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Olive picking season is underway in the Holy Land. This past weekend we helped friends who split time between their home here in Beit Sahour and living with family in Hickory. It was a good introduction to the task, and there will be more opportunities in the weeks ahead for us as a family and…

On Christy’s birthday, she and I joined a small group to visit the grounds at al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Later that evening we paid a visit to the rooftop restaurant at Notre Dame to toast another trip around the sun for Christy. Most are familiar with the Dome of the Rock with its iconic architecture and…

Greetings, y’all. It’s been a busy past two weeks. The kids were home from school for a week during the Sukkot holiday, so we fit in several outings and events during that time to keep us from going stir crazy in the apartment. As a public service I did not take any photos of the…

This is the chapel at the Swedish Theological Institute in West Jerusalem. A visiting bishop presided over worship this past Friday, so Christy and I supported several Swedish friends and colleagues (who are regulars at Christy’s church) by joining them for their Swedish-language worship. NCD (New City Disorder) Cult is a a collective of street…

There are three neighborhood cats that frequent our door: King David (Orange Tabby with dark stripes), Charlie XCX (Grey/Black Domestic Shorthair), and Robert (Orange Tabby with light stripes). Though King David is the name passed along from the previous tenant of our apartment, His Majesty leans into the title by being the most territorial of…

Greetings from your Holy Land Lohr Sapps. This past week saw us attending a birthday gathering, having dinner with friends, catching a silent film in the chapel were Christy presides, and some other awww-inspiring moments. This coming Sunday marks the start of Yom Kippur, or “Day of Atonement”, in Israel. During its observance much of…

The past week was busy and the kids start to ramp up their extracurricular activities in and out of school. There was also a Meet & Greet at Christy’s church. Oh, OMG SADIE TURNED FIFTEEN!!!!! [Insert words of amazement about where the time goes.] Everyone have a great weekend. Much love from the Lohr Sapps.…

This is the sign that Sadie made in memory of Seamus, who is now bringing life to a plant that Sadie picked out.

You needn’t spend much time in Jerusalem to see Israeli military reservists – on leave/furlough but still active for mobilization – in civilian clothes, carrying assault rifles with them in their day-to-day lives. It takes some getting used to and can lead to many moments of contextual incongruity. The 20-ish female soldier in uniform? Sure.…

We we’re having a wonderful few nights of culture last week: on Tuesday we watched silent comedy shorts (Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd) with live musical accompaniment at Christy’s church; on Wednesday, we saw an outdoor performance of Shakespeare’s The Tempest in a West Jerusalem park. And then Thursday morning came around, starting a weeklong bout of…