Mount of Temptation

Ok, now Im gonna tell you some stories that happened to us. One of them is about our friend in the mount of temptation. This story begins when we first got to the mount of temptation. It was 8.00pm when we decided to go there. So, Jonas, Junior and I walked for 6km from our place until the bottom of the mountain. When we got on the top we met a guy who works as a guard during the night. He lives in Jericho and works 6 days a week on the mount of temptation. He also has a banana Plantação and produces his own cigarettes. He smokes 40 per day, but he says he is still healthy haha.. He was very kind, giving us coffee and some fruits during the conversation. After one and a half hours there we went back home.

Jonas had been there one more time before we come back again. But this time we planned to sleep over there. So we prepared some pancakes to bring with us, some fruits and instant soup. Backpacks, sleeping bags, food, winter clothes and torches were all we needed.  The journey had started. Seven kilometers until the top. It was not cold, especially during the steep way to the top. We arrived there and he was sleeping inside of the restaurant. He woke up and invited us to come in. We hung out until 3am. He doesn´t speak to much english, but it was enough to be understandable. This time we got in interesting talks. As a good Palestinian, he is a Muslim. He told us about Islam and what they do believe. We didn´t get too much because he doesn´t have words enough to explain, but we got that they do not believe that Jesus is son of God and He was crucified by the jews. We tried to tell him what we do believe. But when I said that Jesus came to our sin, he told us that someone has changed the real scriptures and what the bible says is not right. So, we changed the topic haha. The religion is quite strong among the arabs, it is so hard to make them to listen to our truth.

After a while we decided to sleep. He told us to sleep inside of the restaurant and to be careful with the video cameras haha.  So we prepared our “beds” on the floor and in ten minutes we fell asleep. Two hours later Jonas woke me up. We had to leave because Foad was going home. So we went outside and we waited until the sunrise. Jonas slept again, but I didn´t. I was not too comfortable. Around 6.30 the sun was going up. It was a nice view from above the town. We took some photos and we came back home. On the way back home, two religious muslims tried to make us accept some Muslim theories, and to repeat some things they said about God, in Arabic. But this is another story. This was our adventure on the mount of temptation. May God touch their lives and make them to understand His grace and mercy.  xoxo

A little bit of Jericho

Time to update this blog! Jonas, Junior and I have been here in Jericho for almost three weeks. During these ten days we have done different things. But we can start talking about our place.

Before we came here we thought we would live in a house rented from Palestine Bible Society and work for a day care center called Zaccheous House. But when we arrived, we realized we would live and work at the same place. So we are living in the Zaccheous house where children and youth comes at least once a week to join the activities. The house is big but a little bit old. There is a big garden around the house with orange, tangerine and lemon trees, also they grow vegetables like lettuce, kale and coriander to our meals.

 

When we first got to our place, we got shocked. It’s an amazing house, but they don’t take care a lot. The kitchen, living room and bedrooms were very dirty. I´ve got an allergy and my noose is still blocked even though we got already almost three weeks in. Sometimes we have hot water, sometimes we don´t.  Some days ago the dryer machine was doing some weird noises as it was almost exploding. We stopped using it. Very funny. One of the rooms where the kids are used to play turned into our bedroom. Now, they play in the living room and outside. Conclusion:  our place is such a mess after they come here. But we are doing well. We are having a lot of fun in our own place. At least until yesterday. A couple from Jordan came to Jericho and they are joining us here. And guess what?  They are on their 70´s!! huahahu  20 days living with two 70´s! Could this mission trip be more interesting??!!

Jericho is not a big town. The centre’s got different shops and grocery shops. All of them look the same, I never know which one we shopped on the day before.  We already have some friends in town. The guy who sells bread, the taxi-driver and one man from showarma place. Every single day we spend some minutes talking with them. We´ve been here for twenty days already and there are some Palestinians welcoming us on the streets haha. Everyone here supports either  Barcelona or Real Madrid. They love football. Last week all the men, so to say, in Jericho was in the club to see the Brazilian and the Norwegian playing football. More than Spanish football fans, they are Santos fans. They know Neymar, Ganço and Cia. So, it’s not too hard to start a conversation. Hard is to have a deep conversation. They don’t speak to much English. Then, the conversation remains often on football. Haha.

 

We have been working in two different places. Kids club and Al kamar Society. Both of them work with Palestinian kids. Kids club is a place where some parents pay for their children to do some different activities after school like music and arts. Al kamar Society is a sort of social development project.  The kids go there to have some math, Arabic, physics and dance classes. All of them are muslins or have a muslin background. Some of the leaders of these clubs know we are christians but we are not allowed to evangelize the kids so openly as we are used. So, it makes our job a little bit “empty”. This is my feeling. Something is missing. But we are really enjoying, trying to be friendly and build a relationships among the muslims. We are teaching heaaaaps of children how to play piano and guitar. This is very exciting and tiring, especially because they don’t speak english.  In one of the days of this week  we had guitar classes for three hours with twenty five kids using “one and half” guitar. Crazyy! Very intense.        

So, we are very Ok..I´m seeing our job as a time to create and build relationships between Zaccheus house and the community, between christians and muslims. God works in different ways. Even tough we can not understand. God bless you all.

 

Abraço pra todos no Brasil. Família, família IBO e amigos:  Saudades. xx

We arrived in Israel safely

Afterr six hours flying, one stop in Berlin, and one hour waiting on immigration station, we arrived in Israel. We arrived around 3pm in Tel Aviv and our mentor was there to welcome us. During this weekend we are staying at his place in Jerusalem. We are going to start our volunteer work just tomorrow cuz our trip was very tiring =]. So until there, we are having fun.

We came on thursday afternoon, and all we did was resting. We had a very good dinner made by his wife, we hung out and quite early we went to bed. Friday at 8.00 we were all having breakfast. Amazing. Sorry norwegians, but 10x0 to israeli bread. Ok, the norwegian bread we are used to buy is the cheapest..and probably if I eat israeli bread for 2 months, I will get tired of it..but for now..delicious! (even the norwegian agrees) Ok, we had a breakfast and we went to Holocaust museum. It was huuuuuge.

Very good museum, very sad history. After spending some hours learning about jewish culture, we met a guy, Tor Arne´s brother in law. He took us to Bethlehem where we stopped to have a lunch. We tried the israeli specialty dish: shoarma! Very good food. Quite similar to a kebab, but the meat has a different taste. And quite cheap as well. After lunch we took a walk through the old streets of Bethlehem, built with beige stones and still decorated for Christmas (actually for ortodox jewish, friday was Christmas day). There were a lot of people walking on the streets and some guys trying persistently to sell anything to us. Very funny. After a long walk around the main streets of Bethlehem, we went to the inauguration of an italian restaurant to have a dinner. The owner is a friend of our mentor..so we went to prestige them. The restaurant is called Little Everest. haha the reason is..the restaurant is on the top of a mountain and there is a really good view from there. So, we had a great time with our mentor and some friends.

On saturday we went to a service in a Messianic church. Yeah..Things are different here. Friday is like saturday for us. Saturday is a sabbath day = our sunday. And their sundays are mondays (first day of the week - they work and study as though it was tuesday or wednesday). Weird! but this is how the things are. It was a lazy saturday. We didnt do to much a part from taking some photos from the roof of our building. Actually it was a really good time enjoying the sun up there and having fun. Perfect atmosphere for a west african tea. The temperature here is almost like São Paulo in winter. Its really good when we are in the sun, but quite cold when we are not.

 

Today (sunday 8th) we took our sun glasses, cameras, jumpers and went to the old Jerusalem to see where  a lot of things written in the bible happened. Tomorrow we are leaving to Jerico. So, it is time to work!

We are doing very well, enjoying the city and having fun. Pray for our next weeks working and the people and youth we are going to meet there!

Miss you Brazil.

Next station: Israel

Well, this is our last day before we leave to Israel. Junior, Jonas and I are going to Jerico. So, we are having a lot of things to do before we go (packing and tyding up are some of them). We will be working in a christian day care center called Zaccheus, where a lot of kids and youth are used to go there to have some classes and entertainment. I hope to have six amazing weeks there, meeting people, having fun, learning the culture and encouraging the christians missionaries who live and work there.

Please, pray for us during this time. May God touch that people through our lives. May God change some hearts and the people comes to know how great and amazing is our God.

Matthew 28: 19-20

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Férias

Dessa vez vai em português mesmo. Última semana de aula passou voando. Tivemos o último final de semana antes que os alunos entrassem de férias oficiais. Então rolou de tudo: festa no nosso andar, madrugada no wii, waffles party e horas e horas conversando. Segunda feira foi o dia da formatura dos alunos de Missiologia Aplicada. Depois da formatura foram só despedidas..cada dia um grupo de alunos ia embora, ou pra casa, ou pra seus respectivos destinos turísticos. Destas, a despedida mais sentida foi do caro amigo Stanley Joseph, indiano, que através do sua vida, nos ensinou muita coisa. A escola então, ficou vazia. Restaram os Siebels e minha família.

Assim o jeito foi improvisar. Um dia antes do natal eu e o deco decidimos ir pra cabana que tem aqui perto (7km). Decidimos acordar cedo e passar o dia lá. Mas nada disso aconteceu. Acordamos mais de uma da tarde. Foi nessa que deu a louca e decidimos ir do mesmo jeito. Queríamos lembrar o caminho certo, pra que quando o ruben chegasse, pudéssemos levá-lo lá. Pois bem, eram quatro da tarde quando começamos a caminhar. Não deu nem uma hora de caminhada e o dia já estava totalmente escuro. O deco levou uma lanterna que parou de funcionar e a nossa sorte eh que meu celular básico tinha uma lanterninha. Salvouu! Depois de duas horas de caminhada pela estrada, chegamos num certo ponto em que a neve batia em nossos joelhos. Impossível andar. Nós dávamos dez passos e cansávamos. Várias foram as vezes em que quase desistimos. Até que depois de tempos, chegamos na trilha fechada. Isso nos deu fôlego, pois sabíamos que não estava longe.

Aí então foi outro causo. Não sabíamos direito aonde estava a cabana. A paisagem estava totalmente diferente de quando fomos no outono. A nossa sorte é que alguém tinha andado por aquelas bandas dias atrás e os vestígios de pegadas ainda eram visíveis. Pois bem..andamos andamos andamos e nada da cabana. Sabíamos que ela estava por ali em algum lugar, mas a neve dificultava tudo. Derrepente, em um ponto de dúvida, se continuávamos ou não, apontei com a lanterna pra um espaço vazio e lá estava! Achamos a cabana. Nossos pés estavam congelados de tanta neve que entrara na nossa bota. Entramos na cabana, achamos algumas velas e começamos a fazer fogo pra nos esquentar. Tudo que tínhamos eram quatro mexiricas, uma barra de chocolate e chá mate. Gastamos duas horas nos esquentando e se preparando para o caminho da volta. Nem preciso dizer que chegamos mortos na escola. Duas horas e meia de ida e mais duas e meia de volta. Perfeito pra sair da rotina.

Dia seguinte era dia de natal. Não pra nós! Aqui fizemos diferente. Como estávamos esperando a chegada do Ruben e a Mary que só chegariam dia 25, a noite do dia 24 foi coberta de donuts, vinho, risadas e cartas. Tivemos um tempo muito bom em família se divertindo e engordando. Foi muito bom ver os amigos e família no Braasil pelo skype trazendo a saudade a tona. O dia 25 foi muito esperando. Além de todo o trabalho feito pelas garotas para a janta, era dia da chegada do Ruben. O mais interessante foi que meia hora antes deles chegarem, uma tempestade atingiu a costa oeste da Noruega e fez com que vários lugarem ficassem sem energia elétrica. O jeito foi improvisar. Norueguês ama vela. Portanto nossa casa estava provida de muuuuuita vela..e esse foi o jeito,  acendemos velas por toda a casa. Tio chegou com o Ruben e Mary e foi aquela alegria. Tivemos um maravilhoso jantar de natal à moda brasiliera, com direito a peru, maionese, arroz, salada, salmão e muita vela. 

Depois disso, o dia mais esperado era o dia da abertura dos presentes, 27. Isso aconteceu porque neste dia todos os shoppings estavam com descontos na maioria das lojas. Então tiramos amigo secreto e fomos todos pro shopping. Após três horas de shopping lotado voltamos pra casa. Anoite foi a hora da abrir os presentes. Lógico, foi festa devido as duas crianças aqui de casa. 90% dos presentes eram pra eles. EE saudade desse tempo. Depois da alegria da mulecada, foi a nossa vez de dar e receber presentes. E assim foram nossos três dias de natal. Com muita comida e risadas.

Depois dessa semana de natal, era vez da conferencia KRIK. Krik é uma organização de jovens crentes que curtem esporte. Foi um acampamento do dia 28 ao dia primeiro. Na verdade eu não estava muito afim de ir, porque toda a galera estava aqui. Mas do mesmo jeito acabei indo. Eu e o Junior. Enxemos o carro com o material de divulgação, nossas malas e um par de esqui. Chegamos lá no dia 29 por volta das duas horas. Mal sabíamos o que fazer. Completamente perdido em meio a 1500 noruegueses. Nos mostraram o nosso "quarto" e tivemos o primeiro choque. Agente ficou hospedado debaixo das arquibancadas do ginásio principal da vila olímpica. Isso porque éramos parte do staff. Os acampantes dormiram entre as cadeiras da arquibancada. Depois disso montamos nosso stand pra divulgação da escola. Estávamos cansados, tivemos jantar e depois um culto. Culto em norueguês e cansaço não ajudam. Então tentamos tirar uma soneca no nosso quarto, ou melhor, armazém. NESSA hora eu queria ir embora! Quando eu vi o banheiro então! Qual o problema dos noruegueses de tanto querer tomar banho num banheiro comunitario?! Que choque cultural! todo mundo pelado indo pra lah e pra ca no banheiro. Blahh, nem preciso dizer que tomei banho uma vez durante esse tempo. E isso porque acordei uma hora antes que todo mundo pra nao ter problemas.

  

 Bom, com muita oração fui dormir. Começamos o segundo dia com café da manha as 8. Eu e o junior fomos pra pista de esqui. Chegamos lá e descobrimos que era uma fortuna pagar pra esquiar e pra alugar o equipamento. Foi aí que eu vi de longe uma descidinha numa propriedade do lado. Não deu outra, eu e o juninho pegamos o esqui e fomos tentar. Que desastreeee, mais ri doque esquieii. Baita difícil. Fora o drama pra descobrir como tentar brecar hahaha. Choreii..Voltamos pra vila e trabalhamos durante a noite. Dia seguinte foi parecido. Ao invés de esquiar, fomos ver a pista de bobsled. Depois disso demos uma volta por perto, achamos uns lugares muito bonitos, tiramos fotos e tal. Esse era o dia 31. Que inclusive era dia do jantar chic. Eu mal tinha roupa chic..todo mundo de terno..e eu de camisa maior que meu tamanho, gravata pequena, calça jeans e tenis adidas. Melhor ainda foi saber que íamos ter um jantar de casall. haha choravamos de rir. Fizeram uma fila de homens, uma de mulheres, e o casal era formado de forma aleatória. Eu e o junior pegamos umas minas malasss que só. Situação bizarraa! Ficamos conversando com as minas de outros caras haha.bem mais interessantes.

Bom, depois do jantar rolou um cultinho, que por sinal foi muuito bom e por volta das 11 da noite toda a galera foi andando pra um pico muuuito altoo do lado da vila. Todos receberam tochas e a galera toda foi escorregando ateehh o topo. Deu meia noite e rolaram fogos de artifício, todo mundo alegre, abraçoss  pra todos os lados..muito comédia. Depois de muita comemoração, era vez da hora da descida. Todo mundo derrapando. Junior mal conseguia ficar em pé. Parescia uma criança. Chegamos na vila, arrumamos nossas coisas e por volta das 3 saímos de lá. Cinco da manhã chegamos aqui com muita neve. Perfeito pra dormir.

Esse foi um resumo desses dias de festa. Espero que todos tenham tido um ótimo natal e que todos tenham um incrível ano novo. Que Deus abençoe cada um em cada lugar desse planeta! Muita saudade da família, amigos, igreja, clima, praia e comidas.

*preparando pra mission´s trip pra Israel*