On the Journey...with Alan Vanderkolk

Dear Friends and Family,

Another week has come and gone. It is hard to believe that it’s already October 9th. We continue to have a steady stream of visitors here at the Park during the Sukkot holiday. Many are from the Jerusalem area and drop in here on their way to Eilat. The other day, a young Jewish couple stopped by here and we talked awhile. This often happens as I am doing work around the park. They ask questions and often we chat for a while. This couple had a two-year-old daughter whose name was Tamara, the Hebrew equivalent of the Tamar in the Bible. They were very interested in this place as their daughter had the same name. Many of the names of the people here are connected to places in the country. This dates back to Bible times: Jerusalem with David, Abraham with Hebron and Beer Sheva, etc… This place was important for them to visit because of their daughter’s name. It was interesting to talk with them and answer their questions.

We continue to get the park ready for main group of visitors and groups who will be coming this fall. I have been doing a lot of raking lately. I like it because I can spend time reflecting and when I’m done, I can immediately see what I’ve accomplished. It is a good thing I grew up in Michigan. I have a lot of experience raking up those maple leaves in the Fall… Ha! In the desert the leaves drop year round and the sand piles up around the rocks. There are also lots of stones that need to be raked up to make things look a little nicer and cleaner. I have been making and cleaning up piles of debris left over the years. I have also been moving beds around and helping to get the rooms ready for guests. We have moved from eating in one of the caravans to having the big dining room up and running that can comfortably seat 40-50 people. Kate has begun cooking the meals now that she is getting settled in. Breakfast is on your own here and one can fry up some eggs or French toast and there is fruit and cereal, etc. The guests are now beginning to trickle in. Next Tuesday, I will take the bus and train down to the airport in Tel Aviv to rent a van and pick up Earl Pickard and our prayer team. It will be great to finally be all together! Please pray for us as you remember.

Sometimes we get together with our neighbors on Friday evenings, the beginning of the Sabbath, after sundown. There are people from all over the world around the table, from Denmark, France, Germany, South Africa, the U.S, etc… It is such a blessing to gather together and fellowship. We all bring something and share our evening together. There is something simple and peaceful about it.

Yesterday I went date picking. There are some date palms on the property and the dates were ripe. I got on a ladder and cut off the date clusters. One of the other volunteers, John, and I culled the dates and now we have fresh dates. They are meaty and very tasty. We also picked a few pomegranates, but have not eaten them, yet. The desert is beginning to bloom again and produce fruit. It is a blessing to be here.

Grace and Peace (Shalom),
~Alan Vanderkolk