Shalom from Israel

Shalom and greetings from Israel! We made it here a few days ago and have been traveling the land, meeting with our Israeli business associates for olive oil as well as talking with local Jewish people along the way about the current situation here. We have much to share!

When we first arrived we stayed at a convent in a neighborhood in southwest Jerusalem called Eim Kerem (the place where John the Baptist was born). Sixteen nuns welcomed us, ten of whom have taken a vow of silence--not a lot of kibitzing! From there we traveled to Israel's southernmost city of Eilat, which is on the northern tip of the Red Sea. Here the weather was warm and sunny, and we took a couple of days to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Then we drove north to Ashkelon, a city north of the Gaza strip and one of two major cities where Hamas rockets have hit repeatedly. (See the map on the blog titled "Gaza"). During a business meeting with Israelis the air raid siren went off signaling incoming rockets from Gaza. We were escourted quickly--within 15 seconds--down to the bomb shelter in the bottom of the building, but before we could get there we heard the rockets explode not too far from us. A bit chilling and definitely sobering. God is faithful to us (todah rabah to Yahweh!) and our group was not hurt in the least. The next day we were having lunch at a restaurant in Ashkelon when once again the sirens wailed. We got up to move somewhere safe, but this time our friends explained that the rockets don't hit that part of town. The residents there have lived with rocket fire from Gaza for years despite the fact that Israeli civilians and military no longer live there. Even though there is currently a cease-fire rockets still sail across the border. The Israelis we spoke with do not believe that there will be peace as long as Hamas is functioning. In their opinion (and ours), it's pure rhetoric. Plain and simple, they are a terrorist organization intent on killing Jews. Having gone through these incidents in Ashkelon makes us so much more aware of the stress that these families go through each and every day with incoming rockets 20-30 times in one day! Please pray for the Israelis who live close to the Gaza border.

We are now back in Jerusalem, where it's been rainy and cold (a typical January day here). Soon we will be heading north to the Galilee region to inspect and pray over the olive groves where we obtain our olive oil. Please pray for us as we continue to travel and meet with Israeli friends and associates--for our protection as well as God's hand on Abba Oil.

Blessings!