I taught many Bible Studies in different homes while in Jericho. However the biggest one was at the Jesus House on Saturday morning at ten o’clock. We would have ladies that showed up at eight in the morning for the study at ten. We kept the door locked until we had everything set up for the study. We had to set chairs up so they would have a place to sit. Continue reading
Jericho
Good friends in Jericho
When Bob and I went to Jericho, West Bank for the first time it was 1997. Another couple were there from Kentucky and we became good friends. So in the evening when we were free Bob & I and Steve and Karen would go into town and walk around. We met a young man named Kahlil. He had an old green car and offered to take us to see the sights we couldn’t see just walking. We piled into his car and when he started it, every light on the dash board came on. We mentioned we didn’t think they were all supposed to be on but he laughed and said it was okay. Every night we would meet Kahlil and he would take us somewhere else to show us different things. Continue reading
Showing the love of Christ
I have mentioned on more than one occasion that some of the time we lived in Jericho there was a war going on. We could go up on our roof and see fighting between the Israeli’s and the Palestinians. That was a little over a mile from where we lived. This building was going to be a fish market and restaurant. But needless to say it got in the way of the fighting. Bob has just been there and they have rebuilt this building. I am happy for that and can hardly wait to see it. Continue reading
My friend Kodra
When we lived at the Jesus House of Prayer in Jericho one of the things we did was give out food packages to people who needed them. There was a fence around the house and we locked the gate at ten at night and didn’t open it until after breakfast in the morning. This was mainly so someone didn’t come asking for something in the middle of the night. Continue reading
Living in a tent
I wrote some time ago about the Bedouins. They are a nomadic group of people who live in the Israeli /Palestinian area. They are neither Israeli nor Palestinian. However, most of them are cultural Muslims because that is what has been in the area for a long, long time. We had a couple of Bedouin ladies who came to the Jesus House for the Bible Study. Continue reading
Music the universal languagepart 3
When you have music playing in Palestine you are going to have dancing. I can’t tell you how many birthday parties I went to where the radio was playing and every one was dancing and that included little kids too. It is just a part of the culture.
On Saturday morning after we had finished passing out the guitars we had our regular Bible Study. Now we had guitars so we had music and we could sing. On Saturday we started singing and one of our dear saints got up and started dancing. It wasn’t long before several of the ladies joined her. Before long I had joined, Karen had joined and even Terry McIntosh, who founded the Jesus House, joined in the dancing. Continue reading
Rejoicing in Baptisms
One of the greatest joys of being a Christian is watching new believers being baptized. And we were blessed to rejoice in baptisms often.
Jericho has several springs so finding a place to baptize new believers is not a problem. After people accepted Jesus we began to explain to them about being baptized.
Some of them took quite awhile to decide to be baptized, and others said yes right away. When a person said he wanted to be baptized, we immediately made plans to go to a stream! We would tell the believers who was being baptized and where it would take place and invited anyone who wanted to come witness the event. Continue reading
Sight is important (part 2)
We were told it would be expensive. When we asked how much, we were told $700. I then asked how much the hospital would be.To make a long story short that was the total for the hospital, doctor, and a new pair of glasses.
We called our friend Kahlil to take us to the hospital since we didn’t know where it was in Ramallah. We made arrangements to take Bobby with us and Tim and Louise followed us in the car. Louise said she would spend the night with me.
The hospital was nothing like our hospitals. You got no amenities. You had to ask for a wash cloth and water. You bring your own tooth brush and paste and comb. I was fed, but not much. Continue reading
Sight is important
I woke up and immediately knew something was wrong. I could not see out of my left eye. It was like someone had pulled a shade three quarters of the way down over my eyeball. I mentioned it to Bob and told him I didn’t think it was serious. That day we were moving to the Jesus House from the place we were staying. There was a lot happening at the house. Terry and Susan were packing to leave and we were unpacking. People were coming to the house to say good bye to Terry and Susan. I mentioned I could not see out of my eye and they prayed for me, but it wasn’t on the priority list.
That evening I mentioned to Bob it had not improved at all. He called a friend who is a general practitioner in Jericho. He said I should go to St. John’s eye clinic in Jerusalem. It was a first-come first-served clinic. We made arrangements for Tim and Louise, another American couple working with us, to come to the house early and keep it open while we went to Jerusalem the next day. Continue reading
Who are they?
On my way down from Jerusalem to Jericho I saw a lot of tents out in the desert. When I say tents, I mean quite a few in an area together. I learned the people around these tents were Bedouins. The Bedouins have been in the area from the time of Abraham and they have stayed there. They have always lived in tents. They are sophisticated now as they have water brought in and they use generators for their villages. They are nomads and when the weather gets cold in the north, they move south. Yes, they pack up their donkeys and camels with their tents and belongings, and set up camp elsewhere. Usually, it is the same place they camped the year before. Continue reading
Tales from the Mission Field 