Today was our last service day here in Israel, but we finished on a high note! Pastor Saleem Shalash, a dear brother in Christ, is an Arab pastor in Nazareth. His love for Jews and Arabs runs deep, as he does not see skin color or ethnicity as a factor. His congregation has operated a humanitarian center in Nazareth for many years and recently opened a second location to serve those in need in Haifa.
We sat down with Pastor Saleem at Home of Jesus the King Church to hear a brief testimony and a bit about the work God has called him to. Then we toured the humanitarian facility where his dear wife, Nisreen, organized our projects. The Lord has richly blessed them with space and donated food, clothing, household goods and hygeine products to bless the people of his city and beyond. The mayor and other city officials in predominately Arab Muslim Nazareth highly respect Pastor Saleem and often ask for his help in times of need. His congregation participates in a Christmas parade, provides food boxes to Jewish families for Passover, and ministers to both Jews and Arabs in need.
The huanitarian center provides clothing, shoes, household items (sometimes as large as mattresses or large fans), hygiene products, diapers, and a myriad of other useful items. Packed food boxes were already stacked in one corner and most of the storage areas contained product to be given away to those in need. It is an amazing work, and they recently opened a second location in Haifa, where they also provide hot meals to the homeless.
Today, our group split in two, with guys helping Pastor Saleem and other men of the congregation to unpack pallets of product to be broken down into usable quantities. Meanwhile, the women worked on a very special Christmas project! Each year there is a Christmas parade in Nazareth and tens of thousands flock to Nazareth to see the largest Christmas tree in the Middle East and to watch the parade. Home of Jesus the King members march in the parade distributing very substantial gift packages to children. We packed hundreds of bags containing cookies, jam, candy bars, chocolate treats and several other items. Along with those goodie bags, every child will receive a toy. All donated by businesses or individuals who wish to bless the people of Israel!
With a few hours left in the day before delivering some of our guests back to the airport, we made a stop at the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Some believe this is the spot where the angel Gabriel told Mary she would bear a son supernaturally (as a virgin). It was a fitting way to remember the promised birth and actual appearance of our Lord Jesus on earth.
Gabriel tells Mary she will be mother to the Christ child
Upper: Gabriel and Mary
Lower: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
(Click to make picture larger.)
In Latin: And the Word became Flesh!
Yes, there was a person there.
Joyfully, we closed out our service extension having served 4 different congregations, both Messianic and Arab, and getting a glimpse of the devastation of October 7 and what has changed since then. We had a wonderful group of 8 guests, three of whom stayed over after the Return to Israel tour, and five of whom came early for the Ancient Stones and Living Stones tour that will begin on Sunday.
It was a wonderful three days, but it came to an end this afternoon. We said goodbye to our beloved guide, Yotam. But ironically, his father, Yoyakim, will meet us on Sunday as we begin our next tour! Our guests for that tour have begun arriving and we look for two large groups of them to arrive on Saturday!
Stick with us as we spend the next 2 weeks in Israel. There is much to see and the Lord is sure to bless us with unexpected blessings I would love to share with you! Thanks for joining us on the journey and stay tuned for the next tour! It is totally different than the one we just completed.
