Reviewing our last entry, you can tell we are still trying to find our way around the task of blogging. We realize the font is not easily readable but are not yet able to figure out how to change it. Juliano, help!!  Please bear with these novices.

We've had our first full week of work at the BFP Karmiel Assistance Center (KAC).  Setting out last week for our first day I'm  waiting for a ride, fortunately, because the wonderful rainy season was still fully upon us.  The Tilley hat served me well.

The first few days for me (Rick) were a mix of warehouse packing and an opportunity to spend two days with Dave making deliveries; one day to the north of Karmiel along a ridge from which I caught my first glimpse of Mount Hermon.  What a sight!  We were still a long way off and saw just the peak, but still awesome in size.  On that trip we made deliveries to four distribution centers and met warm people who were running them.  Through the ADOPT AN ISRAELI TOWN program,  BFP assists 18 Israeli towns that are experiencing hardship.  Between Jerusalem Head Quarters and Karmiel Assistance Center, 27,000 people are fed every month.

The second delivery day took us to Haifa and six different centers, one of which was led by a young orthodox rabbi from America.  He and his wife are actively involved in young children's lives in school.  His students are the "troubled kids" for whom he functions both as teacher, father and mentor.
Finally midweek, I began maintenance work by replacing about ten fluorescent fixtures & light tubes.  God could just say"Let there be Light" and there was light.  But I needed to go up & down a 15 ft. ladder about six times for each fixture to get the light we needed for the area in which the maintenance shop will be located. 

Thursday presented us with the privilege of hosting an American BFP tour group at our KAC.  Their interest & commitment was highly encouraging; particularly their prayers of protection & blessing on us.  James, and others in charge of specific areas, gave the tour embers an explanation of what we do at the center.

On Friday my hand tool boxes arrived.  I was given the first actual project to do; it will take most of the next week.

I (Grace) have the privilege of packing items that will bring hope to families who have just arrived in a new land, with virtually no belongings and where most everything is unfamiliar.

Over the last week, I, along with Kay, have packaged many, many bags of food, kitchen sets, blankets, and Hebrew-Russian Scriptures (IMMIGRANT WELCOME GIFTS program) for individuals and families.

It is a great joy to be the hands and feet, a part of Bible prophecy being fulfilled.

Six of KAC's nine member team from South Africa, USA, a Russian Israeli, Wales and Canada!  All lovers of God and Israel!

 Our apologies for leaving you in suspense. Yes, we have arrived, at the Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, Feb 26.  We quickly caught the train to Akko, heavy suitcases in tow. At the station an angel in the person of a Jewish man full of the Spirit of God welcomed us and wished us well in Israel.  Another angel in the person of a compassionate woman, fellow travel from Akko who helped us find our way around to the taxi that would take us to our hotel.

Our arrival coincided with a three day break in a seven year awaited heavy rainy season.  Akko was warm and sunny and very restful.

On Wednesday morning Bridges For Peace (BFP) volunteers picked us up and we lunched on sweet potato, lentil, goat cheese and lettuce salad...I love Israel already!

We were given a  tour of the BFP Assistance Center, then on to our new home at 9/13 HaBeroshim St.  Daily we walk up & down 54 steps to our third floor apartment with a sun room (white shuttered corner on top floor of bldg.) 

New Sights:
   *  spectacular mountainous  terrain
   *  Hebrew lettering on every street sign, shop,
       food packaging
   *  Arabic villages north of the highway, 
       on the south
   *  proliferation of cats roaming freely 



New sounds:
   * cats howling past bedtime
   * fighter jets overhead
   *  call to prayer
   *  greetings of "Shalom"

Thankful for:
   *  seven co-workers who have the heart of
       God in kindness & care towards us
   *  adequate accommodations
   *  warm blankets & two electric heaters
   *  familiar food...popcorn & pizza
   *  the love of God all around us





After a morning coffee, as the sun rose, we left the Winnipeg skyline and headed for the blue and pink heavens, landing in Toronto for a late breakfast. 

Enroute we reminisced, thinking back of August, 2011 when we received confirmation that now is the time to go and bless Israel.

We warmly remember the past week with many goodbyes and fervent prayers of friends.  Jewish neighbors came by, covered us with a prayer shawl and in Hebrew, sang a blessing over us.

Psalm 91 was presented to us three times as our source of security and strength. We received that very open-heartedly. We entrust ourselves to the sheltering of the Almighty in whom all darkness and shadow becomes light.


 The desire to be in the midst of  'God's doings' in Israel was deposited into our hearts a long time ago.  Over the years there have been on-going reminders of that desire. 

The bluish green shale rock, picked up on a mountainside during a vacation in B.C., has been part of our household for years.  The shape of it is very similar to that of the tiny country of Israel.  It has been like a silent promise that one day it would be the right time.

The time is now...this Saturday, February 25th!  Our work projects are not yet clearly defined, but we do know we will be serving Russian and Eastern European Jews as they settle into their God-appointed homeland.

We desire, in very practical ways, to share God's heart with those who are seeking a new life in Israel.  Miraculously they are part of the
fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant.

And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from Him, "now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever."  Genesis 13: 14-15

Growing up in a conservative Mennonite home, two attitudes have been part of my understanding of myself and my Creator.  The first is a deep awe of the all powerful and wise God who gave me life here on this earth.  Second, the humbling sense of significance accompanying the thought that He would become incarnate in Jesus Christ and invite me not only into His family, but into Himself in Christ.

These understandings generated for me a profound attachment to antiquity, to the Lord God Almighty, the Ancient of Days, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and realization that in some mysterious way I was part of God's chosen people even though I was not Jewish. 

For almost as long as I can remember, and certainly since Grace and I decided to do this journey of life together, I, and we, have had a desire to visit the land that God chose as His land for His people.  We lived that dream back in 1982 when we enjoyed 20 days in the Sinai and Israel, most of them in Jerusalem.  We knew then that we would like to go back, not just to visit, but to work there in some capacity. 





Just to see sights like this at the Western Wall and be touched by some of the power of that place was enough to implant a strong longing to be back.

Bridges for Peace, and particularly the, although limited, relationship with John Howson kept us plugged into the desire to serve, in some capacity, in Israel.  It took some time to conclude my teaching career and, by the Lord's grace, establish the means, to be on our way to live and work in Israel for the next three months.



February 8

If you are wondering 'where in the world is Karmiel', here's a clue:  find the circled name in the middle of the map!

Karmiel is a little town in northern Israel, about 30,000 people, mostly Russian and Eastern European immigrants.  Being only 10 miles from the Lebanese border, we do have some concerns re safety.  We remind ourselves that citizens deal with that kind of tension every day.

The organization we are going with, Bridges for Peace, has been involved in Israel since 1976, building understanding and relationships between Christians and Jews, bringing God's love, mercy and hope through education and practical assistance.  Between Jerusalem and Karmiel, BFP feeds 27,000 people every month.

We have been assigned to assist new immigrants with the maintenance of their homes and the packaging of welcome gift and cheer baskets.  What that will all look like we have yet to see!  Please check out www.bridgesforpeace.com/in-action ( Working on the Front Line) for a fuller description of the work in Karmiel.  Also, consider subscribing to their classy, colorful updates magazine Dispatch From Jerusalem (on front page of the website).

Our primary concern, at this point, is to get ourselves there.  Once we arrive in TelAviv on Feb. 26, we need to catch a train to Akko which is where we will be meeting a BFP volunteer and then on "home" to our apartment.

Adventure in view.......we've never blogged before; it may prove to be more challenging than travelling across the waters to the land of Bible prophecy fulfilled and fulfilling.


The count down has begun.....vaccinations, on-line banking, property management, clothes selections, research, build-up of physical stamina and above all else, prayer!


Our map research indicates that we will be in northern Israel, about 10 miles from the Lebanese border, and half way between the Mediterranean and the Sea of Galilee.  To be more precise, Karmiel is the place; a town of 30,000 Russian and Eastern European immigrants.


We've got less than a month left to tie up loose ends before we leave on Feb. 25. Then we say goodbye to winter.  And you.