Shalom Faithful Friends and Family,
This week has been a week of simple lessons taught in not so simple ways. At times I cry out, “God, when do I get to rest for a moment and stop experiencing these growing pains?” and He answers, “You can stop growing whenever you’d like, but if you want the fullness of the blessings I have in store for you then you won’t want to stop.” And of course He is right. So I don’t stop. A song by Matt Redman says, “…though there’s pain in the offering, Blessed be Your Name.” And offerings are not meant to be easy. When you offer something, it’s a sacrifice or else it’s not an offering. It’s not always easy here in Israel, and though there is pain in offering my entire life to my Yeshua, Blessed be His Name.
A verse that has impacted me this week and has really opened my eyes: Proverbs 15:16 “Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble.” I’ll let that speak for itself.
Lessons:
A lesson of Friendship – Mandie, my dear friend and roommate for the past two months left several days ago to go back to South Africa. After she left I really felt the loss and so did the staff and patients here. I learned so much from her example and her relationship with Yeshua. She was truly a blessing and an answer to prayer. With her, I learned to trust again in a way I have not trusted others in a long time. Please pray for her as she enters into a new season in her life back in South Africa.
A lesson of Provision – God has been providing so many opportunities that I don’t even know where to begin! I have found a new congregation to attend that has an incredible Praise and Worship ministry for young adults and many other unique gatherings for Believers in Jerusalem. I also chose an ULPAN program to begin learning Hebrew this coming November that also allows me to earn college credit. I have also contacted several different ministries here in Jerusalem that are looking for long-term volunteers and I plan on researching them for the rest of this month as I pray about where God will have me go next. I am so excited and so incredibly trusting that God shall supply all my needs, that I am eager to see where I will end up!
A lesson of Joy – This past weekend I had the awesome opportunity of watching my friend Julie’s four wonderful children overnight. It was so joyful for me to be surrounded by them and the laughter was healing to my heart. I found it therapeutic to be in a family environment while cooking, baking, cleaning and helping take care of small children. It was a reminder of the life I have lived not so long ago in the States but feel so far removed from now. My, how far I have come in just two short months. I went from so much materially to so little, yet my soul has grown immensely and my faith has become stronger. There is joy in the presence of children and even Yeshua knew this when He said, ‘Let the little children come unto me.” It was a huge testimony to Julie and her husband that I took my only day off to help babysit so they could go away for their anniversary. I am making progress in this relationship and I know God is using this to reach out to them. While I was there, I came across several Bible books that the kids had. Someone has been working on them… and maybe I can continue to as well.
A lesson of Laughter – Do any of you remember Rachel, my great friend from the hospital in Rishon LeZiyyon? Well, I found her equivalent here! Sarah Rose is a lady I am working with everyday now and though she is 94 years old, she is like a 70 year old. We have the greatest talks and she makes me laugh with her witty comments. Yesterday I was with her for almost three hours and I laughed so much that my side started to hurt. I am so glad that I have found someone like Rachel that I can talk to and enjoy being with.
A lesson of Faith – The greatest lesson I am continuing to learn is blind faith. The kind of faith that requires us to throw away logic and reasoning and fully dive into the deep end unsure of what we are getting into. Faith may be preached worldwide on Sundays from thousands of pulpits, but blind faith is rarely mentioned. It’s easy to read about Paul and how he was one of the greatest missionaries in the history of the world, but it’s scary to think that one of us would ever be challenged to live in the same way. It’s cute to hear about a prophet that was swallowed by a giant fish and spit up on the shores of the city he was running from, but it’s scary to think that we may be the ones running from our callings. It’s shocking to hear of a man that stepped out of a boat and walked on water to meet His Messiah, but it’s scary when we are asked to take that step as well. It’s easy to live within the four walls of a comfortable home. It’s easy to attend church for one hour a week wearing designer labels. It’s easy to give ten dollars to that missionary from Africa that spoke at church. It’s easy to say a two minute prayer before dinner.
But then again, when I think about it, I never recall Jesus ever saying we were supposed to live the easy life.
In the words of one of my favorite missionaries that was martyred on the mission field (Jim Elliott): “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
And in the Words of the one Man who changed the world (Jesus):
“He who finds His life will lose it and whoever loses His life for My sake will find it.”
This is Erin reporting LIVE from Jerusalem and learning the simple lessons…