Dome of Rock

We had a rare opportunity to tour the inside of Dome of Rock Mosque yesterday. Controversy notwithstanding, it is full of history. I brought my steadicam and took some nice footage.

Window of Peace

A dove laid two eggs at our window ledge.
I can’t help but to think of Jews and Arabs here in Israel.
Will their children grow up knowing peace?
Will we ever see the doves fly?

Not everything happens by chance. There must be a good reason why a bird of peace decided to nest on our window ledge. Doves usually lay two eggs, but I can’t stop thinking about how they symbolize Jews and Arabs. Brothers they were once, yet the hatred so strong they can’t imagine otherwise.

Runner’s Dream

Muhanad Musafa is one of our neighbors who happens to be a world class runner. He is only person I know who can run a mile less than 3:45. Wow! It was interesting filming him with my head stuck out the window. I was afraid that I would smack my head against some oncoming car, wall, dumpster, etc.

Daniel diet

We temporarily stayed at the Living Bread Church Mission House for two weeks in January, while looking for a place of our own nearby. It had a Kosher/Daniel Diet kitchen, which meant no meat, spices, packaged food, coffee or tea in the house. Our staple foods consisted of soup, vegetables and pita bread. The habit stayed with us when we moved to our new place at Isayiwa. We now buy/consume veggies by the case and eat very little meat. As a result, I lost tons of weight, both Sonnie and I look healthier/younger, and the kids eat warm pita bread as snacks instead artificial chemical laced crap.

Isawiya, israel

Isawiya is an Arab village a bit north east of Jerusalem. It’s a stone throw away from the Hebrew University. Some roads are so steep that half the cars can not make it up the hill unless the they get a good start at the bottom and the drivers punch the pedals to the metal!  Goats roam free throughout the valley, eating everything.  Planting a garden is out of question!

Jerusalem!

We came here with a purpose — to serve, especially the Arabs, while finding the means to stay here long term. Ideally, I needed a job that did both.
Call it a luck or a miracle, but I landed a video guru position with an international church at Jerusalem that does exactly that. It definitely is a job with a greater purpose and vision. It requires everything I learned about video, photography and editing. Unlike many other churches in Israel, this one does not shy away from serving the people of Palestine.
So, we had to move again, not only being closer to the church, but more importantly, getting the kids in school. Without comprehension of Arabic, no Arab school will accept them. It would take too long for them to learn the language. We didn’t want them to sit idle, so we them into an ‘ulpan’ transition school, learning Hebrew. After about a year, they can integrate into a regular public school. It’s a great program Israel has set up. U.S. should adapt something similar for immigrants. It would save them billions, eliminating costly bi-lingual and ESL programs.
The video below is my first project for the church, gathering old footage and putting it together, showing what the church is all about. I hope the message comes across, even though I didn’t have all the footage I needed.  As usual, every clip was color corrected.

 

Snow in Palestine

It rarely snows in Palestine. We were lucky to have been there, watching the flakes beautify everything they touched, disguising all the faults underneath.
What do WE hide? What does it take to melt away what lurks beneath?