Celebrating Despite Sorrow

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Dear Friend,

We had a wonderful Passover celebration with 18 people at our home. We read through (most of) the traditional Haggadah with additions reflecting our Lord’s Passover celebration with his disciples before his passion. The grandgirls really enjoyed the evening, entering into the songs right up until the end! One of our guests had never been to a Passover Seder even though he has lived here in Israel for 20 years. It was a great opportunity for him as well as for us.

In our last letter I stated that our real challenges are the emotional ones. And the past couple of months have been particularly tough ones. We are grateful for all of your prayers as we navigated Heidi’s mother’s death, Shir and Leeya’s birthdays while facing the anniversaries of the murders of Abigail and Dasha. Further complicating things was the news we received In February that Sasha (former foster daughter and Dasha’s younger sister) had been placed in a Psychiatric Hospital due to suicide attempts. So far she has not allowed us to visit her, although she has called and spoken to Heidi. It is hard to see her pain and be unable to really come along side this precious girl.

On March 27th Josiah was sentenced to life in prison and was fined 260,000 NIS which he must pay to his daughters. While here in Israel a life sentence isn’t really for life, it has left him quite depressed. He feels very alone and abandoned in a very different world. On the Sunday following his sentencing Heidi and I visited him at the prison. I must confess that I left very sad indeed, crying most of our trip home.

This year we processed the loss of Abigail privately, with just Heidi, Hannah and myself visiting her grave the morning of March 5th. On March 16th we took the grandgirls to buy flowers to plant on their mother’s grave. After planting them we talked about Dasha with them and they spent time looking at the photo books Heidi has given each of them with pictures of them with their parents from before their mom’s murder. It wasn’t easy for any of them, but it was particularly hard for Roni, the oldest, to face her emotions.

We are also working through the implications and changes that Roni’s diagnosis as being on the autism spectrum. We’re waiting for National Insurance Institute to give its official recognition and then we will speak with the Ministry of Education to figure out the plan for next year. The fourth grade had a national standard reading test recently. Roni finished about a third of the test in school. Afterward at home however, she was able to read and answer all the questions without any problems. She just doesn’t function in a classroom of 35 children.

On the ministry front, Shmuel and I are planning how to develop our next generation of leaders. This is the main challenge we are facing as a congregation as we expect to replace our leaders (including ourselves) with “home grown” men. We’ve discussed format and material as we look to begin a regular program which would include our current elders as well as men in their 20’s and 30’s. We’re seeking the Lord to know whom He wants in the group and agree among ourselves and the other current leaders.

I’m also responsible to get our 2024 financial reports in order and placed before our audit committee. The annual meeting should be held before the middle of June. We are also looking for someone to work for the congregation in the role of coordinating communication (updating messaging in Hebrew and English, including our website, social media announcements and prayer letters.

My home group recently finished a several years long study of the book of 2 Corinthians and has decided to tackle the book of Joel next. I’m in the midst of trying to prepare the Hebrew study guide before our next small group meeting next week. While it is going well, my Hebrew writing is not the quickest or most fluent. I’m also working on developing a training seminar for small group leaders as we need to increase the number of those we can count on as qualified to lead others. Just this weekend our leader in Harish informed me that he cannot continue leading that group. This is a matter of prayer as we need to carefully consider those who live there to see who might be a good potential leader. 

We are grateful for the quiet here in the North of Israel, although the war is far from over. Life continues to be mostly normal and those living near the border with Lebanon have been able to return to their homes. They need to rebuild their destroyed homes, towns and lives. We’ve maintained a partnership with the congregation in Kiryat Shmona. During much of the war they supplied warm meals to soldiers serving on the line and our congregation was able to help them buy food. As the fighting intensified in the North, a rocket struck their fellowship hall and they had to abandon it. They were displaced, but continued to meet little further south. They have been able to make needed repairs to their building. Our congregation provided funds for them to enjoy a fun weekend together at the Baptist Village. And we’re looking forward to hosting them at our upcoming Congregation Day (also at the Baptist Village) as we gather as an entire congregation for a day.

Several of our young men continue to serve in reserve duty in Gaza with the breakdown of the ceasefire. We covet your prayers for them and their safety. We also ask that you pray for those still held hostage and for their families as we anxiously seek their return. And please also remember those bereaved as a result of the war - those who lost loved one during the October 7 attack as well as the soldiers and civilians who have fallen in the long war since.

We appreciate your faithful partnership with us in prayer. His grace is what sustains us through all of our challenges, sorrows and weaknesses. Thank you for standing with us as we work to mediate that grace to our family, congregation and those among whom we live and serve.

Yours in the Messiah,

Phil and Heidi