A Weekend in Eilat and Aqaba

Greetings, Shalom, Marhaba! Three ways to say… Hi there!

We’ve had a wonderful time with our dear friends, Boaz & Rinah in Israel, and part of the fun has been in serving. Jerry has been working with Marius, the young adult son of Boaz & Rinah, mainly dry-wall work, plastering and painting. But in the process, a major accident happened and Jerry did a very bad thing to his left index finger, nearly severing it. He was using a grinder on the floor prepping for tiling, and it slipped out of his hand onto his left finger, then dropped down and made a few little cuts in his foot. The bleeding was tremendous, but the two guys wrapped up the finger tightly and brought the poor lad home to me to doctor. It truly needed a few stitches, but the doctor is nowhere close and Jerry wanted me to just do the best I could. Having watched a number of surgical programs on TV, I felt quite qualified to make the repair. Not having any butterfly band-aids made the job nearly impossible, and so there will be a significant scar for him to sport around. But at least the gash is healing, praise God. Today Marius and Jerry built a work table for the greenhouse, as Rinah and I have been busy separating little seedlings into small pots, and we truly ran out of space.

The B&B had 2 South African couples coming, and Jerry and I needed to vacate our room, so we chose to head south to Eilat for a 3-day holiday. Rinah booked us a room at the Youth Hostel Eilat, with a private room & bath, which for our age is much better than a dorm room with 15 bunk beds and no bathroom! The Lord blessed us with the best room ever… on the top floor (3^rd w/no elevator) with a balcony off our room with a private entrance. Nobody but us ever used this area, which had tables and chairs where we played cards in the cool of the evenings. We purchased a 24-hour card so we could use wi-fi in our room, and check e-mail, and Jerry could keep up with his web-site customers. I had tried unsuccessfully many times to connect with our friends Betty & John Stroble who lived in Aqaba , hoping we could work out a visit there. But as the Lord would have it, they finally wrote and I got their e-mail that first day in Eilat! John had a fall (their in their mid-80’s) and Betty was too busy with him to check in for e-mails! But we all were amazed at God’s timing, that we were in Eilat and had a full day to come across the border to visit. They got busy and contacted the friends who were still there, 10 years after we had lived there.

After John & Betty picked us up at the border crossing, we went down to old Aqaba to find our old friend Fadel, who owned the Spice Shop in the Souk . . .
we became close friends with Fadel in the year we lived there. We visited for awhile, and were invited to a meal he was planning with his family, which we had to decline as we made plans earlier to cross the border early evening before it closed. I took several photos with another photograph held by various friends of Jan & Earl Robbins, our wonderful friends also from Aqaba who now live in Indiana and are faced with physical problems. They so wanted to travel with us, so I said I’d take them anyway and carried this photo of them to take pictures to prove they were indeed with us!

We met the remainder of our group (who are still there) for lunch at Ali-Baba’s, a favorite restaurant we frequented often. And as you can see, Jan and Earl joined us! Jerry and I are on the right, then Joanie and Karen. Across from us at the back are John and Betty and Dolly, also in her 80’s. Each person has their own story of how the Lord led them to Aqaba to live, and be a part of the Arab community but worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They have several Bible studies a week, and that particular day was the Torah teaching which Joanie and Dolly didn’t want to miss.

We visited later more with Karen, who with her Pastor husband, Chip, are moving back to the States in a few weeks. It’s a sad time for them to leave, and they hope in due time they will return.

Chip was not there for us to greet, as he was already in the States, as his Dad passed away and was making the arrangements to take over his Dad’s position as Pastor of that church.

The day went only too quickly; we made our way back across the border about 7:00 pm, and were in our hotel room by 7:30. We caught the bus the next morning for Be’er Sheva and 3-1/2 hours later Rinah picked us up at the bus depot.

It’s been quite hot here lately, and we take a siesta for a couple of hours in our little cabana with the air conditioner on full blast. But it’s time to rejoin Rinah to prepare the evening meal for Swiss visitors here. Every week is full of new and exciting things to ponder… especially the wonder of God’s grace and mercy in our lives.

Shalom, shalom.

Greetings and Shabbat Shalom

This is written Saturday, 10 October. I know you are all keen to know what wonderful foods we are eating. The picture at the right is an evening meal, prepared by Rinah, and it’s a delightful soup with turkey meatballs. Each meal Rinah made has been excellent. Their son, Marius, is also an exceptional cook, with intentions to go to Culinary School next year. He made a stir fry with a special sauce he invented, and I twisted his arm for the recipe so I can recreate it. All meals are Kosher, which means meat and dairy are never served at the same time. But their kitchen is not Kosher, which means they do not have two sets of dishes, one serves dairy and the other meat. Our new friends who hosted us the first two nights (meet the Kramer’s) are Orthodox Jews, so their kitchen had two dishwashers, two sinks, two sets of cupboards… one for dairy, the other for meat.

This photo is my own typical breakfast, which I serve here in our little B&B unit. I have sliced cukes & cherry tomatoes with cottage cheese, or toast. I’m loving the veggies here, and we have LOTS of cherry tomatoes and cukes on hand. Jerry usually enjoys a bowl of cereal or toast with a creamy sort of cream-cheese and jelly. Yogurts here are quite nice as well. We always eat breakfast here at our B&B unit.

Here is our little B&B, which is about a 4 minute drive from Boaz & Rinah’s Moshav. We’re quite close to the Thai farmers, and watch the tractor towing the wagon with 20-25 men and women off to work their 12-hour shifts. Yesterday afternoon and into the evening, these people partied with lots of laughter, and I wondered if they weren’t playing a game, as after some pause, there were loud affirmations of victory! We are surrounded by a vast number of greenhouses, where all the veggies are grown and sold to markets and other moshavim or kibbutzim. The complete B&B is made from a 40-foot shipping container! What a job it must have been to saw through the steel to make doors and windows! Our unit has one room with two windows letting in a cross-ventilation (praise the LORD!), and a bathroom. We have 2 twin beds, and mine is more comfortable after folding two sets of duvets as extra cushion. A little table in the corner has a hot pot, coffee cups, various teas and instant coffee, sugar, etc. Then the middle unit is a kitchen, with a one-burner stove for frying, a microwave and small refrigerator. It works for us, and we lack for nothing. There is another unit on the other side of the kitchen, just like ours.

The LORD has given me a special friend to dote on… a donkey whom I’ve named “Burro-ito” (Get it? Burrito?) Ha, Ha. We hear him braying from time to time, and I give him an extra handful of hay, and have cleaned out the bathtub used for drinking water.

Boaz has his Shofar workshop adjacent to our B&B, which is also a 40-ft shipping container. He has a large heat-reflective tent over the top, as he only uses a fan to cool things off. We, however, have an actual air conditioner when needed.



The photo is of Boaz and Marius working with the drilling, sanding, cleaning, polishing, etc., needed to make an excellent shofar. Jerry was in on the action as well, being taught the fundamentals of how to begin preparing a horn for its transformation.

I had my first visit to the doctor Thursday afternoon. Can’t seem to shake these UTIs! A wonderful Russian Jew who has been Rinah’s doctor many years took good care of me. We had to drive along the Egypt border to a Kibbutz not far from Kerem Shalom (which is on the border of Egypt and Gaza), where the Dreyer’s lived not too long ago. We had to hurry after my appointment and going to the pharmacy to fill the prescription, as the road we take closes at 7:00 pm. There are high look-out points all the way along this road, well-lit and stationed by IDF soldiers. Rinah began singing the Psalms in Hebrew as it got dark, probably knowing I was getting a little “antsy”. But we arrived home shortly after 7:00, and our husbands had a good handle on the evening meal…it smelled so wonderful. Shalom from Israel! We think of you all with great fondness. Please pray for my wellness!

First Full Week

Shalom! We are finally settled in Be’er Milka, in our little casa. We are about 2 miles from the home of our friends, Boaz and Rinah, practically in the sand dunes. Surrounding our little unit are huge fabric greenhouses, where vast amounts of vegetables and herbs are tended by farmers from Thailand, who come for about 2-3 years working 7 days a week, and long hours at that. These people make enough money in this time frame to go back to their country and buy a house, living in luxury. Our unit is one room with twin beds, a small table that holds a hot water pot and some instant coffee/tea, a night stand with a lamp and room for books, etc., a tiny closet that is crammed full of our clothing. Included is a bathroom w/sink, toilet & shower. A small shelving unit is installed for all essentials … what a blessing! We have been welcomed with open arms by our hosts, who have taken very good care of us. We have the use of a teensy little car, beat up but it runs, owned by friends Ronen and Moriah, neighbors of our hosts. Petrol is brought in for it in two small gasoline containers when possible. We need to name our vehicle “Mercy”! Our little run-about car in New Zealand was named “Grace” – as she was lent out to many students.

It’s hot … seems more so than Phoenix, but once the sun goes down, it’s lovely. Most activities for families take place under the stars or in an outside living area next to the front door. Children are everywhere, so sweet and playful. But where we sleep, we’re neighbors to a single donkey, lots of ants and the migrant workers.

The first few days with Ephraim & Rimona were so important! We caught up with the time difference, celebrated their son Yonatan’s 24^th birthday, and had many meaningful conversations. They had another couple staying with them from America – Karen and Bob – and currently they are all on a trek called “Helping Hands Across the Land”. We’ll meet up again with Ephraim & Rimona before they leave for a 6-week Orient vacation. A very special thing happened, when the four of us went to check out a group of people we heard about, going from vineyard to vineyard, harvesting grapes. This group was known to sing and play instruments in the fields, bringing a refreshing “spirit” to the work. As we pulled into the parking lot, we were greeted by good friends who we haven’t seen for almost 10 years: Monte and Nancy and their 4 children were all there to be workers, their youngest is a teen, and the kids stair-step in age up to mid-20’s.

Our time in Jerusalem was wonderful! Jerry and I made a long trek into the Old City by foot, and the climb about did me in. We can see the Old City from our hotel room – quite beautiful at night all lit up. We made our first meal of a single swarma (shaved lamb in a pita with veggies & sauce), just about too much food to handle. Yum! We walked all over the Old City, finally coming to the Western Wall, flooded with Hassidic men and women, with their Lulav’s (a Sukkot item). We did not even attempt to get to the wall ourselves because of the crowdedness.

We met up with friends from Phoenix, Patrick and Donna, palling around with them for 2 days. We were invited to friends of theirs for a special dinner, celebrating the end of Sukkot. These are folks from the Seattle area who bought a condominium in Jerusalem that they use for a few months during the year to celebrate Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) and Pesach (Passover). What a beautiful home they made, and they treated us as special guests. Elgie & Barbara made such a delicious meal, and Elgie taught well on the Torah portion for the day. Quite memorable, and we have new friends! We joined Patrick and Donna and went to our first experience in a Synagogue – celebrating Simchat Torah (The joy of Torah), when the Torah scrolls are rolled back to the very beginning, Genesis 1:1.

We finally made our bus trip to Be’er Sheva, a 2-hour ride. Our drive to Be’er Milka was another hour’s drive, passing many Bedouin campsites along the way, with sheep and occasional camels. Our first Shabbat in Israel was filled with rest (much needed) and stimulating teaching from the Word by Boaz. Our study of Genesis 1:1 was so intense we never got out of the chapter, studying nearly 3 hours. Whew! Never knew there’d be SO MUCH! On Monday, our hosts entertained a large group of travelers from Sweden, and we made a huge bar-b-q of chicken and different salads. They are currently also showing a couple from S. Africa around the Negev, gone the next few days.

All for now… we’ll keep in touch. Continue to pray for us! And write as you can.