Chanukah and Christmas Morning in Bethlehem

A late Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!

Well, I’ve been rather busy since my last update; sorry it’s been so long! Guess this means my update will be in book form, hahaha.  Where to begin??? The family I live with has moved outside of Jerusalem to a small settlement of sorts that is literally in the desert.  I never knew the desert was so beautiful! The weather out here is basically perfect every day during the winter. We get very little rain and it’s warm enough to wear your summer tank tops.  I doubt it will be so perfect come summer, but right now I’m not complaining.  When we go into Jerusalem though, we have to take all the warm hats, scarves and jackets along since it’s not quite so pleasant there this time of year.

I was able to celebrate Chanukah in Israel for the first time this past month!  It began on the 12th of December and lasted for 8 days. The purpose of this holiday is to commemorate what God did during the Revolt of the Maccabeus.  The Romans had desecrated the temple by sacrificing pigs on the altar which caused the Maccabeus (Jewish family) to lead a revolt to regain control of the temple etc.  They succeeded for a short while, but they only had enough oil to light the Menorah in the Temple for one day.  Miraculously the oil multiplied and lasted for 8 days (the number of days it takes to make the specific oil used in the temple Menorah).  So it is a festival of lights and oil, lots of oil. During this holiday they eat lots of things fried in oil, donuts being at the top of the list.  They also give little gifts on each of the 8 days.  I took an evening and walked through the Jewish quarter of the Old City and down to the Wailing Wall during Chanukah to enjoy the lights.  It is a really special time in Israel; the kids even stand outside and sing Chanukah songs.  Someday their eyes will be opened and they will understand and receive the Light that has come for their salvation.

Last time I was in Israel it was not possible to get into Bethlehem due to all of the fighting (spring of 2002).  So, on this trip I really wanted to make it over there, and I had thought it would be really special to do so during the Christmas season.  I had been unable to find anyone to go in with me, but on Christmas Eve I was informed by a friend that they would be taking a group into Bethlehem the next morning.  On Christmas morning I was able to sit in a field just outside of Bethlehem that would have been used by shepherds in Jesus’ day!  We had a wonderful time singing Christmas carols and worshiping possibly in the very place where the angels showed up 2000 years ago to declare the greatest news the world had ever heard.  I love that God gave the honor of being the first to hear the news to some of the lowest people in Israel’s society.  It could be that God has had a soft spot for shepherds ever since David looked over his flocks on the same hills. If for no other reason, He certainly wanted to let the world know that His Son had come for all mankind, regardless of your station in life.  I think God was a bit excited because He knew that soon man would be reconciled to Him again.  He had been longing and waiting for the day when He could enjoy the same relationship with each of us that He had enjoyed with Adam and Eve in the garden; this is why we exist.  Joy to the world, freedom has come!!!

I pray that all of you have a wonderful new year full of exciting experiences with God and deeper revelation of who He is.  Let’s dive in all the way this year!  Blessings, blessings, blessings!  Please continue to stand with me in prayer for my finances.  I will need around $2000 in order to stay here until May as planned.  I believe that God will provide for everything that He puts before us to do, so I look forward to giving praise reports in this area too.  Much love and hugs to all of you!

~Lydia

Pictures: #1 – Me sitting in the Shepherds' Field in Bethlehem

#2 Some of the lights in the Old City during Chanukah

#3 View from my back porch!

#4 A shepherd herded his flock by us while we were there!

“If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth – if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.”  Psalm 137:5-6

Christmastime in the City of David

Shalom my friends!

I am listening to Christmas Carols as I write to you. I can’t believe it’s already that time of year again! Hopefully all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Even though I was far from home I was able to have all of the good food and enjoy it with friends. We also celebrated the 5 year anniversary of the prayer room going 24/7!
 
For the past week and a half I have been house sitting for some friends in what is called the City of David.  This section of Jerusalem is actually the original Jebusite city called Salem that David captured and made his capitol city of Jerusalem.  For a review of some of the history of this place you can refer to my 5th update.  I am literally right next to the ruins of David’s palace and the remains of the buildings used by the scribes.  It’s amazing and hard to believe at the same time.

Since life in this section of town is a bit different I thought I would take a few minutes to highlight a few of the amusing happenings and oddities here.  One of the first things you will notice is that at least five times a day you can hear the Muslim prayer calls, and they are really loud. I will try to record one of these to give you a better idea.  There are a number of minarets in this area since it is right next to the Temple Mount and a largely Muslim area.  The first prayer call starts around 4:45 am and lasts for 5-10 minutes. This is to call the people to pray, then after they have finished the minarets go off again for several minutes – around 5:15 am.  This is repeated 5 or more times a day.  Needless to say this makes sleeping a bit trying at times.  The other day I was attempting to sleep until 7am and between the minarets going off, the cats fighting outside my window and a Jewish man blowing his shofar and praying loudly, I got very little extra sleep.  But even so, I love this part of the city!

My second interesting experience occurred on my way back to the house the other night.  I came across a large rat that was making all sorts of loud squawking noises as he ran down the sidewalk.  Since we were going in opposite directions I figured it was no big deal, he’s supposed to be more afraid of me than I am of him right?  Wrong.  As soon as I passed him he turned around and made a bee-line for me.  I took and few quick steps to show him I was leaving, but he wasn’t convinced.  So, I waited until it was just in front of my foot and then I kicked him just hard enough to send him tumbling backwards.  He was about 3/4th the size of my foot without his tail.  I have been sure to take my flashlight with me at night since then!

Number three on the list happened last Saturday:  I had been enjoying my Shabbat morning reading etc. on the couch for several hours.  Then I got up and began getting ready to go meet my friends.  After about 2 minutes I came back to the couch and found a tarantula sitting in between the cushions on the couch about a foot to the left of where I’d been sitting.  Lucky for him I captured him under a glass and let him go outside instead of smashing him.  Thankfully I haven’t run into any other little creatures since. I have included a picture of the tarantula; sorry I didn’t have the camera ready when the rat came after me!

On a more serious note, I would like to give a bit of history that is significant regarding the place we pray from.  The room faces Mount Zion which is mentioned a number of times throughout the scriptures and no doubt you have sung worship songs that mention it as well.  In between Mount Zion and the hill our building sits on is the Ben Hinnom Valley.  It was in this valley that the Israelites once sacrificed their children to Molech.  Molech is an Ammonite god.  It was a hollow bronze figure with the head of an ox and outstretched human arms.  It was heated from within until it was red hot and the children were placed in the outstretched arms to be burned to death.  In order to keep the parents from hearing the screams of their children they had priests who beat drums.  Because of these sins God cursed the valley and sent judgment on the Israelites.  You can read about this in Jeremiah 7, 19 and 32:30-44 (the word Topheth is used at times instead of Molech, it means drum). Over the last 10 years many of the prayer times were focused on breaking the curse off of the valley.  A few years ago one of the leaders took a tour of the area with a local Jewish tour guide.  When they came to the Ben Hinnom valley the guide explained the history of the valley and how it had been cursed by God.  He explained that the visible sign of the curse had always been that no birds were ever in the valley.  He then said that for some unknown reason birds had just begun living in the valley again.  Needless to say we are so excited that the curse has finally been broken.  It is now a beautiful valley.

Recently the Muslims celebrated what is called the Hajj.  Every Muslim is to make a journey to Mecca once in their lifetime for this celebration of the New Year.  I was told that President Obama’s mother was there this year.  We need to pray for that family!!!!  During this celebration each family is to slaughter a lamb and if they have too much meat for their family they are to share it with the poor.  Hundreds of thousands of lambs were slaughtered about a week ago in Mecca.  During this time period we were praying that they would have a revelation of the Lamb of God.  I really believe God is going to do a major work in the Muslim nations that will be seen by all.

At the end of this week we will be entering into the Chanukah celebration here in Israel.  I will save the details of that until next time when I can give you my firsthand experience of the week long holiday!  The Lord bless and keep each one of you and may He bring greater revelation of Himself to you this week.

~Lydia

Pictures: #1 Birthday fun with my roommate (yes I am a year older now)

#2 The tarantula

#3 the Ben Hinnom Valley.