The realities of life

Well, we apologize for taking so long to write but we have been getting settled and adjusting.

When we first started planning to move here we were told repeatedly that it was very difficult. Nothing is easy! It must be in the DNA of the culture, how else would they have made it here for so long? Remember God brought them to the land of milk and honey but they still had to move the rocks out of the fields to plant crops.

Please know that this is not a complaint session but we feel it necessary to paint an accurate picture of everyday life:
On day one we were handed a bunch of keys to our apartment but not told what they were for, we find out three weeks later that one of the keys unlocks the bomb shelter under the building (good info to have). There is a string across our bed, it is attached from the top of the window along the ceiling to the closet. Kind of strange. Could it be a place to hang your clothes in the winter? Noooo! It is for a mosquito net. Yeah, they had a huge problem with mosquitos in May/June. Why would this be a problem in your house? Because we have no ac and not all of the windows have screens on them. The next day we awoke to cockroaches, as Matt would say, the size of hamsters. Yes, folks you could strap a saddle on these bad boys, no joke!! Oh, and where are they coming from? The giant holes in the various places of each room. Our first weekend was spent delivering ourselves from the cockroaches and the black mold that we had discovered.

We have come to determine that these are minor inconveniences which are a part of our realiziation of how used to we can become to the conveniences and comforts of life. This is nothing compared to what other Christians go through around the world everyday. It is teaching us a valuable lesson on humility and thankfulness for what we do have. But those aren't the big issues, let us tell you what those are. We were told to come and that our visas would be here when we got here. Our visas ended up in Ca. and now we are not sure if we can get through the red tape to obtain them. Visa restriction has gotten greater on the issuance of them as it relates to volunteers in Israel. We also discovered that I (Robyn) can't work without a work visa which is not part of what will be issued (we just found this out). The door was also closed for the online teaching job due to structural changes going on, not to say it will never happen but not now. Now we are unsure of what I (Robyn) will do since I will not be allowed to work which eliminates our only anticipated source of income. All of our belongings are still on the dock waiting for approval. The paperwork we sent was first approved and then disapproved due to the incorrect visa type and now they want full taxes for all of our belongings, in other words repurchase our belongings. If they aren't released by August 8th we must start paying rent for storage.

So, with all of this said, we have to remember "For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Cor. 5:7
Our prayer now is
As stated in Psalm 121:1-3
1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills - from whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.

We covet your prayers for the big things but also the little things.

1st day and why we are here

Well we arrived on Tuesday at 5pm, VERY tired but you know they always tell you to stay up as late as possible so Matt and I decided to go exploring our new surroundings.
This is how amazing God is. In 2005 we came on the tour with MVCF and decided to stay after the group left. We stayed in a pastor's home who lived in the German Colony off of Emek Rafim (street name). We loved this area and got to know it very well!
On Tuesday as we started exploring we realized that we are living right around the corner from there AND our favorite kebob place is only two blocks away! We just think that is so cool that God had already had us here and put us in a place that we already knew.
After we explored our neighborhood we decided that we wanted to go to the Wall (kotel). We go to the mini mart near our apt. and ask the guy in broken Hebrew if he will change our dollars. No, but he gave us 5 shekels out of his pocket, we gave him a dollar :) Ok, so now we are up 10 shekels. We get on the bus and ask how much to go to the Wall and he starts driving but wants 12.40 shekels. I show him what we have, he pulls to the next stop, takes what I have, gives me change, kicks us off the bus, and calls me mushooga (crazy) haha! We laughed so hard. So then we got on the next bus and he took us to where we wanted to go and didn't charge us anything. We finally made it to the Wall. Moral of the story: Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path." Even when we don't know exactly how to get where we are going, God always does and He is always faithful to come through!
We are meeting many people and can't wait to write the stories about the people of Israel.
Please pray that we can be used to help them discover their Messiah.

Why we are here ~ part 1:
In 2000 (our 1 yr anniversay) we took our first mission trip to Russia...Part 2 to come

Prayer request:
Peace for Jerusalem
I (Robyn) have a job interview on Monday at 10am
Open doors

We made it!

Well we are finally here! Jerusalem. It is a long time in coming but it shows that God is faithful to give you the desires of your heart.
Matt and I just want to say thank you to all of those who have been praying for us all of these years.
We will be giving you the beginning of our story and then how we got here and all of our adventures along the way as we make our life here in God's country.
After only being here 2 days we have already experienced some amazing and exciting things.
I hope you will enjoy our journey!
Love you all,
Matt and Robyn
Psalm 122:6