Shabbat Shalom
Dear Family,
It has been far too long since we last wrote to you all. A lot has happened since then and everything we have gone through as a family is more evidence of the incredible faithfulness of the Lord. Many of you have been following and praying for completion of Callie’s Master’s degree in Architecture. Even though she still has a bit of design work to finish, her professors decided that after turning in her written thesis, she had done enough to receive her degree. As of June, Callie has graduated from the University of Cincinnati. Thank you all so much for your prayers, and please pray that she would finish her design work in the coming weeks.
I am about to start a new school year and I will have a very busy schedule teaching for two different schools.I will be continuing to teach English at the messianic school here in the city, but I will also be teaching Computer technology at a private school run by the Anglican Church. The two schools share a campus here in Jerusalem, so it won’t be too much running around, but I will be very busy. Please pray that the Lord would give me the strength and the skill to do the job well. I really see both of these schools as a place where the Lord can use me in the lives of these kids, so please pray that I would submit to His leading in everything. Aviel continues to grow and mature. He is a 2 ½ year old boy who never stops talking. Every day seems like he has something new to say. Please pray that the Lord would continue to show us how to be good parents for this precious boy. Finally, as we hope to grow as a family soon (this is not an announcement, but a desire that the Lord would add to our family soon), please pray that the Lord would provide everything we need to thrive as a young family here in Israel.
Israel, as always, is in a precarious position. The Sinai Peninsula has disintegrated into something similar to the wild west. Bands of militants roam freely and are just looking for the right opportunity to attack our southern border. The situation in Syria has become a full civil war. Israel is watching this very closely because Syria has what is generally acknowledged to be the world’s largest cash of chemical and biological weapons in the world. The possibility of these being transferred to Hizbollah in Lebanon is real and it is something that Israel will never tolerate. Please pray that the leaders of this nation would know what to do and when to do it. Most of all, pray that the Lord would watch over His word and fulfill what He has spoken about the nation of Israel. Pray that His mighty hand of protection would be upon this people.
Salvation is a subject that gets everyone in the Body very excited. We love to talk about it, because it is a subject that is so full of hope and expectation of things to come. We live in a world that is completely absent of hope. Just one look at the situation around Israel is proof enough of that. Thank the Lord that our existence here is not dependent on us, but on His ability to keep His eternal promises. Salvation is interesting, because it many times becomes a very self-centered topic. We think about our salvation as something we get and put in our pocket for later. We think, “I am saved! So, that means that when I die, I have got my ticket to heaven waiting in my back pocket.” Salvation is based upon the eternal nature of God. It cannot be separated from His nature. He is a God who saves! We forget that salvation, if it is founded within His eternal nature, has so many facets that we will never be able to see the complete picture of what salvation truly is. What was the depth of the cost of our salvation to the Lord? We will never really know, because we can never really see the full depth of who God is. Why were we saved? Well, the Lord saved us for Himself. He wants to have His precious creation with Him for eternity. He saved us for others. C.S. Lewis wrote in his book about miracles that people are not chosen for their sake, but for those who are not yet chosen. We are saved to be witnesses of the Lord’s redeeming power to others. And yes, we were saved so that we would not have to know eternal separation from our Father. At this point the Lord really got me thinking. I felt Him say to me, “Do you really think that is the full length and breadth of what the story of salvation is?” If all creation is groaning, salvation must be far deeper than anything we could ever imagine. I don’t know about you, but that makes be just sit in awe that I get to be a part of God’s eternal plan for Salvation. Blessings to you all and thank you so much for your love.
In Yeshua,
Devin, Callie, and Aviel
It has been far too long since we last wrote to you all. A lot has happened since then and everything we have gone through as a family is more evidence of the incredible faithfulness of the Lord. Many of you have been following and praying for completion of Callie’s Master’s degree in Architecture. Even though she still has a bit of design work to finish, her professors decided that after turning in her written thesis, she had done enough to receive her degree. As of June, Callie has graduated from the University of Cincinnati. Thank you all so much for your prayers, and please pray that she would finish her design work in the coming weeks.
I am about to start a new school year and I will have a very busy schedule teaching for two different schools.I will be continuing to teach English at the messianic school here in the city, but I will also be teaching Computer technology at a private school run by the Anglican Church. The two schools share a campus here in Jerusalem, so it won’t be too much running around, but I will be very busy. Please pray that the Lord would give me the strength and the skill to do the job well. I really see both of these schools as a place where the Lord can use me in the lives of these kids, so please pray that I would submit to His leading in everything. Aviel continues to grow and mature. He is a 2 ½ year old boy who never stops talking. Every day seems like he has something new to say. Please pray that the Lord would continue to show us how to be good parents for this precious boy. Finally, as we hope to grow as a family soon (this is not an announcement, but a desire that the Lord would add to our family soon), please pray that the Lord would provide everything we need to thrive as a young family here in Israel.
Israel, as always, is in a precarious position. The Sinai Peninsula has disintegrated into something similar to the wild west. Bands of militants roam freely and are just looking for the right opportunity to attack our southern border. The situation in Syria has become a full civil war. Israel is watching this very closely because Syria has what is generally acknowledged to be the world’s largest cash of chemical and biological weapons in the world. The possibility of these being transferred to Hizbollah in Lebanon is real and it is something that Israel will never tolerate. Please pray that the leaders of this nation would know what to do and when to do it. Most of all, pray that the Lord would watch over His word and fulfill what He has spoken about the nation of Israel. Pray that His mighty hand of protection would be upon this people.
Salvation is a subject that gets everyone in the Body very excited. We love to talk about it, because it is a subject that is so full of hope and expectation of things to come. We live in a world that is completely absent of hope. Just one look at the situation around Israel is proof enough of that. Thank the Lord that our existence here is not dependent on us, but on His ability to keep His eternal promises. Salvation is interesting, because it many times becomes a very self-centered topic. We think about our salvation as something we get and put in our pocket for later. We think, “I am saved! So, that means that when I die, I have got my ticket to heaven waiting in my back pocket.” Salvation is based upon the eternal nature of God. It cannot be separated from His nature. He is a God who saves! We forget that salvation, if it is founded within His eternal nature, has so many facets that we will never be able to see the complete picture of what salvation truly is. What was the depth of the cost of our salvation to the Lord? We will never really know, because we can never really see the full depth of who God is. Why were we saved? Well, the Lord saved us for Himself. He wants to have His precious creation with Him for eternity. He saved us for others. C.S. Lewis wrote in his book about miracles that people are not chosen for their sake, but for those who are not yet chosen. We are saved to be witnesses of the Lord’s redeeming power to others. And yes, we were saved so that we would not have to know eternal separation from our Father. At this point the Lord really got me thinking. I felt Him say to me, “Do you really think that is the full length and breadth of what the story of salvation is?” If all creation is groaning, salvation must be far deeper than anything we could ever imagine. I don’t know about you, but that makes be just sit in awe that I get to be a part of God’s eternal plan for Salvation. Blessings to you all and thank you so much for your love.
In Yeshua,
Devin, Callie, and Aviel
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