dear friends,
allow me to share with you my incredible journey.
let us start with the location.
in the beginning, each member of our faith journey asked the Lord where we should go. one received galilee, I received nazareth, & another jericho. we decided to cast lots & received galilee. soon after we discovered that nazareth is a town within galilee. upon consideration, we decided that we would go to nazareth & then travel to tiberias, both in galilee.
now mind you, with all these things, we really had to ask the Lord, & though at times we all received different things, He eventually allowed for us to act & blessed our decisions.
so we take the bus to nazareth. constantly in prayer & eager with anticipation, we finally arrive at our destination. from there came the frustrations.
we attempted to talk to a muslim guy & he was completely shut off. it was an interesting experience trying to bless him & being almost ignored & stared at with such strange glances. after this, we kept following the spirit & were finally led to the church of the annunciation. almost immediately, my spirit felt heavy. throughout the whole time we were in there, I felt a large range of emotions, mostly fitting in the categories of frustration, anger & detest. there was a strong sense of disillusionment about the place, as it felt like a totally blatant monument basically worshiping mary & not our one true God.
"And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, ' A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.' And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief." matthew 13:57-58
personally, my emotions were going out of control, so I had to pull myself away from this place & when I stepped outside, my heart felt much more at peace.
from there we met a guy whom we talked to for a while, then felt led to go towards the nearest mall because it was getting dark and we still did not find a place to rest for the night. we were hungry & tired & also growing a little anxious that we just might have to spend the night outside without any shelter or food. along the way, we decided to stop by a random building, and it turned out to be a gym for christian arabs. after talking to some people, a girl came by to talk & was so interested in where we came from. we jokingly told her that we did not have a place to stay, and she invited us to her home. I was so astonished that I kept asking her, "really?!!"
with this divine appointment, we walked to her home where we met the rest of her sweet, loving family. within minutes we became part of the family. they offered us food, their place to stay for the night & great company. we ate, talked, watched arab idol, played instruments, played games and laughed for hours. before we left, one of my teammates told me that I would receive a lot of favor during this trip. & true enough, there was so much ! they started calling me daughter & seriously pouring out their love. even still, I cannot believe just how much we received from God.
in the morning, after a delicious breakfast, we were able to bless the family with a time of worship & original design. we proclaimed truth & life over these people who had so much love to share. I had never received
so much from complete strangers. when it was time for us to say our goodbyes, I had so much sadness in my heart, but also a good amount of hope that we would see each other again, and that one day, I would be fortunate enough to bless them even more than they have blessed me.
there are other parts of this story that I can share in person when I have the chance. bottom line: it was a most beautiful first experience at a faith journey.
my faith is, at times, as small as a mustard seed. but for Him, that is simply enough.
this is my prayer in the harvest
where favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied againthis seed I've received I will sow
love,
r.
above is a picture of signs I found in nazareth. it broke my heart to see them so publicly displayed & so widely accepted.
