HELP update
Meanwhile, my chest is doing the cha-cha with random pains, politely reminding me that I really should see my cardiologist before my heart files for divorce. But have I booked an appointment? Of course not. I’ve been too busy postponing it like a pro because the doctor’s schedule and my life have commitment issues.
BUT — big praise break! — God has been showing us His goodness in the last 13 days of this intensive Classic Hebrew course. My brain is now a quarter-fluent again in this ancient language while my actual life speaks fluent disaster.
10/10, would recommend letting your family fall apart for the sake of Biblical Hebrew. Worth it. ✈️🇵🇭😂 I'm kidding! All good, I am sure my kid is in good hands with our extended family but it is truly irresponsible on my part to be leaving a special needs kid under the care of neighbours for two more weeks. So here I go homeward bound.
BUT seriously, here is a fun report of the last two weeks of Intensive Hebrew learning.
The second week of our four-week Hebrew Extension Learning Program (HELP), a partnership between WP and WWIN, officially wraps up today. And yes — the students are all still alive, still smiling, and already able to read Hebrew. That alone is a miracle!
Just 10 days ago, our 16 brave students couldn’t tell a Hebrew letter from a random piece of teak wood. Today? They are reading verses straight from the Book of Jonah in the original Hebrew and actually understanding what it means. Either the Holy Spirit is speeding up their brains or these students are secretly geniuses. Probably both. 😁 Actually, it is the effective teaching style of the teachers, the diligence of the students and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Of course, it hasn’t been easy. The Lord has shown His amazing grace… while also allowing a few #characterbuildingadventures:
- Electricity played hide-and-seek the whole week (mostly hide).
- Water was scant, I made sure to wake up around 3am, and to be showered by 4am but the students who wake up on time had trouble fiding water to even wash their faces. My mouth spray was used up after a few days because I would just floss my teeth, wipe them with tissue paper and use spray, because there was no water in the tap for brushing teeth. 😁 Thankfully, water was restored yesterday before I left.
- Since Monday, internet service was only available if you were willing to climb a mountain like Moses or take a 15-minute sweaty pilgrimage to the seashore. And you only get 1 bar that comes and goes.
- Our classroom proudly served as both lecture hall and dining hall (multi-purpose at its finest).
- The heat and humidity have been so intense we’re seriously considering renaming the program “HELP – Heat-is Extreme Learning Program.” 🔥 Hehehe, joke only po.
Through it all, the joy of the Lord has been our very real strength. Tali and Daniel (our heroic teachers) admitted that some days it felt like they had been dropped straight into the Stone Age. But then they remembered Jesus, who left the perfect palace of heaven to walk dusty Galilean roads with no aircon, no plumbing, no electricity, and definitely no Wi-Fi. I thought, "Indeed, He could have come as a Divine Being floating six inches above the ground, but He chose to live like us — because He loves us that much and was obedient to the Father."
Perspective hit different after that!
We are tired, we are sweaty, but we are deeply grateful.
Please pray for the teachers and students I left behind for the remaining two weeks:
1. Pray for sustained health and strength for the two teachers and three teaching assistants — especially for supernatural energy and zero more surprise illnesses.
2. Pray for consistent electricity, water and (miracle of miracles) better internet so they don’t have to keep climbing mountains like prophets. (Update at 11AM. I just received a message that starlink is back after Josh flew from Manila and replaced something. PTL)
3. Pray that the students’ hearts and minds stay wide open as they go deeper into the Hebrew text and encounter God through the language.
4. Pray for grace in the heat and humidity — that it would not wear people down but instead make the breakthroughs even sweeter.
5. Pray for unity, joy, and laughter to continue filling the team even when things get tough.
6. Pray that the final two weeks would produce not just better Hebrew readers, but passionate lovers of God’s Word.
7. Pray also for our CEO's son Danny who was diagnosed with a brain tumor not too long ago. Pray for God's healing power to revert the cancer cells back into healthy cells because only He has the power to do that.
Thank you for standing with us in prayer! The best stories are still ahead.
The video below was last Wednesday, when our teachers decided to do the 2nd hour of the class by the beach where we did a skit of Jonah. That was a fun hour.
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