As we walk by the shopkeepers and wave or nod a hello they confidently smile and say “welcome.” This is telling of the hospitality and generosity here in Nazareth.
Someone once told me “Americans live to work and everyone else in the world works to live.” I’ve thought about this concept daily as we work in the village here. It seems that nearly every time we are not busy working, the others (the locals who run the village) are calling us to come and sit with them to have a coffee break. The coffee is flavored with cardamom and is supposed to fight the heat of the day. I’m not sure if it works yet, but it is good and strong. Besides, we are willing to try anything, in addition to drinking multiple liters of water, as it has been around 104 F. for most of our stay. (today we enjoyed the 90’s).
Today Tim, Karah, Dave, and I began work on rebuilding the second of two roofs over a house in the village. It is good to work and be with Tim after being apart for most of the time since high school. We have both changed and matured in many ways over that span, yet we quickly realized our senses of humor have remained the same. Needless to say, the work day is filled with laughter and enriching conversations in between other strange noises and flying clods of dirt. Aside from this lightness of mood and the afore mentioned adjustment to a difference in work ethic, we do work hard.
Since arriving here I have learned a myriad of details which clarify and enrich the biblical story. One of which is that Joseph was probably not a carpenter in a quaint woodworking shop as we might imagine. It is more likely that he was a sort of 1st century contractor who worked not only with wood, but also stone, mud, reeds, and mortar. He built houses, and Jesus would have worked along side his father, hoisting buckets of mud and stone like we have been doing for the last week.
I look at my hands at the end of each day and survey the damage. It usually consists of a few cuts and blisters from swinging a pick or hoe as well as the results of being sucked dry by the limestone and left raw from pulling buckets to the roof. I can’t help but think that Jesus was ripped and his hands must have been calloused from years of carpentry work.
Plains Mennonite Church invites you to consider hosting an Iraqi refugee family through Lutheran Children and Family Services in Philadelphia. With nearly 100 refugees scheduled to arrive in the Philadelphia region in the next months, are you ready and willing to be part of God’s answers to our ongoing prayers for peace in Iraq by hosting a family? For more information about hosting an Iraqi family, contact Lyn Back at 215-747-7500, ext. 207 or lynb@lcfsinpa.org or contact Janet Panning at 215-747-7500, ext. 209 or janetp@lcfsinpa.org.
“Fall Tune-Up†is coming! Inspiration and training for teachers, youth workers, and worship leaders will be at Souderton Mennonite Church on Saturday, September 29 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event is sponsored by Mennonite Publishing Network. More information will be coming soon at franconiaconference.org and www.gatherround.org. The cost is $15/person or $12 for 4 or more persons from the same church. Registrations are due on September 24. For more information, contact Marjorie Geissinger at 610-966-2733 or russmarj64@enter.net. An additional training session just for teachers, at a cost of $8, will be held at Lancaster Mennonite Conference offices on Sunday, September 30 from
2 – 4 p.m. with focus on ‘Gather Round curriculum from 4:15 – 4:45 p.m.
Volunteer and Job Opportunities
New Beginnings Community Children is looking for volunteers to read books to children. Story Time will be held on Wednesdays from 4 – 5 p.m. through the week of August 15. They are also looking for volunteers to assist with a children’s day camp. It will be running on Thursdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through the week of August 17. Volunteers will receive a free lunch and a flexible schedule is workable. If you would like to help with either of these opportunities, please contact Felicia Moore or Pastor Jon E. Moore at the church phone at 215-785-2233 or email newbeginningscommunitychurch@verizon.net.
Quakertown Christian School is looking for a qualified Music Teacher. This is a part-time position teaching kindergarten through 8th grade Music. If you love music and children, this is an opportunity for you! Please contact the school at 215-536-6970 or mail your resume to Quakertown Christian School, 50 East Paletown Road, Quakertown, PA 18951.
Zion Mennonite Church in Souderton, PA is seeking a dynamic musician, conductor, and song leader to continue an excellent worship tradition and take it to a new level. A complete job description for the position of Minister of Worship will be developed around the gifts of the candidate. Choir directing, worship planning, song leading, and leadership of praise teams will be important roles of this ministry position. For more information, contact Pastor Hunter Hess at 215-723-3592 (days); 215-257-1115 (evenings); or email hunter@zionmennonite.org.
Coaching positions are available at Penn View Christian School for the current school year. If you are interested in information about coaching soccer this fall or coaching a sport later in the school year, please contact Mike Lambright at 215-723-1196, ext. 1504 or mlambright@pennview.org.
After a busy weekend traveling over northern Israel, it feels like home to come back to our hostel in Nazareth. We were all pretty tired and parched from the heat and travel, but as Karah said, it doesn’t get much better than watching the sun rise over the Galilee and set over the Mediterranean.
It has been two years since I have been in this part of the world, and before coming back to lead this trip with Youth Venture, I was looking through some of the journals I had written from when I had traveled here in 2005. I found this journal (http://www.vivaelviaje.com/blogs/vivaelviaje/archives/000146.html), where I talked a bit about my Israeli friend Maoz, and how he had a vision to start a youth hostel in the Arab city of Nazareth to build peace in his country.
And coming back now, it’s amazing to see what has happened. Maoz’s dream, The Fauzi Azar Inn, has helped to revitalize the old city of Nazareth and bring life back to the semi-desolate marketplace and stones of the medina. He has helped to foster interaction and hospitality between international visitors with both Arabs from Nazareth and Israelis looking for a weekend getaway. Many volunteers for Nazareth Village stay at the Inn and visitors to the Inn visit the village. Those from Nazareth speak about Maoz with great respect, as they know that he has helped to build peace in the town of Jesus.
When we oriented ourselves to the village last week, we sat in the first century synagogue and discussed Luke 4:14-20, where Jesus returns to his home town after his time in the desert, and says:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
As a group, we have been meeting many different people in this complex land, each with their own story and perspective. This weekend, we will be traveling to Jerusalem and Bethlehem and experiencing the heart of this country where more religions and people mix into a city that is unlike any other in the world.
Through becoming a part of the Biblical story and living amidst the stories of many others, we are continually learning what the Luke 4 passage meant both for those in the first century and us today. We are anticipating what it will be like to return to our home towns in two weeks and share this will our churches, families and friends.
On Sunday, we were at the beach near the ancient Caesarea aqueduct, hanging out with Maoz, his wife Shlomit, and their 18th month-old son Liad who is the happiest boy you could ever imagine. I feel priviledged to be here again and to be a part of the ever-developing story of the people in this region. It’s exciting to imagine what the next chapter, and how it may be connected to us all.
Today was indeed a day of rest and adventure. After a crazy Saturday, I woke up to a fly buzzing in my ear, and numerous other flies landing all over me. Our whole group was being bombarded by annoying house flies in fact, at 5:00 in the morning. Instead of taking a sheet and mummifying myself as a form of protection from the flies in order to catch a few more hours of sleep, I decided to get up and watch the sun rise over the mountains of Seria, the Sea of Galilee, and the banks of Tiberias. It was quite a beautiful sunrise and I was taken back 2,000 years to the morning when Jesus called to his disciples on the shore of that very sea. I pictured him sitting on the beach by a small fire waiting for his friends, and the excitment that his Disciples must have felt at the miracle he performed and to see him again after his death.
It’s something special to be able to actually picture the stories I’ve heard so often happening right where I am standing. I’ve been a little disappointed with many of the stops we’ve made, however. There is a church on every sight that is believe to be Holy. It’s hard for me to get past the “monument” and to figure out what it must have been like for Jesus and his disciples. The seas, so far, have definitely been my favorite because they are the least tainted by the modern world.
We left relatively early from the Galilee because it was getting hot and muggy very fast. Arriving back at the hostel, many of us simply crashed for 3 hours in a well deserved nap.
We then traveled to Caesarea, to the ruins of the Roman empire. This part of the country is most well known as being the place that Paul began his final journey to Rome. There are stunning architectural ruins from the reign of Herod such as an amphitheater, a man made harbor, a palace base, and a beautiful aqueduct. All of these looking over the vast, blue Mediterranean Sea.
After a long, sweaty day, we finally got a chance to cool off in the sea. I couldn’t have asked for more in a day at the beach; REALLY warm weather, soft white sand, few people, clear blue and refreshing water, and some of the best snorkeling in the world. (too bad we aren’t equipped for that…) It was a tropical paradise.
I’d say it’s a good day when you can watch the sun rise over the Galilee, and set over the Mediterranean.
So far this trip has been a really stretching experience for me. Being here has shown me that I will not always be comfortable if I am doing the things that God has called me to do. Service often means sacrificing your comfort for others’.
When the letter came that told me that I had been accepted to come on this trip, I was so excited I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. As the day drew nearer, however, I became more and more anxious. I didn’t know anyone in the group and I knew hardly anything about what we would actually be doing there. I would have seized any opportunity I could to get out of going. I’m definately glad none of those opportunities ever showed up.
When I woke up this morning I was not really looking forward to a day of hiking around site seeing in hundred degree weather. I’ve been feeling pretty sick the last few days, as well. My outlook, however, became more positive with every site we visited. We went to the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus preached the sermon on the mount. We saw the ruins of Peter’s house, climbed the cliffs of Arbel, and swam in the Sea of Galilee. It was amazing to go to these places because Jesus was actually there, he actually walked where I was walking! It brought all the stories I’ve heard a thousand times to life. It made them exciting and relevant again. Being here has has completely changed the way I think about the Bible. Those stories are real, they’re not just pieces of fiction. Despite its rough start, the day turned out to be pretty amazing.
Today started pretty typical (if we can call it that yet since we’ve only been here a short time). Katelyn and I got to experience going out into the market this morning to buy fresh pita for breakfast and then making eggs for everyone. It was a dangerous move having us, two self-proclaimed inexperienced cooks, in charge of a meal but it turned out well…at least thats what we were told. We couldn’t mess up too bad it was just scrambled eggs and the usual fruit and pita with hummus.
At the village we continued to worked on the roof that we are building and helping with packaging oil lamps for the guest shop. Again is was another scorcher but we are getting used to it day by day. Supper was special for us. we had a traditional Shabbat (sabbath) meal consisting of potatoes, beef (lamb is unavailable in Nazareth), Shabbat bread, and grape juice in place of wine. Ashley did wonderful at being “the woman of the house” and leading us in the ceremony of lighting the candles and saying the blessing at sundown. David, “the man of the house”, then broke the bread and continued to tell us about the traditions that would occur in a Jewish home.
In the past two days I have come to really realize that God is truly my refugee and strength and that he knew what he was doing when he called me to come here. When i first applied to Youth Venture I couldn’t have been more excited about coming but as the trip grew closer; I had more and more reservations about it. In the last 2 or 3 weeks a huge part of me was dreading coming. I knew that some of the other people on our trip would know each other and I didn’t want to be challenged with fitting in with them. I don’t think I knew how scared I was until just about an hour before meeting the team at the airport on the 23rd i had a bit of a break down. If I could have I would have backed out of the trip in a heart beat. However, I didn’t have that choice and now I’m so thankful I didn’t. It was yesterday that confirmed in my mind that coming here was the right thing because it was then that I began to feel comfortable with the people I am with and have really felt that already this has been a challenging and learning experience. I have great expectations for the rest of the trip as we go out and learn more each day.
To sum things up I would just like to thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. Please continue to pray for us as we will be traveling this weekend to the Galilee region and Ceasarea.
The experiences of a group of young adults who rode bicycles across the United States last year are a part of history but their movement continues on. “BikeMovement the Documentary – A young adult perspective on church†has been released and is now available on DVD. The documentary follows BikeMovement, the group of young adults who rode across the USA from July 10 to August 25, 2006 as an initiative to engage in open conversation regarding their perspectives on and visions for the church.
Franconia Mennonite Conference Associate for Communication and Leadership Cultivation, David Landis, served as the trip’s general coordinator. Landis established BikeMovement as an extension of the ideas he heard from various young adults across the country who voiced a longing for a way to more openly converse about their faith.
The documentary summarizes conversations that took place both within the BikeMovement group and with over twenty church communities they visited along the way. A common question asked in many of these church conversations was “Why are many young adults who grew up in the church not returning?†The BikeMovement group discovered in their own conversations and in conversations with other young adults that there is no single answer to this question; everyone has their own unique experience. The documentary, however, attempts to identify common threads and offer suggestions to create safe places where generations can come together and better understand each other.
Topics covered in the BikeMovement documentary include: examining what it means to live in a tight-knit community while inviting people in; asking tough questions; exploring ways to create intergenerational dialogue despite language and other generational differences; and responding to the other unique challenges young adults face in connecting with a traditional church setting. The documentary also includes a study guide with activities and questions to initiate discussion and aid groups in working through the various issues together.
If you are interested in learning more about the BikeMovement journey, visit http://bikemovement.org/documentary/ , where you can preview the documentary and find information on how to purchase a copy of the DVD. Order requests can also be made via e-mail at order@bikemovement.org. To help continue this conversation on global level, all proceeds from the sale of the documentary will go to AMIGOS to assist young adults from all over the world in attending the next Mennonite World Conference in Paraguay in 2009.
Franconia Conference has been an ongoing funding partner with bikemovement, including production of the documentary.”
The second I woke up this morning I realized that it was going to be a scorcher. The air was dry and the sun was beating down in my room and I already started to feel hot and gross. Today was our first day working at Nazareth Village and since it was so hot I knew that we would all hate being outside. I was worried that the costumes would be uncomfortable and itchy. I also worried that the work would be tiring and hard. However, today was a great day. We all loved being in the Village and getting to know the people there. In fact, the costumes were extremely comfortable and quite light. The work was fun and easy. Yes, it was hot however, we eventually got use to it and forgot about it.
The first century costumes were interesting to put on. Eventually, we all got use to them and were quite fond of them. Tim, Dave, and Ben were assigned to build a roof on one of the homes in the village. Khalicia and Karah got what we thought would be the easy job, however, it was the job of helping out in the kitchen. Ashley, Dana, and I had the privilege of helping in the vineyard. We mostly ate the grapes however, we made sure that the grapes were off the ground and away from the bugs and dirt. It was a fun job because we got to work and talk at the same time. Ashley, Dana, and I all got to know each other better. It was a great time to share stories and reflect. We also met this amazing lady named Evon. She has been working with Nazareth Village before it even opened. She is a fun and energetic lady. Fun to talk to and laugh with. She showed us girls how to weave. It was an experience I will never forget.
Today taught me a lot. It taught me not to worry and complain about the little things. Life is more important! In Matthew 6:25 Jesus says, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more imortant than food, and the body more important than clothes?” Worrying about the weather or the clothes I am wearing is very pointless and a waste of my time. Today was amazing and I hope that tomorrow will bring new memories and laughter. I can’t wait!
A note for pastors from Dawn Ranck, pastor at Plains Mennonite Church
In Philip Yancey’s book Prayer: Does it Make Any Difference, he writes that “Praying can be a risky enterprise, I have found, as the Spirit often convicts me of the very thing I am praying about. ‘Lord, help my neighbor, a single mother, in her hard life.’ Hmm, have I offered to take her son skiing lately?’”
At Plains, we have been praying for Iraq since before the war began over four years ago. Recently Lutheran Children and Family Services learned that up to 100 Iraqi refugees will be arriving in Southeastern Pennsylvania in the next few months. We are realizing that we can, in part, be God’s answers to our own prayers for peace in Iraq by hosting an Iraqi family in our community. Will you join us in answering prayers by hosting a family at your church? Lutheran Children and Family Services is in desperate need of congregations to assist. Yancey continues, “Those of us who struggle with unanswered prayer dare not overlook an important theological truth about how God acts in this world today. The church is the body of Christ, and as such it does God’s work . . . God has chosen to express love and grace in the world through those of us who embody Christ.”
For more information about hosting an Iraqi family contact Lyn Back at (215) 747-7500 Ext. 207 or email her at lynb@lcfsinpa.org or Janet Panning (215) 747-7500 Ext. 209; janetp@lcfsinpa.org.
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Today was indeed a day of rest and adventure. After a crazy Saturday, I woke up to a fly buzzing in my ear, and numerous other flies landing all over me. Our whole group was being bombarded by annoying house flies in fact, at 5:00 in the morning. Instead of taking a sheet and mummifying myself as a form of protection from the flies in order to catch a few more hours of sleep, I decided to get up and watch the sun rise over the mountains of Seria, the Sea of Galilee, and the banks of Tiberias. It was quite a beautiful sunrise and I was taken back 2,000 years to the morning when Jesus called to his disciples on the shore of that very sea. I pictured him sitting on the beach by a small fire waiting for his friends, and the excitment that his Disciples must have felt at the miracle he performed and to see him again after his death.
We then traveled to Caesarea, to the ruins of the Roman empire. This part of the country is most well known as being the place that Paul began his final journey to Rome. There are stunning architectural ruins from the reign of Herod such as an amphitheater, a man made harbor, a palace base, and a beautiful aqueduct. All of these looking over the vast, blue Mediterranean Sea.
