Day 12 - The Dead Sea

Waking up in a Bedwinian tent is one of those things that you don't forget. What a totally cool experience. Since none of us packed towels, after the dance we did last night, most of us were pretty stinky as we went to bed. We figured we would shower the next day when we got to the next hotel. Well, the flies this morning wanted to remind me how much I stunk (which really wasn't all that bad) so they buzzed around my head until I decided to get up. They didn't seem to take the hint when I swatted them away, time and again. But I got up, and much to my surprise, towels were laying in bags in the center of the tent. I guess the desert fairy had dropped them off during the night. It was cool. So we went to the shower room and had showers with towels. (Well, not really showers WITH towels, but we had towels so that taking a shower was possible). :-D

After that, we went to breakfast in a big tent. We got to sit in chairs for this meal. Typical Israeli breakfast: fruit, weird vegetables, eggs, and pudding. Yum yum eggs and pudding. We discussed worship chouruses that should be removed from the church for about 10 years. Those that come to mind are Heart of Worship, Lord I Lift your name on high, and Let the River Flow. Haha.

When breakfast was over, we loaded the bus and traveled to our hotel and unpacked in our rooms. This time I'm just staying with Rufus in a double. It is small and I seem to have clothes strewn everywhere already. I don't know how they're all gonna fit back in this suitcase. We then proceeded to travel to En Gedi. We stopped at a store and grabbed lunch - I had this really good turkey with carrots, fries, and a banana/apple/orange juice. It was a good lunch - I couldn't even finish it.

On our way to the Dead Sea, we stopped by the Ahava factory, which makes skin care products from all the minerals found in the Dead Sea. When we first got there, we had to watch a documentary about how they make the stuff and about the dead sea, and they had this lady in her bathing suit spilling minerals over herself and laying in the water. We made fun of her - but after almost all the girls bought something from the factory, and pracitacally no guys did, Eric made the observation that maybe if they had a male model, their male sales would go up. :-) I call him Pepperdine for short.

Random fact: David Crowder lives in Dr. Pepper's house. The guy who made the soda.

We finally arrived at the Dead Sea. Burt decided to leave his shoes on the bus and had a terrible time walking on the hot sand all the way down. Kevin eventually carried him. Kevin is from San Antonio and is a children's pastor in Pastor Heagy's church. We waddled down the beach, and set our stuff under an umbrella. (under my umbArella….lol). Then, after sun screening it up, hit the water. It was really hot water…probably like 85-90-95 degrees. Like, really really really warm almost hot water. So I walked out, until I couldn't touch…but I kind of still floated. Its weird because if you just stand straight for a while, either your legs float up in front of you or behind you. You literally cannot sink. Which is cool because I never can float in a pool, no matter how much "my back is straight" or whatever those swim instructors say. It was SO cool. That got old soon though (because of my ADHD - which I really don't have so scratch that. Its one of the most overdiagnosed disorders in the USA and people use it as an excuse for so many things and I don't believe them. So something else just caught my attention). I headed over to the mud pit. Eventually, we all got totally covered in the Dead Sea mud (which is supposed to be a great exfoliant) and then, appeared in a what will soon be a youtube video of us doing an "african chicken dance" led by Rufus. It was so amazing.

After our stunning debut in our youtube video, we decided to let the mud dry, and then wash it off. Most people took it off pretty quickly, because it burned. It didn't do it so much for me, so I kept it on the longest. IT does make your skin a little softer, that's about it. We did some more swimming and then it was time to go. The Dead Sea does take it out of you. Maybe it’s the 33% salinity. After that we had about 2 hours at the hotel to chill and relax before we had to go to dinner. It was nice to lay there and relax and catch up on journaling. Dinner was at 7:00 and I had shnitzel with noodles…like in the Sound of Music. Sondra from Germany say people don't eat shnitzel with noodles…I beg to differ. I have a picture to proove it. Anyway, there was also some turkey meat stuff, and I don't rmember what else. Hummus as always.

At 8:30 we had a meeting. We just spent a lot of time in worship. At the beginning of the worship session, I just felt like I couldn't worship. It was really weird. I think I just felt so unworthy to be used of the Lord and felt like He wouldn't need me, a worthless sinner, to intercede for Israel. It was really hard seeing all these people interceding, and me just sitting there feeling like I'd never be used like that. But then, Eric started praying that God would take the coal and cleanse our lips, like in isaiah (or ezekiel?). Anyway, after that, I remembered that we have been clothed in garments of righteousness; regardless of our past sin. It was such a simple thing to remember - but I think so many times the devil gets a foothold and keeps us from realizing our full potential because he reminds us of our past mistakes and how we're "destined to repeat them." The important thing is that when we ask the Lords forgiveness and and make sure we're operating in HIS strength to overcome our problems. After that, we had a good time of interceding and worship, and I was an active participant. It was Daniella's birthday (from Germany). She is 26. So we laid hands on her and prayed for her. It was a powerful, powerful time. I really didn't expect a lot of people to be pentecostal, but it seems like a majority of us are, and we are operating in the Spirit a lot and I'm learning so much just through our times of prayer. I pray that God takes these things that I'm learning about prayer, worship, and intercession, and that I can take it back home.

When prayer died down, we went down and had birthday cake - which was SOOOO GOOD. I had 2 pieces, and almost ate Ben's because he is lactose intolerant, but it was so rich I didn't know if I could go for a third round. But soon after, around 10, we broke to go get some sleep. Tomorrow we are leaving at 4:15 for a sunrise hike to the top of Masada to see the sunrise from the top of the mountian. (I feel like that last sentence was a tad redundant). Ok, that's about it. I called home today…horrah for Jessica getting out and driving. (I had to mention her sometime)

Shabbat Shalom.