Sderot 2nd Trip

On Thursday August 21st, I was invited to go to Sderot again with the Under His Wings Team. Under His Wings (UHW) is Christian Friends of Israel's outreach to victims of terror. Because CFI receives so many calls from Sderot for help, UHW strives to go at least every other week. In between trips, interviews with victims may be conducted in Jerusalem. Many Sderot residents like to do a one day travel just to get out the tension for a few hours. Sderot is the town that has had over 7000 kassam rockets fired towards it from the very close Gaza Strip. At the Sderot Police Station, they actually have to tag and record each kassam that has fallen. Here are three of the young ladies that I traveled with to Sderot standing with the remains of the kassams.

In Israel, the date format is day-month-year. So this is kassam was shot at August 11th, 2008.

Here is one shot two days earlier on August 9th.

It was good to see kids outside playing during the current "cease fire". What a unique playground. Kids playing normally but if the siren sounds "Code Red", they would run to cement caterpillar tunnels for protection. Only in Sderot. It is common for Israel to have bomb shelters at their playgrounds in town close to the borders. However, at Sderot, when the siren sounds, you only have 15 seconds, so there would not be any time for a door, just the opening in the caterpillar. What an unfortunate way for children to grow up.

Can parents really relax with their children at the playground?

Outside of daily terror attacks from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Sderot is a quiet little town in the desert. Only one kilometer from northern Gaza and a few kilometers southeast of Ashkelon.

Buses even run to Sderot.

Sderot Police Station.

Front entrance to the Police Station.

Beautiful bouganvillea just across the street at an apartment complex.

A monument of kassam rockets. Only in Sderot.

Sderot's Fire Station adjacent to the Police Station.

This is one of the victims that we visited. Here he is holding the scraps of the kassam that struck his house. Not your normal souvenir.

We had another visit with this young, single mother of six children (one was at kindergarten). You can tell by their ages that most of these young children have never experienced "growing up" without kassam rockets. It has to wear on them.

We took a lunch break for schwarma and falafel in the center of Sderot.

Behind the fire station is the trauma unit. Sderot does not have a hospital. During attacks, victims come here for treatment.

No one was here today during the "cease fire". The history of "cease fires" is when they are over, the shooting will continue heavier and more frequent than before. It never fails.

8-10 beds maximum.

Sderot's combination bus stop and bomb shelters. You wait for the bus, then if the siren sounds, go inside. We also saw them reinforcing the roof of one of the schools today with more concrete.

These young kids posed for me. The parents have to trust that these "big brothers" know exactly what to do if the siren goes off.

We also made one visit to Netiv HaAsara. Netiv HaAsara is a very small community right next to Gaza. Kassams have also landed there frequently. This is the fence around northern Gaza by Netiv HaAsara. You can see the IDF lookout tower over the fence.

The Erez Crossing is the northern border crossing into Gaza. When trouble happens, which is frequently, this is one of the first crossings be closed.

Erez Crossing Building looks more like an airport terminal.

On the way home, we passed a field full of sheep and watermelons. If you zoom in, all the little dots are watermelons growing. There are plenty of those in Israel.

This Wednesday, August 28th, I will be flying back to Texas and Oklahoma for a few weeks vacation. My return flight to Israel for my second year of serving the Lord will be Sept 23rd. So, just like me, the blog will be going into semi-retirement for a weeks until I return.

Kay's Room in Bet El

On Sunday, August 17th, I finally made it to Bet El to see the dormitory room in the girls school that was dedicated in Kay's memory. My friend Yonatan arranged the dedication over a year ago. He and I have been trying to coordinate schedules for several months. Today was the day we were finally able to make the trip. Below is Kay's plaque just as you enter the dorm room.

This is the main entrance to the girl's school in Bet El, where over 400 girls attend. In the US, we would classify it as junior and senior high schools.

This is a beautiful tile mosaic in the main hallway of the girls academy.

Kay's room is one of the downstairs rooms in this dormitory building.

The main entrance to the dorm.

Road sign at Ofra showing giving direction to Bet El and Jerusalem. In our English translations, Bet El is Bethel. When Abraham came into the land of Canaan, he made his first camp near the area of Bet El. ...And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran ... So they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem ... Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the LORD. Genesis 12:4-8

The patio off of two of Kay's dorms rooms.

The adjacent dorm building.

Below is the girls academy. It's just a short walk to the classrooms.

The dorm room sleeps 10-12. This is one bedroom. School starts in two weeks.

Another bedroom.

A 3rd bedroom.

Kay's kitchen for the young girls. I know Kay would have had fun decorating it.

This beautiful bush was in the parking lot just outside Kay's building.

Down by the school was a swing that I know Kay would have loved.

While we were at Bet El, we also visited a prep institute for the IDF (Israel Defence Force). After 400 years in Egypt and another 40 years in the desert, it was Joshua who led the battles to regain the land around Bet El. So he (Joshua) took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. And when they had set the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear guard on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley. Joshua 8:12-13.

This painting shows the Biblical story of Jacob's Ladder which he saw in a dream at Bet El. The Hebrew meaning of Bet El is House of God. Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran ... Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants... Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!" ... And he called the name of that place Bethel ... Genesis 28:10-19.

Same type of purple bush that was by Kay's dorm.

Other floral at the IDF Training School.

After leaving Bet El, we drove further north into Samaria to the town of Itamar. From Itamar, you look across the valley over the Palestinian towns of Nablus and Shechem at Mount Gerazim on the left (blessings) and Mount Ebal on the right (curses). This is where Moses commanded Joshua to read the "blessings and the cursings". Now it shall be, when the LORD your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. Deuteronomy 11:29.

The IDF standing guard over Nablus and Shechem. Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night. Nehemiah 4:9.

A view of the valley from Itamar. Itamar (Ithamar in English translations) was one of Aaron's sons who ministered as priest. Itamar was responsible for the inventory of the tabernacle in the desert. This is the inventory of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the Testimony, which was counted according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest. Exodus 38:21.

On a remote hilltop outside of Itamar was Gideon's Tomb. At first, I thought, "get out of town, it's Gideon's tomb!" But after reading the scripture, I'm not totally convinced. Gideon had seventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives. And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. Now Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. Judges 8:30-32. Shechem is very close in the valley. Is this a tomb? The modern town of Ofra (Ophrah) is several kilometers south of Itamar where we stopped and had a falafel.

What a day in Bet El. Memories of Abraham, Jacob, Joshua, and my precious Kay. What a tribute for Kay to have a room named after her in the House of God, Bet El.

Miscellaneous

No major theme this week just some miscellaneous photos. The Municipality of Jerusalem began erecting new "neighborhood" signs in Hebrew, Arabic, and trans-literated Hebrew in English. The sign below is at the entrance to my complex. HaMoshava HaGermanit is "the Colony of the Germans" (the German Colony).

Through the flowers, this old street sign says Haim Bajayo. I live at 11 /9 Haim Bajayo, which is building 11, apartment 9. It is an experience to try and tell the bank or car rental agency where I live. Haim Bajayo sounds half Jewish, half Spanish to me. Plus it is not a street with heavy traffic but just bricked pavement for the complex. Tenants park underground like a hotel or business.

My geraniums are looking good. Karen, the IDF coordinator, planted them for me a few months ago. She told me to water them every other day and include a little plant fertilizer every other week. Since that is all I know about flowers, that's what I do. My neighbors have offered to water them anytime I am away. I'm glad they like them. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:18.

My living room window geraniums are also doing well.

A date palm tree outside my second bedroom window. The yellow in the center are young, growing dates. This tree hides the street from me and vice versa.

On Friday, at the Distribution Center, we received a shipment of clothes from England. The driver was able to back in the first time with 6 inches to spare on both sides. It was a full shipment of 1200 boxes of clothing. Praise God! I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Matthew 25:36.

The container had to be "turned around" quickly, so we unloaded the boxes in the street and separated them by Men's, Ladies, Children, Mixed, and Special. Those shipping boxes are instructed to describe the contents of each box with an "M", "L", etc. The only problem with this is that we would have to pick up every box twice. But that's ok. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. Hebrews 6:10.

About an hour later.

Then it took us about another hour or so to get the boxes inside. The Lord Jesus provides just enough volunteers for us to able to form a "line" and pass the boxes along. During one of the quick breaks, I took this photo of the "end of the line" into the clothing storage room. In addition to being the IDF Coordinator and knowing how to plant geraniums, Karen, from Nebraska, is not afraid of hard work and unloading containers.

After we were finished, these young men posed for me in the storage room. The room was empty when we started. Now over the next several weeks, the volunteers at the Distribution Center (DC) will sort out the clothes for the poor and needy that come in daily to the DC. Then the Lord Jesus will send us just the right amount of boxes and we will fill the room once again. He knows the beginning from the end. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." Revelation 1:8.

After we were through, I walked over to the Central Bus Station to catch a ride back to CFI's main office. While I was waiting, the Jerusalem Double-Decker Tour Bus #99 was there. I have not toured the city yet on #99, but probably will in the fall when it's cooler on the upper deck.

Jerusalem is building a light rail system to help facilitate the growth and replace some buses. As you enter Jerusalem on Highway 1 from Tel Aviv, you will see this recently completed light rail bridge. The design is like David's Harp and is nicknamed the "string bridge". I should be able to get a better close-up photo later.

Jerusalem's Central Bus Station on west Jaffa Road.

The light rail system construction has reached Jaffa Road in the City Center where we work. This is the very congested intersection of King George and Jaffa. Buses only are reduced to one lane of traffic in one direction. No taxis. No personal cars. No place for pedestrians either. You sort of just get out in the road and start walking.

Jaffa Road at Zion Square where the one lane of buses travel in the opposite direction to King George. The buses actually face each other in the same lane when stopped. All buses have to turn either north or south at that intersection.

Walkway across Jaffa Road to Zion Square at the foot of Ben Yehuda. If we open the windows at work, you hear plenty of jackhammers, cranes, and construction noise. That's good! We need to be looking up for the Lord Jesus! But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, And the remembrance of Your name to all generations. You will arise and have mercy on Zion; For the time to favor her, Yes, the set time, has come. For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, And show favor to her dust. So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, And all the kings of the earth Your glory. For the LORD shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory. Psalm 102:12-16.