Blood Moon Over Nazareth

Whattuppp!

I'm sure you've seen the pictures today and if not check them out. If you stayed up, woke up, or even just looked up to see that pretty awesome 'Super Moon' meets 'Lunar Eclipse' last night, then I hope you were in awe for a moment and realized the magnitude of what was going on....cosmically speaking.

Myself, I did wake up at 5am to witness the period where the moon was most red. It was wild to see the moon in a different way I don't normally see it and then consider exactly what was happening. Through extensive research (aka Google) I read last night was the closest the moon is to the Earth during it's orbit each month (i.e. super moon which looks bigger than usual) and then it just happened to occur during a full lunar eclipse. The next time this happens it will be 2033.

For just a few hours last night it was all aligned perfectly for something amazing to happen.

....basically timing is everything....

And as I was just finishing my time observing and sitting in wonder I tried to think from a cosmic perspective.
The far distance from Moon to Earth (238,855 miles) and the really really far distance from the Sun to the Earth (92.96 million miles) were in a line for barely a breath in the cosmic timeline.

Afterwards this morning I wrote:
"There a few times when things are lined up exactly right. We live in a broken, fractured, fallen world where things collide, mix up, and chaos happens. But even in the midst of the chaos...sometimes in life things do fall into place exactly right. A couple falls in love, you get the job you've been pursuing, a new baby is on the way after years of prayer, etc...and sometimes the Sun, Earth and Moon are all aligned just right. It is a brief moment, however I know it is important to stop and recognize it. To stop and say, This Is Amazing! This Is A Blessing! It would be a bummer to stay stuck in the confined space of my mind and miss it rather than open up and see how BIG God is. Through my thoughts as what looks to be a one sided conversation with God this came to mind....

 - "Zack, look at the scale I work on and how I create amazing sights. How it all comes together at the right moment. If I can do this, then don't you think I can align the small things in your life for the greater good? Trust me to do it. But trust me in My Time, not Your Time. Often you make plans and want me to be part of them. Instead, why don't you be part of my plan. Take a different look, from my perspective. Follow my steps along the straight and narrow path. It is straight and narrow for a reason, aligned perfectly how I plan. But look at all the beauty that is along it."
(reference Matthew 7:13-14)

In other news...

(Back To School!)

It's all praise right now!
Today, yes today, the Christian School Strike in Israel that I wrote about in my last blog and which has been a major issue over the last month is officially over (:
The group leaders of this strike reached an agreement with the Education of Ministry and finally 33,000 students and 4,000 teachers went back to school today. Thank you all for your prayers and concerns through this time.
Honestly, I was so excited to get back to hanging out with high school friends at the Nazareth Baptist School. Furthermore, it was a huge change from a year ago where I didn't know anyone and felt scared, insecure and like I didn't belong. Today I walked in to hugs, high fives, and there was a smile on my face because of all these students I'm getting to know and love on.

(YL shirt swag with Mohammad and Khaled)

 

Young Life club has been going great as well. We had one for the Nazareth students Saturday 9/26. Some awesome kids are showing up (even without us to tell them at school) and with a mix of some new 9th and 10th graders and a solid group of 11th graders who are starting to make the club their own, it has been a lot of fun.

As school begins, keep the students in your prayers because they have to start fast and catch up with the school opening a month late.
For me, you can pray that as I meet more and more new friends, names will stick in my head, I'll see them through eyes of unconditional love and God will continue to bring kids to YL Club.

(laying chocolate pudding feed)

Blessings from ME in Nazareth to YOU wherever you are. Thanks for staying with me through this journey!

Zack

Up's and Down's

A couple quotes...

The greatest gift God gave us is the power to make decisions. - Paulo Cuelo

Nobody takes my life, I lay it down. - Pastor Judah Smith

As long as their is light ahead for them, it is worth it to me. - MLK Jr. in the movie Selma

As each quote builds upon each other, I consider (and hope you will as well) how they relate to my own life. I've made decisions about what it is I am doing. And by "doing" I encompass every aspect where there is action in my life. Work, relationships, service, beliefs, love, family, alone time, physical activity, etc. Each includes choices/decisions moment by moment.
Now at the heart of my decisions is a belief, a motivator, or what I have come to see as the best way for me to live. I choose willfully to lay who I am down to serve others. This is the result of pursing Jesus. Because I have experienced my best life living in this way, I continue to make my decisions focused around Him and it leads to the last quote of what can be considered "dying to myself". Ministry is on my mind every day and it gives me this perspective of; if I can deny myself first and hope to serve others so they can see a light of hope or trust or love...then it's worth it.

Just a reminder, I am not perfect in following through every single moment of every day with these moral words. But, all of this is a goal I keep in front of me and I have witnessed fruit from it.

(YL Nazareth & Ibiliin Camp)

2 things I want to share from the last couple weeks...
First, an awesome thing happened - We had our Young Life Camp during the last week of August! It was sooo much fun and I can say honestly everyone enjoyed themselves. Some highlights included:

• 45 kids from Nazareth and 12 kids from Ibiliin (a village where we have started YL) attended.
• Program was done for the first time ever entirely by leaders from YL Palestine! (all in Arabic)
• I led cabin time of 8 guys and had some great conversation about what we all want from life, who Jesus is and what he did.
• A group of 7 Americans from Johnson Ferry Church in Atlanta came and helped serve as work crew.
• There was laughter, friendship, and new excitement about the coming year of YL in Naz.

("crab soccer" at camp)

 

It was great to experience my first camp with kids I've gotten to know over the past year (last years camp was cancelled due to Gaza War). Furthermore it was evident that kids were really impacted by the unconditional love that exists at YL Camp.

Now unfortunately something else is happening in Israel that is not so great. There are 47 Christian schools that are currently on strike in Israel. Since Sept 1st, 33,000 kids are not at school. The strike is a response to the Ministry of Education in the Israeli Gov't cutting funding to these Private Christian schools (many which have been operating since before Israel was a country). I'm including a link for more information on this but basically, the schools do not have enough funds to operate. The funding from the gov't has dropped to 29% of what the budget calls for. And then there is a limit to how much schools can charge parents. So from both sides the schools are stuck and don't have enough funds to operate for more than a few months. On the other hand, Private Religious Jewish schools which are categorized the same way as these Private Christian Schools are given 100% of their funding. It is an obvious fact of unjust treatment.
I share this because the kids who come to Young Life in Nazareth are almost all from these schools. Yes, I have not been able to go hang out with my YL friends because the school is closed.
Peaceful protests and demonstrations have been happening for the last 2 weeks
FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE

(around 10,000 gathered outside the Kenneset in

 Jerusalem to demonstrate peacefully)

So there are praises and things to pray for...

Thanks for taking a few moments to keep up with my life here (: I hope you got to think about some of what I talked about. Have a great day!

Zack

(we also said Bon Voyage to 2 of the recent graduates who have been involved with 

YL Naz since the beginning! Razi, top middle, and Nancy, to his right in red, are studying

abroad this school year. Razi in Germany and Nancy in Romania).