Friday, March 28, 2014

RAFT Projects










Dear Fellow Jewish Citizens, 

I, Pontius Pilate know that Jesus is not the Messiah. All of those 'miracles' he performed were fakes! That man was lame all that time, Jesus used a poor lowly man for his whole life. Jesus made him pretend he was lame so he could beg for money and give it to Him. Don't you people realize that Jesus is asking for us to change our society that we've lived with forever?! If you are asking for change in this community, then you shouldn't be here in the first place. Jesus must be executed because we cannot trust him. You barely even know the man, all those miracles were just performed to gain your trust, and then stab you in the back at the very last second! We cannot let this man rule our people. He will bring bad luck and bad things to us. If he gains any more power and followers, he will over rule, so we must eliminate his competition. Jesus would ALWAYS let us undo our sins, and mistakes. That means that our world would be full of mistakes and people would get away with it! Mistakes ruin our society, and if you make this mistake of choosing Jesus as our Messiah, it will ruin your whole life. 


Sincerely,

Pontius Pilate.

Dear Greek Citizen,
    My name is Paul of Tarsus, I am a believer. A believer in Jesus,
therefore a believer in love, mercy, hope, joy, and god.  I did not
always believe this way, once, I persecuted and killed people because
they followed Jesus.  If you would be so kind as to read this letter,
I would like to tell you my story.
    In my old life, before I was baptized, I was a tent maker for the
roman army.  I was very rich, I owned a large house and worshiped to
god everyday.  My dear friend was Rubin.  When he asked me to help him
stop the believers of Jesus from worshiping I agreed, we formed an
oath.  As the days went on, Rubin developed a plan, we were to sneak
up on the believers, prosecute Steven, and stone him to death.  When I
was handed the stone, I couldn't do it.  For weeks I chased after
believers, killing them left and right.  But one day as I was going in
to kill some followers under Constantine's orders, Jesus came to me
and blinded me.  He asked me to stop persecuting his people, he told
me of their suffering and then took my vision.  That night I had a
vision that a man named Esphestuis would come and give me my vision
back, that very night he did.  I needn't say anymore, Jesus is the
messiah, the son of god.  Worship him and be baptized and he will have
mercy on you and forgive you of your sins.
Sincerely,
Paul of Tarsus


The word of Kate 15:19


In a market in Jerusalem, Stewart, who was a young and poor boy,
peered around a corner. He looked both ways, and like a snake, grabbed
three big apples from a basket at the fruit stand. No one looked at
him twice, for they understood hunger and despair. Stewart wrapped
them up in his tattered robes, and hurried off to his family. He ran
through the busy market streets, barefoot, weaving in and out until
finally at the edge of town he slowed down. A small house, not even,
sat crooked on the edge of the road. It was small and weaved from
sticks, mud, and anything lying around. It was more of a shelter than
an actual house but it was home to him. It was held together barely by
scraps of material. Stewart climbed over his muddy front yard, over
his pig, Daisy, and pushed aside the curtain that was the entrance of
his home. Triumphantly setting the  apples on the table, hai two
siblings watered at the mouth, they greedily grabbed at the fruit and
stuffed their faces, with juices dripping down their long hollow
cheeks. Stewart was the oldest, therefore the scavenger, protector and
comforter of his two little brothers. He guiltily nibbled at his
apple, but why should he feel like a bad person? He was the victim! He
scarfed down the rest of the fruit and sat outside. He looked inside,
at his siblings with no food, no parents, and they sat smiling and
laughing anyway. Stewart walked to the edge of a small stream, looking
up at the palace of Constantine, the roman emperor. He must have
everything. To go to bed at night with a full belly and a grin on your
face would be nice. It really would be nice. Daisy snorted next to
him, nuzzling his hand, and Stewart scratched her fat chin. Daisy had
been with them since their mom and dad died, when the people in the
town felt bad but had almost nothing to give. Yet they had never even
thought of her becoming their dinner, no matter how hungry they were.
Food had always been scarce in the town, and their only way of eating
was to steal from the market. He knew it was wrong, and he knew he
should apologize, because the guilt eating away at him was worse than
any hunger. Stewart crouched down and picked up the small fat pig. He
brought her inside, and set her on the table with his brothers. "I'm
going out, but I'll be back before the sun sets. Luke, look after your
brother while I'm gone and stay away from the palace." And with that
he pushed the curtain aside and crept into the busy streets. He
shuffled along the sides, people yelling at him to watch it as he was
bumped and jostled by  the people bustling about. Vendors yelled and
fought with their voices to be the loudest above all the noise. They
stretched out their hands and tried to sell things to him as he walked
by. Finally he came upon the fruit stand, ducking his head in shame as
he met eyes with the vendor. He was a big man with broad shoulders and
a rough beard, but he had kind eyes. They were deep and sparkling.
Like they held much wisdom and experience, yet they were full of
laughter. People stood around the market, buying and selling things
busily. Stewart still felt guilt and shame deep inside him, so he
mustered up the courage to talk to the vendor. He timidly raised his
head, and the vendor was looking at him, with a penetrating look, that
stared deep into his mind, as if that stare was finding his deepest
secrets. But then he broke the look, with a warm smile, and Stewart
was surprised to see him reaching for an apple. He cupped the small
fruit in his hands and offered it to Stewart. Stewart accepted it
gratefully, and tucked it inside his robe. The man spoke, a soft
voice, and kind. " Would you like to buy an apple young man?" Stewart
politely replied with a shake of his head. "Very well then, do you
need something?" Again, he shook his head. Why couldn't he say
anything? He had come all this way to talk and now his mouth was
plastered shut! He spoke in a soft whisper, barely audible o the man.
He cupped his ear as Stewart said, "I would like to apologize."
"Whatever for?"
"I stole three apples from your cart this morning and the guilt was
eating me up inside."
 The man shook his head and sighed. He rummaged around in his cart and
pulled out three large brown sacks. They were raggedy and torn up,
like they had been trampled, but the man shoved basket after basket of
apples into the bags. He then proceeded to hand the sacks to Stewart.
He took them, his eyes the size of saucers. "You're giving these to
me? Why? I stole your precious goods, what you make a living out of!
Why would you give these to me?" The man nodded politely and pushed
the bags toward his chest. "I want you to have them. You need them
more than I do."



Meanwhile, God watched from heaven and stroked his beard. He sat on a
puffy punk and gold cloud. As the sun set in the market, he watched
the two talking. He thought that they showed the most important values
of man: forgiveness, and kindness. He pondered their reward, and
finally insisted they get a place in the palace. Maybe as kings! Or
just servants. They could work and earn money for their families. God
came down form heaven and spoke to the two men. " You have shown me
that you are worthy of a reward, so I shall place you two as servants
in the palace." And with that they were suddenly dressed as royal
servants, waiting directly on Constantine and his royal court. They
continued to show their kindness and loyalty until the end of their
days.


Dear Gentiles,

     You might not believe everything that I say but the least you can do is listen and consider it. I am sure you have all heard of Jesus or the messiah as some call him. He is not dead although that is what most think.I am Peter of Tarsus and I am a loyal follower of Jesus and his beliefs. Jesus is everything you could ask for in a god. He promises an eternal life after death, he accepts everyone no matter your social status or how poor you are. For example, if you are someone who lives on the streets as a beggar, Jesus will let you follow him. Or if you are the richest person in the world and have everything you ever wanted, he will let you follow him. As you can tell he is gentle, kind, and accepting. If you begin to follow this god you will be guaranteeing a wonderful life for yourself and the others around you. I hope that you will make the right decision as I did and follow Jesus and his beliefs. If not then the least you could do to help this cause is to spread the word throughout your towns. Thank you for taking time to read and consider this letter.

Sincerely yours,

Paul of Tarsus