Last Week in Israel

The last few days we were in Israel we went to Eilat and we stayed at a hostel called the Shelter. On the way there we were asked to come up with a skit and do it at the worship service that night.  We had little time to prepare and I was the main character.  It was fun and it turned out pretty great.  The service had at least 4 different  languages: English, Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish and one song is a Sudanese language. Afterwards we met some very interesting people.  I met a guy who wants to build a school in Uganda and then Cynthia and I talked to some Spanish-speakers from Chile and Mexico.  I never thought I would be speaking Spanish is Israel.

The people at the Shelter do a lot of work with the Sudanese refugees that live nearby in a kibbutz.  Israel let in about 500 refugees from Darfur but some refugees from other countries have come illegally.  The Sudanese stay in kibbutz because Israel doesn't really have resources to integrate them.   

We came to play with the children.  We brought melon and cookies for the kids and then we tried to do our play from the day before on a stage.  That was a very special skit that day.  While we were doing our skit about 4 kids come on stage.  Then one of them started punching me in the arm.  He thought it was really funny.  Finally, after a few punches that really hurt I stepped out of character and told him "stop it!"  Afterwards, we played games like duck, duck, goose, and everyone played with the kids. Me and Maria however decided to stand guard  of everyone's possessions.  At the end of the night I had been mugged by four and five year olds a few times.  

Eilat is the southern most point of Israel right next to the Red Sea.  It was about 106-108 degrees Fahrenheit everyday we were there.  Naturally, we spent most all of our free time at the Red Sea.  The Red Sea is so beautiful.  The water was crystal clear, I mean you can see 20 feet down easily.  A new friend took us to a great snorkeling location.  There was coral caves and so many beautiful fish of every color.  I even got to hold a sea cucumber!  It was really weird.  

I will continue to add more pictures and more posts about Israel as I get the time.  So, keep looking out for more posts!  

Soup Kitchen in Tel Aviv

Yesterday we went to Tel Aviv in the morning and worked at a soup kitchen.  I have no pictures because my camera was put away the whole time.  First, we made 200 more care packages.  Afterwards, I was so tired from lifting all the pallets of cans and boxes of food my hands were shaking.  It was good exercise.  I have huge trap muscles now.  Once we distributed the majority of the food into bags we painted.  We had to climb onto shelves and paint in between the shelves.  That was fun because I got to sit and lay down a bit while working.

Other people in my group sorted and folded two huge watermelon boxes full of clothes for donation.  Others helped in the kitchen and others helped install a door.  Others made coffee for the group. We got a lot of work done in the 8 hours we were there yesterday.

At dinner time, our group helped serve the food while Cynthia and I were in a prayer corner.  We prayed for the soup kitchen, and people said that things went so much more smoothly than last week when they didn't have prayer going on.  We got to pray for a few of the volunteers there and some refugees from the Congo.  We prayed for Cecilia and Gracia's family for food, rent, and for their husbands to find jobs.  They are having a very hard time here because they don't speak Hebrew, only a little English and French.

I was also blessed to meet a man named Ziyed, who is an ex muslim and now believer in Yeshuah serving the Jewish people!  We prayed that his chronic pain would go away and that his muslim wife would come to believe in Yeshuah. Oh how I wish I could speak Russian, Hebrew, and Arabic and understand all of the amazing stories all these people have to tell!

I prayed that all of us serving would have sincere compassion for the people and to love them with God's love.  I prayed that our hearts would be broken for what breaks God's heart.  At the end of the day they ran out of food and some people had to be turned away.  When I heard my heart was indeed broken like I had prayed.  I wept to think of the mothers and their children walking away after spending so much time in line.  I know that this breaks God's heart.  Of course, even amongst all the "balagan" of Israel, there must be order, and there must be a system to distribute  food, otherwise resources would be abused and the whole thing would be ineffective.  God is Jehova Jireh and provides for our needs and we must depend on Him.  

Visit to Holocaust Survivors

We did some shopping yesterday and Chelsey and I tried on the Ali Babba pants! We had a fashion show in the store for our group.  It was fun. 

Today we went to Sderot which is very close to Gaza.  They frequently get attacked by rockets and bombs here.  The bus stations are actually bomb shelters.  People have about 15 seconds from the siren to the falling of bombs. Most of the poorer population lives here because it is more dangerous.  Many of the Holocaust survivors are below the poverty level and that is what brought us there today. 

We handed out the care packages to a lot of the Holocaust survivors today.  These bags were heavy.  I would guess they are at least 35 pounds each.  

Kristin and I helped carry the care package for a couple to their apartment.  They fed us lots of fruit.  The funny thing is that Kristin hates fruit.  Haha.  They also gave us chocolate and bottles of perfume.  They were so grateful for us; it was really sweet. 

Boris and his wife only speak Russian, much like all the others we served today.  We played a game of charades today.  Boris is 78 and from the looks of a picture he showed us he was in the military.  He showed us his backyard where some bombs from Gaza had exploded.  It broke my heart to think that a boy who had survived through the Holocaust is now having to hide from bombs as an old man.  I wish I could have asked more questions but not speaking the same language limits that. 

After our first meal of fruit we had a second meal at another woman's apartment.  There was salami, cheese, pickles, marmalade cake, and cabbage stew.  It was all pretty yummy. After we ate we jumped on the bus back to our home base in Jerusalem.

I've Got So Much To Say

A lot has happened in the last few days.  I will try to keep the post short and hit some of the highlights. 

 I forgot to tell you about walking through Hezekiah's Tunnel.  We walked 1/2 mile through a cave with water in it.  It was so fun.  

Here is a view from the Mount of Olives.  

Garden of Gethsemane where Yeshuah prayed before his betrayal and death. 

While in Tiberius we did some work.  Me, Kristin and Daniel painted an apartment for a lady in her late 70's.  Other people cleaned a kindergarten room, organized books and literature, and cleaned up a lawn full of trash and a dead cat. 

One night we talked to some people on the promenade.  We met one couple and they invited us over to their apartment.  They taught us Yemenite songs and dances.  Maybe I will have movies posted later. 

The next day, with only about 4 hours of sleep, we toured around the sea of Galilee.  One of the guys said he felt like a "zombie tourist slave."  I felt bad for our tour guides because we really were zombies. 

This is in Capernaum. There is a a synagogue in the background and a house in the foreground from the first century. Behind where I took the picture is Peter's mom's house. 

In Haifa we worked at an old age home.  I cleaned kitchens with some other girls.

Then I planted two trees.  

The Baha'i temple in Haifa. 

One night we had a picnic on the beach of the Mediterranean sea in Haifa.  It was a beautiful night.  We had a devotional after dinner.  When we walked home we got ice cream and danced passed a wedding.   

One afternoon, me and Daniel walked through an Arab neighborhood while everyone else was napping.  There was all kinds of murals, statues, and other art everywhere.  We stopped to chat with a few young guys about to start smoking hookah (we did not partake).  Then one guy came up to me and said "Why are you sitting here with all these men?" and walked away. Haha, that was embarassing.  We left shortly after. 

We stopped at Ceasara on the way back to Jerusalem from Haifa.  There is a big race track there.  

This morning, we made care packages with all kinds of food for 70 Holocaust survivors that we will be meeting tomorrow.  A lot of them live below the poverty level so this will help them a lot.  I look forward to meeting them.  

Tour Day and Future Plans

Yesterday we met a tour guide in the old city.  To get there we had to walk through a beautiful neighborhood called the artist colony.  It is pictured above. 

A view of the Dome of the Rock from a rooftop in the old city. 

We tend to pack lunches and have picnics on the ground.  

During lunch we heard an explosion.  Then we heard ambulances and saw police running around. Then we realized it was a practice for a bomb.  It was kinda cool.  

This is the Western Wall.

This is the next to the Temple Mount.  Yeshuah most definitely walked around here. 

And he walked here.  

This is Eastern Jerusalem.  This is where most of the Arabs live.  It is pretty interesting to see the difference between East and West Jerusalem.  We walked through the Arab quarters yesterday and did some shopping.  Things are very peaceful right now.  One thing that was interesting to me though was during Shabbot the Arabs were sending off fire crackers in order to disturb the Sabbath.  It seems like a lot of things are kinda juvenile.  It is a new perspective of the conflict to be here. 

A huge pile of spices in the Arab quarter. It smelled pretty delish. 

We went to a little dessert cafe and got some bak la va and this stuff called Kanufa.  It is cheese, a soft cheese like mozarella with a crunchy sweet topping. 

Today's post will be the last for a while because we are traveling up north to Tiberius, Haifa and the sea of Galilee.  We will be working at an old age home.  We will probably be doing other service work but I don't know what for sure yet. 

Masada and the Dead Sea

Yesterday we had Shabbot dinner. Anton, the chef, cooked most of it so it was delicious. Then, afterwards we walked to the old city.  We walked through the Jewish quarters and then we went to the western wall.  I prayed against the wall and felt the prescence of God.  It was good.  Me and Him chatted it up a bit and then  it was time to leave.  When a person walks away from the wall they walk backwards so as not to turn their backs on God.  I really appreciate how Jews show so much respect for God and His Holy Word.  I have started to kiss my Bible every time I accidentally sit on it or something like that because that is what many who love the Word do here.  I have taken my Bibles for granted.  It is precious. I'm lucky to have one and I'm glad I have been reminded of that.  

We went to Masada today. We climbed up 450 meters in the heat.  

We got to the top and I learned about the history of Masada. 

There used to be a community of Jews who lived at the top of the plateau to be able to practice their religion freely.   They knew they were going to be seized by Romans working their way up Masada.  The Romans used Hebrew slaves to build the roads because they knew the Jews would not kill them. They filled their storehouses with water and grain to show that they did not die of being hungry or thirsty. They did no want the Romans to have a sense victory.   They chose ten people to kill the 1000 people living there.  Then they picked one person to kill the nine and then himself.  The Jews say "Never again" about this memorial because they never want to have to choose between death and freedom. It was very interesting.

Group picture at the top of Masada.

After Masada, we went to the Dead Sea.  The Dead Sea is the lowest spot on the Earth.  The Dead Sea is so full of minerals it makes the water so dense you just float there.  It was a really cool feeling.  The water feels kinda slippery on your skin.  It is famous for its skin healing properties.  People with bad psoriasis or other skin problems come to the Dead Sea for treatment.  And there is nice mud that you can rub on your skin as a beauty treatment.  It was so fun and my skin actually felt a lot smoother afterwards!

Modern Jerusalem Photos

Click on the photos to see them larger if you like. Today we walked about an hour to the shuk (market) and these are some pictures I took on the way. 

This is a picture of Jerusalem from the street.  You can see some more of the Jerusalem stone buildings.

The group walking to the market.

This is the YMCA in Jerusalem, believe it or not.  Pretty fancy, eh?

The market.  It is very crowded on Friday afternoon because everyone is busy shopping before Shabbot begins.  

Crowded market.

I liked the flowers and the mural.  They plan to build a train through Jerusalem to cut down on traffic.