She mentioned Hebrew. Then she mentioned that she'd been to Israel. I was quick to put two and two together and she affirmed. Yes, she's Jewish. We talked about the culture a little and finished up the meal. On the way home we realized we were staying in the same hostel, so we mentioned grabbing a bite to eat for dinner much later on.
While I was hanging out in the room, reading, Naty knocked at the door.
"Hey, sorry I can't make dinner tonight. I ran into a couple of Israelis in our hostel and they invited me to a Shabbat."
I was overjoyed for her, and then timidly asked, "You think it would be okay if I came? I've always wanted to go to a traditional Shabbat."
She was shocked. I assured her that if I couldn't go, since I'm a Christian, I understood. But I had so much curiosity!
She checked with her friends, and I joined her for a beautiful Shabbat in the middle of Ushuaia. No, they didn't speak Spanish. The sixty or so present spoke only in Hebrew, in which case, I understood nothing. However, I loved it all the same, embracing the beauty of the community that chose to meet despite being from other parts of the world, on vacation, etc. etc. I enjoyed listening to the message, and most, listening to the young men, adorned in their yamakas, singing and reading Scripture.
I was a little tired though, and apologized for my need to leave early. Two hours had already passed, and there was no telling how much longer it would take. Not to mention that the only plans for afterward were to go to a bar, which doesn't exactly fill me up.
The next day, I had gone to Laguna Esmerelda and came home with a stomach ready to eat, and eat well. Specifically, the famous King Crab of Ushuaia! I had to coax Naty to come with me, only because she didn't want to spend too much money to go out to eat. I reassured her that I had a friend (Friend!) who had blessed me and I wanted to use that money to bless her. So she acquiesced.
I asked her more questions about the Jewish culture. I was able to coincide a lot that I had already learned through a former roommate, as well as other studies of the Bible I had done. Which is when, after all the explaining had been done, she said to me,
"What do you believe any way?"
As shocked as she was on Friday, I had to hold every excitement inside me. "As in, what I believe as a Christian?"
"Yeah. I have no idea about any of it. Can you explain it to me?"
Umm.. YEAHHH!!!!!
And so I progressed through the basics, but also used the facts of the Old Testament to show the need for the Savior Jesus. I added how important it was for Jesus to resurrect, so He could give us the gift of the Holy Spirit. "And I know the Holy Spirit is real because in all of this time that I have been talking with you, I feel His power giving me the words and making it clear."
She nodded. "It's all so fascinating," she said. She told me she had never known about Jesus, and that she wanted to study more about Him if possible. I pointed her in the direction of the Bible and how it helps me to understand God's character in general.
We finished up dinner and didn't get to talk much more during our time together. Nonetheless, it was an amazing conversation, and I was able to give her a bracelet with the colors that express the salvation story. I added a note thanking her for her time and for all I learned from her. She wrote me back before she left about how it was a pleasure to get to know one another.
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