Blessings 
by Shimrit Hanes

Shalom everyone, 

We are preparing for summer tour, and as we prepare physically, we also prepare ourselves spiritually. We have been in prayer about when and where, for blessings on our booking person, about who will travel with us and what the focus of this tour will be. 

We do not have answers to all the questions yet, but what we do know, we will share with you. 

This year Andre’ and Kerah will be busy with other commitments and as Mark and I prefer to be part of a team, we were even considering not touring at all this summer. Then I received a text message from our good friend Les Morrison saying, “We need to get together and do some recording, and we should tour together! I really miss you guys, call us!” So we did, and the result is that we are touring on the east coast this summer, with Les and Darcy Morrison.  

We are very excited about that. Les has played on two of our three albums, and has toured with us extensively in the past. We love his wife Darcy, who has a lovely singing voice, and we are really looking forward to touring with the two of them! 

  

 

I have written several new songs, and some of the older new songs we have never finished recording. We want to have as much of the new music available (for digital download at least) as possible, so we have been working on getting two older songs finished, and two more started that we can keep simple and hopefully also get finished by the time we leave for the tour. We are so blessed that we will be able to tour the east coast this year, it has been several years! We are blessed that Adonai freed up Les and Darcy to travel with us! We are blessed that we have fresh new music to share! So many Blessings! 

  

A Quiet Place ~ My Vision by Mark Hanes 

When I first walked this land I felt the peace of Adonai. It was quiet, woodsy, and sheltered. I felt like it had great potential, both as the home we had been searching and praying for, and as a place that fit what we had been envisioning for several years, to host others while working on recording projects. Our greatest hurdle was that we now had very little cash flow, and this land was going to need an infusion of that, to make it truly livable.  

After a time of doing everything we could with the little that we had left after the land purchase, and stretching that by repurposing useful garbage that had been dumped on the land, Andre and Kerah left to work with his parents in Haiti. 

A beautiful truck had been donated to us for use while traveling with Andre and Kerah, and we had that truck and their Airstream trailer. The truck got poor milage, was too nice for farm work, and had lots of bells and whistles that we just didn’t need, so needing the funds more than the fancy truck, we sold it. 

Now we had the funds to really make forward progress, and at this point Baruch and Adrielle had moved down, to help us. At first they lived with us in the RV, as the Airstream was an allergy problem for Adrielle. When we were truly needing to have separate living quarters, some good friends offered us a trailer that they weren’t using. It had some bad water damage, so some funds were used to rebuild the back of it, and do some re-modeling. 

Between our funds and the kids, we were able to build a building for them for a workshop and storage, put in septic system, a filtration system for our well, build a trailer for hauling garbage and transporting materials, and many repairs of equipment and tools. Adonai provided! 

  

Andre’ and Kerah by Shimrit Hanes 

Andre’ and Kerah are not in Haiti anymore! 

They have been so faithful and helpful to both our ministry in Zemer Levav, and in Andre’s parents Haiti ministry, it’s wonderful that Adonai opened a door for them to finally do something new. 

They are now living in Georgia, and are with both the ministry of “Tree of Life” Messianic Bible and a congregation in the area. Andre’ is doing web development and other “techie” work for both, and Kerah is a Worship Director, and Girl Friday for the office. 

They finally live in a house that doesn’t move, and are dealing with all the practical things that newlyweds usually deal with, (how are we going to organize our finances, schedules, what do you like to eat, what groceries will we buy?) but they’ve been married for three years! It has been an adjustment, but they are adjusting beautifully and doing very well. 

We are so glad that they are close enough to visit now and then, and not in a foreign country or across ours. We are planning on recording together, not sure how or when, but  the desire is there, and we will make plans as they get more settled. 

  

  

Paradise Lost 
by Shimrit Hanes 

Have you ever heard the Hebrew term “Tikkun Olam?” That was the phrase foremost on my mind as we walked this acre to get a good look at it before we bought it. My heart was in my shoes, as I walked over the mess. It would be so much work to clean it up, and I was already so tired from touring for 13 years, and then taking care of Mark”s mom in home hospice care, then more touring, before we finally landed here. I was in such bad shape, I’d have to lie down after taking a walk! I just wanted a peaceful place to rest, recuperate, and reassess my life. 

“Tikkun Olam” means to “Heal the World” and this land definitely needed healing. We have shared in past newsletters how really awful the whole acre was when we did purchase it, and there is a full description of it then, and now (so you can see all that we have accomplished) with a nice slideshow and a video about our well, on the new page I recently uploaded to our website:  

//http:zemerlevav.org/zlartisanretreat 

I titled this article “Paradise Lost” because underneath all the garbage, this piece of land was beautiful, and there were several features that made it very attractive to me, despite the mess. We have one of the oldest and most beautiful spreading white oaks complete with bromeliads and spanish moss. Another large red oak has a gorgeous tropical bromeliad growing at it’s base. I love the large circular driveway in the front with plenty of room for parking for guests, holiday festivities, etc. It was the acre Mark chose, and so we began the work. 

  

At first I would work for about an hour, and then come in and lie down for 20 minutes to a half hour, but over time, with the outdoor work, I began to regain some strength and now I’m just about back to normalcy! So while “healing the land” the land healed me. As difficult as it can be, God knew what I needed. 

We still have much to do, and we could use some help (besides, it's more fun with more hands, and the fellowship, and campfires are great!) both physical and financial. We have divided the work that's left into projects, and the first is "The Well". There is a donate button on the webpage if you want to be a part of making this a place where musicians and artists can come together for prayer, recording and other projects, and some good healthy fun.