WE ARE MOVING! :0)

Hello Friends and Family! We are absolutely ecstatic to tell you all that we are moving!!! After about a month of searching, we have found a new place to move! This search has been long and quite discouraging at points…it is very difficult to find somewhere that is decently clean (i.e. no sewer smells), not too far from school, has a trustworthy landlord, a tiny bit of privacy, and isn’t exorbitantly expensive. It seems like there are a ton of places here for rent, but they are all either very, very expensive (i.e. start at $1,300) or they are listed as “holiday” apartments, since they can get $100-200 per night. Yikes! And the few we do find, they are all mysteriously rented out already or something. Needless to say, it has not been fun.

Well, our searching and your amazing prayers for us have yielded a situation that is better than we could have possibly hoped for! We have found an apartment that is about 10 minutes walking distance from where we are currently living. It is very clean, fully stocked (including a washing machine!), and the landlord is a very nice “Grandpa” sort of fellow. :0) It is everything we need and more! And…our new home is $250 cheaper per month than what we are currently paying! Unbelievable! We are so thankful!!! Oh, and the most interesting part of our story is… the apartment also doubles, in times of crisis, as a bomb shelter. Yep… if someone drops a bomb on the city, all of our neighbors will be coming to visit us. The apartment has 16-inch thick walls and a most imposing front door (that is separate from the main front door we use on a day-to-day basis. :0) In our thinking, this means extra insulation and safety! We will post pics after we move next Thursday (Oct 15th).

In the mean time, we are getting ready for our first weekend field study! On Saturday, we will be heading south for the weekend. In three days we will be covering 5 different areas… We will be looking at the Mediterranean coast as far as Ashkelon, we will be traveling to Beer-Sheba and Arad to see the Negev (including the really cool makhtesh, called the “Super Bowl.” More to come on this one :0), passing through the Wilderness of Zin up towards En Gedi, Masada, and the Dead Sea, and ending near Qumran. Phew! If our day trips wear us out, get ready for three days in the desert! Pray for us!!!

It has been so amazing to get to talk to some of you, and to hear about everyone who is reading our blog. Your prayers, your stories, and your encouragement keep us going! Thank you so very much!!! We love that you want to share our journey with us!

Much love to all!!! :0)