Teens Offer Perspective On Visit To Israeli Farms
SANDRA LEPLEY
Somerset Co. Correspondent
SPRINGS (Somerset Co.)
Two teenagers from Springs in
Somerset County recently re
turned from a six-month mission
trip to Israel, where they were
able to visit a Kaibbutz (pro
nounced Kabutz) or cooperative
farmstead, as well as the country
of Turkey and the city of Jerusa
lem.
Crystal Dornburg and Angela
Maust, both 19, were in Israel
during the Iraqi Freedom War
and described their time spent
there as a learning experience
and a calling from God on their
lives.
Crystal Dornburg and Angela Maust, both 19 and from
Springs in Somerset County, recently returned from a
missions trip to Israel, where they mostly stayed in Tel-
Aviv. While there, the two teens were able to visit a Kaib
butz, or farmstead.
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“I’d do it again in a heart
beat,” said Dornburg. “I told my
self before all this I was never,
ever going to be a missionary. I
liked it in the United States and
that is where I was going to stay
but I learned so much.”
The teenagers mostly stayed in
Tel-Aviv and helped teach a kin
dergarten class where Messianic
Jews, or Jews believing in Christ,
sent their children to school.
During their stay, they visited
a Kaibbutz in the town of Yotva
ta. A Kaibbutz is similar to a co
operative farm only much, much
bigger and more like a small
town.
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better relationships with others
during their adolescent years.
Dads like to play with their
children, and what is learned
during quality play cannot be un
derestimated. Children leam to
take necessary risks, rise to new
challenges, and explore cause
and effect when they engage in
recreation with Dad.
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“They have everything in a
Kaibbutz,” said Angela. “There is
a daycare, movie theaters, a gym,
and stores. It’s more like a com
munal living arrangement and
there are foreign volunteers who
go there.”
Maust explained that there are
three or four main dairy Kaib
butz farms, which are the main
producing dairies for the whole
country. They also have Kaibbutz
farms that produce peaches, veg
etables, and fruits.
“The whole country is so inter
esting. Our quarters in Tel-Aviv
were just outside the Sea of Gal
ilee and we could see the water as
we looked out our window,” said
Maust.
Both Domburg and Maust de
scribed Israel as a multicultural
country with Jewish Russians,
Argentineans, Americans and
others from different countries.
They both laughed about how
one could walk down the streets
of Tel-Aviv and pass a woman
covered completely in cloth and
another woman would be wear
ing a belly shirt and shorts.
“Judaism is a lot like Chris
tianity in the United States,” ex
plained Maust. “Some are very
devout, like Orthodox Jews, and
others are Jewish by heritage but
may not practice the religion at
all.”
During their stay, the teens
spent two weeks in Turkey and
also visited Jerusalem, which
means they rode from the north
of Israel to the south through the
West Bank, which is considered a
dangerous territory. They said
that they each kept praying (for
protection) during that bus ride.
They were able to see the Wailing
Wall, where they could look over
and see the Dome of the Rock.
They also visited the Mount of
Olives and other places.
“I really felt safe in Israel,
more so than in Turkey,” said
Moms tend to teach reasoning,
creativity, and organization
skills.
Moms and Dads alike have the
same goal to help their child
make sense of and manage him
self in the wider world. So, tum
bling on the floor together is im
portant after all!
Maust, who now helps as a cook
with mission work in Ohio. “I
live in Columbus and hear gun
shots in the middle of the night.
Israel was not like that. It was
peaceful for the most part.”
Despite the fact both girls felt
safe in Tel-Aviv, there were times
of trepidation as the whole of Eu
rope faced an unknown war be
tween Afghanistan and America.
At one point, the girls went to
a training course on how to prop
erly wear a gas mask. They often
heard heated debates about the
war in town but they felt as if
most Israelis had a big amount of
trust in America.
Both girls chose Israel as their
first selection because they felt
that was where God was leading
them. But, almost a year of prep
aration went on before the actual
plane ride over the ocean on
Dec. 3 of last year for the six
month journey into the unknown.
Last summer, they each raised
$7,000 through various fund-rais
ers, donations, church dinners,
and even selling their vehicles.
They both belong to Maple Glen
Pictured by a rock near the entrance to Tel-Aviv, Israel
are Crystal Dornburg, Angela Maust, Kristina Nisly of Al
buquerque, N.M., David Diller, El Paso, Texas, and Zac
hary Miller, West Freedom.
Ql, SUS( (UEIL'iNNA
1 UINTING
Mennonite Church. Last fall,
they each took a three-month
training course in Columbus,
Ohio.
“When a teenager sells their
car, you know they are serious,”
said Pam Domburg, Crystal’s
mother. “A car is everything to a
teenager, so we knew they were
planning to go through with the
decision. We also realized our
country could be going into a
war.”
Pam Domburg explained that
her daughter Crystal and seven
other girls participated in 4-H In
ternational Foods contests when
they were younger. Pam hosted
them out of her house. Ironically,
one of the other girls who partici
pated in the class is now a mis
sionary in Africa.
“We loved to study about for
eign lands and prepare foods
from different places,” laughed
Pam. “I just never knew where
that would lead someday. I never
thought my daughter would go to
Israel during a war but prayers
got us through it and now she is
back home safe and sound and
we are thankful.”
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