Musalaha's music conference was held the weekend of March 24-25. Men and women began gathering on Friday afternoon at Jerusalem House; by the end of the evening 18 people were present. New Hebrew and Arabic worship songs were taught, then after dinner Renate taught us Israeli folkdances. Most of the group enjoyed the dancing, although a few people had to give up when it became too complicated. It was a great time of joy and fellowship-- and also a way of keeping warm in the big house! To close the evening, Laura shared an Arab song translated to Hebrew with us, and we ended with prayer. Saying goodnight and leaving was difficult, so people lingered for a time of fellowship. After getting to know each other better, we parted company for the night.

The next morning we gathered around the breakfast table in the same Jerusalem House-- quite an accomplishment after the late night conversations! Our focus was on learning Arabic songs, but we also had time for a few in Hebrew before lunch. Musalaha had invited a diverse group of people and therefore thought participants would be coming from both the Israeli and Palestinian sides. However, due to the Pope's visit the latter group went to the Galilee, leaving a group of Israelis to learn Arabic songs! The Lord showed us grace by blessing us with His presence in a special way. We experienced a true time of worship as we learned to find our way through the Arab pronunciations and rhythms. Renate and Rani, the worship leaders for the conference, had compiled a new songbook for the event. They thought of a logical way of describing the Arabic sounds, transliterating Arabic words into Latin letters with a very readable and understandable format. Our hope is that this system will make it easier for foreigners/ Israeli Messianic Jews to participate in the services. The songbook itself was quite an important result of the conference, as the creation of a songbook with both Arabic and Hebrew songs is long overdue and much needed. Musalaha hopes to use this as a basis for a larger and more complete collection of worship songs from the Land.

A worship session was held after the meal. People from different congregations had been invited, and several showed up. We opened the time by sharing what the Lord had been reminding us of that weekend. One woman said that she thought this was only the beginning of what He was going to do. Another student shared how she usually felt pressure to be studying; she had even considered taking breaks from the conference to study. The Lord had convinced her to rest during the conference, and she found that it was a source of peace for her. Even though the weekend didn't turn out the way we as humans planned it, I am sure that it was a pleasing weekend to the Lord. Like the mustard seed sown in faith, He will let the work begun there grow into a mighty tree.

by Karin Juul Jensen