Israel: Sunday, June 27th

We woke up Sunday morning and enjoyed a delicious breakfast of toast, boiled eggs, incredible fresh fruit, homemade granola, cereal, hot tea/ coffee, and juice. The fruit was really really good- grapes, cantelope, watermelon. Yum.

After breakfast, we loaded the vans to go to Nazareth for church with some believers in the community. Some of the songs were in both English and Arabic. It was really powerful to worship in a room of believers that did not let language get in the way. They also offered radios to translate the sermon into English making it much easier to understand :)

After church, we grabbed a quick lunch at a local mall. Brian had shwarma, but I must admit, very shamefully, that I had McDonald's. It was the largest beverage I had all week. And I can't deny, it was so good.

After lunch, we went back to the church to prepare Arabic materials for distribution, then split into groups. Part of our group went to a local market, while the other part went to an intersection to pass out literature. We had a much better reception at this market than we had at the one in Beer Sheba and Arad. People were anxious, open, and willing to recieve the Word, which was an encouragement from the beginning of the trip. We also had several conversations that were promising. The group that passed out literature in the intersection was also met with positive attitudes. One car drove through and got the information, then was so interested they drove back around to get a second set for the others in the car.

When we finished, both groups met back up at a local park to reflect on the afternoon's events. Just like every other park we had been to, the view was amazing.

Overall, our time in Nazareth was JOYFUL! God is moving through the people of Nazareth- they seem ready and waiting to be introduced to Christ. Though it is strange to me that the same city that is the home of Jesus (Matthew 2) needs to be introduced TO Jesus, the fruit of the believers working over there is incredible. We can only pray that the Lord will continue to work through His people and that this community will turn their hearts to God.