Saturday May 30, 2009

Today is the Sabbath which has brought a much needed time of rest.

This morning we attended Christ church and then later today talked and prayed about the current situation in Jordan and preparations for a heart screening in Amman, Jordan this week.

Tonight 30 children and their escorts flew into Amman from northern Iraq, in preparation for heart screening by an Israeli cardiologist on Tuesday. We have all been up praying and waiting to hear that the families arrived afely in Amman! There was a complication that with paperwork that was causing some concern for a while so it is a huge praise that not one of these families had to turn back at the airport.
P.S. Tomorrow is Pentecost! We've been focused on this celebration of the Holy Spirit - please join us in praying for a new outpouring within Shevet Achim and Jerusalem in general!

Through Jaffa Gate into the Old City

Walking to church through the Old City

Christ Church

(Mohammed [and no...it's not Daleena])

Friday May 29, 2009
After some work in the office this morning we got to go to the Jerusalem zoo with Mohammed and his father and Akram and his mother! We all had a great time!

(Rebecca and Goran as monkeys)

(Akram and Mohammed having fun with the tree!)

(Donna and I trying to imitate the weird face the bear made)

(Imitating elephants! - Mohammed's father, Mohammed, me, Rebecca, Akram's mother)

Prayer Requests:
- Miraculous healing for baby Mohammed from Gaza
- Grace for families, patients, and staff traveling to Jordan for heart screening

Thursday May 28, 2009

Busy day today! Did some financial work in the office then met Erica (Shevet worker from Bethlehem) at the post office and we went down to the Old City for a while before going to get some shekels changed into Jordanian dinar for the heart screening that the team will be doing in Jordan next week. Did some more work and then helped prepare for the picnic dinner that we brought to share with the patients’ and their parents at the hospital tonight. Guran and Rebecca (Shevet contacts in Iraq who are currently in Israel), cooked Kurdish food for the families who were so excited to join with us and enjoy a meal on a little patch of grass outside of the hospital. Jonathan had asked me to bring my guitar so I did and played a bit while everyone ate and then we joined in singing an Arabic song about the holiness of God.

(Picnic with Gaza mom's, my friend Brenda from Uganda, and other Shevet staff)

While at the hospital we also visited the patients of course!

- Akram was discharged today - yeah!!! Our picnic was partially celebrating that fact! He and his mother will be living at the Shevet house for a few days. Akram's story: http://shevet.org/akram/

- Hamza is doing so much better! After a close call, he is now in stable condition in the intermeddiate ICU and progressing rapidly! Hamza's story: http://shevet.org/hamza/

(Rebecca [Shevet contact in Iraq], Hamza, and I)

-Shadi is also doing much better which is such a blessing! And he was so smiley today! He will be discharged soon and come back in 6 to 12 months for an additional heart surgery.


Wednesday May 27, 2009

Another hospital visit today:
- Baby Mohammed from Gaza ( http://shevet.org/mohammedhamdan/ ) is still in very critical condition. Doctor's are saying that at this point there is little hope for him without a miracle. The first time I saw him in the ICU he was completely sedated but today he was awake and moved his small arms as much as he could although he is very weak and in arm restraints to prevent self injury. He gazed intently at me the entire time I stood beside him talking to him and stroking his tiny arm. He didn't have the strength to cry but a single tear rolled down his cheek as he looked up into my eyes. Please continue to pray for him and for the salvation of his mother!

- Harvey's surgery went well and he is currently in stable condition. His mother Brenda is also doing much better and has a lot more peace!

- Rajab, the emergency case from Gaza, is also doing extremely well! You can read about his current status here: http://shevet.org/rajab/

(Rajab, his mother, and me)

- After visiting with the hospital patients, Alex and I took Raged (who had just been discharged) and her grandmother to the Gaza border to go home again! The full story and picture taken of Raged here: http://shevet.org/raged/

Tuesday May 26, 2009
- Did some errands in Jerusalem today and got slightly lost attempting to return from the post office and the bank. But it turned out to be a profitable exploration and I soon found my way again!
- Continued in some office training for finances. I’ll be handling the Shevet household finances for a while; keeping track of receipts, expenses, and how quickly all of our shekels are being used, etc. Also learned more about keeping food supplied for staff and families as well as other household needs.
- Went grocery shopping in the Old City with Mohammed (and David (another Shevet worker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvQ4OS-H3qA ). It took a while and Mohammed got rather tired so I ended up giving him a piggy back ride!

- Started learning some worship songs in Kurdish! Apparently I am now the "resident musician" so I've been leading worship during our team meeting and Bible study each morning, usually sing randomly with the kids througout the day, and often lead singing at night too. I'm excited that God has given me so many opportunities to share and enjoy music and worship with others!

Emergency Case from Gaza

Monday, May 15th: Tonight I was able to visit the hospital for a second time to meet a mother and her son Rajab arriving in an ambulance from Gaza for an emergency heart surgery.

For the full story including additional pictures and video Jonathan and I took that night, please follow the link: http://shevet.org/rajab/

While waiting for Rajab to be stabilized Jonathan and I went throughout the hospital visiting the patients sponsored by Shevet Achim and getting the latest updates on their health status. I was also able to spend some time visiting with a young woman from Uganda whose six week old son Harvey had been rushed to Tel Aviv for emergency heart surgery through another non-profit organization called Save a Childs’s Heart:
(http://www.saveachildsheart.org/265-2086-en/Sach.aspx ).

I had met Harvey and his mother on my previous hospital trip and gotten to converse with them a little. This time as I came into the hospital, Harvey had already undergone one out of his two heart surgeries and was in the ICU. His mother had been sitting alone in a chair in the waiting room all day and into the night to hear how his condition was and whether or not he had been stabilized. I was able to listen to her story, her frustrations, and her fears. We prayed together and then she began asking me about the work that Shevet Achim does. As I explained to her that we help Muslim children she became very puzzled and then asked: “But you are a Christian right? Why is it that you would help a Muslim? I don’t understand. What makes you do this?”
I was able to talk to her about the love of Christ and explain that we love Muslims because Christ loves Muslims! We talked a little more and I made it a point to check on Harvey in the ICU later. So far his condition is stable and his first heart surgery was successful – praise the Lord!

Mohammed Plays Guitar

Arriving!

Hello all! I have arrived in Jerusalem and hit the ground running full speed ahead! I can already see that this will be a crazy next few months!

Friday, May 22:
My plane landed in Tel Aviv where Jonathan Miles, the director of Shevet Achim met me. We then immediately head off to a hospital in Tel Aviv where several kids sponsored by Shevet Achim were receiving treatment and surgeries for heart defects.
At the hospital we met up with Guron and his wife Rebecca, the Iraq liaison for Shevet Achim. There were some surgery complications with Hamza (http://www.shevet.org/hamza/ ) one of the Shevet children, so we stayed at the hospital with Hamza’s grandmother for a few hours waiting to hear if his status would change.

While at the hospital I was able to get a brief tour of the pediatrics unit, including the pediatric intensive care unit, and meet several of the other patients sponsored by Shevet Achim including Akram (http://shevet.org/akram/ ) who beat me in a game of Uno during our visit! During the process of losing the Uno game, I learned how to say several colors in Kurdish: green – saos, blue – sheen, red – sur, and yellow – zur!

After our visit at the hospital in Tel Aviv, we left for the Shevet Achim headquarters in Jerusalem. As soon as we arrived there we met up with a couple visiting from Egypt and Jonathan offered to drive them through Bethlehem and invited me along. So I ran inside, put my bags upstairs, and then got back in the car and we went driving through Jerusalem and Bethlehem for a few hours. My head was just about falling off my shoulders by the time we got back to Shevet Achim! Then we all had dinner and I was able to meet several of the other staff members.

Saturday, May 23:
Today was the Sabbath and I had the pleasure of walking down to Christ Church in the Old City to attend a Messianic Jewish church service in the morning. I was also able to walk around both the Muslim and Christian quarters of the Old City for a brief period of time and observe social interactions within these two cultures.

Sunday, May 24:
I spent a large portion of today with Mohammed (http://www.shevet.org/mohammediraq/) playing, dancing, singing, and laughing as his ridiculous antics! He is definitely the charmer with a huge mischievous grin and a rambunctious twinkle in his eye. His scheduled heart surgery date has been delayed so he will be living here at Shevet for another week and I look forward to getting to spend more time with him!

I also attended my first staff meeting today and had a bit of training! It sounds like I will be doing mainly office work, house work, and family care for the first month that I am here. The children going in for heart surgeries live at the Shevet Achim facility, along with their families, before being admitted to the hospital. Depending on the amount of people staying here at one time, that entails a lot of work! I will be doing anything from writing up grocery lists, cleaning the house, financial paperwork, watching children, and helping to transport patients. After the first month I will probably be focusing a lot more on hospital visitations, transportations, and family support at the hospitals.

The adventure has officially begun!

I bought my plane ticket yesterday! I will be leaving on May 21st for Israel!
In the meantime I am madly finishing up finals and papers - yeah for caffiene!

I will be working with Shevet Achim while in Jerusalem.
Check out organization's website!

http://www.shevet.org/