Final Week Wrap Up

This is it. The Home stretch. It is surreal that three months have passed. Part of us feels like we haven't been here long enough to have that be reality, the other part feels as though we have been here so long that we are now accustomed to life here. But we are excited to come home, and we are excited to see what else life has in store for us.

Last weekend started with two days of filming. We were trying to film a dramatic reading of a monologue that would be shot at many angles and in many locations. We started out the day with a crew of four to operate six different cameras. By our third location, we had lost half of our force, and our last few shoots were just my dad and myself, juggling the cameras and equipment.

On Monday we went to Gaza again, for the last time. We were a part of a secret plan to reunite the family that we stay with and one of their sons (a fellow Bible Society worker) who had to leave Gaza to escape persecution over seven years ago. It is difficult for any Palestinians to get permissions to enter Gaza, and even more so for native Gazans to return. We were granted a visit with the Catholic priest in Gaza, a young Argentinian who speaks perfect Arabic. He was able to share some of the difficulties the Church is facing in Gaza, and my parents were able to share some of the ideas they have for blessing the Christians in Gaza.

After leaving Gaza we decided to go to the beach in Ashkelon. Even though it is only 10 miles from Gaza, it is a completely different world. As we enjoyed the pristine sand beach and clean sea water, we mentioned how different it is just a few minutes away, where the public beaches double as raw-sewage dumps.

On Wednesday we were asked, along with my mom, to help run a day camp for Christian children in Bir Zeit. Katelyn and mom would lead three half-hour Zumba lessons, and I would assist with a kitchen activity (making jello.) This was extremely exhausting, especially for Katelyn and mom, who then had to do Zumba again in the evening for their regular classes.

A few small gifts from our students.

On Thursday we had our final English Coffee Hour classes. We wanted our last lessons to be fun and a last chance to make connections with these girls who we had been working with for seven weeks. We played games, ate cookies and cakes, and mom sat with us and we sang songs for the girls. The girls were so sweet and gave us little gifts for us to remember them by. It was difficult saying goodbye to each of them, and also to our friends and helpers in the class, Christine and Rajaee.

Rajaee and Christine

On Friday, Katelyn and mom had their big end of the year Zumba party. About 35 women came for two hours of dancing, celebrating and snacks. Katelyn is grateful that she was able to reconnect with a woman that we had met two years ago when we first visited Jerusalem. She had grown up in Michigan and moved back to Jerusalem with her husband. Katelyn and this woman were able to get together for coffee date and have a lot in common.

Zumba Party!

Now we are getting ourselves packed and cleaned up. My parents are leaving just two days after we depart, so we are helping get the house put away for two months of dormancy. We cleaned out the fridge, emptied the bathroom, and now we are just waiting, trying to enjoy the time we have left, and worrying about the weight of our luggage.