Shalom Warriors,

 

What an eventful two weeks these have been... and an extremely emotional two weeks at that.  I had the amazing honor of being asked by CFI to go out on the Gush Khatif evacuees visit.  We went to four locations of where the evacuees were transferred to after the disengagement this past August (remember the controversy this past summer?).  I went with a team of six to listen to these very broken and forgotten people share their tragic stories of how they were demanded to leave their homes in Gaza so that Israel could negotiate land in exhange for peace.  That peace never happend.  In fact, things have only gotten worse.  Now, eight months later, these 10,000 people still have no compensation and were given very flimsy "boxes" to live in, and some still haven't been given a place to live at all. 

 

As they left their homes in Gaza this past August, they watch their homes bulldozed to the ground and the Arabs began to desecrate the homes by urinating on the rubble and carrying out other lewd acts.  Now Gaza is sealed off and Hamas is stockpiling missiles, weapons and hiding fugitive terrorists so they can gain power to go to war with Israel and continue acts of terrorism.

 

There was very little I could do for their situation, but I listened.  I sat and I listened intently as these men and women grieved for their loss.  I decided before I left to go on this visit to give my ears as an offering to God.  I knew I should listen and not speak this time around.  I knew from experience that the best thing to offer a broken person is a listening ear. 

 

We personally met and visited various evacuees.  We sat in their makeshift homes, walked their streets and visited their tents.  We listened to their stories of what professions they had, the families they were raising and the homes they had built for themselves in Gaza back when the government actually supported the creation of settlements.  We also listened to their current predicament, their loss and their grief.

 

One of the most special times of the visit was when we went to Nitsan (a "temporary" relocation site for a majority of the evacuees) to visit the teenagers!  CFI has funded the furnishings of three youth centers in Nitsan so that the youth would not be neglected and lose heart.  In my opinion, the disengagement was the hardest on the teens.  Little children can adapt, grown adults can cope and survive, but teenagers take such drastic events so personally.  I got to love the teens, talk to them and encourage them.  They thanked us for the computers, chairs, tables, TV, table tennis and pool tables we provided for them.

 

We went to tent city, an entire community of 40 families from the disenagement who have been living in tents since that day.  They are living with very little and their stories are heartbreaking.  They were forced to walk for hours with what belongings they could carry on the day of the disengagement.  They slept in tents the first night after being told that the government would relocate them the next day.  Now eight months later, they are still living in those tents.

 

As I was visiting tent city which is very close to Gaza, I saw the strong military presence of the IDF.  Several IDF helicopters were patrolling the area.  I imagined a scene from the movie "The Lord of the Rings" where the enemy was busy building up his army.  That's exactly what Hamas is doing in Gaza.  Needless to say, I got a thrill from being on the bordering towns of Gaza!

 

It was a day I will never forget.  It's a day that I have a hard time writing about.  It was so emotional and even surreal.  It was another moment where I remembered how far I have come to get where I was standing at that moment.  To literally be able to comfort Zion while she mourns. A dream that I have had since childhood.  And there I was.  Speaking to people that reporters and media wish to visit.  Only God can do these things!

 

So very many amazing events have taken place aside from this!  Too many to write about, but be assured that God is doing His work in His land during these last days!

 

Tuesday was Holocaust Memorial Day and the sirens sounded throughout the land for a minute while the entire country paused in silence.  I happened to be on the road, so we pulled over with everyone else and stood in the street in silence.  What a precious, precious country this is!  To know that not one of us is here without a fight, without a struggle, without rejection and even pain. 

This is the place for the rejected in the world.  This is a place for His Chosen.  This is a place for the passionate.  This is a place for the radicals.

This is a place for me.

For the first time in my life I have belonged.

I am no stranger in this land.

 

A verse for the evacuees, for the Holocaust survivors, for the soldiers and the civillians, a verse for those who have grieved and a verse for  you and me:

Romans 8:18

"For I believe that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

 

This is Erin reporting live from Israel...