Answered Prayer!!

The title is self explanatory (:

Over the past 2-3 months the biggest thought/thing/prayer I've had on my mind is my VISA. It was set to expire on April 30th.
The prayer I've said over and over again was "God, surprise me." I chose this because it is not an easy or a normal thing to get and extension beyond what the rules say (for a volunteer VISA, the limit is 24 months). But, God's bigger than a VISA.
Even after receiving an initial 'No' from the powers that be, I didn't want to give up. For sure I spent a few hours in self-pity after the 'No'...but I realized remaining in that mindset wouldn't help at all.
My family (specifically Mom) and life experience has taught me to do everything possible that I can and then trust God with the rest. So my boss and I set up a meeting with someone who could potentially help us and he was able to do just that! I received an extension of 4 months which puts me here until August 31st. This means I get to be here for the multitude of summer camps!! There will be at least 5 different weeks of camps (:
Of course this was not done alone. A few really helped make this happen and I received a huge favor from the director of the school, Botrous Mansour.
I now get to "raise an Ebenezer" (fancy bible lingo for 'Put A Reminder') here in this moment because prayers were answered. And not just mine...THANK YOU TO YOU! For praying for me and keeping my life/needs/hopes apart of your life.

Now, I could stop there and it would be a pretty great post right?!
But I won't ;) haha because the past month has been amazingly amazing (as a friend of mine here would say).

- Ravi Zacharias -

First, Ravi Zacharias - one of the most known apologists (person who defends the gospel) in the world came to Nazareth...actually to the exact school I lead at! He was great as he always is and gave a talk full of insight into who Jesus is and how real God is in our lives.

- Ice Skating at Merkaz Canada -

Second, I went on two different trips with students from the school. One week I joined the 11th grade to the north. It's beautiful in the north with lots of green trees and mountains. Randomly, there is also a place called the Canada Center and it has an ice skating rink. I can ice-skate decently, but what I enjoyed was seeing and helping kids who had never skated before try. For some it was like going back to their first steps of walking haha.
The other trip was with the 10th grade and we ventured to the south. It is beautiful in a different way. Expansive deserts, camels and donkeys wandering around and the Dead Sea. We did an off-road jeep ride in some desert hills then went floating in the Dead Sea. Of course I did some spa treatment on my skin with the "black sand".
 
Each of these trips were overnight and something I've learned is the students do not sleep when they get together out of school. Maybe they will get an hour or two. It's funny to see the difference between the energy they have the first day versus the second day where they resemble the walking dead.


- The Dead Sea -

I was thankful to join the kind, considerate and awesome teachers along for the trips and was provided with many opportunities to get to know kids more (essential to good YL work). Learning names, observing personalities, and entering into some good conversations were all highlights.
It has been a past month of some emotional and physical ups and downs but my spirit has remained strong throughout. I believe just as much as our mind and body need workouts to remain strong, our spirit ought to go through the same as well.

- Myself and Nizar (11th grade) -

Thank You for all your support (: Cheers to 4 more months in The Holy Land doing Young Life!

- Zack