lived here before.   The biggest prayer request is to pray that fear would not creep in as a result and take hold of the people in this city, and of course pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

However, as those who lived here before can attest, other than increased police and army presence in the city, life goes on as normal, and you hardly notice anything happened.

The weather is getting nicer. Spring is finally here, as the layer of yellow pollen over our dinning room table proves. Spring is lovely, and this is the best time of year to be here! It just makes me want to go sit out in a park, read a book, and almost inspires me to go for a run….well almost.

Love to you all! Until Next time.
Thank you for your prayers!

Priestly ministry

I was listening to a sermon yesterday. By Allen Hood. I’m not even sure what the entire sermon is about because I haven’t gotten past the first 19 minutes. He got off on some tangent, some super long introduction to some point he never made, but is was good! Here are some of the notes I’ve taken so far:

Asking if you are a Prayer Ministry or a Missions Ministry is like asking what do you want? Your heart or your liver? Your lungs or your brain? You cannot separate the two. Its one flow in the heart of God.  Missions exits because worship doesn’t.

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man….Worship, is the fuel and goal of missions” – John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad.

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church, worship is. Why? Because one day all things will be made new, and evangelism will no longer be need. It will no longer exist, but what will? Worship!  Prayer! So the priestly function is one of the most important things that God is restoring on the earth right now. Our priestly function to stand before God and give him his due, not because he demands it, but because his nature elicits it.

God is doing this all over the world. He is joining what we call the prayer and worship movement, and the missions movement together. Scripture tells us that Jesus will sit as a priest on His throne. This is how He rules. The question is how do you believe we rule? How do you believe that the work of the ministry is best done? Is it through your labor? Where does it begin? Where is the primary focus? The missions movement has had mercy deeds and preaching, but we’ve lost the priestly function of standing among the nations and just giving God his due. And when we do that – preaching comes as the outflow, why? Because you have something worth talking about. You cannot commend that which you do not cherish.

God is restoring the priestly ministry to the missions movement.

I tell you, I exist for more than just evangelism, though I am an evangelist. We have to get a grid to give ourselves to the priestly ministry again because Jesus sits as a priest upon his throne. He does not do anything he doesn’t see and hear his father doing. That is the priestly ministry. It is lining your heart up with Gods heart and then overflowing to do what he says to do. We have to get back to that, lest we spin our wheels and we get burned out wondering what is wrong with the gospel? Nothing is wrong with the gospel, nothing is wrong with communing with the Holy Spirit, we just have to do it!

Weekend. Bethlehem. Refugee Camps.

I spent the weekend in Bethlehem.
And spent time with new friends who live in Deheishe – a Palestinian refugee camp near Bethlehem.

 

Deheishe
13,000 people living in roughly 1 sqaure kilometer

Graffiti

Artwork. Everywhere.
It seems everywhere you look, strong political messages on nearly every building

Neighbor
They welcomed us into their home, his wife served us tea, and we talked about life, Korean Politics, and God

 

It looks like I’ll be making this trip to the refugee camp a weekly thing.
I’m looking forward to getting to know these people, love these people, and hear their stories.

Egypt: Firsthand Account

This is an email from a respected Christian leader in Egypt, giving perspective and a firsthand account of what has been happening:

Dear friends,

I am writing this to you as a witness to what is going on from the streets of Cairo over the last few days. [My wife] and I have been following the developments since January 25th, which started with a large group of Egyptian youth taking to Tahrir square in an anti-government protest with specific demands. I know some of these people who were in that group and I talked with them. What is happening now has nothing to do with this original protest! What is happening right now is a conspiracy to topple Mubarak from outside the country!! I am not a conspiracy theorist, but let me tell you what I have personnally witnessed on the streets of Cairo.

I want to share first what the LORD told me on Friday morning.

I went to the LORD in prayer on Thursday evening, praying like many others for protection and for the restoration of peace and security in my land. I told the LORD: “Father, answer my prayers with rain”, which He has several times before. I went to sleep. I woke up on Friday morning and went directly to prayer. Immediately, I sensed a strong urgency from the LORD saying: “As the people of Egypt presented their requests to Mubarak, I am calling on My people to rise up before me and present their requests to me for their nation”. I went on to hear the LORD: “Let the Holy Council assemble”. I didn’t understand who this Coucil was, but I knew in my heart that the LORD meant that there are people in my land that are called by the LORD to stand before him as His Holy Council with authority to make declaration over the land, to establish the Kingdom in the land. My demands to the LORD were not political ny nature. I prayed for “good news to the poor, freedom for the oppressed, healing for the brokenhearted, and the acceptable year of the LORD” as the Holy Spirit gave guidance. The LORD spoke to me the words “JUSTICE” and “TRUTH”. As I went to talk with Rania afterwards, she told me that she had been awake all through the night, and that IT RAINED around 12:45 am. It was very strong, but not for a very long time (a few minutes). I knew then that it was the LORD. The LORD spoke Psalm 97:1-2:

The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad;
let the distant shores rejoice.
Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

Indeed, there had been unusual clouds and very thick fog in December over Cairo, unprecedented in frequency and intensity. Again, the words TRUTH (or righteousness in the English translation) and JUSTICE resounded.

As [my wife] and I followed the unfolding of events including the announced change in government and president Mubarak’s speech, we wondered why the international news media is focusing only on the thousands in Tahrir square who are escalating their demands and refusing dialogue. The news media is reporting this as “the people of Egypt” wanting Mubarak to leave immediately. Did they ask the “people of Egypt?”. For one, they did not ask me! Where are those, like myself, that want change and reform, but accept the changes that Mubarak is proposing, and want a peaceful transition through elections in September?

We decided to take to the streets to voice our opinion. On Tuesday February 1st we went to Mustafa Mahmoud square in Mohandessin. There were about one thousand people there around 3:30 pm. (yes, we broke the curfew). the crowd grew to about 2500 by 5:00 pm. People were calling their friends over the phone telling them to come. We left at about 6:30 pm and returned yesterday, Wednesday, starting at 11:00 am. The small group had swelled to TENS OFTHOUSANDS OF PEOPLE standing together with banners saying things like:

– yes to stability, yes to Mubarak
– give change a chance
– we are sorry Mr. president
– we accept dialogue, we trust you
– no to ElBaradei, no to the muslim brotherhood (many like this one)
– we are the Egyptians, where is Al-Jazeera, let them come and see
– no to corruption, no to vandalism
– we got what we asked the president for, so why are people still in Tahrir? Who are they? What do they want?
etc., etc., etc.

By 2:00 pm, the crowd had grown to SEVERAL HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, maybe up to a million, stretching from Sphinx square to Sudan street. We had a great sense of unity and victory. We met with people who were in the original protest in Tahrir square who decided to join us saying: we got what we asked for, and now we accept Mubarak’s changes and proposals”.

We left around 4:15 pm. The numbers had grown even more, POSSIBLY OVER A MILLION. As we drove home we saw the same slogans on banners all over the city, on cars, on walls, on shop windows. We learned that similar demonstrations are taking place ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, IN MAY DIFFERENT CITIES. THIS IS THE CRY OF THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT THAT IS BEING TOTALLY IGNORED BY THE INTERNATIONAL NEWS MEDIA. Is this on purpose??!!! I am perplexed!!! I am wondering: How come CNN, the BBC, and others are reporting ONLY the anti-government protests as the voice of the people? This is not JUSTICE, this is not TRUTH. There have been reports that these people are being paid by the government. NOT TRUE! I was there with many many others. I SAW THE STREETS.

Now to the situation in Tahrir square. Only a few people (hundreds?) are still there from the original protesters. They have been slowly replaced by other HIGHLY ORGANIZED GROUPS. They all have the same model of cell phones. They all have the same blankets (eye witnesses). THESE ARE NOT THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT. Some witnesses claim that they don’t look Egyptians, and don’t sound Egyptians (different accent, different dialect). THIS IS A BIG ORGANIZED COUP TO TRY TO CONVINCE THE WORLD THROUGH THE MEDIA THAT EGYPT WANTS MUBARAK TO GO, AND THE MEDIA IS PART OF THE DECEPTION. People in Tahrir square are escalating the situation on prupose to topple President Mubarak FOR THEIR OWN HIDDEN AGENDAS. This is TYPICAL OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERS, AND EVERYBODY IN THE STREETS OF CAIRO KNOWS THIS. We heard people on the streets saying that the plot to take over the country is now clear. THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW THIS. The escalation of violence in Tahrir square is because of this. Egyptians who love Egypt, the millions that took to the streets yesterday, want this to end. They fully understand that president Mubarak is between a rock and a hard place, that he cannot quench the unrest in Tahrir through the army, so the people want to go to Tahrir to disperse the crowds there by themselves. People in Tahrir are vastly outnumbered. If Egyptians go the Tahrir square to take control of the situation, more chaos will erupt, giving a chance to the international media to blame the President even more.

If Egypt falls, then neighbouring countries are going to fall one after the other. WE NEED PRAYER, WE ASK FOR TRUTH, WE ASK FOR JUSTICE, and above all LORD, in wrath, REMEMBER MERCY. Stand with us. The Lord calls Egypt “My people”. He is calling on His HOLY COUNCIL in the land of Egypt to stand before Him, to make declarations in the heavenlies to establish a new ‘constitution’ in the land based on the principles of the Word of God, to establish a ‘new foundation’ for His kingdom to come. Pray for the schemes of the enemy to be annulled and voided. Pray for deception to be exposed. We humble ourselves and pray. We seek the Face of the LORD. We turn from our wicked ways. LISTEN TO US LORD, FORGIVE US, HEAL OUR LAND. In the Name of Jesus.

Jetlag.

Jetlag. One of these days perhaps I wont find myself waking up at 4:30am. Until then, I’m actually kind of enjoying waking up while the rest of the world sleeps (atleast this side of the world).

I wake up to the Muslim Call to Prayer, shortly followed by Church bells.
This truly is a city unlike any other!

And I’m spoiled. My apartment looks out over Mount Zion. To the right you can see the Mount of Olives, and to the left the King David Hotel. I wish I had a panoramic camera that could capture it all.

Mount Zion – the View from my Kitchen Sink.

Not too shabby…

Leavin on a jet plane

My bags are packed…
Every time I pack I get this weird sence of accomplishment when I can get both bags right at/or between 49-50lbs. And then I get worried when I still have room in my carry on. Oh well…

4:50am is an ungodly hour.
Especially when you’ll be traveling for over 24 hours. Some travel complications came up yesterday. You see, I was supposed to fly through Chicago today, but thanks to this lovely winter storm, thats obviously not going to happen. Thankfully they were able to rerout my flight, and I’m still gonna make my connections in Madrid.

And, for those of you who have been following the news, and maybe more for those of you who haven’t, here is a prayer alert video that Rick Ridings put out concerning everything happening in Egypt. (This was put out several days ago…and a lot has happened in those several days, but it’s still gives perspective).

First Blog. Ever.

Blogging.
The thought intimidates me.

Perhaps its because I’ve read blogs from people who are much more eloquent than I.
I’ve never thought of myself as a “blogger”. I’m not one of those who can take every day life and make it seem intriguing, inspiring or entertaining. No…so I suppose that’s not why I’m starting this blog.

I’m traveling.
I’m leaving the country.
I’m doing what I’ve wanted to do for so long, and want everyone that I love and care about, and really anyone who so desires, to be a part of it. Not to just be entertained by it, but to be a part of it. And this – a blog – seemed like the best way to do that.

I’m heading back to Israel.
In roughly 2 weeks I’m moving back to Jerusalem to work with the House of Prayer there full time. In days to come I’ll share more about what I’ll be doing.

In the mean time…I’m trying to figure out this whole blog thing, and I’m in the process of purchasing a plane ticket (that too, can be intimidating).