We recently began reading Bible Stories from these awesome kids books I got in Hebrew, 101 Stories of the Bible.  What’s great is that all of the stories are in Hebrew and come with beautiful illustrations.  I had enough to give each child a book to take with them as well, so if they wanted to read at home they could.

And here comes the encouragement: 

She told me that her son just loves the book and spent all that night reading the stories. He told her it’s very important to memorize and learn all the stories (which I never said to them) but it was just so cute.  The kids also have classes at their school about the Tenach (Old Testament) so he told his mom that it woud  help him in school.  She was happy that he was actually excited about reading something.

Then today I asked him how he is liking the book, and he began telling me about all the stories he has read so far….. which was pretty much the whole book!

And this totally made my day… Never underestimate a children’s book

For those of you who weren’t aware of the situation that occurred while I was on furlough in The States, the Shine Apartment flooded with sewage water.  Thankfully, a friend of mine found it before it lingered too long, but damage had already been done!

The entire apartment was filled with (lets just say “unpleasantness”) and it was a huge mess to deal with.  I am grateful that he was able to help with the cleanup and I was able to return to “sewer-less” floors.

Unfortunately, there were many items damaged, which had to be thrown out.  Fortunately, not everything was damaged, and I could definitely see the hand of God salvaging items, which were precious to me.

I also want to say a huge THANK YOU to my home church, Radiant Church, for the special offering they collected in lieu of the incident.  I will have to replace various items, and your giving was a WONDERFUL blessing in the midst of the stress and chaos of the situation!

So, where does that leave me now?

I met with my landlord and real-estate agent and pleasantly informed them that I cannot live in a situation where I am constantly in fear of this re-occurring.  I told them I absolutely love the apartment, but it’s a big stress. They both agreed with me and assured me that they will do everything they can to solve the problem.  They said the issue is coming from the upstairs neighbors, and they plan on cutting off my water supply from theirs, thus creating my own pipe line…. this way I will not have to deal with any issues they have with their sewage (which was the problem in the first place).

Yes, this sounds like a wonderful solution, and if it is actually executed it WILL BE WONDERFUL!

Things don’t always work in Israel according to time frames we as “foreigners” would like them to, so I am praying they will stick by their word and REALLY solve this.

If you could join me with this issue I would TRULY APPRECIATE all your prayers!

Much love and thanks!

KITCHEN/DINING/HOMEWORK/CRAFT AREA BEFORE:

AND AFTER:

LIVING ROOM/HANGOUT CENTER BEFORE:

AFTER:

HERE WE GOOOOOOOO!

And what happens to all those lovely recorders after the year is over? There are closets and boxes all across America who can answer that question…. maybe your closet is one of them.

This is where Shine steps in.  One of the projects I plan on implementing in our Summer Club is teaching the girls music….specifically the recorder.  Many of you know that I used to be a teacher, but you might not know I also taught Music for two years. Because it was a small school, without many resources available, I decided to teach the kids how to play recorders…and they loved it!  The recorder is the easiest and cheapest way to introduce a child to the world of instruments.

So what does this have to do with you?  How can you help?

It’s a bit difficult to teach recorder without the actual instruments, so I’m sending out a call to anyone out there who might have an old recorder laying around, not being used.  Donating your old recorder is an amazing way to help give a refugee girl the gift of music, a gift most of us take for granted everyday.

Anyone who is interested in donating your old recorders and/or any easy kid-based music for the recorder, contact me and I will send you information on how to send it.  If you do not have any recorders, please pass on the information to anyone you know who might.  The sooner we have enough recorders, the sooner music can fill the air.  This is a practical way to show God’s love to these wonderful girls!

Before the whole toy chest was a disgusting yellow color.

After the first coat: the body is blue with the seat white.

Painting the zebra stripes as a final touch.

TA DAAA!! And its finished

To prepare I made cards of each Arabic letter to form a border around the top of the walls.  I must say it adds lots of color to the room

Next up: The Hebrew Alphabet….

A complete state of chaos and mess!

I can hear the workers in the next room speaking Russian to each other, mixed in with the sounds of hammers, scrapers, painting, and whatever else they are doing to finish the other rooms.  Its been a whirlwind of a week, to say the least. BUT, its coming together shway shway as we say in Arabic.  (slowly, slowly).

I moved in this past Sunday with the help of some friends from my congregation.  At that point NONE of the rooms were finished, so it was only my things that moved…. I stayed on the couch at my old place.  By Monday night, one of the rooms (and one toilet ) was completely finished, so I was able to camp out in there.  Tonight (Tuesday) they are working and we believe that everything should be finished late Wednesday night. (thats true faith there)

Its been interesting these past few days, talking with random people down here.  I have been asked by pretty much everyone the same question over and over again, tonight was no exception.  Alex, one of the workers, asked me what I’m doing here.  I get this a lot, so I start with my normal “Why I’m in Israel” speech to which he interrupts me and says, “No. Why are you HERE, here?” (referring to the area)  After I explained to him what I’m doing and why I decided to live here, he just looks at me and says, “you are a pioneer.”

It was a simple sentence, but one that really meant so much to me.  Even though I am NOT the first one to do such a thing, for him I was.  Leaving the comfort of my life in the quiet Ramat Gan, to dive into the madness and noise of South Tel Aviv… it was unheard of to him. I’m pretty sure he thought I am absolutely crazy, but then again there are moments when I think the same thing.

Pioneer.  This word keeps playing over and over again in my head, and as I look out my window to see the streets below filled with grime and filth, I can only wonder what my “prairie” will behold.

But before I was able to glide in the wind, I had to jump.  There was this rickety old ramp (seen in the picture above) on the top of the mountain where you had to run across and just jump off of.  It was the scariest moment of truth.  Over the edge of that ramp was nothing. No safety net, no wires attached, just a drop of death.  It was a leap of faith, putting trust in the gilder that the wind would pick you up and send you soaring peacefully in the air.

Today I woke up and felt like I was standing on that cliff again.  That same feeling I got right before I jumped off that rickety ramp all those years ago came rushing back.  I was nervous. I was scared. I was self-doubting.

This was a different type of cliff diving.  This was a real life, dream accomplishing, future making type of diving…and I started feeling overwhelmed about it all.  I had received news that the bid I placed for the building of the youth center was accepted!  I was officially about to embark upon the vision God had placed in my heart for ministry, and it sent butterflies to my stomach.

This is a HUGE step for Shine, the first of many.  Funds must be secured, volunteers acquired, renovations completed, etc. etc.  but the first step is complete, and we’re about to jump.

Yes, I’m diving off the cliff right now….. but I KNOW that soon I’ll be soaring with the eagles who are flying all around me.

I’ve been spending time looking at places for the youth center, but to be quite honest its been torture.  I haven’t found one

single place that I would even consider, yet alone want to live in as well.  Today I even went inside a place with no floors… NO FLOORS!  There were just piles of dirt all around, and I’m talking about the 3rd floor no less.

After seeing this place, and being horrified by the thought of living there, it struck me…. There are thousands of people living there right now. Most of them are refugees and foreign workers, who can’t afford NOT to live in places without floors.  They do not have the luxury of saying ’NO’ when they are given a place like that.  And it humbled me.

This is why I must find a suitable place for the center.  I’m determined to make this place a beautiful respite for these kids…. a place to get away from what they experience day to day…. a place they can feel comfortable and at home in.

And though its frustrating and painful, looking and dump after dump, I have to keep on looking.  I have to believe that somewhere out there there IS a Needle in a Haystack!  I just need the endurance to find it.