First days at Nazareth Village

Back in time we go! E, N and Z in the dressing room where we get help with our head wraps. Nina holding baby goat "Ykceb" (that's Becky backwards. Rebecca is an American volunteer who's head shepherdess). Zoe having a chat with "Tra" (that's Art backward, not sure who he's named after. Lily and Nina on the upper level of the landlord's house, Lily and Nina holding the chameleon we found in the herb garden (and let go) on Friday.

We're hard at work these days with our tasks of keeping the landlord's home swept and tidy. That has included making a fire to boil water for tea in the courtyard kitchen and steeping the herbs we gathered from the village garden. Eldon has helped the younger girls with their part-time work of sheep or goat tending. Nina will tell you that her least-favorite aspect of the goats is how bad "Chester," the Billy smells. In her words, it's like "really spoiled milk and cheese". The two baby twins' mother died after giving birth, so they hang out with the sheep as well as the goats when it's pasture time. They also need bottles to supplement, and the girls have been able to help feed them. It's plenty hot here, as you've guessed. We hide our water bottles in the cellars of the house we work in, or covered with cotton gauze in a burlap bag (with my camera :). Nothing of this age can be seen out there -- we have to go without sun glasses, watches, or other accessories we might wish we could be wearing (cotton or other shorts under the tunics are also a must, for modesty). For the record, Eldon was seen the other day on the straw mat in the bedroom of the landlord's house reading his Blackberry when there weren't tourists headed our way!

When tour groups come through, we continue with our tasks and make brief conversation, if we're asked questions. Yesterday we hosted a group from South Africa, and today there was a group of 25 Israelis. We're learning to know the Arab Christians whose families have participated (many of whom are on the printed materials in advertising and in the gift shop). Great folks. Their children help on Friday and Saturday afternoons, after school is out. We hear the recess bells of a couple of schools across the road when we're out on "the land." One of the tour guides, Anita Rhodes, said that when she first came to work here, she thought the little nursery rhyme tunes were the sound of an ice cream truck bell.

In part of our orientation, we learned that this town of 70,000 has a rare Arab majority among the state of Israel. 70 percent of these local Arabs are Muslim, 25% are Christian and about 5% Jewish. In the whole state of Israel, it's 70% Jewish, 20% Arab Muslim, and 6% Christian. Of that 6% Christian, most of these are known as "secular" Christians, and only 2% of those are believers in a way that it affects their lives. The Village staff is well-oiled, from what we can tell, and given those odds in the population, goes about its job joyfully and hopefully, to spread information about Jesus' life and times.

At 3:40 the first morning after we arrived, I was kept awake by the chanting of Muslim men at prayer. First, there was an individual imam with a wavering tune, then a series of other voices added on and wafted up the hill to the apts at the hospital. There was a P.A. system involved for a while, as well. . . all a bit different from home!

Shirley Roth hosted us and another family Thursday night for dinner at her apartment on yet another of Nazareth's steep hills. She has a lovely covered patio on the third floor of an apartment building and we were able to enjoy a hot potato bar and cold Arab salads, with watermelon and Nazareth bakery sweets (think: baclava in more forms than you've typically seen!) with coffee. We were joined by folks I recognized from Goshen College days: Sandra Shenk and John Lapp, and their three kids who've been traveling like crazy for the last five months or so as part of John's sabattical from the Mennonite Mission Network. They lived in Kathmandu, Nepal for two of those months and if I listened well enough also traveled through Afghanistan, and more recently Egypt. John is Middle East Director for the Network, so also oversees Shirley's work here at NV. They're passing through as they see other Israel sites. Their kids (two older daughters and a son who's 11) are in costume out there with our kids this afternoon.

Another new friend here is Janelle Zook. Turns out she's a member at Jim & Ann's church, West End Mennonite Fellowship, in Lancaster. She heads home on July 22 after a long stint as on-site volunteer coordinator. Oh, if Josh (from BMC) reads this, we have also met Tara and Danny! Y'all can check out their blog at kreideryoder.com .

love to all.