Arrival in The Land

This is a street near my house in Bethlehem.

I arrived in Tel Aviv on Tuesday and met my driver outside of security. With three bags and operating on very little sleep, I was very thankful to have someone there for me who knows this country and who could take me where I needed to go. He had a Jesus fish on his dashboard, but I'm afraid that, in my sleepy state, I didn't manage to make conversation with him about our shared faith.

The drive was beautiful! As the sun set, we went through rocky but green hills, and overall I was very surprised at how nice I found things. We pulled into Jerusalem around sunset and I went to Ronit's (a new co-worker of mine) house to stay the night with her.

Although I was pretty tired by the time I got to the house, Ronit was having some Israeli friends over for dinner and hanging out. It was good to get to meet them and I'm actually really glad to have gotten a little taste of Israeli-believing culture before heading to Palestine. Many of the people I met are are Messianic Jews originally from America and have attained Israeli citizenship and served in the army here. Very interesting!

Wednesday, Ronit and I came to the office in the morning and I got to experience my first daily prayer time and staff meeting. I walked to the store with Ronit to buy some office supplies (the good kind: coffee and tea) and then went to pick up my bags and run some other errands around town with another coworker. I think I expected there to be more signs in English, but I should be able to get around anyway.

In the early afternoon, Salim brought me into the West Bank to meet my family. We weren't hassled at the border. We just drove through, showed our passport/papers through the car window and continued on our way. My first impression of Bethlehem was that it seems peaceful! Not nearly as congested or seemingly intense (stressful) as Jerusalem. This really surprised me. I also was interested in the walls of separation between Israel and Palestine. They are huge and thick and bleak (ugly concrete) but, on the Palestine side, covered by all kinds of graffiti, including some really amazing art which Salim said is famous around the world. Someday I might spend some time hanging out at the wall looking at all of what is there. If I can, I'll post some pictures.

We went to Bethlehem Bible College, where Salim introduced me to some Palestinian young people. Then I met Ana, who is the mother in the family I'll be living in for my time here. She is in her thirties, full of energy and well educated, currently finishing a MA and teaching school, co-leading a 50 member youth group, and caring for her family of 5, and now me as well. She told me that she is happy to have me and dropped me off at the house, showing me my new home on the way to one of her final exams.

I was thrilled to see my room. It is big, on the roof, simply furnished but private, and with a private bathroom. So much nicer than expected! I was thrilled to unpack all of my things and start to see the room become my own.

Now I am pretty set up, and am settling in. Since moving in I have had several more experiences which I will write about later! Thanks for beginning this journey with me.

Class This Week

Hi Friends!

It has been a long time, I know. Since I'm now living in England, it's hard to think of good things to write that would be interesting for you guys. My dad and I were talking and he suggested I share a few of the stories I told him about teaching this week, so here goes. I will try, also, to do some posts in the coming week -- during which six of my very good friends (OK, I will be meeting two of them here but am confident we'll become friends) will be adventuring through Ireland and England, celebrating Thanksgiving, and doing some other fun things. But first, some stories about classes this week.

First, I was at Bible English on Wednesday where a group of us teach mostly asylum-seekers (called refugees in America) English and use the Bible as our text. It is an interesting class with a wide spectrum of English levels and abilities. I ended up with an Afghani lady who has a lot of trouble understanding in the class. It is doubtful that she has ever had formal schooling and it is really difficult to help her understand basic concepts. I admit feeling frustrated as we went through our lesson and prayed that I would have help to love her better.

As the lesson wound down, she started talking to me out of the blue, and was able to communicate quite a bit in English. She told me about the difficult situation her family is in because they are not allowed to work here and the money they are given by the government is not enough for her to buy coats for her three children. It is cold here so I understand this would be a major concern! They can't go back to Afghanistan and don't have much hope for getting different papers any time soon.

The next day, I was at the other English class I help with. This one is a general TESOL class and is made up of about 20 ladies, mostly Pakistani, who live in this city. Many have been here for over ten years and don't speak much English. They are wonderful and enthusiastic learners, and a joy to work with.

For the first time, my friend Elizabeth and I were asked to take a group of the more advanced students upstairs in the church we use for the classes to work on the computers. We were to start making a CV (like a resume) with them. I knew in my head that they didn't know how to use computers. But I wasn't prepared...

When we got up to the room and each lady sat in front of a computer. I asked if they had ever used computers before, and they all said no, NEVER. One said that her family has one, and she has never used it.

I started working with one of the older ladies who has lived here for over 30 years. She speaks English very well but is just learning to read and write. She worked in a school in Britain for 25 years as a lunch lady. This was clearly her first time working on a computer. It was amazing to teach someone what a mouse is -- it seemed as difficult to her to learn how to maneuver it as it would be to learn to drive a car! And things like how long to push a button to make it register once, not 8 times, were terribly difficult.

Anyway, these experiences this week have me thinking more about the immense need within the refugee and immigrant communities all over the world. I also realize more how difficult it is to be a teacher (I admire my teacher friends so much), and how blessed I am to have had opportunities for education. To be able to read and write in itself is a blessing I take for granted all of the time. And it is wonderful to get to work with these incredible women who, although they have not had the same opportunities, are fun, loving, proud of their families, and have amazing life stories.

Settling In

Hi Friends,

These last two days have been good -- catching up with Bob and Kathryn and starting to get settled in. We went to the grocery store yesterday and met with a couple I expect to be spending lots of time with today. Otherwise, I'm afraid I don't have much to report, since I've been sick with a cold or flu since getting to England. I have been staying close to bed. I'm expecting to feel better soon, and am looking forward to that, so I can get out for a run at the manor and feel more like myself as I meet people and make plans!

Laura

And We're Back!

Hi Friends!

It has been a long time since my last post. The last few months have been very eventful, spent back in the U.S. They have included big decisions for the future and a lot of planning! I am back in the UK now... ready to stay until December 20th.

Here is an update with pictures of these last few months:

This is me in London as I headed back to the U.S.

I have LOVED spending time with the International Friendship Group this summer! I will really miss these guys!

Cari-Jean, John, Justin and I lead the college Bible study at Grace this summer. These are some of the girls I enjoyed getting to know!

I got to spend some quality time with Emily. This is us in Baltimore for a "Mr. Green Jeans" concert.

My sister Jenni came to visit for a few days. Here she is with Deb at dinner before an evening of adventure!

Some friends ran in the Annapolis Ten Miler. This is me with some others who went to cheer them on. I was able to run part of the race with Emily, which was fun!

Deb joined me on a quick trip to my grandparents' house in Pennsylvania. On our way home we saw a sign for a town called Forks. Since some of our friends have visited the Forks near Seattle lately, we decided to get a picture with our own Forks sign!

I spent time catching up with friends I won't get to see for a while. This is one of my favorite pictures of the summer... me with my friend Catherine's daughter, Grace. I think she is SO cute!

On my final Friday night, some good friends met up for dinner together at the Cheesecake Factory. Jess and Laura walked up together looking so cute and pregnant... I couldn't help but get a picture of them with Christy. All three are due soon!

I will be in England continuing work in inter-cultural communication here. I'll teach some English lessons, and help with other projects in the city. I plan to spend January-July in Israel working on peace-building there, and then next fall hope to return to England to start a masters program here in conflict resolution.

I hope you are all well, and look forward to hearing from you!

Laura

London -- and to home

Today I walked around London and then met up with a friend of a friend in the evening. Overall it was a nice day. Tomorrow I leave the guest house where I'm staying for the airport at 5:20am or something... which is 12:20am East Coast time... not like anyone is taking note of that or anything! I'm looking forward to arriving in Maryland in time for some fireworks:-). Seems like a very poetic time of year to come home to the US from Britain, doesn't it? I look forward to seeing many of you tomorrow. Please don't expect too much intelligent conversation, though:-). I will probably be a little out of it!

I know I have lots of pics to catch up on. I'll post them at some point soon!

Phil Wickham - You're Beautiful.mp4

Good Morning,

I love this and just thought I'd share it. Have a wonderful day!

Bradford, Day 22

I had an absolutely wonderful day today. I went to Haworth today with the intention of spending some time alone with God and taking a nice walk into the moors near the Bronte house. I got to do that and God surprised me by having different plans for my time than I did, which was really good. In the evening I went to the youth group meeting for the church I've been attending here. I really enjoy the students:-)!

I'll have to post some pictures, but at the moment I'm too tired. Tomorrow if I can get on the internet. I'll be traveling to London tomorrow.