What a week ! well we have been busy working at the food bank in Jerusalem since Monday.
Really it is called Jerusalem assistance centre. The work there is quite involved with many other street level organizations either municipal or religious. Basically they send out palettes of food or full grocery bags to centres/depots for distribution in Jerusalem and other cities in Israel. In Jerusalem, often they will deal directly with families who qualify for help they are basically adopted by 'Bridges for Peace'. They help them to overcome the tough times with food and encouragement.
Our week looked like this:
MONDAY: we assembled pallets of food for delivery by truck to out lying cities. we must have done about 7. plus we assembled bags of groceries for individual families in Jerusalem
THIS IS OUR TEAM ASSEMBLING WHATS ON THE TABLE FOR GROCERY BAGS
we are working with a good group of people from all over the world . the volunteers ( like us) this week are from Canada and USA. The staff is from all Israel, Japan, Korea, South Africa, just to name a few.
TUESDAY: we got to go on the big delivery route to Tel Aviv, Ashdod, Ashkelon on the coast.
This was a big thrill for us , we were quite excited to see more of the country and to meet the coordinators of the programs that distribute the food in their cities. we were particularly blessed to have the driver who is also a biblical tour guide. It was amazing to have our bibles out and reading about an event when we are driving right by the place it happened. what this did was give us a much better understanding about the people and places we read about. Samuel, Samson, Saul, David and Goliath, the common stories are even more incredible when you see the landscape and understand the distance and difficulty of their travels. Such a memorable day for us.
this is us unloading a truck , we have to hand balm the entire pallet.
this is us at the coast having a break at the beach yay!
WEDNESDAY: I start the day at 6:15 when Zoe gets me up( I have no idea when she gets up)
we are at the bus stop at 7:30 and it takes about 20 mins to get the distribution centre. the bus rides can be interesting especially when I get to talk with the women on the bus. It is assumed that I have recently made Alyia because I am in a working class neighborhood and I cant speak Hebrew yet. this is an immigrant neighborhood so most people I meet can talk English and Hebrew and some other language as well. So far I have had some good conversations like the pros and cons of children on the city bus vs school buses , politics, the wonders and depth of the Hebrew language.
This day we got to do our normal work but also go on delivery's with the Jerusalem driver to individual houses. The best part is we got hugs from the recipients , and we got to go places in the city that tourist just don't get to go. very cool! I had my map out the whole time and I feel like I have a better understanding of the city and the flavor of the different areas. Our Israeli driver was very helpful or should I say patient with me cause you know how I like to ask questions, he even took me to the best place to buy my roast for Shabbat dinner.
We got an invite to a believers home meeting up by the Shuk in city centre and we were on the fence about going after working all day. We decided to let God determine if we should go to the meeting or go home, so instead of casting 'lots' we did 'rock. paper , scissors'. Here we are standing on the street corner playing "rock ,paper scissors" for 10 minutes. we took so long to come up with a 2 out of three winner that we forgot what we decided about going and staying if I won . We had to start all over again . I am not sure what the people watching thought of all this, but if I were watching us I would think we were crazy! "Rock , paper, scissors, is not an effective way to determine an outcome when you think a lot like the other person . If you are not sure what I am talking about you can learn more here .... http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Rock,-Paper,-Scissors
Well we did go to the meeting and it was again a Divine appointment. made a friend with a beautiful Jewish believer and got some great contacts for when we go up north, thank the Lord!
THURSDAY: When we arrive at the centre we start our day with singing and a devotional from one of the volunteers or staff. what a great way to get the day going. this day was all about finishing up the orders and cleaning like it was Friday. the volunteers were going to head office for some meeting so we cleaned up today like it was the end of the week.
This centre I must say is very clean, and very well organized I am impressed with the level of professionalism even with all the volunteers.
after work I grocery shopped and Zoe went home to get ready for a youth meeting at King of Kings. it is really interesting trying to shop for specific foods when all the writing is Hebrew. there was a lot of guess work going on. I was inviting a few people over for roast beef and scalloped potatoes for Shabbat and thought this would be simple enough, not really. It did make me identify with the new immigrant who have to deal with this all the time, can't be easy ! But some things like line ups are the same every where, it was too bad for Zoe that I had to take that long coming home because she forgot her key and sat outside for almost 2 hours :( waiting for me.
She did make it to her meeting and made a new friend , thank the Lord because I am sure after all this time with me , it is a relief to chum around with people under 30.
FRIDAY: Our meeting at headquarters got cancelled last minute because the bus route were affected by a bike race in town. we ended up back at the distribution center and had a half day of more cleaning. most places shut down early on Fridays for staff to get ready for Shabbat.
we had 5 guests for roast beef dinner that night , including the lovely Jewish girl we met on Wednesday.
One more week to go here and then its off to the desert.
I have to Thank God for allowing us to serve here at Bridges we are so blessed.
Gen 12:2 I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing.
Gen 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, But I will curse those who curse you. And through you I will bless all the nations."
UNTILL NEXT TIME SHALOM.
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