Sunday in Nazareth

Part of the blessing of my trip to Greece/Israel was being able to make connections with the local Christians. While in Israel, my travel guide Evertt Huffard introduced me to the congregation he served as a missionary during the late 1970s and which he continues to visit and encourage each year. They are a delightful group of Arabic believers; in fact, most of the Christians in the Galilee region are of Arabic descent, which ran counter to my expectations (which just goes to show my ignorance). They are prayerfully considering going through an elder selection process, which they have never done in their 60 year history.

In addition to attending several worship services, we were invited to some wonderful meals in the homes of various believers. I'll mention one meal in particular: following worship on Sunday, we were invited to the village of El Laboun (where there is a Church of Christ school that has been in operation for 40+ years). There, the Zeneih family hosted three other families and us to what I could only characterize as a full-blown feast: I counted at least fifteen unique dishes in addition to several types of grilled meats, with kinaffe (what else?!) for dessert. I was blown away by this gesture of welcome and hospitality!

A Feast in the Village of El Laboun! How many unique dishes can you identify?



















Nazareth Church Preacher Maurice Jadon, his wife Inam and daughter Natalie


















At the Nazareth Church

















At the Nazareth Church