Shalom Brothers and Sisters in Messiah,

                                  

This is the month of Ramadan… a huge religious month for the Arabs.  As you already know, the Arabs are quite violent in nature and adding a month of fasting only adds to the tension.  I have never seen such an immediate shift in spiritual climate in my life.  You can feel it.  The Arabs fast from dawn until dusk which is basically the workday hours.  The rioting and random acts of violence have increased.  As you all know, I work alongside of several Arabs as well as Israelis so I get to see firsthand their cultural and religious differences.  It probably sounds silly, but the attitudes here have gotten terrible since Ramadan started.  In fact I went from being a friend to an enemy… literally.  I don’t take it too personally since I am here to serve the Jewish people of Israel, but it creates some interesting scenarios.  One Arab man named Yosef (many of you have heard me speak of him) decided to go to the head nurse and told her that he doesn’t like me one bit!  Odd since he was one of the friendlier Arabs I work with.  When she asked him why he feels this way all of the sudden, he couldn’t answer her.  He just said, “I don’t know… I just don’t like her anymore!”  I just attribute it to the lack of food. I am sure things will be back to normal after Ramadan passes.  And then we have the less dedicated Arabs that find ways of getting around the strict fasting guidelines.  I walked into the stairwell to take a back route to the floor I work on when I saw Amir, an Arab man my age smoking and eating snacks!  I said, “What are you doing!” and he put his finger to his lips to hush me and said, “It’s Ramadan!  Don’t tell anyone you saw me!”  I just laughed and thought of how crazy it can be here sometimes!

 

Next we have Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement) which is the holiest of all Jewish holidays.  We will fast for this as well and I am looking forward to a spiritual cleansing of my heart.  It’s a very solemn day and absolutely everything will be closed for this.  I hope to learn some lessons from the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) during this time.

 

I have been studying a lot about the battle Paul speaks of in Romans 8 about the Flesh vs. the Spirit.  In fact, as I eat my breakfast every morning I just take in this chapter like it’s food for my soul.  I have never seen such personal examples of this battle in my life until recently.  We all struggle with doing what our flesh desires instead of what the spirit longs for.  But I was so encouraged when I flipped back to chapter 7 where Paul even admits that he does everything he hates and has a hard time doing that which is right.  But still… this is a war we all fight together.  Not a single human on this earth is exempt from such a war.  I want to encourage you all as my fellow soldiers to keep fighting the desires of your flesh and seek that which the spirit longs for.  Only you know what God is speaking to you specifically, but I pray that as we all fight this war, we can overcome the tactics of the Enemy who seeks our destruction.

 

Sometimes I get a bit lonely for American companionship since I am literally thrown headlong into this culture by myself, but the congregation I have been attending has fed me so much and has helped me stay connected to the States.  It’s my safe haven and I feel so welcomed there.  It’s the one time out of the week when I can fellowship with other Believers my age.  I have included a fifteen second clip of our praise and worship time at the congregation I attend.

 

I still marvel at how different it is to go from being a short-term missionary to a long-term permanent missionary!  It’s so exciting but I am learning how to tackle new situations and the occasional roadblock with everything from obtaining visas to searching for a more permanent position here in Jerusalem.  I went to a friend’s house that happened to have cable and they had FoxNews (my favorite USA news channel) and it was so relieving to see something familiar that I teared up during the weather forecast.  Then when Hannity came on I almost fainted.  The family just stared at me and raised their eyebrows! (heehee, that crazy American girl!)  I love every second here but it’s also nice when someone makes the effort to include me in what’s going on in the USA.  You don’t always realize how far away you are until you see something on television from home or look at a map!

 

Please continue to pray for me as I am still pursuing a new season of ministry here in Jerusalem.  I hope to be able to give you more details soon. 

 

Please also pray that the attempts of the enemy will fail.  My roommate and fellow Believer Ranette and I are feeling very attacked by the enemy.  We are emotionally drained and are facing a lot of spiritual conflict.  I am asking for your prayer.

 

May you have a blessed Yom Kippur!

 

This is Erin reporting LIVE from Jerusalem…