Every Nation

She's Here!

Dear Friends and Family,

Hiba Michell Pollack made her grand entrance into the world on Wednesday, April 16 at 9:10 p.m. We're all back home now and Sarah and Hiba are doing great. Hiba weighed 4.10 kilos and is 55 cm long (which is 9 pounds and around 22 inches). She's quite a happy little baby and we are so thankful for her! You can see pictures of her here. Thank you all for you prayers and love. We will write a longer update soon.

God Bless,

sarah, jason, and hiba

Bethlehem Update

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Bethlehem!  It has been quite a while since we've sent out an update, and we apologize for that. So, we though we'd let you know what is going on over here and in our lives.

Paidia
Paidia is finally running programs! In March, they have started the Impact Program, which works with groups of youths to teach leadership, tolerance, and environmental care. Groups will come once a month to do experiential initiatives that focuses on one of those three categories. Since this is the first time, Paidia is working with groups from existing organizations in the Bethlehem area and they have several groups going through the program. Paidia also have started open climb times for their climbing tower, which are getting more and more popular. It is exciting to see the progress that Paidia is making and it is very encouraging to have programs going.

Sarah and the Baby
Sarah has stopped working at Bethlehem Bible College for her maternity leave. The last few weeks have been very nice for her and have given her a chance to get everything ready for the baby to come. Her due date is April 8 (this coming Tuesday). Please continue to pray for her and the baby as the day gets closer.

Easter
It's Easter season! We got to celebrate the protestant Easter a few weekends ago with a sunrise service on the Mount of Olives. The Orthodox Easter is in a few weeks, which many of our friends will be celebrating. Easter season has also provided some of our friends with permits to travel into Israel, so we have enjoyed days at the beach and in Jerusalem with some of our Palestinian friends.

Hiba
Hiba, the girl that we wrote about who needed hearing aids, has gotten them and is doing very well. Her hearing and learning has definitely increased. The volunteers at the House of Hope have said that they can tell a big difference in her responsiveness over the last few weeks. Praise God! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for her and who contributed financially for her hearing aids. Her family was so surprised that other people would want to help Hiba and were very thankful - I believe that it was a very powerful witness to her and her family. So thank you so much for helping us with that.

Prayer Requests
We have some prayer requests that we would like to share with you:

-Please pray for Jason, as he is very busy with work. Pray that he will not be overwhelmed and will get the rest that he needs.

-Pray for our baby, that she will continue to develop healthily and will make her appearance soon.

-Please pray for Sarah, as she is waiting to have the baby, that she will have patience and be able to enjoy these last few days (and hopefully not weeks) before the baby is born.

-Pray for the Christians in Palestine, that they will be reminded of the true hope and salvation that they have in Jesus Christ during this Easter season.

-Pray for the Muslims in Palestine, that they will see the joy and hope that Jesus provides with His death and resurrection.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. We will definitely let you know when the baby is born, so hopefully you will be hearing from us again very soon! :-)

God Bless,

Jason and Sarah

Merry Christmas from Bethlehem...

Bethlehem is decorated and ready for Christmas. Tourists are coming every day to see the birthplace of Jesus. Children are out of school for the holidays and are enjoying window shopping and Christmas candy. Christmas carols are played from shops and can be heard all evening long as you drive through town. Santa, or Baba Noel (Father Christmas), is all around, passing out candy and trinkets to children. Families are together as people have time off of work, school, and university. It is a very happy season, as people are enjoying themselves and seem to forget for a moment about the hardships of their lives.

This has been an especially busy holiday season in Bethlehem this year because the Muslim feast of Eid il Adha and Christmas fall at almost exactly the same time of year. Eid il Adha is a feast of sacrifice, where Muslim families sacrifice a goat to ask forgiveness for their sins. Each family also must provide a goat to a poorer family, as an example of sacrificial giving. The feast comes at the end of the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that is used as a way to win favor with Allah. Wednesday was the first day of the feast and it ends on Saturday.

It is very interesting to see how this year everyone in Bethlehem is celebrating the forgiveness of their sins. The Christian families are using this time to remember the birth of Jesus and how his coming to earth provided us with a way to be saved. The Muslim families are using this time to celebrate the forgiveness of their sins through the sacrifice that they performed.  However, this forgiveness is temporary, as it must be granted year after year. What an opportunity we as followers of Jesus have been given to use this season to share the unconditional love and forgiveness that God offers each of us through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Please pray for the people of Bethlehem this Christmas.

Pray for the tourists who come and see the lives of the Palestinians. Pray that they will see that there is a Church here that needs to be loved and encouraged. Pray that they will see that there are Muslims who need to know the love of Jesus.

Pray for the Christians who live here. Pray that they will be encouraged during this season. Pray that they will be lights to their Muslim neighbors.

Pray for the Muslims who live here. Pray that they will know the love of Jesus and that they will turn to him for forgiveness and unconditional acceptance. Pray that seeds of hope will be planted in their hearts as they see and participate in the Christmas celebrations.

Pray for all who live in this land. Pray that the peace that Jesus brought with his birth will be known in the hearts of all who come to Bethlehem this Christmas.

Jason and Sarah P.

Ramadan blessings...

May Jesus' love overwhelm you!

Greetings from Palestine. For those of you who do not know, we are currently in the midst of the Muslim month of Ramadan, a month that is set aside in the Qur'an for faithful Muslims to fast from food and water during the daylight hours of the month. In Palestine, this means the general pace of life slows down, as many people elect to sleep later and leave work earlier in order to handle the fast. For many people, it is also a time of spiritual searching and an awareness of the human need for God, as a great part of the reason for fasting is the atonement for sins.

A few nights ago, we had the chance to have the iftar meal (when the fast is broken) with the same family we are friends with. We will be visiting another family next week for the same meal. These can be very pleasant times of eating, drinking, and making merry after a difficult day of fasting. Please pray for these encounters, that the people we come into contact will be open to spiritual conversations and that we will have the discernment to know it.

Light of the World ministries, which Sarah is helping to head up, will be delivering Ramadan food baskets during this time. Many families eat more food (and more expensive food) during Ramadan than any other month, because of the hunger that accompanies the breaking of the fast each evening. This puts a strain on poorer families, and it can be very depressing to miss the iftar feast during the evening because of a lack of money. The food baskets will be an excellent opportunity to begin and/or continue relationships with Muslims and with Muslim background believers who still choose to fast with their Muslim brothers and sisters.

In other news, here is the official announcement... In early April 2008, inshalla, we will have a new baby. Sarah has been to the doctor twice now and she and the baby are doing well. We praise God for the gift of life! 

Please continue to pray for the following needs:

• That we will be diligent and successful in our Arabic lessons (We have learned the alphabet now and are practicing reading and writing!)
• That Sarah and the new baby will continue to stay healthy.
• That God will provide us with opportunities to love and serve our neighbors during this month
• That Jesus will reveal Himself in a mighty way during this time of heightened spiritual awareness.

--
Jason and Sarah

american woman...

we got our passports back today. they had been gone for about two weeks while getting our year-long visas stamped in them. and by stamped i mean now taking up an entire page. so much for every trying to be sneaky about having an israeli stamp in our books.

the first day they were gone, i tried to go into jerusalem. we have to go through the checkpoint every time we want to go into jerusalem. we usually just flash our "magic blue books of power" and the guards smile and wave and we go through without any problems. well, i didn't have my magic book. i had a bright yellow piece of paper with a bunch of hebrew writing. it's a volunteer permit, which implies that i have a visa and a passport. it actually has my passport number in it. but the guard was having a bad day and it was raining, so she wouldn't roll down the window of the guard room to look at it closely and she didn't speak enough english to understand that my passport is with the israeli's, it's actually her fault i that don't have it, now may i please go? she didn't let me through. i had to get back in the van, turn around and drive past a long line of cars. rejected. i was fuming. how dare she! she wouldn't even read it! i don't know what it says, because i don't read hebrew, but that's her job! and she was so rude! then i started to think, well i'm like one of the palestinians. this is how it feels. this is how it is to be humiliated and treated like crap and turned away for no good reason. and then i started thinking yeah, i am just like them. the girl was so rude! she has no right to treat me like that! after all....i'm an american.

and then i wanted to slap myself in the face.

it wasn't that i was another human being and she had no right to treat me how she did. it wasn't that i had the papers that i needed and she just wouldn't look at them. it wasn't that i had a legitimate right to be in the country and she wouldn't take the time to listen. it was that i was an american. so how dare she inconvenience me.

i think a lot of times i don't realize how easy i have it over here. that was the only time i've ever had problems going into jerusalem. when i got back to the house of hope, i told my sob story to everyone around and rhoda quickly wrote a letter in hebrew explaining exactly where my passport was and told me to call her if i had any trouble and she'd be right there. i went on to complain to all the other palestinians about how rude the guard was, how she gave me a dirty look and wouldn't let me through.

and then i wanted to slap myself in the face again.

most of the workers here can never go to jerusalem. once or twice a year they get permits for christmas or easter, but it all depends on the mood of the people working at the permit office. and when they do get permits, they're not allowed to simply drive through the wall. they have to walk through the checkpoint, which makes you feel like you're cattle being herded. it takes forever. and the guards are usually really impolite. and i was complaining to these people about one dirty look and one delay that was quickly fixed.

i'm so spoiled, but i don't know how to fix it. i am so thankful to have an american passport. i am so thankful that i was born in america and that i was born into a family that has plenty of money to provide for my needs. i am so thankful for the freedom of movement that i have, both here and at home. but sometimes i feel really guilty for feeling thankful. is it ok to be thankful that i'm so much better off than the people around me? i guess i just have to make sure that my thankfulness does not turn into a feeling that i am owed anything that i have been thankful for.

sp