So once again it’s been kind of a while since I’ve posted, so I’ll just give you the most recent happenings:

We took a train to Laos a few days ago to seek out the traveler scene there and see how the ministry dynamic could go in the popular areas. We cut our time very short there, only to about 2 days, because apparently it is not the season for Laos yet. We ended up talking to two Israeli girls and found a handful of Europeans, but that was it. The boys took the opportunity to go tubing in the pretty dirty river there, and then we left soon after on an overnight train back to Bangkok.

We are leaving tonight on an overnight bus to the south of Thailand, where we are planning to spend a couple weeks at the beaches (it is definitely the season for that area right now). There is a Full Moon party that we are planning to be present for to see what kind of interactions we can have there with people- both inside and on the outskirts of the happenings. So, be praying for us there for the next few weeks!

Even though the past few days have been pretty slow as far as ministry and we have mostly been traveling back and forth on the Thailand/Laos border, God has been using this time to teach me a lot about living in freedom in my relationships with other people and with him. He is showing me how approval-based I am in my nature, and that because he is my father, I am free to be myself without judgment. How cool is that?!

So, we have almost two more months before returning home December 16th, but in that time we are moving around to three different Thai islands and also returning to India to spend time with Israeli travelers who frequent the beaches there. I have a feeling time is going to fly by pretty quickly. Thank you for all your prayers and support of us. We were just talking the other night about how we can see visible changes of growth in each one of us and in our relationships with each other. That really has been the faithfulness of God to continue working on us individually and as a group. That thought brings so much joy and I really am just so thankful for his constant faithfulness. He’s always here, and always on our side.

Thinking of you guys, pretty much all the time. Much love!

Description: Isaac speaks on Hebrews 4

Description: We found the chabad house.

this is something i wrote down in worship last week that i wanted to share with you:

Lord, it’s so good to just be still in You. to have peace. to be renewed. to not worry. to be hopeful. to be content in Your love. Your LOVE. Your love is perfect. it is full. complete, not lacking. with You, with Your love, i am not lacking anything. i am still in Your love.

Lord, it’s so true. i want to stay in Your presence all day. Your peace in unlike anything else. it’s soft. i feel comfortable in Your presence. Your love. Your arms. it doesn’t even make sense. but it’s amazing.

i love you all. thank you for keeping us in prayer.

We landed yesterday afternoon and made our way to the high-traffic traveler-scene on the outskirts of the city.  Bangkok is very different than anywhere we have made ministry efforts.  There are many Israelis where we are, and many signs on the street that I write to you from are in Hebrew.  What is difficult, we are finding in the day that we have spent so far, is that Bangkok is very very westernized and very modern; and what we have observed is that people in this traveler-scene are  much less friendly,  much more like that of city-strangers in America (which is very different from the chill, relaxed, friendly culture of the India traveling scene). So we must adapt to that difference and prod where is most effective.

Please pray that God gives us discernment in our new environment.

Also, the spiritual climate here in Bangkok is very dark. 

Pray protection over us and wisdom in dealing with situations that arrive as a reaction to realities that we cannot see.

much love

Remy

even though we’re now in kathmandu, i’d like to take a moment to reflect on a brief, but meaningful interaction i had with an israeli woman at the end of our time in pokhara. her name is noa, and she’s 26 years old. i don’t remember how the group met her initially, but a few of us had been casually interacting with her on and off for a little while, myself not included. i knew her name though, from hearing it as others said hi when we saw her.

one night we were at a little restaurant, and the guys were playing a show. the set up is the typical indian-style seating of sitting on cushions, and really low tables, which makes it easy to move around tables and sit with whomever you’d like.

well, this night i was feeling particularly exhausted, both emotionally and spiritually. at dinner with the team i wasn’t very talkative, and actually left a bit early so i could just walk around a bit before the guys played music. while i was walking around, i just prayed to God, asking Him for His strength…the strength i knew i didn’t and couldn’t have on my own. the strength that He gives us. it was me simply admitting to God that i was tired and weary, and i knew that any work for His kingdom done through me would only have to be because He made it happen, not because i felt competent to go out looking for it that night.

that time of walking around, praying and simply taking some time away was really helpful, and i felt refreshed enough to at least go to the show. throughout most of the show i just listened and watched as the guys did a wonderful job (as always) of integrating their music with their faith as a witness to those listening. i occasionally said a word or two to the people around me, but for the most part just hung back.

after the show was over, the team split up and just talked with different people throughout the restaurant. i looked over and saw that noa was sitting on her own and maybe thinking about leaving. i saw her moving over to the next little booth, and noticed that she had an ankle brace on. so i got her attention and asked how she hurt her foot. she was actually surprised i knew her name, because we had never personally interacted. i told her it was because my friends knew her, and so i had heard about her, which i think made her happy.

our little discussion about her hurt ankle led her to sharing with me many stories of her travels, her bad experiences, and why she was traveling in the first place. i learned that she is actually a counselor in israel for troubled children, many of whom are abused physically and emotionally. noa told me how difficult it was for her to deal with the injustice and pain, and that she could do nothing for these kids. she explained to me that she was not prepared for that job, and that she just couldn’t handle it anymore.

i also heard about her issues with her parents, and their trying to influence and control her life too much. and also about her issues with the religious in israel, as they try to dictate the only ‘righteous’ lifestyle (according to noa, though i agree on many levels).

in her travels, noa is trying to get away from how trapped she felt in the lifestyle she had set up in israel, feeling resentment toward the religious, being emptied out from her job as a counselor, and trying to break free from the control of her parents. within our conversation she started showing me her tattoos. i noticed a tattoo of birds on her foot, so i asked her what that meant to her. she told me the birds represent freedom, so i asked her what she wanted to be free from. i think my question surprised her a bit, and she took a moment to think about an answer. she told me that she wants to be free from herself. she feels that oftentimes she over thinks things, and just wants to be able to live her life and enjoy herself.

i told her that i find my freedom in my faith in God, which includes Yshua as my redeeming messiah. when i feel tired, alone or pressured from my life, my freedom to live and be fulfilled is in Him. He gives me comfort and fills me up.

she heard what i had to say, appreciated it, and then told me that she is an atheist. i asked her what she believes in, and she told me she believes in herself.

our conversation lasted a lit bit longer, but then she had to leave suddenly because her friend actually got hurt, so she had to tend to her. i quickly wrote my name in her journal so that we could be friends on facebook, and then said goodbye.

even though this was my only conversation with noa, and even though she didn’t specifically want to her more about Yshua for herself or ask for a New Testament, it was really meaningful to me. in reviewing that brief moment with her, i believe that the most significant part of the conversation for noa was that i simply listened to her, and wanted to know her. more than just knowing why her ankle was hurt, but about her life and her experience in what it means to her. maybe i could have said more about the gospel, or offered her a New Testament, who knows. but i really feel like God showed up right in that moment, and gave us a connection that she will remember and think about. there probably are not many people who ask her what her tattoo means, and there are probably not too many travelers she meets that she barely knows that display genuine love for her, especially the love of Yshua.

God encouraged me that night, and just reminded me that this entire trip really is His. i am His vessel, and it’s only on His strength that i am able to do anything. i am so thankful that i was in a low moment that night, and that the only way to understand my interaction is to give credit to God. every part of myself was stripped away, and i was tired and broken–these are the times that God can use us most, because our own thoughts, apprehensions and pride are not even a factor. it’s just us and God. any fruit from our ministry can only be credited to Him, and i love remembering that. God did this all the time with Israel in the past. He took away 99% of their army when Gideon led them into battle against the Mideanites (Judges 7). He doesn’t want us to be able to boast in our own strength, but only in His. i feel so honored to be able to feel that i experienced one of these moments.

thank you for taking the time to read this long post. and thank you all for your prayers. i love you and appreciate you so much.

Its been 5 days since Stephen left us. Our time with him was really encouraging and we’re so thankful for that. However right now, we need some more prayer! Its been storming here in Pokhara since early evening yesterday, and its still raining pretty hard right now. We haven’t had hot water at our guest house for the last 4 days because the water heater broke, we still haven’t been able to find popular Israeli restaurant here in town, that is if it even exists, many of the Israelis that we’ve built relationships with are gone on treks right now, and as a group we’re feeling the weight of being gone for over 4 months now. So I’m not trying to sound like I’m complaining here, I’m just trying to communicate what we need prayer for, and recognizing our obvious need for God.

So even with all of this, as a group we’re clinging together and clinging to God. And even though I took a freezing (oh my gosh it was so cold) shower this morning, I’m having a blast being used by God over here. We love you all and miss you so much!! Pray that it stops raining, we find more Israelis here, and we get hot water back at our guest house! And that God continues to meet us in new and exciting ways We have a cool update video for you that we’ll post as soon as the internet is fast enough for us to upload it haha!

love
sterling

As a the first Mobile team our purpose out here is multidimensional.  Not only is our goal to reach traveling Israelis across the traveler scene of Asia, but also to scout, document, and report our experiences back to the greater Massah leadership for further ministry opportunities.  So far we have really only shared with you, our supporters and partners in ministry, the encouraging and inspirational testimonies of our time spent out here on the field.  I think it is important to not only tell those truly empowering and securing stories, but also where and when we find ourselves in a stagnant place, and feel that we might be failing.  No one loves to hear these, and even less do people enjoy sharing their testaments of failure, but I am reminded that trying and failing is one of our purposes in being here, doing what we are doing.

We have been in Nepal for about two weeks now.  It is the first time Massah has moved ministry efforts outside of India and Israel.  As we disclaimed in earlier posts, we arrived here with Israeli friends and had very good Gospel interactions with them.  When those friends left Katmandu to journey out on a trek, we found ourselves having no one and no clue. The Nepal traveler-scene is different from that of India and we could not find a way to interact with people.  It was the very first time that our ministry here had to be adapted and reevaluated to suit a different environment; we had become so used to India and the ease of that environment.  For a week or so, we pressed in and did what we could, checking different cafés and restaurants trying to find where all the Israelis could be.  We saw Israelis, we knew they were around, but how to connect was the question because we usually have some venue, one or many spots where they congregate.  Coming to the end of our second week, just before when we had decided to leave Katmandu, after playing a few shows and meeting a few friends and sharing with them, we finally found it.  Yeah, that’s right, two weeks in.  A restaurant we had passed by many times, and never entered; had thought of trying and never doing so.  After a Shabbat dinner on Friday at the Chabbad house, we joined the few Israeli friends for a real dinner at a place they suggested.  The place was littered with Israelis; it was overwhelming after our situational drought. The next morning we ate their for breakfast, and later again for dinner.  At breakfast I got in to two different conversations, and I was so thankful and anxious after not having opportunities for so long.
In discussing our pitfall of missing the restaurant for almost two weeks and beating ourselves up a little bit, we realized how we had to let it go and press on.  It was unfortunate that we weren’t able to use that time for the purposes that we wanted, in the ways that we wanted, it is okay that we tried and failed; or (depending on how you want to swing it semantically) our failure in this pursuit is always a success.  Yes, in the future I hope we can be better at seeking out where our ministry field is, but while we were floundering about trying to figure out our next move and where to be, we were forced to cry out to God and press into his spirit.  Not such a bad thing.  God is glorified, and reminds us of our inabilities…

Practically:
We located  the Israeli-inhabited areas of Katmandu. CHECK.
Feel a bit silly about how long it took, and are feeling humbled. CHECK.
Have moved onto a new area of Nepal and are praying to not “succeed” in the same way. CHECK.
Are so thankful for your prayers and encouragement. FACT.

Much love, Remy

Ps: please pray for Harel who called me over to explain the Gospel to him that morning that we had breakfast there. He is hurting and seeking, and he was so open to what I shared with him.