We're Back!

Happy New Year, friends! I hope that your holiday celebrations were reflective, rejuvenating, and 

joy-filled.

Along with twenty other people from the school, I just returned from a day-trip to the ancient Decapolis city of Gadara (known as “Umm Qays” today), where Jesus healed a possessed man and cast the demons into a herd of pigs (Matthew 8:28-34). We celebrated the arrival of 2013 with a simple picnic lunch on a mountain that overlooks the Sea of Galilee from the Jordanian side. Delightful.   

Yesterday morning, my father, mother, and younger sister flew back to the States. As expected, our time was blessed...and, as expected, it was hard to see them leave. But the blessings of their visit far outweigh the grief I now feel. 

Two highlights from our time together. First, my family arrived the night before all of the students left for break, so they were able to meet many of the children. As Providence would have it, Mahmoud was the very first child we encountered. What a joy this was, for me and for them. 

Second, while we certainly visited many tourist locations during our five days in the Holy Land, we also experienced the land of Palestine in ways that the vast majority of tourists do not. Several lengthy conversations with the owner of our hotel, a Palestinian Orthodox Christian; a 30-minute walk around Bethlehem with a 10-year-old street kid; first-hand observation of an IDF soldier treating Palestinians unjustly (when our local bus was stopped at an impromptu checkpoint just outside of Jerusalem); Advent worship alongside Arab believers on two occasions... The list goes on. 

Suffice it to say that I am exceedingly grateful for these and many other experiences over the last week and a half. Alhamdulillah -- Praise be to God. 

The kids will return in six days. Can’t wait to see their faces again. 

Grace and Peace.