Month: May 2022

My job today was to accompany a baby from Gaza and his grandma (as I wrote before, older women are easier to get an entry permit to Israel) to have a doctor's checkup at Sheba Hospital. If I had been briefed about what I was supposed to do and asked if I would be confident enough to do it, I would have definitely said NO. But at Shevet, you sometimes don't get asked. I had a very short briefing and was dropped off with the baby and his grandma in the hospital lobby.

Someone like me who just arrived in Israel 10 days ago from the US, takes someone who only speaks Arabic to a hospital where Hebrew is spoken. I do not understand how Israeli hospitals work and need to figure out a lot as we go along. There are people who speak English here and there, but then I was told, "You go to Dr. Berger's office," but all the signs are in hebrew like this (on this name place, it sasy Dr. Berger).

The doctor only speaks Hebrew and English, and Gaza grandma speaks only Arabic. We after all called someone (his name is Moshe) for Hebrew and Arabic translation, and they communicated over my iphone. I of course did not understand a word. After all of that, the doctor told me to take him to a blood test in English. We went to the reception as told and made an appointment. When I took the paper I received at the reception to the blood test, the nurse said three items were missing, underlining the corresponding Hebrew words. I had no idea what they were, but took the paper back to the reception for a corrected paper. The blood test was done accordingly and the result was good.

Without Moshe on the phone any longer, I had to explain what was happening to Gaza grandma. We communicated with Google Translate, which is sort of tricky how accurate, but better than nothing.

I really didn't understand what was what, but just did all that with prayer! If you do NOT know to this extent, you get used to not knowing. Paul's word came up in my mind, " I do not understand what I do."

These are cupcakes. Cupcakes Amilie baked for a nextdoor Jewish family in return for the sweets they gave us. They gave us sweets because Amilie turned off the refrigerator light for them on Shabbat.

On Shabbat they are not allowed to turn on any lights, including candles and electric lights. The automatic light inside the refrigerator also counts as a prohibited item. Usually they turn it off before Shabbat starts, but this time they forgot. Now that Shabbat started, there was no way for them to open the refrigerator door, so no access to food...and they came to us for a help.

I admire Jewish people who have continued to respect and observe God's commandments with this much insistence and persistence, people who have been entrusted with the very words of God.

What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?

Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.

Romans 3:1-2

The regular work schedule at Shevet runs from Sunday to Thursday, but it involves human lives, and you never know what comes up when. There might be a sudden change in conditions or an urgent surgery. Something comes up, then you are ready to serve – this is the Shevet way.

While we were having dinner on a weekend, there was a call from the hospital. Rachel who has been in hospital for a while should go on ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation). ECMO is a final measure, and if a patient goes on ECMO, it is a fifty-fifty whether she comes off of it or passes away. This is a tremendous burden for a mother.

We are not medical professionals, so cannot be of any practical help even if we are there in the hospital. But still being there must mean a lot for a mother who needs to watch the baby having to go through that alone in a foreign hospital. When asked if anyone wants to go, being exhausted from a weeklong of work, I said, “If someone goes, I would like to pass.” At Shevet, though, there is always someone who is willing to go. I think it is because of the relationship. After all, Brea and Joanne drove there to be there. This is the Shevet power.

People work from Sunday to Thursday here in Israel, so Thursday night is the start of weekend. German girls and Momo decided to take a little trip to Jerusalem and beyond. They were nice enough to invite me, but I was so expired after working all day (carrying big stuff from the 1st floor garage to the 3rd floor attic).

Young girls departed with full power. Looks like they are floating in Dead Sea now. Thank you God for Youth.

Everybody has a bible verse or two that you repeatedly come back to in walking as a Christ follower. For Momo, it is Exodus 6:12.

But Moses said to the LORD, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?”

Exodus 6:12 (New International Version)

She has never been a person of words and needs time to be warm with new people or new environments. Life at Shevet could be of course one of those challenges. We then always come back to Exodus 6:12. God made each one of us perfectly in his eyes with strengths and weaknesses, so we can have a peace in the way we are made. Whenever God uses us, He already knows how we can serve. If you are willing to look up and take a first step, he is willing to give us necessary help.

Even Moses, a great leader who led the Israelites out of Egypt, is complaining here to God, “how can I lead people with flattering lips?” In New Living Translation, it says “I’m such a clumsy speaker!” In New American Standard Bible, it says “I am unskilled in speech."

This time, God gave me a revelation to take it one step further. The original Hebrew, the adjective “faltering” is aw-rale'(Strong H6189) that means “uncircumcised, having foreskin.” Moses is saying that people will not listen to him, because he is speaking with uncircumcised lips.aw-rale'(Strong H6189I knew that the Bible talk about “circumcised heart,” a repenting God-fearing heart” but this one is uncircumcised lips. Doesn’t this mean that every body part, your lips, your hands, your feet or even your talents and special gift or even your weaknesses and problems need to be circumcised before putting in use, and then God will bless them abundantly to do His wonders?

「心の割礼（悔いた心、神をあがめおそれる心）」という表現はきいたことがあったけど、今回は「唇の割礼」。それで思ったけど、私たちの口も手も足も、また特別な能力や得意なこと、さらには短所や困ったところでさえ、すべて神様のために使うためには「割礼」が必要ということではないのかなと思った。決して自分のエゴや自分勝手な思いのために使うのではなく、ただ神のために使いたいという思いで（割礼して）使うとき、主はきっと素晴らしく報い主のみわざをなしてくださるんじゃないかな？

Beautiful children being cared at Shevet are mainly from Gaza, Kurdistan and Iraq. They belong to one of the three groups; those being hospitalized in Tel Aviv, those staying in the house at Shevet with us between hospital visits, and those picked up in the morning from Gaza, get treated in hospital and sent back to Gaza in the evening.

We visit those staying in hospital every day, taking turns. We enjoy playing with kids and time with the families.

8 year old from Gaza. Staying in bed all day at this age must be hard. He is a pro making paper planes and made a bunch of them for us. His grandma kept saying, "Haras, haras!" That means "It's enough, stop!" in Arabic. My coworker told me older women are easier to get the entry permit to Israel, considered less risk for terrorism and violence.

A super sweet baby girl from Gaza. She has been in this hospital for a while. Soooo cute.

I went to Sheba Hospital first time with Brea today. Sheba hospital a huge medical complex in Tel Aviv and has an agreement with Shevet to care for sick children the organization brings in. Lala from Kurdistan had an urgent surgery this morning, and Brea and I left Shevet at 7:00 am to be with the mother at the hospital. The highway from Ashdod to Tel Aviv looks similar to American freeways and had its share of morning traffic!

Lala’s mother is very fluent in English, which I heard is a rare thing, and we enjoyed the conversation during the surgery. I asked her where she learned her English, and she answered “movies!” She has a degree in civil Engineering, and her textbooks were all in English, which is a big element in building vocabulary, but she said her conversational English improved a lot by watching movies. She is a big fan of the Lord of Rings and the Hobbits and told me about the movies with such an enthusiasm. She also told me how beautiful, wonderful and peaceful her “country” Kurdistan is.

Kurdistan is not a country, at least for now, but an autonomous region covering parts of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. None of these countries want Kurdistan to be independent. She is from Iraq-Kurdistan, and she loves her Kurdistan president and how the “country” is run. Even though the main race in Kurdistan is Kurds, Kurdistan is actually a multi-racial, multi-lingual, and multireligious county. Everybody is treated equally and with respect. That is why she loves her country. If we hear it is inside Iraq, we might imagine otherwise, but Kurdistan is a very peaceful place, she said. It is often called a hidden gem of middle east. Here is an introduction video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-DFzKZIdO4

Lala’s mother said that only a limited members of her family know that her child is being treated in Israel. Due to the complicated political circumstances involving Iraq, Iran and Israel, if her and her child’s being in Israel is known to the Iraqi government, her husband working in Iraqi-Kurdistan municipal office would lose his job, she said. So no picture of them here. A couple hospital pictures instead.

While we were speaking, the surgery went wonderfully well. The doctor came out of the operation room much sooner than expected and told us that it was a success (most of Israeli doctors seem fluent in English). Lala was full of joy with tears. I looked up and prayed, “thank you, thank you, God,” being not exactly sure what her religion was. She nodded to me. You can never go wrong with thanking God in this kind of situation.

Here at Shevet, we receive a work schedule to show each one’s serving assignments every day. Today’s biggest assignment of mine was going grocery. When I saw it, I did not think much of it, but after all it was an exhausting task.

First you take inventory of what we have in the pantries (we have two big houses, one for staff, the other for families of sick children). It does not go as easy as working on your own pantry home, with products labels all written in Hebrew and other unfamiliar/exotic food items. We also have to collect dinner recipes for the coming three days from dinner teams. We then come up with the long list of grocery, and then finally are ready to go to the grocery store. I went with Doro today, and she showed around the grocery store, where find items can be found, how to compare products and shop wisely. A friendly Israeli worker said something to me in Hebrew, I told him “Sorry, I don’t understand Hebrew.” He then said, “Oh English? Hello, hello!” Maybe he has never met an English-speaking Asian around here. First, I felt really out of place, but after a while, I was so much into finding items, my self-awareness disappeared.

We did two large basketsful of grocery, and total was close to 1,000 shekels ($300). We then come home, carry them in and put them in each place in the pantry. It was physically and mentally exhausting! Doro said lightly, “You will get used to it quickly,” To me, Doro (a young lady from Germany) who drives with such a confidence in Ashdod (oftentimes you need to be pretty aggressive driving here), and freely navigate through the local grocery store looks like a real hero, but she told me when she started with Shevet 4 month ago, she was very shy, did not speak a word of English (unbelievable now) and was very indecisive and unconfident! What a transformation God does!

Frank had been in quarantine due to covid when we arrived here. He was planning to go home to the US last week, but he had to postpone it due to the positive test result. He is finally cleared out of the quarantine and going home tonight.

I technically spent less than 24 hours with him (after he came out of the room) but feel like he is a longtime friend. At the morning meeting today, we only had Frank, Momo and me, due to some urgent situations of the sick children that needed other staff’s attention. Just three of us prayed together and shared stories.

Frank told us about his experience when he shared the scripture with Muiet from Kurdistan, who is the brother of one of the sick children staying at Shevet. They had a chance to visit Jerusalem together, and when they were staying together in an old structure that used to be a Catholic church, the prayer time for Muslims arrived. Muiet told Frank that it is not appropriate for him to pray in the church building.

Frank asked Muiet, who his god is. Muiet told him, his god is the god of Abraham. So, Frank shared Genesis 12 with him that we also believe in the God of Abraham (to show the point that nothing is wrong with his praying in the church building). Muiet told Frank then, “No, No, our god is who created the world and everything in the world.” Frank thus shared Genesis 1 with him. According to Frank, Muiet was then a little disturbed and said, “don’t joke about our faith.”

The nuance might be a little difficult to interpret, because they were communicating with a translation app (Google Translate does not have Kurdish, so some other app it was). I wonder Frank’s using our Bible as the basis of standard made Muiet feel his faith was treated a sort of secondary?? Sharing Gospel needs to be done out of love, and it is difficult what it really means. We might have to be careful that instead of trying to pull them over towards our side, we might have to go to the other side to be closer to them. Maybe we might have to read Qur’an (that is what Brea, one of our coworkers here, is actually doing). Our God did come DOWN to us to BE LIKE us.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us

John 1:14

After all, God is working in Frank and Muiet. When Frank was leaving Shevet for the airport, they exchanged a solid brotherly embrace

This is still same Friday. We went to the mall Friday morning, then went to the congregational service and hurried back to Shevet before the sunset, when the Sabbat starts, and we should refrain from driving out of respect for the surrounding Jewish neighbors. When we came home, what was waiting for us was the warm wonderful Shabbat table all set up by Brea (from Indiana, USA) and Joanna (from Netherland).

We broke the bread together and shared the wine. We prayed and sang the special song on Shevet Achim (dwelling together, Psalm 133) in Hebrew and English. The dinner was taco rice with perfectly seasoned chicken, super fresh diced vegetables and rice. It was soooooo good!

After dinner, we enjoyed the calm Shabbat evening watching together a movie, Pursuit of Happiness.

This is right after we came back to Shevet from the mall. Amelie and Hana asked us whether we would like to go to the local messianic congregation. Of course, we would! So, four of us hopped on a Shevet van and drove to Beit Hallel (Beit is house, and Hallel is praise, so it’s house of praise, while Bethlehem=Beit+lehem is house of bread). Some congregations have Shabbat services Friday evenings, while others on Saturday.

Ashdod is a 90% Jewish community with a minimal Arabs and other ethnicity. They do not have to worry about Israeli-Arab conflicts much in this city, but they said Beit Hallel, as a messianic congregation, suffers from stoning and other vandalism by Orthodox Jews. Messianic Jews are Jews who believe in Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah (Christ) and could be considered as traitors against Judaism (which they are not because Jesus really came to save the Jews as the kind of Israel). Due to the past incident, they had to move the worship place to more subdued area in the back of the building. I wanted to take more pictures, but photos are not allowed for security reasons.

Beit Hallelink from home page

The　family　sitting　right　behind　us　was　all　very　fluent　in　English　and　we　enjoyed　friendly　conversation. One of the sons was carrying a black box that looks like a portable printer across the body and I was wondering what that might be. I learned that was a machine gun, him being an off-duty IDF (Israeli Defense Force) soldier. He has an obligation to do so even during his time off even in a church. The unbalance between his angel-like sweet smile and the machine gun was stark. This is the reality of this county, I thought.

The worship was in Hebrew, the prayer was in Hebrew, and the message was in Hebrew. The style though was more like that of American churches with casual/modern flavor. It was an interesting contract to what I am used to in Long Beach, where we worship with kippa and head coverings, following Siddur, a Jewish prayer book (new covenant component added), and some men wearing the Tallit (prayer shawl) and Tzitzit (tassels on the undergarment as the long bleeding woman touched). The service here is much more Westernized than that of Long Beach.

外国人は私たち4人だけのようだったけど、同時通訳を用意してくれた。メッセージは、黙示録にある世の終わりを前にし、いかに目を覚まし用意をしておくべきかという内容。「わたしたちMessianic Jew（ユダヤ人クリスチャン）は、同胞イスラエルの兄弟にゴスペルを伝えるためいつも準備をしていなくてはならない、彼らをjealousにさせなくてはならい（「ああ、あの人たちの信じている方は、そんなにすごいのか、自分たちもその平安と力が欲しいじゃないか！」みたいな感じの嫉妬）という話がああった。このローマ人への手紙11章11節は、異邦人信者である私としては、いつもイスラエルの人を思うとき心にある一節だったので、ここでこれを聞いて深い感慨がありました。牧師さんは、現代では世界のあちこちにヘイト（憎しみ）があふれているが、私たちは神のシャローム（平安）をもって人に接したいと話しておられました。

Again, I ask: Did they (Israel) stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.

Romans 11:11

Here in this messianic communities with many immigrants from Russia, there are quite a few families that had been affected holocaust. Our Shevet coworkers, Amilie and Hana, were from Germany and they shared mixed but blessed feelings being there worshiping together with these Jewish believers. The pastor then also shared with us about a guy who he met on the street the other day. He was a Palestinian from Gaza, and the pastor shared the Gospel with him and prayed together to God (unlikely conbination). With all kinds of hate in the world, our Prince of Peace is working on the healing, and we all praised the Lord.

Here in Israel, the workdays run from Sunday to Thursday. Friday and Saturday are the weekend. We arrived here on Wednesday, worked a little on Thursday, and this Friday is the first day off. Momo and I decided to walk to the nearby shopping mall after late breakfast.

On the way we met this friendly lady, who smiled to us and said “Shabbat Shalom.” How this greeting made me feel like home. This is the greeting we exchange every Sabbath at Beit David Messianic Congregation, Long Beach, California. It was not exactly Shabbat yet, because it officially starts Friday evening at sunset, but it did not matter. This simple salute somehow connected me to the land.

At the mall, everything is of course written in Hebrew! Persey Jackson is in Hebrew, and Hunger Games is in Hebrew.

Hana at Shevet asked us to get a box of covid tests at Super Pharma, a drug store in the mall. We found the store, went in, made three rounds throughout the store to find the product but in vain. We poked each other to decide who ask the help. Well, mom got to show the example first.

I approached someone with the store jacket and said, “Silha (excuse me), do you have this?” showing the picture we took of the used box back at Shevet (good thinking!). She brought us to the basket full of the boxes that was sitting right there in the middle of the isle, where we passed so many times. Apparently, we did not have much faith that we would really find it, and we totally missed it.

We were then waiting in the wrong line to make a purchase (we were in the prescription line), and some kind people showed me the way to the right counter and made the purchase! Yey, the very first shopping in Israel. Good thing is that we are only Asian around here, and we do not have to say we don’t speak Hebrew. They will figure it out and help us.

We were treated with a very healthy breakfast. This hummus was soooo gooood!

After two hours of worshiping, bible reading and praying, each staff does whatever is assigned that day. We worked on cleaning, laundry and walking Shevy, the dog with Amilie.

Inside of the house looks like this. There are two large homes next to each other; sick kids and their family live in one and staffs live in the other.

Neighborhood. The Mediterranean weather is great. With palm trees and olive trees around, it is a bit like California.

We take turns cooking. The staffs are from Germany, Netherlands and the US. They are all young, but have the solid willingness to serve the Lord, which is very impressive. I am the only older person. There are a couple of other people who are now in quarantine due to Covid, and I heard one of them is an older lady from Columbia. Looking forward to seeing her.

Finally leaving LAX after an ordeal of rescheduling the flight, retaking PCR and getting the new passport an all. The very first flight with Turkish Air.

On the screen, they provide Qur’an with the information on which way is Mecca and the next appointed time for the prayer. This attitude towards prayer! I need to learn from this.

After a 13 hour flight, we arrived in Istanbul. There was a stopover of 5 hours. We checked in a hotel inside the terminal, where you can stay on hourly basis. We were able to shower and slept a little on a real bed.

We then hopped on another flight of a little less than 2 hours to Tel Aviv.

The videos I usually watch is only about Israeli wilderness, but of course Tel Aviv is a huge metropolitan. Entering Israel was much easier than expected, and after PCR test, we met Hana and Amilie from Shevet, and they drove us to Ashdod.

With the Passport have not been issued in time for the original flight, we a little worried about God’s plan, but He delivered us smoothly to Shevet Achim. Momo and I received huge encouragement from the God’s Word on the Sunday church service right before the departure.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8

Momo had to have her passport renewed. Even via the super expedite service, they did not let us book an appointment until we do have the actual flight itinerary set up. With 1:45pm flight on 5/16, the earliest appointment we got was 7:00am on the very day of departure. So, we went to the passport center this morning, hoping that we can hop on the flight right after we get the new passport. Once we were there, we were told she would not get it until 1:00pm. No way to make it to the airport in time.

We delayed the flight one day, and we retook the PCR (in Venice Beach, close to the passport center).

Now that we had to kill time until 1:00pm, we had a Monday morning breakfast in Santa Monica.

She did receive the new passport past 1:00pm. We got negative PCR. Now we are ready for departure (if God will).

I have never been to Israel nor the middle east in general, so I do have a fear about going there. We are experiencing a war in the world at this moment. In the past few months, there were terrorist activities in a couple places in Israel including Tel Aviv and Beersheba. There is another incident in the suburbs of Tel Aviv on the Israel Independence Day (May 5th).

According to the travel advisory by the Japanese government, Gaza is rated “Do Not Travel”, and the West Bank is rated “Reconsider Travel.” Other part of Israel is rated “Exercise Increased Caution”.

“Exercise Increased Caution” means “you need to exercise the specific caution to avoid the related risks while staying in the area”. How do you exercise such caution? That is something I need to figure out.

For a reference, I checked the travel advisory on Israel by the US and Canadian governments, and also the ones for other destinations like Japan, UK and France.

All of these governments rate Israel (other than Gaza and the West Bank) with Increased Caution. What is interesting is that Japan is a reconsider-travel destination by the US (probably due to the Covid situation), while it is ok to travel by Canada. The US assesses Japan to be of a higher risk than Israel??

I don't know how to read all these. Praying is the best.

主よ、私は自分の安全だけでなく娘の安全にも責任があります。残していく家族や友人にも無駄な心配をかけない責任があります。行くべきでないのなら、どうかあなたがみ手をのばし、この旅を完全にブロックしてください。

もしも、行くのがみこころであれば、どうか必要以上の恐れに縛られないように、平安を与えてください。主のみこころのままにしてください。

We sent in the volunteer applications on April 12th, and the following week Momo and I met with Jonathan in Israel, the founder ofShevet Achimover Zoom. By the end of April, we were notified that they would welcome us this summer.

Shevet Achim is Hebrew meaning something like dwelling together and came from Psalm 133.

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!　

(Psalm 133:1)

Shevet Achim helps Palestinian children who live in Gaza and has no hope to live without a heart surgery which is really hard to come by in Gaza. Shevet communicates with the governments, arranges the travel documents and help with the travel, so that they come to Israel and have appropriate medical treatment in the very advanced Israeli hospitals in Tel Aviv. Shevet has a home in Ashdod where those children and parents and volunteers live together where children recover until they are determined sound enough to go home. Momo and I will most probably help with cooking, cleaning and serving the family’s daily needs. We are not quite sure what we will do, but He does.

There might be many different racial and religious divisions and conflicts in the world, but in this case, it is the one between Arabs and Israel. Gaza is completely cut off from the world and its civilians are not allowed to cross the border, literally stuck in Gaza. If you drive 40 miles north, you will find the worldly renounced medical facilities in Tel Aviv, Israel, but it is extremely difficult for a Palestinian child to enter Israel, even more so to get a treatment in an Israeli hospital by Israeli doctors.(Watch Video; Born in Gaza)Arabs and Israel are brothers, as written in the Bible. Arabs are the descendants of Ishmael, the first son of Abraham while Israel is the descendants of Isaac, the second son of Abraham (Genesis chapters 16-21).

In the word “brothers” what Shevet has in its heart might be Arabs and Israel, but it could also be another set of brothers, the Jews and Christian churches, I wonder. Jesus Christ was a Jew, so were 12 disciples. Jesus did not come to this world to start a new religion called Christianity. It all started as a sect of Judaism. Christian churches however have lost its Jewishness over the long period of time and persecuted the Jews. Martin Luther, who was a founder of our Protestant churches, has written a book titled “On the Jews and Their Lies” towards the end of his life and disrespected the Jews. There is a view that his writing was used to justify by Nazis what they did to the Jews. There is thus a deep chasm between the Jews and the churches also. At Sheet Achim, people who were made in God’s image gather and dwell together. My heart’s desire is to humbly be a living part of the body.