DO 275918/3/91

—Storytime with Grandpa!

1. (Techi: Thank You Jesus for this time that we can have a story with Grandpa of our personal family's life. We really pray that You'll make us attentive & good listeners. Please really anoint Grandpa, Jesus! Strengthen him & give him wisdom & a really good memory to recall all of these things from so long ago‚ in Jesus' name. Thank You Lord!) Amen! Thank you!

2. Well‚ we're in Haifa‚ Israel now, staying at the cold, old hotel & eating felafels, the Jewish hamburger—actually it's more of an Arabic thing—& also eating at Moshe's little Arab caf. I remember two things Mama liked: One began with an "h" & the other began with a "t" & they were both some kind of ground food, beans or seeds. They were the consistency of peanut butter, only they were ground beans or seeds, not nuts. These were two of her favourite dishes that she spread on food. I think tahine was one of them. (Techi: Oh‚ tahine, yes! Ground sesame seeds.) And the other one began with an "h." (Techi: Hummus?) Yes! She'd spread that on her sandwiches or different foods.

3. But I almost always ordered the same thing: Roast lamb, roast potatoes & a little bit of salad. (Techi: Was there dressing for the lamb?) Well, most of this was like shishkebab‚ on a skewer, you know? (Techi: With tomatoes & mushrooms?) Yes, & with delicious seasonings. You just ate it like it was, & I think the potatoes came on the skewer too.

Hearing the Arabs' Side of the Story!

4. We made a lot of friends there in the Arab restaurant. Though we had come there very partial to the Jews, we began to hear the Arabs' side of the story. I remember they took us to meet a friend of theirs whose whole family, of 11 members, lived in one big room. They had had a rich villa & mansion in Nazareth before the Jews confiscated it. The Jews went in & grabbed the Arabs' possessions & houses & just put'm out! Arabs who had been rich could then only get menial hard slavery types of jobs, & even those were hard to get, & the Jews would really treat them mean & cruel. So we began to learn what the Jews were really like, & we began writing home a lot. We'd already gotten one prophecy about the Jews while on the boat: "He Is Not a Jew" Prophecy! (See ML #8.)

The People on the Boat!

5. I forgot to tell you about the things that happened on the boat trip to Israel, but I've written about that before. I wrote about that one girl, Hannah, who was so interested in us. (See "Boat Trip & Hannah," ML#5.) Stories about us & our work were very interesting to these young Jewish hippies.

6. There was one time on the boat when this Romanian Jew didn't like the meal for some reason or other. We all ate sort of a family dinner on the boat, they served the same thing to everybody because it was cheaper to do it that way, & I thought the meals were pretty good. But this Romanian Jew jumped up & started shouting & yelling, "Why do I have to eat this kind of stuff?" & blah blah blah!—All in Romanian. We didn't really know what he was talking about, but we could tell he was really angry about the poor quality of the food. They finally got him quieted down & made him sit down. He must have been rich & used to eating very fine food.

7. So it had been a very interesting trip. We were always the center of attention with all these young people because we were so odd! Remember the poem that Arthur wrote about us? It was called "The Odd Couple!"—Because I was so old and she was so young and yet we were so much in love! So we'd be telling them how we met & why we loved each other and how happy you can be if you love each other and love God, etc. We really tried to be a good witness. In witnessing to Jews for the first time, we tried to avoid the use of the name "Jesus" as much as possible‚ of course, because Jews don't like that Name. Later, if they proved to be real sheepy, we witnessed to them more heavily.

Witnessing in the Arab Caf!

8. But with the Arabs we could be much more open, because they were Arab Christians, & we could really witness to them! Sometimes they'd come over & pull up a chair & sit at our table with us & want to know more about us & what we did & our work with young people, etc. We told them about TSC & how we had about 300 hippies living there who had gotten off of drugs & liquor & their vices of the past, & were now reading & memorising the Bible & living together communally. It was quite interesting to them‚ something different.

9. So we had a real good time & good fellowship there at this poor little Arab caf.—But it was clean & the food was good & it was cheap. Of course, you had to use Jewish money in Israel, & they had shekels & pounds. The pound actually came originally from the Romans, believe it or not. (David: Oh, really!) That's where the British got it.

10. I told you how we strolled around quite a bit right there in Haifa, shopping around & trying the prices. I remember we ate at a little higher-priced restaurant one time that was built up high off the street level, & it was a little nicer, with table cloths. We went there for dinner just one time, but it was a little expensive so we didn't go back. As I recall‚ the price of our usual dinner at Moshe's was less than a Dollar, so it was pretty cheap. But at this other higher-priced restaurant it cost over a Dollar to eat. (Techi: Was it Jewish?) Yes, I think it was.

Christmas—Restaurant on Mount Carmel!

11. At Christmas time we went to a restaurant on Mount Carmel that we found up there, which was fairly reasonable. It was run by this sweet little British/Jewish man, & when Christmas time came he did his best to cheer us up. Here were these people far away from home on Christmas, & he knew how much Christmas usually meant to Americans, etc.

12. (Techi: They don't have Christmas at all in Israel, do they?) Well‚ they have Hanukkah‚ the Festival of Lights, which I'm sure was created to compete with Christmas! I remember some time during that week they were celebrating Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, & they had a lot of candles lit. They don't have a tree‚ but they light a lot of candles & give gifts to each other. It's all an imitation of Christmas. (Techi: But a lot of people in other places certainly don't celebrate Jesus' birthday either.) Yes, they can have Christmas trees & Christmas lights & Christmas presents without saying a word or thinking a thought about Jesus.

13. Well, anyway, this nice old Jewish man in the restaurant on Mount Carmel was about as old or a little older than I was, & he always tried to make us feel at home & comfortable. He'd come & greet us & he was real sweet & we really liked him. (Techi: Where did he live?) I suppose he lived around there somewhere. We used to eat there sometimes & he would be very very hospitable & always tried to make us comfortable & happy.

14. I remember whenever we came there he'd bring us a copy of the "Jerusalem Post," which was the only English-language newspaper in Israel for all the British and American Jews who have residency there—who are incarcerated there, as we found out later! Incarcerated means to be confined or imprisoned. They couldn't leave Israel without paying 100% more, in other words, double the price of a ticket. For example, if an airplane ticket to go to Cyprus was $100, the Jews who lived there, citizens of Israel, had to pay $200—100% travel tax of $100 to Israel! (Techi: They wanted to keep them in Israel!) Yes, they were doing their best to keep them in Israel because a lot of them were fed up and disgusted and disillusioned about Israel.—Like the big fat woman who lived at the Convent across the street from our hotel.

Convent of German Nuns & Afif!

15. It was of the Lord that we lived at that hotel because this big Convent of German nuns was right across the street. (Techi: Is that where that horrible priest was & that nice guy you met?) Yes. We sent dear Afif over there to room & a Sodomite priest approached him in the middle of the night!

16. But anyway, most of them were sweet German nuns & some of them spoke English. I think I told you before about the nice Christmas we had there. They tried to be very loving & kind to us. They figured, "Here's a couple away from home at Christmas time." And of course they all celebrated Christmas because they were German Catholic nuns. It was kind of a mission to Israel.—Not to the Jews, but to the Arabs!

17. (Techi: Where did Afif come into the picture?) Well, we met him in one of the restaurants where we ate.—I think it was at Moshe's. He was sort of hard up & he was actually sleeping in the buses that were parked for the night at the bus station. He'd sneak in there at night & sleep in a bus, because it was cold outside. I mean it was cold!—Until they caught him one night & took him to jail. They only kept him overnight.

18. We met him & got acquainted & talked a lot to him & witnessed to him about the Lord. He was a Muslim & had never learned about Christianity, so we talked to him about the Lord & our work & he was quite interested. We told him if he ever came to the United States to be sure & visit us there, which we usually told everybody.

19. After we led Afif to the Lord, he was still having a hard time finding a place to stay, so the German Catholic nuns across the street at the Convent took him in & gave him a place to stay. Then that damned priest who was living at the Convent came in the night & tried to assault him sexually, yech! Afif came to us the next day absolutely stunned & horrified! He was wondering if all Christian priests were like that & he didn't want to stay there any more. This kind of hurt his faith in Christianity‚ sad to say, & we tried to tell him not to blame this on the Lord or Christianity, because that wasn't Jesus' fault, & to still keep his faith in the Lord & not worry about the church. I think he finally may have gotten the point.

20. (Techi: Couldn't he have locked his door?) Well‚ I'm sure he wasn't given any private swanky room, he was probably staying in a dormitory or something. (Techi: What did Afif do to protect himself? Just punch the guy or something?) Oh, he just pushed him away & loudly refused him & showed his horror, & the priest then was ashamed & ran off.

21. But all the nuns were sweet & real Christians & they loved the Lord & were real kind & sweet to us. They invited us over to dinner several times & had good old German cooking, you know, roast beef, potatoes, gravy, vegetables & things like that that I always liked. I never realised how German our cooking was in our own home for years until we ate that good German cooking. Boy, that was good!

22. They invited us over on Christmas for their Christmas programme, which was mostly music. They had invited some Arab musicians, some girls who played the violin. And this one man was there who was Jewish & not even a Christian‚ but he came over to play for their Christmas party. They had a Christmas tree at the Convent with a few Christmas lights & they gave us each a little Christmas present, some little souvenir. And we really enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun.

Beautiful Christmas Eve Mass!

23. On Christmas Eve we went to a Mass at the Arab Catholic Church! Christmas Eve is when the Catholics celebrate Christmas the most. The night when Jesus was born is far more important to them than any other night in the year, & they have a beautiful big Mass. The church was packed & the choir just sang beautifully! I don't think I've ever heard any more beautiful music. Of course‚ a priest preached in Arabic so we didn't understand a word he said, but anyhow, he seemed to be real sweet & they were really happy that we came to their service.

The Language!

24. So our warmest reception in Israel was primarily by the Arab Christians, Palestinian Christians. (Techi: Did the choir sing in Arabic?) Yes, but they sang some Christmas carols that we recognised the tunes of. (Techi: Did the nuns understand Arabic?) Yes, because they had come & learned the language. In order to be missionaries to the Arabs they had learned Arabic. I don't know how well they spoke it, but they could talk to Afif in his own language.

25. Afif knew quite a bit of English. He told us how his father was wealthy & had had a big mansion. "Oh," he said, "I wish I could take you to Nazareth & show you my father's old home where we used to live." He said, "Of course, we don't own it now, the Jews took it away from us, but I wish you could see it." But we never got to Nazareth, it was too far away.

26. We didn't want to go hardly anywhere because we couldn't speak Yiddish or Hebrew. Anybody who spoke English was kind of rare. I think I mentioned some of this in one of the older Letters‚ about how we were sitting on the wall along the sidewalk to rest for a bit when along came a teacher leading a group of children. (See "Squeeze Don't Jerk," ML#11‚ paragraph 10.) She could speak a little English so she stopped to speak to us. She asked a lot of questions—who we were & where we were from, what we did‚ why we were there, etc., etc.—& she would repeat all of this to the little children in Hebrew.

27. So there were a few people who spoke English there, & a lot of them spoke other languages‚ particularly German, French, Italian, Polish & Russian. It's a potpourri of all kinds of people from all kinds of countries & nationalities & languages. But everybody who comes to be an immigrant & is seeking citizenship in Israel has to learn Hebrew no matter what age they are! (Techi: Do they have to learn it fluently?) Yes, at least basic Hebrew. Talk about going back in time, regressive! It's almost ridiculous! Hebrew is really not an extremely expressive language. It hasn't got near the variety that English has, or French, or any of the European languages.

28. But it's a required, intensive course for seekers of citizenship, & the immigrants have to spend their first three months in a local language school learning basic Hebrew. And there are all ages in the class!—Everything from teenagers to 70-year-olds like me learning Hebrew together, if you can imagine that! I took Hebrew in Bible college, but we were all about the same age there—except I was a little older than a lot of the students because they were more college age, whereas I already had a wife & three children.

29. So I didn't take Hebrew there in Israel, I took it at Southern California Bible College when I was going to college. But it was very interesting. It was very helpful in my Bible studies because I could look up words & find the original meaning of them, special interpretations & all that sort of thing. That was very helpful!

Students We Met!

30. Oh, there was another young boy we got acquainted with, & he was the only Arab student in Haifa University, all the rest were Jews! He was very aggravated about that because they had such strict rules that they only let him in because he was very brilliant & they were figuring on using him for a technician.

31. We also befriended an American Jewish student at the Hebrew University named Scott Davidson. He was the one who told us what it said in Hebrew in the Bible about Moses. In the King James English Bible it's translated that he got so old, "yet his natural force was not abated."—Deut.34:7. But he told us that in Hebrew it says "his natural juices were not abated!" In other words, he was still sexually strong. Well, he had two or three wives, so I guess he had to be! And that's when he was 120 years old! (Techi: Amazing!) That's almost twice as old as I am. But in those days people lived a lot longer than they do now. The age people lived began to dwindle down until finally King David said‚ "The years of a man's life are threescore & ten (70); & if by reason of great strength they be fourscore (80), yet is their strength labour & sorrow."—Psalm 90:10.

Snack with a Criminal!

32. Anyhow, let's see what else. I remember going over to a little restaurant across from the sweet Jewish/British man's restaurant. We thought we'd try it & I think we ate a little snack there. That's where I got the Letter, "Let's Talk About Jesus!" (ML #20.) Remember that one? (Kids: Oh‚ yes!) Actually, we started it in our hotel room the night before, but then the next day we went out to the restaurant & continued it.

33. And that's also where one of the criminals of the town came & sat with us, because he remembered that he had exchanged some money for us. The banks only gave you the legal rate on exchange of American money, which was much lower than what you could get on the Black Market*! There are many degrees of the Black Market. In some countries of Latin America, for example, the Black Market operates right out in the open & the vendors/smugglers occupy several city blocks, while the government more or less overlooks them. In others, to exchange anything on the Black Market is a serious criminal offence. So I had exchanged some money with these guys when we first got off the boat, not realising that I was doing something illegal. (*Black Market = trading in officially controlled or scarce goods or currency [money] without government approval.)

34. But anyhow, he saw us & he waved & was friendly & sat down. When I realised he was a crook, I wasn't too enthusiastic about having him sit at our table, I was afraid we might get in trouble or something. But at least we got to talk to him about the Lord & he liked us & thought we were nice people. He had learned a little English because he had to do Black Market money exchanges with the tourists‚ etc. But that's where I dictated that Letter, "Let's Talk About Jesus." It was at a little table in the back of that little restaurant.

The Arabs Won Our Hearts!

35. And let's see, what else can I tell you about Israel? Oh, I began learning more about the difference between the Jews & the sweet Christian Arabs‚ who are really wonderful people & we really loved them. They really were kind & hospitable to us & tried to be helpful in every way. The Arabs, both the Christian Palestinians & the Muslims, really won our hearts while we were in Israel!

Midnight Felafels & Pita Bread!

36. And I told you somewhere about the night that Mama got real hungry at midnight—or close to midnight, about 11 p.m. I think it was. She was real hungry for a felafel, so we went out to get one! The little stand was still open since it was down in a populated part of the town. Quite a few things would stay open quite late. The Arabs were like the Spanish, they took an afternoon siesta through the heat of the afternoon—of course, it wasn't hot when we were there—& then they would stay open late, because the Arabs like to stay open late & eat late & things like that. So that was fun!

37. I've told you about how we lived & how we cooked some of our own meals. And oh, pita bread! When it was fresh & hot from the bakery, it was just delicious‚ soft & wonderful! But if you kept it overnight, the next morning it was hard as a rock! I used to break it up & soak it awhile in my cereal milk‚ but even then it was tough & hard to chew!

38. Anyway, that's all that I can remember about eating. We tried quite a few different places to eat & we generally liked them all; they were mostly all Arab. It seemed like the Arabs there in Haifa were mostly Christians.

Writing Letters!

39. Most of the day we were writing Letters! We didn't dare write a Letter longer than one page, & we'd write from the top to the very bottom, & from edge to edge of the page because we had to make seven carbon copies. We'd keep the last carbon that you could hardly read, & send the rest of them to our seven Colonies in the United States. The reason we only wrote one page is because we mailed all the copies of the Letter in one envelope, so it was already quite bulky! Because of security, we only wanted to have one envelope going out of Israel with our return address & the address of the people we were sending it to. Plus we were trusting only the people at TSC to know our return address & no one else. So since we were putting seven sheets of paper in one envelope, we couldn't have extended the letter & made it any longer, because a two-page Letter would have meant 14 sheets of paper in the envelope!

40. So I would write the Family almost every day‚ & that's what we did with our days. (David: Amazing!) Mama would sit at the typewriter & I would pace back & forth dictating the Letter, the same way we'd started in London. But oh my goodness, I've gotta quit now! That's enough for this lesson!

41. I'll tell you next time what happened to one of our Letters that was opened by the authorities. They stamped it right on the outside‚ bold & plain, in English: "Opened by the Censors!" (David: Why did they do that?) They were a nation at war, surrounded by Arab countries who were their enemies. While we were there they arrested a 75-year-old-man who was just taking snapshots, but he accidentally happened to get some military facility in one of his snapshots. It took his lawyer six months to get him out of jail! (Techi: A 75-year-old man?) Yes, a tourist! They thought he was taking pictures for the enemy, for one of the Arab countries or something. So we had to be real careful, & we were really careful.

42. I remember they caught one young couple who had brought in some hashish in a hollowed-out paperback book. Hashish was one of the common drugs that hippies smoked, along with marijuana, much milder drugs than heroin & cocaine, etc. They had cut a square out of the middle of the book & put it in. But the authorities got suspicious of the package & they unwrapped it & opened the book & there it was. And oh, that was a very serious crime in Israel. They put them in jail for I don't know how long! So even though our mail was completely innocent, we always tried to be very careful.

43. But we'll have to cut it off here now & next time I'll tell you more about some of our not-too-pleasant experiences. Most of those that I've told you so far were happy memories. Do you want to pray now, David?

44. (David: Thank You Jesus for all that we learned tonight about Israel & Grandpa & Mommy's experiences there. Thank You for how You showed them that that wasn't the Promised Land, Jesus, & thank You that they got out safely. Thank You for helping them & keeping them safe in all their travels & all their life‚ too‚ Jesus. Thank You for all that we learned tonight, in Jesus' name, amen!) Amen! Praise the Lord!

Picture captions & text boxes:

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Pocketful of Pita. Pita is a flat, thin circle of bread, sometimes with a "pocket" in it. It is a handy food because you can wrap it around all kinds of snacks or you can stuff snacks into the "pocket." Hummus & tahine are favourite stuffers. Hummus is a thickish paste made of ground chickpeas, olive oil & sharp spices. Tahine is a sauce made of ground sesame seeds with olive oil & parsley. Sometimes the ground chickpeas are made into little balls & fried in hot, sizzling oil. Three or four of the balls in a pita pocket, together with cucumber, lettuce & tomato, smothered in tahine sauce & just a pinch of hot pepper, makes the famous "felafel"! When pita is wrapped around thin slices of grilled lamb, it is called 'shawarma.' Pita, tahine & felafel are not special Israeli foods, but were brought into Israel from Arab countries. Felafel is often sold hot from street stalls.

Lebanon

Amman

West Bank

Saudi Arabia

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"This is really the most beautiful city we have ever seen!—It literally looks like Heaven at night!—Mount Carmel all lighted up, and the buildings made of this gorgeous golden native stone blocks & the moon over the deep blue bay in a sky that's even blue at night!—And the most heavenly climate of anywhere in the World!—The best of California & Florida combined!—Dry like California, warm like Florida.—Even in the evening here in November you can sit very comfortably outside at a sidewalk caf—and no cold beach wind—and watch hundreds of young people pass by! This is a Nation of Youth!"—Dad, 1970.

Haifa (pronounced HY fuh). The seaport for all northern Israel is the country's third largest city, Haifa. Hardly more than a small coastal town when the Turks ruled Palestine, it became a port for deep-water shipping under the British who followed them, & a major center of industry & commerce under the Israelis. It is also, of course, the main market & outlet for the farm produce of Galilee & much of the Plain of Sharon.

With one exception, Haifa's most noticeable buildings are industrial & commercial—the oil refineries, foundries & office blocks. The one exception is the tall gold-domed shrine of the Bahai religion, founded by a Persian who spent much of his life in a Turkish prison at Acre. The headquarters of the Bahai religion is in Haifa but most of its members live in other countries. (While on a visit to the Bahai Temple, Dad received "Temple Prophecy!" [See ML #9.])

In spite of Jerusalem's claim, visitors are usually inclined to choose Haifa as Israel's most beautiful city. The reason is not the city itself, but the seaward flank of Mount Carmel sloping down to the broad blue bay. Haifa's two main residential districts are both on Mount Carmel. One spreads over the slopes, around the Bahai shrine & its huge & colourful Persian garden. The other lies along the pine-wooded crest. Both may be reached by a funicular (cable car) railway which climbs straight up from the commercial district at shore level. Also on the crest are Israel's technological university & a Christian monastery whose patron saint is Elijah of the Old Testament. It was on Mount Carmel where Elijah confronted the 450 prophets of Baal & the 400 prophets of the groves & slew them, & then prayed for rain that ended a disastrous drought. (1Kings 18)

Mount Carmel is a range of mountains rather than a single peak. Its ridges extend about 24 kilometers (15 miles) inland from Haifa. At some points along them it is possible to see across the whole of North Israel to the snowy crest of Mount Hermon.

Big dome is the Bahai shrine

Elijah's cave

Our hotel is somewhere in here with view of Mt. Carmel

Haifa Bay is usually full of ships—"Zebulun shall be an haven for ships."—Gen.49:13

Oil pipelines from Arabia! "Asher shall dip his foot in oil."—Deut. 33:24.

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* Loading oranges in Haifa port.—Arabs doing menial jobs. "Israel shall fill the face of the World with fruit!"—Isa.27:6.

* With friends in Arab caf.

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* Maria & Afif.—His father was a fairly well-to–do man with a big villa in Nazareth, but he ran away from home when he was 14 when he got mad at his father.

* Maria with Christian Arab friends at a Christmas Party at a German Catholic Convent, 1970.

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* Young Jewish children wearing traditional skullcaps

* Arab children who live on a new housing estate near Haifa‚ in contrast to their ancestors who were nomads.

* A street in Nazareth, Afif's hometown. But we never got to visit it as it was too far away.

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family