Helping single parents teach their children how to take care of themselves

Yesterday, at lunch, I heard a story that I have heard several times about how an organization in Nashville TN helps single mothers living in government provided housing get their families out of poverty and into a home they own. Listen to what Harold Reeves has to say on YouTube. I think it is important for all of us to know that we can make a difference in the world we live in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3H-u4MbXwc

Let us all pray for peace in Israel between Jews, Arabs and Christian.

This is Good News from Israel! US hails Israeli checkpoint steps

The Israeli army will still go into the towns when it thinks it necessary The US has welcomed Israeli steps to ease movement in the occupied West Bank, as Palestinian forces have been given greater autonomy there. Israel's military says it has removed six checkpoints controlling Palestinian movement in the past month. On Thursday, Israel also ended night-time restrictions on Palestinian forces in four West Bank cities. The moves seem aimed at boosting the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, correspondents say. The Guardian UK reported the following 8 hours ago: Israeli military commanders met with senior Palestinian security officers in Bethlehem on Wednesday and agreed to let Palestinians operate into the night in the West Bank cities of Ramallah, Qalqiliya, Bethlehem and Jericho. Until now the Palestinians have worked only during the day.

Life in Palestine, on the other side of the wall, in the words of a working woman living in Bethlehem trying to get to work in Jerusalem

I've been to this checkpoint, but as an American was treated better.  Please read this post from a woman living in Bethlehem about her experience of crossing into Jerusalem.  I don't know who is right, but I do know that I saw two 5 year-old boys in a Bethlehem hospital in wheel chairs, unable to talk because after they were run over in the street in front of their house the check point wouldn't let the ambulance pass to get to the hospital in Jerusalem. I understand that during the Second Temple period, seventy bulls were sacrificed daily in the temple in Jerusalem for the forgiveness of sins of seventy nations, a symbolic number representing the Gentile kingdoms of the earth.  Where is that spirit alive today in Israel? 

 

I will stop Feeling the Glory!

 

 

“Come and Feel the Glory: Israel.” This is what the caption at the top of the big bright Israeli Ministry of Tourism poster proclaims at the entrance of the main checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Glory?At the checkpoint one feels anything BUT the glory! Below the caption, the poster shows an image of the “Rock of the Agony” which is enshrined within a wrought iron wreath of thorns and olive branches in front of the altar within the sanctuary of the Basilica of the Agony at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The “Rock of the Agony” is thought to be the place Jesus prayed after the Last Supper just before his arrest. “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). Agony! That’s what it feels like at the checkpoint.    

 

After six years in a row (14 years in total) I have decided to give up my daily commutes from Bethlehem to Jerusalem through the checkpoint. I have wasted countless hours of my life that if summed up would total over six months of constant humiliation and frustration.  

 

Hallelujah! I will no longer be squeezed between those cold metal bars, standing in line and suffocating from the pressure of the crowds, wondering if I will make it before I faint from my claustrophobia. I won’t be sweating in the sun, or soaking in the rain, waiting for some soldier to have some mercy and open the door.

 

I will no longer worry about pants with metal buttons, shirts with metal decorations, or new glasses with metal frames that might beep in the metal detector that I have to go through every day. I will be able to wear any shoes I want! No more worrying about having to take them off to be put on the x-ray machine. My life will change.

 

I will finally accomplish my life’s dream: Driving from home to work! That will only be possible because I will be working in Bethlehem, one mile away from my home.

 

My life will seem semi-normal for a change. I will be living in the big open-roof prison called Bethlehem, surrounded by walls and checkpoints. I will slowly become like everyone else in the little town of Bethlehem. I will feel that Jerusalem is far away and will plan months ahead for a trip to the other side of the Wall.

 

I will be allowed to smile! No rules about no smiling in prison. And I will not cry as often, from frustration and helplessness, when I see sick children and old women denied entry and turned back.

 

I have to say that I will for sure miss my fellow commuters and checkpoint crossers every morning. I have managed to get to know new people here and there and even make friends! It’s amazing how close you feel to a fellow human being when you are both being oppressed and humiliated together. We often joked that one good thing is that everyone is equal at the checkpoint. As long as you are a Palestinian, you are treated the same way. Whether you are a big shot manager or a small daily worker, whether you own a fancy Mercedes or a bike, everyone has to park at the checkpoint and walk.

 

Though I will miss the people, I won’t miss the exhausted looking faces, drained of life and energy. But I will miss the hopeful smiles, and the occasional joke that someone will crack to cheer everyone up.

 

I will miss the “screamer”; the female soldier who screams so loud even at the earliest hours of the morning. I think she is funny in her own way – imagine screaming for a living! I admire her energy. I personally can’t scream at six in the morning.

 

I will no longer come across the rare nice soldier, who will try and interact on a human level, demanding to make eye contact and saying “Good Morning”, asking how I am doing before even looking at my papers, and wishing me a “nice day” when I go.

 

I am not sure I will be happier. I will miss Jerusalem. It has been part of my life for such a long time and the beautiful sight of the old city early in the morning always lights up my heart and gives me a sense of achievement. But I know I will be able to keep my sanity, and stick around in this sad old country for a little longer.

 

For all of you, who have been reading my checkpoint stories, please remember that there is a story every day at the checkpoint, waiting for someone to tell it.

 

Pray for Peace! And Hope for the Glory!

 

So long Checkpoint!!

 

June 17^th, 2009.

 

Children of Promise: Americans Helping Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Hindu children from Ethiopia to India

Santa has been visiting Israel and Palestine for over 30 years. He visits 3 hospitals on a regular basis at Christmas. One of the hospitals is in Bethlehem and two are in Israel. In the hospitals Jews, Christians, Muslims and non believers all work together healing and caring for the sick and crippled children regardless of their religion. We think the roadmap to peace in the Middle East would be easier through their children and their desperate needs. There are hospitals in Gaza and the West Bank that need our help. Listen to what Glenda Hutcheson has to say about Children of Promise and how the children have changed her life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auzB5dnVy9g

Tamar Ministry rescues young girls and children from Brothels in India

Tamar Ministry just received $3,000, but more is needed. Please read the following posting. 11 women have been added to the rescued, that make a total over 40 women and 12 children. As the news spreads in the brothels more women want to escape and get meaningful training. When the Tamar Ministry was started, it was thought that it would be difficult to persuade the women to leave, but their response has been overwhelming. 30 of the women have been baptized and maybe more by this posting. Help Roger Weimers, Randolph Gonce and every Christian in this posting on the ground in India, by praying for them and praying for more donations. Make your checks out to Tamar Ministry and send it to:

John Rummage

Founding Family Charitable Foundation

4525 Harding Rd, Suite 316

Nashville, TN 37205

615.620.4348 office