Update
Hello everyone,
I just wanted to give some news on my situation here, to those I haven't told, and praise God for what He's been up to here. A week and a half ago I had an appointment with the Ministry of Interior, and they gave me a month extension on my visa. So that's good news; the mixed part is that they gave it to me on the conditon of my booking a flight out after that. So, I'm going to Istanbul on February 24th God willing. At that point I won't really have the finances to be able to come back and stay on another visa, so I'll spend a few days in Turkey, a week or so in Kosova (Prishtina), maybe a day in Sarajevo and then meet up with my parents and my brother in Germany. My brother will be finishing up his mission with the Mormon church in southern Germany, so my parents are coming out and we will all spend a week together in Germany and Austria before coming back to Colorado. I have a flight from Munich coming back late on the 19th of March (Saturday). So for those at Indians Peaks, come on the 20th and I'll see you all there! For everyone else, if you're in or around Boulder I hope to see you not long after that.
It's nice having things "settled" somewhat, though of course "el hombre propone, y Dios dispone" (ie, we have our plans, but God does as He wills). It's funny, but before I had my visa appointment, I wasn't feeling very excited about staying here much longer. But now that I have an actual set departure date, I'm getting a lot more nostalgic, and wishing I could stay just a little longer. =) Also, some things have gotten a lot better here socially and work-wise in recent times, so that also makes me wish I could stay a little more. But, I will also be happy to be in Kosovo and Germany, and then to be back in Boulder, work hard for a few months before hopefully heading to school next fall.
Last week Dr. Bishara put me in charge of revising the content of the Bible College website, which has proved to be very interesting. He said that he'd wished he'd realized before that I would be good at this kind of stuff (writing, proofreading, typing), he feels bad he didn't give me more work like this before I was about to leave. I'm also teaching the 3rd year English class here, which is challenging and fun (at least it's fun for me, I hope it's fun for the students too). =) Meanwhile, there are lots of contacts that I've either made recently or have been sitting on, but now that I'm leaving I have a lot of people to visit. I hope to make it up to Galilee before I leave, amidst other places. Sunday we went to Jericho, which was really nice, and the day before I went with Bishara to Herzliye, a town on the beach just north of Tel Aviv, where he spoke at an international church. That's one nice thing about being the driver--though of course I wish that Palestinians could drive without so many restrictions, it does mean I get to go places I might not otherwise. =)
So, it'll be a busy next three and a half weeks. But I'm really happy that God has brought some good stuff to my life here the last few weeks, so that I feel like I'm leaving on a positive note. I know I'll miss a lot of things here--hearing Arabic pop music, Hebrew country rock, Arab disco, and all the other crazy musical mixtures on the radio here--not to mention eating hummus and falafel, walking through the refugee camps, worshiping God in Arabic and Hebrew, seeing Palestinian and Israeli kids playing around (not usually together, unfortunately). I'll miss my Hebrew classes, the people I met there and the exposure to Israeli language and culture. I'll miss reading or watching international news and realizing they're talking about places I walk by every day (though sometimes I wish the news weren't happening). By the time I leave, I might even decide that I'll miss walking by and saying "Shalom," "Todah, erev tov" to the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint!
May the Lord bear fruit in the midst of my running around these last few weeks, and may He continue to plant seeds for future involvement in the region as He wills.
God bless you all,
Seth
I just wanted to give some news on my situation here, to those I haven't told, and praise God for what He's been up to here. A week and a half ago I had an appointment with the Ministry of Interior, and they gave me a month extension on my visa. So that's good news; the mixed part is that they gave it to me on the conditon of my booking a flight out after that. So, I'm going to Istanbul on February 24th God willing. At that point I won't really have the finances to be able to come back and stay on another visa, so I'll spend a few days in Turkey, a week or so in Kosova (Prishtina), maybe a day in Sarajevo and then meet up with my parents and my brother in Germany. My brother will be finishing up his mission with the Mormon church in southern Germany, so my parents are coming out and we will all spend a week together in Germany and Austria before coming back to Colorado. I have a flight from Munich coming back late on the 19th of March (Saturday). So for those at Indians Peaks, come on the 20th and I'll see you all there! For everyone else, if you're in or around Boulder I hope to see you not long after that.
It's nice having things "settled" somewhat, though of course "el hombre propone, y Dios dispone" (ie, we have our plans, but God does as He wills). It's funny, but before I had my visa appointment, I wasn't feeling very excited about staying here much longer. But now that I have an actual set departure date, I'm getting a lot more nostalgic, and wishing I could stay just a little longer. =) Also, some things have gotten a lot better here socially and work-wise in recent times, so that also makes me wish I could stay a little more. But, I will also be happy to be in Kosovo and Germany, and then to be back in Boulder, work hard for a few months before hopefully heading to school next fall.
Last week Dr. Bishara put me in charge of revising the content of the Bible College website, which has proved to be very interesting. He said that he'd wished he'd realized before that I would be good at this kind of stuff (writing, proofreading, typing), he feels bad he didn't give me more work like this before I was about to leave. I'm also teaching the 3rd year English class here, which is challenging and fun (at least it's fun for me, I hope it's fun for the students too). =) Meanwhile, there are lots of contacts that I've either made recently or have been sitting on, but now that I'm leaving I have a lot of people to visit. I hope to make it up to Galilee before I leave, amidst other places. Sunday we went to Jericho, which was really nice, and the day before I went with Bishara to Herzliye, a town on the beach just north of Tel Aviv, where he spoke at an international church. That's one nice thing about being the driver--though of course I wish that Palestinians could drive without so many restrictions, it does mean I get to go places I might not otherwise. =)
So, it'll be a busy next three and a half weeks. But I'm really happy that God has brought some good stuff to my life here the last few weeks, so that I feel like I'm leaving on a positive note. I know I'll miss a lot of things here--hearing Arabic pop music, Hebrew country rock, Arab disco, and all the other crazy musical mixtures on the radio here--not to mention eating hummus and falafel, walking through the refugee camps, worshiping God in Arabic and Hebrew, seeing Palestinian and Israeli kids playing around (not usually together, unfortunately). I'll miss my Hebrew classes, the people I met there and the exposure to Israeli language and culture. I'll miss reading or watching international news and realizing they're talking about places I walk by every day (though sometimes I wish the news weren't happening). By the time I leave, I might even decide that I'll miss walking by and saying "Shalom," "Todah, erev tov" to the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint!
May the Lord bear fruit in the midst of my running around these last few weeks, and may He continue to plant seeds for future involvement in the region as He wills.
God bless you all,
Seth
posted by Seth | 6:00 AM
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