freedom2flythruchrist: Shalom!! Toda Raba! Part I

Hebrew lesson: Shalom means Peace. Toda Raba means Thank you very much.

I know that it has almost been a month since we've been home from Israel. It felt like a whirl-wind to get there and busy busy while we were there and when we came home we hit the floor running back to work. We thank you so for your support, encouragement, and patience with me on getting this down.

God answered prayers from the beginning to the end and then some. I cannot go into every thing so I will be sharing only certain stories and experiences that I feel that God tells me to share.

God was amazing on how everything came to pass, from invitation to go, us saying yes, raising money to go, as well as getting our jobs to comply for time off. It was perfect timing and perfect plan. My last day of school was the day I flew out and Aaron finally found someone to cover for him for a few extra days. Getting finals and work done so we could go was amazing! God had His hand all over it.

I flew with our friends Kim and Leo from Atlanta to Paris to Tel Aviv Israel. It was a LONG trip but very nice. Aaron flew my first night in Israel. My first day we woke up at 7 am, we walked to Shevet Achim (http://www.shevet.org/), which is a medical ministry for children who are in need for heart surgery, most of the children are from Gaza, Jordan, Iraq, and Iran. We first had a tour of the Shevet home, meeting volunteers, & staff. We had morning devotion with scripture reading, singing worship songs & hymns and praying in thanksgiving & asking for guidance. I fully enjoyed this time with meeting our new brothers & sisters in Christ.

The Shevet staff and volunteers were dedicated and amazing people from all over the world: Florida, Colorado, New York, England, China, Singapore, Australia... I am completely amazed by these people who love as Christ loves. As we sang and prayed that morning, I think I got a small glimpse of heaven, people from around the globe singing praises to Jesus.

This is the new door and inside of the courtyard, absolutely beautiful! They have made great changes to this place!

After devotion I cleaned all the
bathrooms in the house, during the cleaning I sang as I cleaned and praised God for bringing me to the land where He lived, walked, taught,
and loved. Many may think that cleaning the johns would be a bummer thing but I find it soothing. I cleaned houses for a living for over 8 years and it is such a sense of accomplishment when something is cleaned and smells nice. Two, I appreciate a clean home, especially a bathroom, and bathrooms need to be prayed over too. Everyone uses the facilities and even God can meet them on the white porcelain throne and pipes need prayer too especially in a house that is old. So know that no job is too small for God to bless and He cares for the small things.

For lunch the Mothers, that come to stay to get help for their children, cooked lunch every day for 35-40 people, except their Holy day Friday so, we had the most delicious Kurdish food. Absolutely delicious!! The first time I have ever had Kurdish food and I could eat it every day! They have a long family style table that sits 30-40 people. Here we sat with people from all around the world, Christians and Muslims together, filling our bellies with the most delicious food talking and smiling together. What a blessed day it was!

After lunch we did some more cleaning and then welcomed two new mothers and their. children into the Shevet home. I did not know how they would receive us, one we look completely different than them, speak a completely different language... yet gratitude seems to come only in one language: SMILES, HUGS, and KISSES. We stood in the small court yard to say hello and welcome them and they came up to us with big hugs and kisses on each cheek. Oh what joy it was to be a part of this! We met sweet little Doaa (http://shevet.org/children/doaa-0) and Stafro (http://shevet.org/children/stafro). Oh what a joy they are! What a Blessed Day!!