Rainbow Over Gaza

Coincidence? I think not! It's kind of ironic and beautifully symbolic that a rainbow was seen over the northern Gaza Strip, from the Israel-Gaza Border, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009 when just earlier that same day Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip were ordered to hold their fire after Israel announced a unilateral cease-fire meant to end three devastating weeks of war for the people of Gaza. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

Life in Bethlehem

Marhaba! (Arabic for "hello")

Well, we have been here almost two weeks so far, and what an experience it has been. Here are some differences with life in Palestine (or at least in Bethlehem):

- Water is highly calcified; kidney stones are highly likely if you live here for a long while. Filtered or bottled is a must. Plus the water is stored (from rain and rationed water) into big metal containers on top of the roof and then funnled in through the pipes so you don't exactly know what's floating around up there in the water. It's fine to drink the water when you need it and in fact we have drank the water - and lived to tell about it!
- Heat: We do have hot water and along with small space heater, the radiator has been turned on in certain rooms in the building including our apartment for a few hours every evening (since there is more than two guests staying in the guest house). It does wonders for taking the cold chill out of the air through the night until we leave for breakfast the next morning (which is all we need).
- Light switch: up is off, down in on.
- Mail: Longest its taken to get 6 miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem was a year. Sometimes it never arrives. Needless to say, we, via the college's PO Box, receive and send mail from Jerusalem. If you send packages though, please mark it as a gift, put the lowest value it is worth, and put in the extra description "For Family - Personal Use". Also, be specific about what you send when you have to list the items, otherwise Israel might be suspicious or curious and open it. For example, put "1lbs ground Kroger's Coffee" instead of just food. I don't think you can send more than 6lbs of coffee at a time also (not that any of you were planning on sending more than that but just so you know). You can send the items and a note first class but if you send it priority then you can't include a personal note. I'm not sure why but I guess Israel only wants personal correspondence to be sent through first class. Israel will put large taxes on anything that they think is new and expensive, or will be resold. Obviously, you wouldn't send used coffee (yummy) but it doesn't cost too much so I think we are okay with that one. Your post office person should be able to help you with all of the customs rules and regulatios and what you can and can't send.
- Shopping – no mega stores – go to bakery for bread, green grocer for fruits and vegetables, to the butcher for meat, etc. etc.

(Local Green Grocer - the bananas are still on the branch)

- Tea anyone? – Tea time is 10:30 every weekday morning at the college. Tea is an all day thing, however.
- Who knew yogurt, rice, & lentils could taste so good together.
- Cooking: gas stove & oven (gas stoves we were used to from camping but it took a little while to figure out whether the oven was electric or gas and then how and where to light it. We've still only figured out how to use one temperature setting for the oven.)
- Toilet paper is not to be flushed anywhere in Palestine - use your imagination (Hint: bathroom bins!).
- Driving: There is one stoplight in Bethlehem, sometimes obeyed sometimes not. General traffic laws are used according to the driver's preference - usually they prefer to not use them.
- Milk is highly preserved - the expiration date for our first box (yes, it comes in a box) was around the day that we leave (3 months later)...that's just not natural.
- Time: 8 hours ahead of Texas and 9 ahead of Colorado.
- Cucumbers and tomatoes are at every meal along with pita bread.
- Price of Food: Israeli imposed taxes are pretty high on anything imported into Palestine so it's best to buy food that you can't read the label to (i.e. arabic ramen noodles - ramen is everywhere) since it was most likely made in Palestine therefore much cheaper to buy.
- The Palestinian Military Police are very nice, I (Aaron) was shown around their compound and given a map of the Bethlehem area.
- Language: Arabic and British English; the main person that we go to with our questions (the English Administrator) is from Britian so it has been fun to learn a bit of British English on top of Arabic from the Palestinians. For example, to "nick" something in British English is to take it without permission.
- People: nice, genuine, helpful and eager to meet you
- Lost in Translation: Translations don’t come easy for some Palestinians - Example: Version Olive Oil.


(I think they meant "Virgin")

...there's more where that came from! But most speak english very well and many people are at least bilinual if not trilingual which is awesome! So we can't really poke fun too much of their translating because they know more than we do. It does still make you smile though! =)

Typical Day:

So, what does a typical day look like for us? Well, it depends. Any typical morning Misty and I are up at 6 am to be at the Guest House (up four flights of stairs) at 7am to serve breakfast for our guests. Currently we have a six member crew here from the US, a young German, and a Jordanian staying at the Guest house. After breakfast we go to staff devotions at 8am (guests and anyone else are invited to attend), then we clean up the kitchen area and check the rooms for anything they need. We wash towels and linens and hang them on the line to dry, empty the trash (& the bathroom bins too), clean and prepare vacated rooms for the next guest (yes, this does involve scrubbing toilets), arrange the bedroom assignments, prepare invoices as the guest house is a major source of funding for the college, and any other job that would belong to guest house managers.

(Aaron - hanging the laundry)

Thursday morning at 10:30 we attend chapel at the college.

(Student Chapel Worship Service - all are welcome to attend though)

Saturdays we go to the "Suq" which is the place where they have the "open-air" market place to buy very cheap fruits, vegetables and other items for the guest house and ourselves, and Sundays we go to a local palestinian Christian Church to fellowship with the body of Christ in Palestine.

(Misty - shopping in the Suq)

Some mornings we drive into Jerusalem to retrieve the mail and packages from the college’s P.O. Box there. This is more complicated than it seems, especially driving (white knuckled in a big van through the sometimes small & narrow streets with few obeying traffic laws), finding parking in E. Jerusalem, getting the packages after paying a shipping tax, getting the right packing slip, (all with Arabic speaking people). Moreover, we have to go to another location in E. Jerusalem to get the packing slips and letters before we go to the post office for the packages. This is all after we make it through an Israeli checkpoint, if it is open and allowing cars to pass through. After lunch which is at 1pm at the college we go to the stores for fruit and pita bread for breakfast (the rest of the food we usually get from the cook) and then typically the latter half of the afternoon and the evening is ours (that is if we don’t have any administrative duties, guests that just left that we have to clean up after or other errands that the college needs us to run).

Later, when the English language classes begin we might be asked to come and teach or interact with the students there. Also, an American professor from Kansas is here teaching a couple classes, and he has asked us if we might come and share with his students as well.

Relational Ministry:

A recurring piece of advice given to us by many here (foreign missionaries as well as native ministers) was that the most important way we can minister to the Palestinians is to simply listen to them and then to share their stories with others. In the short time that we have been here, we have heard amazing stories - some of heartache and sadness and others of reconciliation and rejoicing. But the faith of the Christians through it all and the heart and prayers that they have for those who oppress and persecute them is inspiring. We will be sharing some of their stories in later blogs.

Staff Devotions & Chapel are a great time to worship and grow with other believers as well as to share in one another's burdens and to go before the Lord together in prayer. Tea time and lunch is a great time to interact with the students and faculty here and get to know them and listen to their life stories. And while we are shopping in the community or running errands, it gives us the opportunity to talk to and form relationships with many Palestinians (Christian and Muslim).

How to pray this week:

- My (Misty's) mom is in Detroit right now undergoing another procedure to rid her body of cancer. Pray for recovery, healing and the financial resources to cover the necessary treatments she is receiving.

- Pray that we can deepen our relationships with our new friends here.

- Pray for Tom, our German guest, who has met a family here in Bethlehem and is sharing the gospel with them.

- Pray for the people of Gaza who are suffering greatly in a time of war.
- Pray for the effectiveness of our ministry.

Thank you for your prayers and your encouraging emails.

Stay tuned for more.

Bye Bye! (Arabic for "bye" - no, really, it's what they say! =) There is an arabic word too but we don't know it yet.)

Aaron and Misty

Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, How Still (?) We See Thee Lie...

Things in Bethlehem were pretty and quiet for the first couple of days here but yesterday, there were 2 protests about Gaza in the street in front of the Bible College. The first was a non-violent march down the street waving flags and shouting but in a more uniformed way (the leader shouted threw a loud speaker and the followers shouted back maybe repeating what he said).


(1st Protest - A non-violent march against the many innocent lives of men, women, & children killed in Gaza)

The 2nd protest we watched from our window as a whole crowd of mainly young palestinians (some only boys) shouted, waved flags, and threw rocks at the Israeli guard tower down the street near Rachel's Tomb. The Israeli soldiers responded with tear gas and other methods from the tower. Then through the efforts of the Palestinian soldiers and police, as well as the Israeli soldiers (who were on the ground near the end) the protest was dispersed.

(2nd Protest - Notice the wall in the background & the Israeli guard tower to the left that the protesters are throwing stones at)

Other than that there have been some non-violent protest in other parts of the area, the city has cancelled all public activities in protest of Gaza, and they have had days that all business shut down in protest as well.

Despite all of that, Aaron and I have felt very safe here and walked to the Church of the Nativity for the midnight orthodox Christmas Eve celebration and then walked back at 2am eating a falafel (which was absolutely delicious).

On a different Subject, I found out from the English Administrator that the college needs pens (black, red, & blue), post-it notes (large & small), clear packing tape (but not more than an inch wide), and white board markers. She said that either they can't get these items here, they are too expensive, or the quality is horrible. She is going to talk to some of the staff on Monday when school starts back up and ask them what else they might need.

Misty (& Aaron)

We Have Arrived In Palestine!

(Looking out of the guesthouse kitchen window toward Beit Jala. It was our first sunrise in Bethlehem. We had just arrived a few hours before.)

Hi All,

We just wanted to let you all know that after 3 days of traveling with 5 layovers and a surprise day trip into Zurich, Switzerland that we have finally arrived at Bethlehem Bible College couple of days ago, tired but safe.

(Zurich, Swizterland - It was beautiful even on a cold cloudy day!)

We have had some orientation off and on with the older couple (in their 70's) who are about to leave. They used to run the guest house but now we will be (for at least for the next 2 months). Then they took us on a walking tour of Bethlehem and showed us the main markets that we will need to use. Bishara (the president of BBC) and his wife have also taken us out to dinner along with the older couple who is leaving (who used to run the guest house), and the english administrator to a restaurant nearby.

Aaron is the main driver for the college because they have no one and they desperately need somebody because they are not able to drive out due to restrictions. They had many packages already that needed to be picked up from Jerusalem. They also had no one to run the guest house so they are very grateful that we are here because we are able to meet many needs. We will also be helping in many other ways. All of which are not known now but we will as we go along. A group has arrived which were mine and Aaron's first official guests as guest house managers.

The power went out the first evening we were here and the internet was also out before that. The internet still comes and goes sometimes but we have it for the most part but it does sometimes make communicating a little difficult. We will do our best to keep in touch.

Our contact info: Bethlehem Bible College P.O. Box 17166, Jerusalem, 91190, Israel
Office: 011-972-2-274-1190 Fax: 011-972-2-274-3278

We haven't really had a chance to find out what the college needs but we will soon. The College isn't in session right now so we really won't have opportunities to talk with the staff to find out what the school needs but as soon as we do then we will let you know just in case anyone wants to try to send some supplies. But I do know that real coffee is like gold around here (and costs about that much) so that is something that someone could send the college's way (or ours =) if they feel so inclined and if it doesn't cost too much. We have been drinking and serving instant coffee...yum yum! =)

Also, it is pretty cold around here and I know that the refugee camps here in Bethlehem are in need of blankets and food but I am not sure how to solve that problem without alot of money.

We don't have heat when there aren't alot of guests upstairs in the guesthouse since it costs too much so our apartment (in the basement) has been pretty cold but we do have a small heater that gets us warm (if we sit directly in front of it) and we have hot water, blankets, four walls and a roof (all without holes in them) so it could always be worse. We do also have to be careful how much water we use since water is limited around here because the Israelis control it.

(Our First Breakfast in Our New Apartment - Note: I am only wearing the scarf around my head because it is cold, not because I have to)

On another note, although the area is so very poor the food, living, and basic needs here are much more expensive then you would expect. I am not sure why but maybe it is because there is a wall completely surrounding city and it is harder to get food in and out because the Israeli guards control the check points.

Anyway, we will try to write keep in touch as often as we can. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support.

Love and Prayers,

Misty & Aaron

At the Airport

In order to properly usher in the New Year and inform their neighborhood, my wife’s brothers decided to light fireworks at midnight last night. Although their show was impressive, my mind was half way around the world where there are other “fireworks” being displayed. The siege in Gaza has prompted a few questions for our friends and family concerning our determination to serve in Bethlehem.

Not surprisingly, when we tell people about what God has called us to, the first question that we usually receive is something to the effect of, “Is it safe over there right now?” Now, I understand the questioner is concerned for us and our safety (and we are truly grateful). However, we signed up for this assignment knowing the volatile situation in the West Bank and Israel (which, by the way, is never as volatile as is represented on talk radio or cable news networks). In spite of all of this, we also know about God’s call.

If we decided to not do anything dangerous what would our worlds be like? Reasonable danger is acceptable to most people, but I ask, if God is sovereign and his call is sure, what then is unreasonable?

I heard a quote the other day that said, “Find something worth dying for, then live for it.” The philosophy is worth pondering (the inverse as well, which might well reflect the mission of Christ). When true living and life abundant is following Christ wherever he leads, why would we ever settle for less? God does not call everyone to go serve him around the world, but life abundant never meant that. It meant a new perspective, not a new location.

The nitty gritty of the situation is that we will be about fifty miles from where any of the fighting is going on. The farthest a rocket launched by Hamas has reached is still about thirty miles short of where we will be staying in Bethlehem. Furthermore, Fatah, a less extreme government, controls the West Bank. Hamas only controls Gaza, and to our knowledge we will not be visiting or working in or near there. Our lives are not in jeopardy, but we do appreciate your continual prayers for our safety and efficiency for the kingdom. More to come!

Aaron (and Misty) Laenger