much sun and even more rain!

i mustn´t be long... for dominik and i have a walk to the supermarkt awaiting us in the rain.

it rains everyday here... and it hasn´t yet today, but it thunders as i write this blog and i can only anticipate a cool downpour drowning our thoughts as we go.

the time here has been almost 4 days now. the first two we spent getting over jet lag and getting things planned out as of where, when and hows...

sunday we went to church here followed by a rain storm. then relocated our belongings to a familys home close to the location of our work for the next couple days.

yesterday and today we spent doing hard yard work at a staduim nearby. it serves as an alternative place for kids to go rather than using and doing drugs. the city will not pay for people workers and they have no money to hire anyone... and if the staduim is in poor condition, no one will go...

so we spent hours mowing with machetes, weed wacking, cleaning, digging and swimming... the latter being the easiest. the work was hard though, and i have the burns, blisters and sore muscles to remind for the week.

tomorrow, as far as we know, we will be working in a school. i think painting bathrooms.. but maybe dramas or other things too. i am excited.

the time here has been hard and good.

it is so good to serve and share God´s love in practical ways everyone can see... but i am having a hard time with the culture. everyone else seems to be loving it, but i can not say i particularly enjoy it. it may be culture shock, or maybe it is because i have never wanted to learning spanisch, or again maybe it´s all the onions.. haha... but i do ask for prayers that i can get past myself and love these people with a passion only the Lord can give.

we stay here for three weeks before we go to nicaragua, and i hear the work will change significantly. wir werden sehen was passiert.

as for finances... my account still sits at just over $3 and know that God will hook up the outreach fees. please continue to pray and or consider giving. thank you for your prayers and for all the support so far. by golly, i would not have made it this far without them.

i pray that God will take us into a deeper relationship with Him. and that we will see His heart, for others, and for ourselves. may we look to Him for our worth, identity, and much needed support in our life or dreams, goals and following You.

Father, show us who You are that we may crave more of that awesomeness!

thank You for loving me and not giving up on me.

In Jesus name, Amen

Psalm 119:5

Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees!

ich moechte mein Leben stets nach deinen Ordnungen ausrichten.

keep trusting God and seeking Him!

much love, israel

one more thing... at the new york airport.. they took my toothpaste... a blessing i had been waiting for for awhile... and i was completely frustrated to say the least.

i was ready to buy a tube and felt i should pray about it. i had mentioned it to a friend and was given a tube to use... and by the end of the night, i found a new tube chillin on my bed waiting for me to take advantage of it´s cleaning power for my teeth!

Hallelujah!

Danke Vater!

amen

San Jose

the last night in berlin couldn't have been better... except maybe if i had more time to say goodbyes...
thank you to everyone who has shown me kindness and given me great friendships.

also... thank you all you have been praying for me.
i am in san jose, costa rica right now... suffering just a bit from jet lag... it should be about 04:00 with me cozy in bed, dreaming about happy fluffly clouds with vw buses... but i am joined with 8 others, trying to stay awake until at least 20:00 (9:00 pm) to get over this travelers trouble.

we left berlin early friday and arrived in new york (newark, nj) about 9 hours later.. with every moment, me growing restless because i am leaving a city i love, to another part of the world i know God wants me... however.. God has blessed me so much as i have obeyed, so it seems it would be wise to listen to Him..... eh?

i was encouraged to find out that i owe less money than i thought i did... but the total is still $1731.70...
i was blessed that the staff here are choosing to believe with me that God will bring the money in... He has brought in the entire lecture phase amount... and allowed me to come on the outreach.
i am more than blessed...
i have mentioned it.. but it is super important that i complete the outreach phase to, or i can not graduate dts. i do believe God has called me to germany longterm, and in order to continue working with ywam, i must first complete a dts....
thank you all again so much for prayers. i would not be this far without them.
and God hears them. He hears our hearts... our prayers... and answers them even before we are finished asking. HALLELUJAH.

when we were leaving new york, the weather turned wet, and we sat in the airplane for 4 hours.. with a 4.5 hour flight sitting ahead of us... needless to say.. we were tired, sore and anxious.
i do believe God got us here at the time He did with reason. i would rather be late than outside of His grace...
we arrived in san jose at midnight and about three hours later (11:00 berlin time) finally slept.

this place is different.. but i don't feel like i am here yet. we haven't had much interaction with locals yet, so tomorrow after church may be different.. wir werden sehen was passiert. we will see.

Lord, may we gain Your heart for the people here.
let Your will be done.

it is hard learning spanish and german at the same time.. can't say i have really put much effort into spanish just yet... that will change.
this week we will help at a sport arena... maintanence.. and yard work stuff... then work at a school... saturday we have a fussball match with some locals... GO BERLIN! (we, the dts team)
then next weekend we go to a city on the coast for ministry. a week from wednesday... i hear we will have the opportunity to hang with some surfers and skaters at a christian surfers place... i look forward to thrashing a half-pipe with some costa ricans for the Lord!
at the end of next week, we meet up with the ywam base from costa rica... and will see what happens after.

as for here... it breaks my heart when i see beggers and homeless sleeping on cardboard in the middle of the city. please pray for this. we were told that this place is nothing compared to some of the posperity in nicaragua... so i can only imagine it getting much more heart wrenching.
they need prayer.. and to know they are not forgotten... they are not unloved... and that they have a kingdom... a hope... a future.
Father... may Your will be done. please... hear their cries.. and be quick to respond. send more workers.

i trust You Father.
in Your sons name.. the same Son You sent to die for us... when we were at our worst...
AMEN

thank you again for all your prayers... and i encourage you to continue to.
i expect this outreach to only get more real as we witness injustice and pain.

i shall keep you updated though.

much love and blessings...

israel

viel spaß gemacht

this last sunday was the second of two spent in a vw bus driving across berlin.
i can honestly say it was two of the most enjoyable times of spaß machen here.

last friday night, i spent the night with the youth at the church... chillin... dancing... being tired and finally ending early morning with sleeping on a hard floor... thankfully with isomat.
brunch the next morning consisted of much variety, but i was centered on the nutella and bread.
kein problem.

Sunday at church, we were sent out. and tonight, at community night, we had mass worship, spoke some about the outreach and again was sent out.
it is hard getting ready to leave. i feel that i am leaving so many loved ones here... but i know that God has called me on this outreach so i can be sure that it will be better than if i stayed here... though that would be grand!

yesterday i made my way to boxi (boxhagener platz), one of my favorite places of berlin. there, i have engaged in many conversations and made friends with people whom i may miss the most. i love them so much that i can only imagine how much more God must love them.

friday approaches faster than i ever expected it to, but i believe it holds the door to a whole new adventure... unreached, unknown, unexplainable exciting opportunities to love people with His love!
as for finances, the lecture phase is officially paid off now! which is a miracle, as i started with nothing. the outreach phase is €400 more than i thought... so i owe €1900 maybe... $2400... but i have been so encouraged as God has provide so much over the past few days. i know... I BELIEVE HE IS FAITHFUL!

as i boarded the plane in spokane last april to come here, i could never have expected to experience some of the things that i have been blessed with while here for the last 3 months.
from growth pains to culture shock... hard times have come and gone only leaving behing the experience of surviving the different struggles. there has been laughs... continual laughs... tears... hugs... worship in a variety of ways... german bread... missing bahns... missings stops... airport trips... harmonica learning... tree climbing... bus driving... outside slumbering... team building... drama practicing... swiss chocolate... more laughs... sunsets... rainy thursdays... fußball... and now leaving as a team and working towards one cause...

JESUS.

i honestly have tried to understand what i may expect on this outreach... but i can't imagine it. i do know that it will be good.... it will be crazy. it will be blessed.
if it is done out of who we are... fruit will not grow... but if we are part of His plan... miracles will happen. and i do expect them to. Nicaragua belongs to the Lord.

open up ancient doors... you ancient gates... and let the King of Glory enter...
who is this King of Glory.... the Lord Almighty... invicible in battle..
the Lord of Heaven's Armies.

may His will be done in this place.

be blessed...

viel spaß

israel

Gott ist gut

where to start.... where to start...

we leave for nicaragua a week from this friday... and i still don't have enough money.
thank God... i only owe about €150...$200 for lecture phase... but i still owe the entire amount for outreach phase $2500...€2000 which is a week away.
i don't have money for a plane ticket.
no money for eating while there...
no money for it.

i believe that God has called me here to Germany... to Berlin... to this Discipleship Training School (DTS). and i do believe i have been called here long term. after the DTS ends... after outreach... i will need to come back to the states to work and pay off debt to enter missions full time, with freedom from the shackels of school loans... and i do believe that i am to be working with ywam and to come back as staff... but in order to do that, i must graduate DTS. though lecture phase is almost complete, outreach is very very important and is part of the DTS. without the money to go on outreach, i cannot graduate and cannot comeback as staff to continue to pursure my calling here in Germany.

for the past few months here, i have seen money come in, but i admit that i was lacking faith that God was the One bringing it in.

however...

it is Him. it has always been Him. and it will always be Him.
He provides. it is no coincidence, it is God.

i praise You Father for showing me that You provide. thank You for bringing me here and shining light in the places that darkness had crept in. God, You are good! and i believe that! despite what the world teaches, or what my mind wants to believe or not believe,
YOU ARE GOOD!
and i trust You!
please bless all those who read this. shower them with Your blessings and thank You that they have been part of this journey. thank You Jesus for paying the price that we can go and disciple the nations! Jesus in Lord!
In His name alone, Amen!

i ask you to please prayfully consider being a part of this by supporting me.

please email me if you have any questions and know that GOD IS GOOD!

much love and blessings...
thank you for reading my thoughts and being with me during the beginning of something even bigger than He's been taking me into.

this.is.a.real.fake.email@gmail.com

vertrauengott!
trust God

-israel

leben - lernen - zusammen

every day that goes by seems as though it has just started.
when you don't count time.. it seems to run.. and as you watch it, it chooses to take it's sweet time.... and sweet time it is!

i am so encouraged and not sure what exactly is taking place....
over the past weeks, the time here has confirmed many things on my heart.
a year before i even knew germany was in the near future, God placed german on my heart...
out of confusion i started learning some of the basics... colors, numbers, ich bin... but now that i am here, i believe that this is where i am suppose to be. there has been many outreach opportunities around the city as well and relationships being built with the people here...
sunday... i joined up with a couple outreach teams staying here and had worship on the ring bahn (the train that makes a ring around the city). we got out on the west side (opposite of us) and it sounded like a chorus in the bahnhof (train station)... some people walked away.. avoiding a deeper presence, and others walked towards us, curious of all the noise and joy! the driver of the bahn we got off actually got out and told us she was sad we were leaving....
after we made the complete ring, we played some fußball with some kids at a park and later had worship...
berlin will be flooded with Him!
it will be! and we don't just wait anxiously for this to come but actively believe and march around this place until these ancient doors open for the King of Glory to enter!
Berlin is God's and all of germany belongs to Him.

as the nicaragua outreach approaches (june 26th), many still don't have the funds, but we stand believing we will all go. after outreach, i know i must come back to the states and get serious.
i still have school loans that have been haunting me for a couple years and it's time to gain release from them and march in freedom for Christ.

i do believe that God has called me to come back to berlin... to germany.. and after coming back to the U.S., i will continue to look for longterm supporters.

i appreciate everything everyone has given.. seriously, i would not be where i am now if it weren't for your faith and love as you support me for His work.

the dts ends middle of september, and i should be back in the states by october. my goals are to find a job to pay off the loans and continue to build relationships with my friends and family. as i really do not have any idea how long it should take to pay these debts off.. (standing at $11,000) i am hoping to be joining the staff and students here next fall.

as i have laundry to do and community night tonight... i should end this shorter than normal entry...

oh Papa.. how awesome are Your deeds, and how tender is Your heart... we praise You for how You love us! thank You for making us part of Your plan.. and working on our hearts. it is so good to be here and to know that You have a plan for this place. take back the heart of germany. open Your flood gates and put this place under Your love and grace. thank You so much for everyone that i have met so far, and all the relationships that have been build. and all the people this base has been reaching... please continue to send workers. make us part of Your plan...
please continue to bless everyone back in the states... and move in their lives. take out boredom and light the fire of desire in the hearts of Your people. fire up the dreams again... that more would be willing to step out and be willing to loose it all to gain more of You.
take us further with You.
in Jesus name, AMEN! SO BE IT!

i am stoked to know that all of you have been with me this far... and now i am asking if you want to go deeper with me....?

last night was a giving night... i watched as people gave away things that meant the most to them so that others could be blessed... i myself had my heart broken at the kindness of others and freely gave as i was freely given to. it was freeing to know that even the things that mean the most to me will not compare against love. i believe that God does the most in those who have the greatest needs... it's only when we are broken that we can truly experience grace.

i love you all...
israel