Bedouin

When my late husband, Milt, and I moved from Netanya to Arad in '98, we met a Bedouin man who runs a coffee shop here. He has 4 children and we became friends with him and his family. We asked if we could "adopt" them as our grandchildren, since we didn't have any family here. They were so pleased that they immediately instructed their children to call us "Grandma & Grandpa". We had eaten at their house a couple of times and they had introduced us to their friends & family. When Milt died in May, 1999, they were devastated and cried. Ali even did not shave for thirty days as a sign of mourning. Aslam declared that she wanted to have another son and name him Milton in honor of Milt.

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When I returned from the funeral, Ali publicly made a declaration adopting me as his mother and offered me the chance to move in with them. It was an emotional experience for me.

Since then, I have been offered a permanent invitation to their families' tents and houses. I have been in Ali's parents' encampment where his two brothers, and sister and all their many children live. And I have been in Aslam's sisters' houses with all the extended immediate family (about 50 people) live. Plus, I have been introduced to their friends who visit them in Arad. This has become an ongoing experience. I attend the children's birthday parties and sometimes, special school events and I usually see Ali and Aslam 4 or 5 times a week. I try to do special things for them as they are struggling financially and of course, I love them a lot!

My friend, Eddie,(see note at bottom of page) is visiting Israel at the present time and is documenting his visit on the website "Experience Israel". http://www.angelfire.com/super/redhorse/index.html I took him to visit with Aslam at her sisters' houses. You can see some of the pictures on the website. We will be adding more, since we have been invited to Ali's parents' tent & will go there soon. Bedouin hospitality is very gracious - it is assumed that when visitors come, they will stay for at least 3 days. So far, I haven't done that. It is also considered polite to bring gifts for the family and treats for the children. That can get quite expensive when you are dealing with a large large family.

The Bedouins in this area were born in Israel - the Negev desert area. They came originally from Saudi Arabia a few generations ago & were used to moving around until the past century. Now they are settled in this area and prospering.

When I visit them, they take me to the hospitality room of the house or tent, and we sit on the cushions on the floor. The hosts prepare sweet tea & offer cookies, or bread & cheese. We make polite conversation and children come and go (usually quietly to look at the visitor & giggle and go out and other children come - it's quite funny!) Then they begin bringing food and setting it in front of me - small dishes of different salads, relishes and meat courses and pita bread. The guests are expected to eat first, then the host family will eat. Then fruit, dessert (cake) & bitter strong coffee are served last.

The children love to have their picture taken, so I make a fuss over them. I touch their heads and they feel special. It's a lot of fun.

Recently Ali has been fighting an ongoing illness - he has to have weekly check-ups with the gastroenterologist. I had an opportunity to talk to him about the Lord and how he should pray to Y'shua (Jesus). He told me he prays to Mohamed, Moses and Y'shua to cover all his bases. I told him Y'shua is the only One who is alive. The other two are dead and can't help him. Y'shua is G-d and He should pray to him only. He accepted that very well and so I have an ongoing relationship with this family. I was also able to explain to Aslam that Allah and G-d are not the same person. I have made sure she received the Gospel in Arabic as well as Hebrew. They accepted Bibles in Arabic and Hebrew, so the Lord is working in this family.

Ali has since greatly improved as far as his health goes, but is still having some problems. He is out of the hospital and back to work. I credit the Lord with that.

An unusual request we have received from another group of Bedouins is that we start a Christian school for them. They want their children to have a good education and they don't want them exposed to the radical Muslim clerics who are teaching in the Arab schools. They heard good reports from the northern Bedouins who are paying to send their children to a private Christian school. We told them we would find the teachers & get the school accredited if they do the government paperwork. We also told them we needed at least 10 families to start a school. They said they already had more than that. The Lord is moving among the Bedouin!

"...there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb." Rev. 7:9