Markie Re'em: Christmas Eve 2009 in At-Tuwani
January 5th, 2010
Then I was assigned to make a pretty dessert plate.
It was a real feast! The At-Tuwani team only had enough dishes for one bowl per person, so we could only eat one thing at a time, but it was all zaki, which is Arabic for "yummy." The Tuwani team doesn't have a refrigerator, so they were thinking of ways they could share the leftover food with neighbors.
We were having such a good time together that we started worship really late. We walked out to an old cave home that Sarah and Laura had found (People around Tuwani used to live in the caves until a few years ago. They are toasty in the winter and cool in the summer, but now they mostly just keep animals in them.
We read through the story of Jesus' birth in Luke, and sang some songs about it and just looked at the beautiful Judean hills with all the little villages of shepherds speckled on them and really felt that we were looking at the same view that Abraham and Jesus looked at. Then we sang "Silent Night" inside the cave and thought maybe Jesus was born in a place like this.
We ended our Christmas Eve together by opening presents, but we really had to rush because the taxi driver couldn't pick us up later. Kathy got a jar of Nutella, and Laura got the lavender sachets Kathy had brought from her garden.
Because the taxi driver knew we were celebrating Christmas, he tuned his radio to a station that played “Jingle Bells,” and nothing but “Jingle Bells” all the way home.
Hi kids!
Kathy and I had such a good Christmas Eve! The Hebron team decided to have a feast with the At-Tuwani team. Kathy cooked turkey legs (The butcher cut the legs into circles) in garlic, sheep butter, onions and garlic. Ryan made glazed carrots, Drew made a salad, and we bought bread and drinks, so our taxi to At-Tuwani was really full. (We gave the taxi driver a little extra because it was Christmas. Johann brought special homemade fruitcake from Canada.
When we got to At-Tuwani, I helped Laura make vegetarian lasagna and helped Kathy heat up the turkey.
Kathy and I had such a good Christmas Eve! The Hebron team decided to have a feast with the At-Tuwani team. Kathy cooked turkey legs (The butcher cut the legs into circles) in garlic, sheep butter, onions and garlic. Ryan made glazed carrots, Drew made a salad, and we bought bread and drinks, so our taxi to At-Tuwani was really full. (We gave the taxi driver a little extra because it was Christmas. Johann brought special homemade fruitcake from Canada.
When we got to At-Tuwani, I helped Laura make vegetarian lasagna and helped Kathy heat up the turkey.
Then I was assigned to make a pretty dessert plate.
It was a real feast! The At-Tuwani team only had enough dishes for one bowl per person, so we could only eat one thing at a time, but it was all zaki, which is Arabic for "yummy." The Tuwani team doesn't have a refrigerator, so they were thinking of ways they could share the leftover food with neighbors.
We were having such a good time together that we started worship really late. We walked out to an old cave home that Sarah and Laura had found (People around Tuwani used to live in the caves until a few years ago. They are toasty in the winter and cool in the summer, but now they mostly just keep animals in them.
We read through the story of Jesus' birth in Luke, and sang some songs about it and just looked at the beautiful Judean hills with all the little villages of shepherds speckled on them and really felt that we were looking at the same view that Abraham and Jesus looked at. Then we sang "Silent Night" inside the cave and thought maybe Jesus was born in a place like this.
We ended our Christmas Eve together by opening presents, but we really had to rush because the taxi driver couldn't pick us up later. Kathy got a jar of Nutella, and Laura got the lavender sachets Kathy had brought from her garden.
Because the taxi driver knew we were celebrating Christmas, he tuned his radio to a station that played “Jingle Bells,” and nothing but “Jingle Bells” all the way home.