אנחנו פה – We're Here!

      We’ve had three days of class now, and we are thoroughly enjoying it! What a privilege this is! Here’s what our days look like so far. We have class every morning from 8:30am-12:30pm, with several mind-refreshing breaks interspersed :-) Don’t think of Hebrew class as tedious, arduous, or burdensome––its not. But that doesn’t mean we’re not learning––quite the contrary! The first week of our course involves primarily listening to our two teachers who are introducing new vocab and grammar to us via a method called Total Physical Response (TPR). This means they point to objects and say  the Hebrew word for it. They command each other to do things and then command us to do them. They describe things and tell stories with props. We are very involved in class––running around, singing, standing, sitting, jumping, pointing, giving, taking, smiling, crying, riding, touching, lots of laughing, etc., and it’s all being commanded to us in Hebrew! Occasional walks outside broaden our vocab and give us more exposure to the language. It is very intuitive. That is the beauty of this program. We are actually learning to think in Hebrew (literally, over 95% of class is spoken in hebrew)! After class, we go to lunch, and then have the afternoon/evening to study, taking breaks either to nap or to go for a run in the Judean hills. This is to “de-fry” the brain, as my wife says ;-)

      It’s amazing to see how God has worked in the lives of our fourteen classmates (all professing believers) to bring them all here from differing backgrounds. There is a lady from Switzerland, a few people from Australia (sweet accents!), but most from the U.S. There is already a camaraderie that has encouraged my faith. We had a small prayer meeting tonight organized by my classmate, where we read Scripture, prayed, and sang.

      Here are a few items to pray for:

• Acquisition of Hebrew
• Increased love for God and His Word
• Clarity for our future
• Our marriage to strengthen through this summer
• To be the aroma of Christ to the people we encounter this summer