It has been 10 days since our last post.  So much has been going on. Every Tuesday the team working at the Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary gather for prayer.  Around the table are Arabs, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, American.  Though primarily Baptist, there are also Presbyterian and Anglican.  It is an hour given for prayer.  I have been moved by the passion of this group for advancing God's work in Israel.  Great support for each other and a keen desire to make a difference in Israel while they are here.

Several of the team are leaving the country over the next several months.  Some are retiring, some are taking positions in other countries and some cannot renew their visas.  Please pray for the team here and the tremendous transitions they will be going through especially during the summer.  Remember Azar Ajaj, who is currently the Vice President of NETS but will take on a larger role as the school moves to more indigenous  leadership. (He is the one standing in the photo below talking with area pastors at a quarterly prayer meeting for evangelical ministers).

For the next 5 Saturdays we will be traveling to Tel Aviv to teach a course on Leadership for the leaders of the Filipino Baptist Church there.  They have a group of about 25 who are being trained to start small groups   some of which are designed to become church plants.

A real highlight this week was on last Friday.  A local pastor Bishara who has a real heart for evangelism and prayer took me on a prayer walk through the market (Souk).  Since the Souk has become a favorite place for Lynda and I to go on Saturday morning for shopping, drinking coffee and meeting friends, it was a real treat to have more of a guided tour of the area.  Bishara grew up in this area and shared about the challenges facing the people who live and work in the Souk.  There is no church in this area and there are huge needs for ministry and care for the people here.  As we walked and prayed, I noticed that at several points he was weeping.  Pray for him and his ministry and his heart to see a church planted in this area of Nazareth.  He is the pastor on the left in this photo.

Lynda and I continue to be blessed by Pastor Afif and Mimi at the Good Shepherd Baptist Church.  They have truly pastored and cared for us since we arrived.  On a regular basis they will ask us to join them for a meal or a cup of coffee or just to visit.  I had the privilege of preaching there today.  This church is just 15 months old and today the place was packed with over 80 in attendance!  Most of the evangelical churches in Israel will have 50 or fewer in attendance so this is really exciting.

Here are a group of us who went out to lunch after church.

Here is my translator and his wife--Ibrahim.  He is a retired pastor who also worked with SBC personnel in Israel years ago.

This past week we also did a two day road trip.  First day we went to Safed.  This is the most unusual city in Israel, I think.  It was a key battle area in the 1948 war.  It is a city of contrasts.  An artists colony of many older American former hippies, plus a very conservative Jewish community and it is the center of Kabbalism which is Jewish mysticism.  A fascinating city.  Here is the shop keeper of the famous Eliezer's House of Books.  We had a great visit with him.

Lawrence gave us a very detailed and informative tour of the Ashkenazi Synagogue Ha'Ari.  The Ashkenazi refer to the Jews who emigrated to Israel from Europe.  This synagogue is identified as the synagogue of the founder of the modern Kabbalist movement.  

We also enjoyed ourselves at a street cafe for coffee and tea and then in a Yemeni restaurant.

The only downside to the trip to Safed was I got a parking ticket!  

We then traveled to the ancient site of Dan, with a replica of the High Place referred to in I Kings 12 and Jeremiah 4.  This site is right on the border with the no-man's-land with Lebanon.  While there a group of high school girls from a Moslem background wanted to practice their English.  We had a great visit!

It was really amazing to me that just a short time later while we were walking along the Banias Waterfalls trail another group of high school kids wanted to practice their English with me.  They were from a Jewish Yeshiva Academy!

This is  a country of such contrasts and diversity!  Tremendous opportunity and potential but always the awareness of an undercurrent of tension.  Pray for the peace of the Middle East and that the one who was born here would also be confessed as Lord and Savior!

Heading to Mount Hermon next!