Update From Sderot 5/29/11

Just wanted to start out by thanking Ha’shem for His faithfulness and for the richness of His blessings and provision that He showers on His children each and every day. Baruch Ha’Shem!

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning; great is His faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

This month has been a very busy one here in Sderot. The month started out with two weeks of preparation by Hope for Sderot for an outreach to the Ethiopian community here. The event that was held on May 19^th was sponsored by The Joshua Fund. At the beginning of the month we spent several days cleaning and painting the Ethiopian Community Center here in town as well as ordering the many items that would later be given out to these families, as well as single moms and holocaust survivors. A hundred and fifty families were invited to this bi-annual event, at which food and a large variety of household items were given out, along with a brand new cart to carry everything home in.

Fifty American volunteers, who came to Israel to tour with the Joshua Fund and attend the Epicenter Conference, came down for the day to help man the tables and distribute the items. It was such a blessing to be able to share one on one with them about life here in Sderot and what the Lord allows us to do here. The volunteers were able to meet and interact with many of our families and hear about the personal experiences of those living here. At the end of the day, as the volunteers said their goodbyes we were told over and over again that this was the best part of their whole tour. Baruch Ha’Shem! A special thanks to each of you who took time away from touring in order to touch the hearts of the people of Sderot. Kol Ha’kovod! And thank you to The Joshua Fund for making the event possible and for being a faithful friend to the people of Sderot.

The day after the outreach I headed south to Eilat for a couple of days and a side trip to Jordan to visit Petra. Petra, which in Greek means “rock” is a historical and archaeological city that is famous for its rock cut architecture and ancient water conduit system. Petra was established by the Nabataeans as their capital city around the 6^th century BC.

Petra is located in the mountains of Seir in the land of the ancient Edomites. In Abraham’s time Petra was known as Selah, and later known as Kadesh.

Just east of Petra is an area known as Wadi Musa, (Valley of Moses). It was through this valley that Moses led the children of Israel on their way to the Promised Land. Tradition says that the spring of Wadi Musa is where Moses struck the rock and brought forth water (Numbers 20:10-11). A fresh water spring still emerges from the rocks at the entrance of the modern town.

And as you travel past the area known as the Wadi Musa off in the distance you can see Mount Hor. Mount Hor is where the Israelites traveled to after being refused passage by Edom (Numbers 20:14) and is the site where Aaron was buried (Numbers 20:22-27).

After returning back home, we had the opportunity to visit with our friend Cheryl for a few hours. For those of you who don’t know Cheryl, she is an American journalist from the Central Coast. Cheryl and I first met in 2008 when I came on a trip to Israel with two suitcases filled with first aid kits.

Cheryl brought three friends with her to Sderot. What a surprise it was to learn they were from Atascadero Bible Church. And even more amazing, one of the ladies in the group recognized me from Atascadero State Hospital where I used to work.

Although our time together was short we were able to share about what we do at Hope for Sderot and the reality of life here. We were able to visit a few places in town such as Sderot’s Indoor Recreation Center, and the Wind Chime Memorial up on a hill overlooking Gaza. Although sad to see new friends leave I know that as they return back to California’s Central Coast they do so now as ambassadors for the people of Sderot. Shalom!