October 8th, 2022 – 5:17am – Hostel In German Colony, Haifa, Israel:

Yesterday was a very busy day. I woke in the hostel and got dressed. My goal for the day was to find an Israeli SIM card for cheaper internet and phone since using my American one is super expensive and I also wanted to find some more local looking clothing. (Everyone in Israel wears black or white, colors are very rare here in Haifa so all my American clothing stands out).

I took the train one stop to a mall where I found two black shirts, one dark blue one, and a pair of Israeli style shorts. I also found a place to buy an Israel SIM card… but turns out that it would not work in my US iPhone… so I had to spend most of what I had left to purchase a phone. Trusting God to resupply and provide. The Israeli SIM card gives me phone, texting, and data for $12 a month… the American SIM card costs me $10 a day… so the savings is incredible to use a local SIM card. So I justified the purchase of the phone to save money in the long run.

By the time I had finished shopping for clothes and the SIM card the mall had begun to close… so I took the train back to my hostel.

When I arrived at my hostel I found that I had a new roommate. I am staying in a room with four bunk beds in it… so there are 8 possible beds to be filled with travelers. The new roommate is from Palestine (West Bank). I quickly found out he only spoke Arabic so took out my new phone and used Google translate to talk with him. I talked with him from 3pm until 5:15pm when we went down to begin cooking dinner. I had organized a cooking party with some of the other guests to be at 6pm… and invited my new Arabic speaking friend to join us. The hostel has a full kitchen for guests to use to cook their meals.

So at 6pm… one Palestinian, one girl from Germany, one girl from Brazil, one American (me), and three Russians cooked at meal together that consisted of: spaghetti, grilled chicken, tortillas, salad, dim som, and cheese slices. It was quite the spread of food. The six of us sat down like a family and enjoyed the meal together.

After the meal we all pitched in to clean the kitchen to spotless and then played a few card games before turning in for the night. I was quite exhausted from the day.

I had made a new friend. A Palestinian Muslim… is this not the one I was sent here for?! To show God’s love in any way possible.

So today as I lay here in a room with 7 other sleeping people in a foreign country I am reflecting on the journey so far and it has not been the journey I expected… no it’s been far better.

God may have provided a place for me to live while I go to school but I cannot share about that yet as it’s all up in the air. So prayers for that!

I wont be able to work in Israel while I’m in school so I’m trusting God to provide for all I need daily.

This morning at 10am I will be picked up by members of the congregation at the top of Mt. Carmel to be taken to attend the 11am a Shabbat service (the weekly church service). I am very much looking forward to it. I had to get a ride from them because all the buses and public transport doesn’t run on Shabbat (the sabbath) in Israel… and the congregation’s meeting place is high atop the mountain and I am down by the port near the ocean.

Please continue to pray for my journey and also consider supporting me financially through Modern Day or the GoFundMe.

Let’s see what God has planned today!