Quick update. As you may have read in the news, there is much craziness in Leh right now because of a “cloudburst”. We didn’t have a team in Leh at the time, we are all fine, and God’s grace has continually been shown to us in our travels. Everyone on Massah is doing great! Thanks for your prayers.

Aaron

…learning that the most water-efficient way to shower is not to shower.

…learning from new Israeli friends which poker hands are worth betting on.

…learning to always take Joel with me when fighting Tibetan ninja gangs. (I would elaborate, but I’m still working through some psychological trauma.)

…learning that when Daniel asks, “What’s your problem, Liz?” he isn’t actually interested in hearing about my problems… :/

…learning, most especially, how honored I am to have Jesus in my life. He’s more than someone to pray to when I’m afraid, more than someone to talk to when I can’t fall asleep. He is someone who has loved me enough to ask me to help him, who blesses my life with purpse. Truly, sharing the gospel with others has been such a blessing to ME. Does this make sense? They say you learn something the best when you explain it to others.

I’m learning. Hallelujah.

On my trip over to Delhi I was supposed to have a 5 hour layover in Istanbul. But because of technical issues with the plane, after waiting close to 14 hours in the airport my flight was cancelled and I stayed at a hotel for the night.

Despite inital concerns about spending a day in Istanbul it turned out to be pretty nice. I met up with the only other Israeli on my flight, Dror. I got to witness to him a bit and we spent the whole day walking around Istanbul.

Finally after a few more delays I made it to Delhi and met up with my team. Our flight to Leh has been delayed about 4 hours and we’re waiting to board now. All the other teams are on their long bus rides and should be arriving at their destinations within a few hours.

Please pray that all are traveling will be quick and safe. Pray that God will keep us all healthy and give us meaningful interactions.

“Let’s go ask them if they want to be fisher’s of men!” I joked to Shmuel. We were out on Thursday night starting conversations and had spotted some fishermen on the port.

Avi and Egal sat on their fold out chairs with Gold Stars and quiet faces. Egal told me what he knew of Jesus, which wasn’t much.

“I’m comfortable,” he said to me, as he overheard Shmuel and Avi begin to discuss the problem of evil. “I go to synagogue, and then afterward I go to the beach.” So I asked him what happens when he thinks about the hard things. He said, “I don’t think about it,” and offered me a swig of his beer.

He was comfortable sitting, waiting, watching for the fishing pole to wiggle. But neither of them had caught anything all night.

“It’s just for fun,” Avi explained. “After we catch them we thrrow them back in. Except the really big ones. The really big ones we bring home.”

Before we left I told Egal a story of some other fishermen who spent the night without catching anything, until Jesus told them where to cast their nets.

“I hope you catch something!” I said, and Shmu and I began to walk. I will pray they both catch something far too large to ever throw back.