This time we visited especially our Mischpacha (family). Maria flew ten days before me, because the second son Negev of Judith and Ron was born. What a joy to live a life as a four generation family (see the picture below)! If we can learn something from Judaism, than it is the esteem of the family as a place for shared living, learning together the word of god and the worship of the god of Israel.

We were very happy to be with our brothers and sisters in Sde Boker in the Negev desert. How they live their faith reminds us at the first church in Jerusalem - they are sharing everything, they help each other, their houses are open for guests, they are generous - despite that it is hard to earn money there. God counts on us - to share our wealth with them.

We spend some lovely days with our friends from Haifa Avishay and Chava and our mother Ruth from Tivon. We were close as we saw the anger of the Arabs and the blame that all the world was giving Israel about what happened with the "Gaza flotilla". In these moments you can see who is a real friend of Israel.

At the 5th of May met Christians from the Andreas church their good friends from the Jewish community in the congregation house of the Andreas church. This time they spoke about the roots of Christian feasts in the biblical feasts of the Tora, which is the basic of a Jewish life. If Christians forget from where they originate from, than the feasts will be a dead ritual. Amazing were the shares of the children choir, the magnificent dances of the Jewish dancing group and spontaneous requests to speak.

This time Maria Hoffmann, Cornelia Sommerfeld, Heidi Bornmann, Claudia Laule (Andreas church) and Christine Pelz (Duisburg) flew to Tel Aviv. The first four days we stayed in the house of Kelly and Jaron Glik in Sde Boker. Judith (Maria's daughter) joint our group two days later. For the first day after our arrival Karen Maayan had planed and organized a hike in the Negev desert with some of our friends; like: Jannie and her daughter Ilana from Omer, Jolanda from Kardesh Barnea, Ranndi Bass from Beer Sheva, Mary, Kelly, Karen and Mary's daughters from Sde Boker and others. Our way went from Sde Boker through Wadis, who were changed by the rain to the resting place, a spring named Ein Akev.

Brave Connie and Maria even took a bath in the cold water of the spring. After we ate and rested we went uphill next to dizzying canyons to a tent of a Bedouin family who is living in the middle of the desert. The Bedouin woman Magdalena was expecting us and entertained us to a meal with a lot of love. She is open for the gospel and she loves it when people are praying for her and to listen to the songs of praise. We spend a wonderful time together.

The next day we rested from the 25 km hike by summer temperatures and met women from Omer and Beer Sheva for lunch in the house of Ranndi. The times we spend together by talking and praying for and with each other, we are seeing more and more how the new man takes shape.

On Friday we had together with Torsten Kluge and his group, the Saxony worship people, a "Kabbala Shabbat" in the middle of the desert (on the ground of the biblical future farm of Maayans). This time roused up feelings like in the time of Abraham (see picture of Baruch Maayan). After the Shabbat meal we had a time full of worship, dancing and prophetical prayer.

On Shabbat we traveled via Massada and the Dead Sea to Jerusalem. For Claudia and Christine it was the first time in Israel and they had also time to do a bit sightseeing and to visit historical sites. It is always special to be in Jerusalem, the city of the king. By walking on the city wall, visit of the western wall, a walk in Mea Shearim, Jewish new city and the historical old city we absorbed the atmosphere of Jerusalem. 

On the last day before the departure we met Yonit Klein from Nes Harim for a breakfast and spend a lovely time together.

It makes us happy to see how the relationships to the Messianic women in Israel grow from year to year.

For autumn we would like to invite so many women as possible for one week to Germany and for this we need also your (financial) support. We are planning that every woman will stay in the house of one of us women and we would like to pay their stay and their flights to Germany (two days we would like to stay with them in a wellness hotel). Kristiane Flemmig and I felt last autumn that it is important for the women to rest a while from their hard life that most of them have in Israel. We really want to be a blessing for them.

5,5 years after the idea was born by Maria Hoffmann and a bit less than a year after the Israeli Moran choir visited Leipzig,a dream came true – the Gewandhaus Kinderchor flew to Israel to perform the Brundibár children opera together with the Moran choir in Israel. It was a moving reunion between the children of both choirs and friendships which started in Leipzig already, grow deeper, while rehearsals and trips (some of the children of the Moran choir participated in). 

Some of the survivors of the concentration camp Terezin were at the same time in Israel and they had common activities together (like the opening of the traveling exhibition "girls from room 28" in Tel Aviv, meetings and conversations between them and the children of the Gewandhaus Kinderchor). To see Brundibár played by German and Israeli children together after more than 60 years was for the survivors as a circle would be closed. Naomi Faran, leader of the Israeli Moran choir is a daughter of  Holocaust survivors and said: "Finally I can close this door and look forward". 

The children from Leipzig and the accompanying adults changed their view of Israel and his inhabitants through the new experience and impressions they made. They got a new understanding for the state of Israel. The husband of Judith, Ron Stern, our tour guide, was a big part in this process. In the way he showed and explained the land and its history to the children he aroused understanding and love in their hearts.

A very emotional experience was the visiting of  the Shoa memorial Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. We were guided by a young man who was born in Germany and has a German mother and an Israeli father. The special way he leaded us in Yad Vashem helped us to see the horror that had happened without being overwhelmed with feelings of guilt. A lot of children said in the end that the horror got a face now.

For the children from both countries the farewell was hard, many tears were cried and promises for friendships were given. May this be a foundation that they as Germans will stay with Israel and the Jews in hard times.

The principle of the opera: "You need to count on friendship and go new ways" became alive again.