The Whispers of Israel

If you get a chance to visit the Holy Land as a tourist, you will become acquainted with "Whisper" devices like the one Alberta is wearing in the picture. When you visit a busy archaeological dig or  an ancient church there will be throngs of people. Someone came up with a way to avoid 5 tour guides trying to shout over each other. All of your tour group listens to your tour guide on his Whisper channel with ear buds and zones into his insights of that location. It reminded us of the reality that there are many voices trying to grab our attention and we need a plan to be able to zero in to God's still small, but eminently meaningful, voice. 

One big take away for both of us was to learn first hand of the plight of the Palestinians from an insider's perspective. Our tour guide, Tony, is part of a small minority of Palestinian Christians  who experience persecution by both Muslims and Jews. He helped us understand, not only a Christian's perspective of the Holy sites, but the dilemma facing the Palestinian people. Tony and his twin brother Andre worked hard to purchase homes in the west bank only to see them annexed after one of the intifada uprisings with no reimbursement and no hope of getting them back. Still, they have the joy of the Lord and love those that persecute them. Pray for our brothers as they shine the light of the gospel in a very dark tumultuous place. (If you or your church are thinking of a tour of the Holy Land - we can't speak highly enough of this tour company, Twins Tours). 

Prayer Requests: 

1. Pray for us as we settle back into life in Chiang Mai and begin to plan our fall travel schedule. 

2. Pray for Alberta as she seeks to finish up 3 papers for the intensive class she took in May. She has another online course starting at the end of this month and she needs to finish up the last course first!

3. Pray for Heather and Krista who are both in a less pressured season of their studies. Heather will do some traveling to visit friends in Europe and Krista will be visiting friends and working on her artistic portfolio this summer before resuming her studies at SCAD in the fall. 

Serving Christ with You, Steve and Alberta