John:
The warm Galilean evening was in sharp contrast to the frigid Canadian morning, as smiles, laughter, reminiscing, and Zoom brought two families back together.
Nine years earlier, my wife and I had been looking for a cultural experience for our young teenagers when we found a Servas Israel family in Israel. Adar and Anna agreed to host us although they had recently welcomed their third child.
When we arrived, our families bonded immediately; when the time came for us to leave, Adar and Anna insisted that we stay. We visited a wonderful Servas family in the Golan Heights, then returned to Adar and Anna with freshly-picked cherries. We cooked the cherries into jam and pies; even the children got into the baking action.
It is these unexpected delights which make Servas so special to us. Our now 21 and 23 year-old daughters joined a zoom reunion, continuing our valuable cross-cultural experience; one which would bring a smile to the face of Servas founder Bob Luitweiler.
