another stamp in the passport

and another adventure.

not quite a week ago i returned from another incredible adventure. 2nd trip to haiti and 14th entry stamp in my passport. funny how i only have 2 re-entry stamps into the states though. not sure how that works. i know i've come back here more than that! this country is definitely "home" for me, but every time i travel to another country my heart grows for the rest of the world and shrinks for the closed-minded, pompus attitude I often see here in "America". (not sure why we use that word to refer to this country specifically, since Canada and Mexico are both in *North* America, a bunch of countries are in *Central* America and even more are in *South* America...aren't we all technically "America"?)

Once, when I was returning from Indonesia, I had a long layover in Jakarta and spent the night in a hotel. Turned the TV on and the only thing in english was music videos so the channel surfing stopped there for a while. I heard (watched?) the song "California" by Phantom Planet. I was repulsed. I mean, I like California and all. You can't find too many other places where you can have all four seasons (yes, anyone not from cali might not realize this, but we have sandy desserts, forested mountains, rolling hills and various terrains of sea coasts...you can find hot summers, snowy winters, green springtimes and colorful autumns...okay not as snowy or as colorful or as green as other states...but we have 'em!). Where else can you live and be able to drive an hour one way and be in the snowy mountains to snowboard or drive one hour the opposite direction and be at the ocean and go swimming (so cal!) ? ...but the lyrics of the song were praising california like it was the best place in the world and everyone should want to go there. huh. at that point in time i wasn't really looking forward to going back to cali. Indonesia is a beautiful place. the people and cultures are intriguing, the food is amazing. the people in mexico are wonderful. the country of Jordan has great food and awesome spots to visit. Israel...can't say enough about it. Iraq was quite scary :) but i miss the people i met there. Amsterdam is incredibly organized. Haiti...the people are wonderful and the land itself is a beautiful place (head to the coasts or fly over the mountains...beautifully tropical).

I had a professor in Israel who said that when he was growing up he used to want to be the president of The USA just so that he could pass a law that said everyone had to spend at least a year outside of the states. boy, that would change our view on the world!

well...i think i've written enough for one blog. here are some pictures from my latest adventure to Haiti...









my dad took this one. i love it. i think it captures SO MUCH of Haiti all in one shot:

i made it

i'm putting this picture up first and laying claim to it. this kid is cute.

had a great trip, though didn't get as much sleep on the planes as I wanted to. so i'm really tired today. but i hope to get a good night's sleep tonight. i'm excited to get an idea of what life is like for my sister. i got a glimpse when i took a "shower" earlier today with her camp shower that she hangs on the shower head 'cause they don't have running water. the water was warm 'cause she leaves the bag out on the roof/patio during the day. that was interesting 'cause the level at which the water would come out of the bag was above my armpits :) which means i had to do a lot of acrobatics...it was an adventure!

then we went to st. joseph's and ate dinner and watched 'dance theater' which was incredible. now we're back here and the electricity came on! so i was able to post this. now i'm going to post this, spend some time with my sister and go to bed.

gnight.

haiti, m'ap vini!

that means "Haiti, I'm coming" (at least I think i got that right).

I'm going to Haiti in 2 days to visit my sister! I'm so excited! I get to see the place she calls "home", Three Angel's Orphanage. If you haven't looked at her blog you need to: http://angelainhaiti.blogspot.com/ and the blog for the orphanage is great too! http://threeangelshaiti.blogspot.com/ And, of course the website for the orphanage itself: http://www.threeangelshaiti.org/ (Note: if you have ever considered adoption, or even if you never have, your heart will be strongly tugged by the pictures, stories, and videos that can be seen on the aforementioned webpages. A very high percentage of people who have viewed these webpages have strongly desired to adopt one or all of them!)

My sister's favorite verse is James 1:27 which says, "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." This is what my sister is doing! She is "visiting" and caring for and providing for orphans, "the least of these" (and also the cutest of these).

Please pray for my trip, I hope to post pictures upon my return.

rabbinical ramblings

(i thought that title had a fun sound to it)

Christian Zionists are not interested precisely in helping Jews as a religion, we (yes, i am one) are interested in helping Jews as a nation. We want them to come to know Jesus Christ (Yeshuah Meshiach) as their Lord and Savior, because He is the Messiah and the only way. The reason we are seeking to help Jews (by religion) to establish a strong (and peaceful) nation of Israel is because we know this must first take place before Christ returns the second time.

i sat down and chatted with a rabbi today. my mother and i traveled up to my grandmother's house this Thursday. This is the place she grew up since 6th grade. We were walking around the block and she saw Dr. Zeff and said "Hello, Dr. Zeff" and we continued to walk by. Dr. Zeff was the father of one of her childhood friends, Joel. They were Jews (by religion and blood). Presently Joel, her childhood friend, takes up residence in Israel just south of Bethlehem. She had mentioned him to me in 2001 when I went to Israel (Joel has been in Israel since 1995) in hopes that I might be able to meet him.

We got a little ways down the road and heard Dr. Zeff say "It was a beautiful day today, wasn't it?" Now Dr. Zeff is going blind and cannot see very well, so he did not see us (especially since it was dark) and did not know who we were. But he was being friendly and (as most people do when they don't have anything else in common to say) he spoke about the weather. My mom stopped and turned around to talk with him a little more.

"Yes, it was a beautiful day, it is just gorgeous now!" She said, looking up at the beautiful stars in the clear sky. "I'm Martha, Helen Romig's daughter."

"Oh, yes, Martha, how are you doing?" He replied. Now he knew who he had commented about the weather to and he could relate more personally to her. "What are you doing here, just visiting."

"Yes, we're visiting my mother and sisters. This is my son, Elias, we came up here and he is fixing their computers for them. Elias went to Israel a few years back and I was hoping he could meet up with Joel, but it didn't work out." She was always excited about Israel.

"Oh, well funny you mention Joel, he is here now."

"Here? In the states?" You could sense the excitement in her voice.

"Here, in this house." He said, jerking his head in the direction of the house.

My mom was so excited. We talked a bit more and arranged to meet with him the next day.

The next morning my mom called Dr. Zeff's house to inquire about Joel. Dr. Zeff responded kindly, "Oh, yes, Martha! Joel would be glad to see you, come on over in two hours."

Joel came over two hours later, well dressed, kippah, facial hair, and all (even the common long nose and bald head ;) ). He brought pictures of his family (9 children), mostly from his daughter's recent wedding...Traditional Jewish style! It was great seeing pictures of it all. My two favorites were a picture of Joel blessing his daughter with his hands on her head covered by her veil with others in the background, all in their suits, kippas and facial hair...very Jewish looking. The other favorite picture was of the bride and groom dancing on top of a table that was being carried by the young men...that must have been fun! They were up above everyone else's shoulders!

Joel was a Rabbi at a Synagogue here in the states until he moved to Israel in 1995 to become a teacher at a Yeshiva (College/Seminary). It was neat to look at his pictures and hear his views and stories about his family. I was able to share with him some of my pictures from my month in Israel and to tell him about the program The Master's College has (IBEX). He enjoyed hearing about that and was interested in my (and IBEX's) interest in the Promised Land.

We got to speaking about Zionism and how many Christian Evangelicals are helping and desiring to help establish a strong and peaceful Israel. He is very interesting in doing what he can to be involved and play a part. He said they even had a group of Evangelical Christian students come and spend a week with them and in their Synagogue, to learn about the Jewish ways and customs and lifestyle.

I really hope he is one of the 144,000 Jews that believe in Christ during the tribulation. Actually I really hope that he is born again before that time. My mom has been reading a book lately on the Tabernacle and how all the different pieces and all the observences etc. all pointed to Christ. She brought some of that up as we had talked about the Tabernacle. Joel was impressed with her knowledge (as he well should be, my mom rocks) and jokingly offered her a job at his Yeshiva. He noticed a devotion in us and an understanding. I hope it came across as more than that. He mentioned how the Christians were seeking to help the Jews build Israel. Well, yes, we do want to help build Israel, but we do not want to support and encourage a religion who's promised and foretold redeemer has come 2000 years ago and they still continue in the state of waiting for Him.

Christ has come! The promised Messiah came to earth! The prophecies have been fulfilled! He is of the line of David. He is from the tribe of Judah. He was born in Bethlehem of Judea. "Out of Egypt I have called my son" was fulfilled when Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt to escape Herod killing their son out of jealousy. So many more prophecies were fulfilled, so many signs were performed, but they are blind to it. Their hearts are hardened. Oh descendents of Israel! Chosen people of the LORD, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob! Your redeemer has come! Your savior already paid the price of your sins! Turn to Him for Salvation and Eternal Life. Worship Him and serve Him alone.

Firefox Used to Help Tsunami Victims

I also have another blog at www.SpreadFirefox.com, but I rarely post to it. Here is a link to an entry I posted there a few days ago:

My Blog at SpreadFirefox.com

injured elephants?

just read a news story:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147439,00.html
Seems animal rights people are freaking out about about the way Indonesians do things. The Indonesians are using elephants to help clear out rubble and clean up. I think that's cool. I didn't see any while I was there, but I saw a few pics on the web. Looks like guys sit on top of the elephants and give them commands and the elephants really help. I guess they're normally used in the jungles for logging and also as patrols in the jungle against illegal loggers.

The animal rights people are complaining that this is not right for the elephants, they are out of their natural habitat and getting hurt! And they say they aren't being treated well enough while working on clearing up the rubble.

Sounds familiar to me. Seems there are many in that situation right now--The majority of the people of Aceh province, people in Thailand, India...! People have lost their homes! People are suffering serious injuries--emotional, physical, psychological, etc.!

For crying out loud, people! Who are you to go to a country where the people have suffered enormous loss (friends, family, loved ones, jobs, houses, all their belongings...), they're working hard to get over it and you say, "Stop, you're doing it wrong!" Don't go into their culture and tell them to change their culture.

Look at these quotes:

"These so-called animal lovers, they come to me and say the elephants look thin, but it then turns out they have never seen an elephant before," said Andi Basrul, who heads Aceh's government-run conservation board overseeing the elephants.

Sheesh. You consider yourself an animal lover? Do some research before you try telling the locals about things they've been doing all their lives.

Look at these:

Putting elephants to work is a millenia-old tradition in Asia, where they have been used as pack animals and transportation, and are part of ceremonies and religious processions.

"They are enjoying the work," said Madi, a mahout (trainer) who, like some Indonesians, goes by one name. "We can tell if they are suffering, and believe me they are not."

Kept in a parking lot, the elephants are fed coconut palm, bananas, unhusked rice and sugar cane, and bathed regularly. A veterinarian gives the animals twice-daily medical checkups, vaccinates them against tetanus, and treats infections.

"Marni (one of the working elephants) was glad to be home, sure," said her trainer, Safrudin. "But the cuts aren't serious. In fact, she came back to the jungle fatter than when she left because everyone was giving her cakes."

Sounds to me like they are getting better treatment and care than some of the human tsunami victims! Sheesh! Calm down, people!