Missionary Update - Dov and Lyndee Gelman

June 2008 Greetings from balmy Jerusalem! School will be letting out here in Israel on June 30. The majority of kids we work with in the schools and kindergartens live in the same housing projects. While there is excitement amongst the kids for the two month break, there is also the reality that their more affluent classmates will be attending full-day summer camps while they are left at home without much to do and often without parental supervision. In light of this reality, we are focusing our attention this summer on creating programs that will help to diminish the idle, unsupervised hours that these kids will have. Check out our plans...

VALUES, VOLUNTEERING & VACATION

Rachel will be taking our girls' group to the next level this summer. Aside from the once a week values and character training that she has been doing since the Spring, she will lead the girls into the realm of volunteerism by way of an Ethiopian new immigrant absorption center in Mevaseret Zion (just outside of Jerusalem). We are building on a relationship that we forged with this center this past winter when we purchased 500 brand-new winter coats for their inhabitants. Once a week, Rachel and "her girls" will volunteer with the center's summer camps. (As an aside, the center houses Ethiopian new immigrants for 2 years while they learn Hebrew and how to be "absorbed" into Israeli society. They have their own school, their own language school and they run their own summer camps). Finally, to sprinkle a bit of sugar on top of the values-training and volunteering, Rachel will be taking the girls on a fun field trip once a week as well. They have tons of options - from exploring Jerusalem's archaelogical history, to paint ball, to hanging out at an amusement park. Go Rachel!!

FAMILY SPONSORSHIP FOCUS
We currently have 41 children in our Family Sponsorship Program, most (but not all) of these children are from single parent homes. A strong focus of ours this summer is to increase our home visitations - with the intention of getting these kids outside to play. In addition, we are planning field trips for these kids during the month of August.

COOL NATE

We are bringing on a new staff person for the summer. His name is Netanel, but we call him "Cool Nate." He is 17 and is one seriously gifted children's worker! He has grown up his whole life without a dad, has faced many obstacles and trials, yet has incredible leadership abilities (that he admits could lead those that follow onto good paths or bad). He is one of the leaders in the 'Hood, and Dov has taken him under his wing. Cool Nate has helped with some of our trips and outreaches in the past, and we've decided to give him a summer job, and more importantly, some purpose!

35 DAYS

We (as in Dov, our 2 children and I) will be embarking on a 35 day adventure to the States in June/July. We will be in 10 different states (maybe 11) and various cities within those States. What sits most heavily on our hearts is children. We plan to bring an awareness of the poverty that kids in Israel face. MBKI is helping to meet those needs (in the area of influence that the L-rd has given to us), and we want to give churches and individuals the opportunity to help support the work that we do. The L-rd has also laid other messages on Dov's heart to share in the different regions that we will be in. We feel that the L-rd has called us to trek to the States as a family, and He has allowed this trip to become a reality through the hugely generous donation of a friend of ours in Georgia. So to him we send out some serious thanks!! Go to www.mbki.com to sign up for this monthly newsletter!!