Greetings and salutations!

A Residence Based Re-cap

Canada (Home)
1980-2003/2003-Present (intermittent)

I lived in various towns and cities across Alberta, grew up, completed school, got a degree, worked various jobs and started my professional career, among other things. I chose to leave to explore other options and pursue some of my interests and goals.

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Japan

2004

I lived in Numazu for just under half a year, teaching English to children. I chose to leave as I was unhappy with the near-total isolation I experienced during this time. My decision to visit Japan was directly linked to my first visit to Israel the year prior.

2006-2007

I lived in Osaka for just over a year, teaching English once again, though for a different company and in a much different environment. I enjoyed my time in Osaka immensely and left because my Israeli working visa came through. The timing as also fortuitous as shortly thereafter the company I was working for collapsed.

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Israel

2003

I volunteered at Moshav Yad Hashmona for three months before returning to finish my degree.

2005

I spent another month and a half as a guest at Yad Hashmona while I looked for work. I returned to Canada to continue working and pursuing options related to Israel.

2007-Present

I arrived in Israel, having procured a working visa, on Aug. 30th of last year. After five months living in Haifa, I have spent the last two in Kfar Sava. I have been working on various marketing and technical documentation/communication projects. During my time here I have faced various challenges and am in an ongoing process of transition.

 Of Easter

Of course, outside of Jerusalem, it's hard to find celebrations of any traditionally Christian holiday, even among the Messianic Jewish community. I was able to attend a Purim event though. Purim is the time that Jews remember their salvation from near destruction - the story can be found in the Biblical account of Esther. Oddly enough, this holiday is essentially a Jewish Halloween and all the kids dress up in costumes, get candy, and the usual deal.

I watched Jay Leno's most recent episode of "Jay Walking" where he went out and asked random Americans basic biblical knowledge questions like:

• What was Jesus' trade?
• The ____ shall inherit the earth
• Man shall not live by ____ alone
• Who was the Good Samaritan?
• What was the name of the woman who loved Jesus?
• What did most of the apostles do for a living? 

And so on. Not much to my surprise, most of the people he asked didn't know the answers to many of these basic questions, and we wonder why some Muslims mock us?

Anyway, I also came across a wonderful little Easter anecdote contained in Saturday's 24-7 Spaces Podcast. The speaker used the illustration that, for many believers, we look back at yesterday knowing the Christ died to save us. We look ahead with expectations to the miracles of tomorrow, but today we often find ourselves struggling with doubt and fear, wondering where God is in our lives. That really struck home for me. Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and took the time to reflect on the essence of the celebration.

With Hope,
Joseph