Who ever said there was dry heat?  Obviously not the person who dressed in full costume and worked at Nazareth Village.  Just kidding, but the group has learned how to live without the luxuries that sometimes we take for granted.  Some of these include clothes washing machines, dishwashers, and air conditioning.  It has been a nice break from these things and to live as the people here do.  Being here has really brought me back to the true meaning of living in this world, which is to glorify God.

One of the best things about staying at the Fauzi Azar Inn is waking up in the morning and walking out onto the balcony to see the sun just rising over the city of Nazareth.  The beauty of this country is indescribable.  We witnessed this first-hand as we hiked to the top of Mount Precipice last night.   We arrived at the top just in time to see the sunset over Nazareth.  Being here truly reminds me of the greatness of God’s creation.  As we walked back down, we were met by a couple of mashanoo (Arabic for “crazy”) dogs.

The past two days have been spent serving at Nazareth Village.  The group has been completing various projects such as building a ritual bath, completing renovation on roofs, creating steps, and packaging oil lamps that are given to each visitor.  Nazareth Village has about 25,000 visitors every year, so the work will be seen by many people.  Many of us have been making friends with the Israeli workers at the Village.  It is fun to try and speak Arabic with them, but it is also challenging to get directions on how to do certain jobs.  Communication is being tested all the time.

Thank you for your continual prayers and support.  We ask that you pray for our travels to Bethlehem on Sunday and the people we will work with there.

Rick Bartek