Thailand Prep

Hello all!

I'm gearing up for my trip to Thailand from April 30 - May 20.  This will be the blog for updates, etc.  As of today, my insurance forms are all cleared, my budget is raised, and the flight is booked.  Continue to pray for the political situation over there - I heard from the missionary today and everything looks good for me to go.  16 days left!

Thank you all for your support!  Continue to pray for me as I finish out the semester!

Day 26 - Viva La Vida

We stayed up all night. That probably wasn't the most logical decision. I tried to upload a video tonight from facebook but it didn't load. I chatted with a couple of people on IM, then came in around 3 to get a shower and pack. We STILL don't have hot water, but every time Ben came out of the bathroom, I thought there was steam. I'm like, "HOW DID YOU GET HOT WATER?" He would always say "The steam is from me, not the water." I didn't believe him, but then I learned that your body produces more heat when you get really cold, and taking a shower under that water…I understand why. It was SOOO COLD. Grace was asleep on our beds when I got in, she woke up pretty soon though. After my chilling experience in the shower (oh and Raf borrowed my shampoo to help hydrate his hair and used it as gel. Haha), I started to pack. I hate packing, but I guess it is for the last time. At 3:45, Michael came in our room and said it was time to load the buses, even though we still had 15 minutes. Well, I wasn't totally packed yet, and Ben was still transferring files from my computer. I quickly tried to shove things in every place I could think of, and hurriedly exited the upstairs door. I made sure to prop the door because it looked like it was locked. I quickly made my way to the bus, and it looked like everyone was already in the bus. I quickly sprinted back upstairs to get my laptop and bookbag. As I approach the door, I see Ben coming out. I quickly yelled for him to hold the door. He responded with, "Oh no, it doesn't lock." But as I reached it and tried to open, I found out that it was, in fact, locked. And it wasn't for him because a very good friend of his had PROPPED the DOOR! I hurriedly ran around the hotel to the other entrance, ran up 2 flights of stairs, and got my stuff. I had no time to do a once-over of the room, so I quickly and spastically glanced about as I ran out towards the bus. I was the last one on. As soon as I got on, the bus driver started driving. We left at exactly 4:01 AM. (if it helps, I was really on time for the original orders to load up at 4).

We got the the airport, where Asia got questioned for like 10-15 minutes about her luggage and books and stuff. We were a little worried. She returned eventually and we continued to wait in a line that literally NEVER MOVED. It was then that we heard a "Where's Banana?" (That meant Hannah). As soon as we heard it all of our stomachs dropped. We all know we hadn't seen Hannah since last night. As we quickly glanced around, we knew the inevitable had occurred - Hannah was still at the hotel! We felt HORRIBLE! No one noticed she was gone until about an hour and a half after we left. Michael had already left us - so we didn't know who to tell. We eventually saw Michael come back in from outside, and we yelled to him HANNAH! He nodded like he already knew. We were so sad. But there really wasn't anything we could do.

We got thru the pre-security luggage you have to go thru BEFORE you can check in to your flight. Then we checked our bags. There were shady McDonalds outside the next security checkpoint (the one with your carryons). We didn't want to eat there. I had to throw out my water bottle because I thought they wouldn't let me keep it - which was false. Everyone else kept theirs. I felt stupid. Laws are different in Israel. This security point was different than one in the US. There were 10 lines close to each other, and you just stood in a big mass and guessed what line you were in. Lucky for some of us, number 11 opened right in front of us. About 8 of us got through pretty quickly. We then went to McDonalds for breakfast. Remembering how incredibly awful the food is in Paris prompted us to buy chicken nugget value meals for 40 shekels (about 12-13 dollars!!!). Ridiculous. But we figured you gotta eat sometime - and we were hungry. And wanted some decent food. We were there for probably a half hour before the others found us - they had just made it through security. Some people had to eat their food right before we got on the plane.

Esohe, Shawna, and I all sat together on this flight together, just like last time. It's an alphabetical thing I think. I remember not being able to sleep much on this flight. And ironically, before the flight when we were in a long line, there was a fussy baby. I jokingly made a comment to Jordan about that baby being being beside her. Well, it wasn't beside her, but we had a fussy 2 year old 2 rows back. And the kid would NOT CALM DOWN. And he wouldn't cry - he was just fussy and would just fuss for the sake of fussing! The last 2 hours of the plane ride were pure joy and delight! And I think he set off another baby ahead of us. At times I didn't even know where the sound was coming from. That was a joyous ride. I don't even remember if there was food. It probably wasn't good if we had any.

We got into Paris around 12:30-1. And guess what? We found actual food! REAL LIVE FOOD! It was weird getting there - we had to take a train thing to our terminal, and go thru the "green" line (which is a cool idea - the red line is for the planes getting ready to leave, yellow is ones ready to board, and green is for those who have time). After that, we spotted a FOOD COURT and we got to eat REAL FOOD! We had some curry chicken and egg noodles. It was really good (of course, we paid way too much for the food. Go figure. I probably paid more money for airport food than I spent in over a week of eating Israeli food). But most of us ate here. I ate with Kevin Josh and Billy. Lydia Shawna and I had to squish in an elevator with our little carts to get up to the food court - that was fun. We also revisited this food station again to fill up our water bottles - which proved useful on our next insanely long flight.

We had about 3 hours to kill before our next flight, so we went shopping, kind of. We didn’t buy anything, but searched in a lot of stores. I personally don't know who buys high fashion clothes in an airport. Maybe people whose bags get lost or something like that. I also am curious to know how one comes to work in the airport. That's a cool job - you get to meet people from all over the world. But that's a different tangent. Jordan doesn’t like waiting for anything, so we quickly found our gate where Esohe was the mother hen, guarding everyone's carryons. I climbed under the row of seats and tried to sleep. I think I got about an hour of sleep under those seats, and woke up to people's legs in front of me. Yes, they were "sitting on top of me." It was interesting. I climbed out and got some water from the restaurant before people like flooded the gate and the line became way too long. There were about 450 people on our flight; we were on a double decker plane. I thought it would be a lot cooler than it actually was. But I was only on the first deck. Sitting next to Billy and Shawna (who switched because she has stranger-phobia). Lol. Welcome to the flight that NEVER ENDED.

They had good shows on this plane, and we could actually watch them, so it was better quality than our first flight across the Atlantic. They had PRINCE CASPIAN which is a really great flick. Sometimes it gets slow, but when it ends I get happy. Plus they had 2 episodes of FRIENDS so I was a happy camper. They also had Made of Honor and Iron Man. I watched Prince Caspian eventually and the Friends episodes. Then it was about halfway thru the flight and I was kind of movied out, so I tried to sleep. Like, seriously tried to sleep. To no avail. I could NOT get comfortable. I might have slept an hour. I went back to see Benjamin and talked to him a little bit. I fidgeted with my ipod and my little complimentary sleep mask and tried to sleep some more. Yeah, it didn't work so well. Even though we had comfortable accommodations. And the guy in front of me just kept reclining. I wasn't a fan of him, solely for the fact that whenever I wanted to move, it was practically impossible. When I whipped out my laptop to complete my evaluation on this trip, I couldn't use my little desk thing because he was reclined too far. But I got a little bit done, and then we just talked to each other until we were about to land. Then, they made some announcement about how the runway at JFK was full and how we had to circle a time around the airport to accommodate us with the heavy traffic in the airport. And I chose this time to knock out for a while. When I awoke an hour later, they had just made an announcement, and all I had caught was something about Boston. I looked over to Shawna, who told me I was out for about an hour, that we had circled the airport about 6 times, and that we were headed to Boston. That was a problem, because my dad was at JFK waiting to pick me up. It was 7:30 now, an hour later than what they anticipated we would land. And we were EN ROUTE to Boston. I was like…oh stink bomb.

I went back to visit Ben to see if he had heard the announcement. He was discussing it with some flight attendants and people. People were like, why are we going to Boston when Boston always gets NYC's weather? Because apparently the weather was a factor. Something about refueling. I was so confused. Eventually this is what we found out from talking to all these strangers: We were going to Boston to FUEL UP, but that we were going to fly back to NYC after the weather cleared. But a lot of us were scared that the bad weather that JFK had that prevented us from landing would travel to Boston and ground us in Boston overnight.

We arrived in Boston. And then we had fun talking to each other, with a little bit of grumbling because they wouldn't let us off the plane. We came to the conclusion that God wasn't ready to let us separate yet, and this was just 'prolonging the experience' for us. Some people weren't so happy - some people live in Boston, some people could find a better flight OUT OF boston, and all of us just wanted to get home. Billy missed his connecting flight, as did Shawna. Ben called Jet Blue and got the last seat on the 6 am to DC because he missed his. The airline craft people told us we had to get into our seats. So we did that. And had nothing to do. Then 30 min later we had to put on our seat belts, because we were nearing departure. So we obeyed. 2 hours later we were taking off on the runway. And the aircraft was quiet during those 2 hours - people trying to sleep, to get comfortable. I was among those trying, but one of the unsuccessful ones. However, as soon as we took off and were in the air, I was out, and woke up to us landing in DC. That was a nice hour nap.

We congregated outside the plane to make sure we had everyone (not Hannah, but everyone else). We then went through immigration, which was cake, and then got our luggage. Thank the Lord no one's were ruined. There we said our goodbyes. We thought they would be really emotional, like the ones with AmiAnn & Hope, but really, they weren't. At all. We all wanted to get home - so it was hugs and I'll be calling/facebooking you. I will miss this people. But I need my sleep more.

Went outside, immediately saw Dad, got in the car, and drove 4 hours home. We arrived at 4:30 AM. Woohoo. I got in bed around 5. 32 hours of travel. And although I love Israel, There's no place like home. (Music plays as I drift off to sleep in my own bed…)

Thanks for reading. I'll be posting some post-trip reflections in the next month.

Shalom. From good ol' Dover, PA.

Day 25 - The Last Day in Israel

So going to bed at 3:30 doesn't help you in your attentiveness to the alarm clock in the morning. I apparently totally slept through the alarm because at 8:15 we had someone knocking on our door telling us we had 15 minutes til breakfast. Waking up out of stupor to that and having a panic attack that there's NO WAY that I'm going to get ready on time is a real way to start your day. Oh, and we don't have hot water. So washing my hair in the bathtub was a real joy and relaxing experience. I rushed downstairs to a nice, chill breakfast w/ pancakes and really good cinamon buns. And we really didn't need to meet til 9:15. Oh my. A great start of the day.

Our first session dealt with Judaism and Ishmael (Ismael is the son Abram had with Sarai's servant Hagar - and through him is who the Muslims trace their lineage). We talked about what the real sins were - if Sarai was really disobedient and didn't have faith or trust in God, or because she was so committed to God, she was so embarrassed about her state that she tried to please her husband by finding another way.to fulfill the promise of God. It was very interesting to dive into the Word and really discuss what happened and why we believe what we believe. The Jews also believe that Ismael's decendents would be a thorn in Isaac's flesh, but that eventually the two would exist together peacefully - which is what the Jews want with the Muslims.

We then took a tour of the place of the conference center where we're staying. It's cool cuase they have a Jewish school and dormitory here. Nothing really noteworthy though - except we kept getting shushed during the entire tour. We found out that we were going to have a 3 hour musuem tour later in the day - that made us very jubilant in our inmost spirits, as you can probably guess. But you'll find out more about that later.

We then had a discussion on Matthew 12 with the leader of the place. Obvoiusly, being Jewish, he doesn't hold that Jesus is Messiah. He picked apart Jesus' argument about the Sabbath. He stated the first one, referencing David and his men eating the holy bread from the temple was because they were hungry - and the Torah teaches that one can live by the law, but does not have to die by the law - hence in their hunger, they were justified. The guy said this was a good way to answer a pharasee's question - with a pharasee's answer. But he claimed that Jesus' second argument was an assertion of power, as Messiah, and that this claim of power negated and contradicted his first argument and made it null and void because if Jesus is BETTER than the temple, or the Sabbath, his claim that one had to keep the Sabbath is contradictory. Well, we had many arguments over this. And I never thought I would be thankful for hearing the "shmehah rabbi" sermon from Brandon Lemois like 5 times last summer, but that helped me so much in this argument. I explained how a shmehah rabbi taught; (particularly Jesus) he would take a premise everyone new, and then he would bring new revelation to this. I got on a real kick and everyone was like amen-ing and nodding, and they're like YEAH VALLEY FORGE! It was pretty sweet. He really didn't have a comeback - he just kept sticking to the fact that Jesus contradicted himself.

We had lunch then - we had to walk down the street to the Burger Bar to get one (Burger Bar - like in Roller Coaster Tycoon to all you fanatics out there). I got chicken strips and what I thought were "skinny fries." More like potatoe chip versions of fries. They were still soft, but cut thin slices of potatoes - like really skinny versions of scalloped potatoes. It was good though - with some sweet chili sauce and garlic mayonaise. Shawna and I had to take our food at eat it on the way to our our "afternoon at the musuem."

DUM DUM DUM.

So we after a 20 minute ride arrive in the middle of nowhere on a hill. Now, there's no real structure in sight, aside from some public bathrooms and an ice cream stand. Yes, my friends, you have guessed correctly. We are NOT at a musuem. We are at a national park. In the desert heat. None of us dressed for this. I'm in flip flops and jeans. And we find out from our very enthusiastic tour guide (except not really) that we were going to be touring this desert fortress for the next 2 hours. You can imagine our excitement. I think the only words I remember from the tour guide was "and…ehhhhhh". (He couldn't speak English very well - and I think watching the grass grow could be more ineteresting). What we were visiting was another palace that Herod built. After seeing Masada though, and just with it being the LAST day we were in Israel, I think we were just tired of tours and lectures and it was HOT and we didn't really care anymore. When we were in the temple, we decided to be a little pentecostal in our agreement with what the speaker was saying, so we started 'mmm'ing and 'oh'ing and stuff…and then when he showed us the remains of a painting, Eric said very enthusiastically "Oh wow!" Half of us just lost it - and I mean erupted in laughter and turned away and tried to regain composure. It was hysterical though. Michael just looked at us but he knew it was just a long day and the tour guide really hadn't captivated any of our attention. As we hiked to the top of the fortress, Hope let out a cry of frustration, "I'M TIRED OF HISTORY. TIRED OF LECTURES! NO MORE!" and she proceeded to kick a few stones. So funny. We were just dying laughing. We did a couple jumping in motion pictures and it was awesome. They look really cool. We also got a little pentecostal again during the next lecture the guy gave us - and I still have no clue what he was talking about or why this was important to the Jews. I know, I'm really a horrible person. But it was a fun time just to laugh together one last time.

We got back and had about 20 minutes til our "wrap up" session with Eagles Wings - which dealt with surveys, evaluations, and post-trip projects. We split into groups and discussed our ideas. David might help us out with Anne Frank if we decide to do that at Valley Forge. I think that it needs more thought but I'd be totally stoked about it.

After our meeting, we had dinner. It was sad cause it was our last meal together (some people left tonight, while the rest of us leave tomorrow at 4 AM). It was good dinner - and we just recollected some memories about the first day we met at the Israeli Embassy in DC. It was interesting. We've all grown so close - and AmyAnn and Hope kept telling me to "shut [my] face" if I brought up leaving. Eventually though, after I blogged and they went for coffee, we had to say our goodbyes to them as well as Eric and Rufus. For old times sake, we did the "Bow Legged Chicken" with rufus one last time. Then we had hugs and tears and said goodbye. They only sent one cab that was really small, so we waited outside with Eric until his extra cab came. It was cold actually.

Since then, I've been trying to blog and pack and it has taken over 2 hours to write this entry while being distracted by people as well as saying goodbye to people who are leaving sporatically; the rest of our international students. I'm really going to miss these people. God has changed us and I don't know if we'll ever meet again, but I pray that we'll all stay connected and that we'll continute to grow in the Lord. Rufus, Ben, and I had a good time of worship and prayer before dinner where we really just interceded for one another. I'm really going to miss this spirituality we all share - and I hope to take that intense desire to seek the Lord back home and into my own life in a regular daily discipline.

Ok, I should pack. Thank you for all the prayers. We're flying AIR FRANCE tomorrow…keep us in prayer. See you all soon!

Shalom. For the last time. From Israel.

Day 24 - Efrat

I am going to change the world. Hold me to it.

We switched hotels today. Left early in the morning. Came to Efrat and moved our stuff into our new rooms. Benjamin and I are sharing a room. (This was originally a paragraph about waking up and eating breakfast and stuff, but it got erased when my battery died - and it's not that important anyway).

Our first session was in this center, the ******* center, which is the only center in the world that is dedicated to theological discussions between evangelical Christians and Orthodox Jews. Our first speaker was a rabbi that was in New York City, but came here to Efrat about 25 years ago and has transformed the area into a thriving Jewish community. Efrat, or the surrounding area, was totally devoloped about 100 years ago by Jewish refugees that came in from other countries. It was defeated three times by Arab extremists who refused to have a Jewish settlement in the area, and settled three times. The third time was the time they stuck it out the longest, until Israel declared independence in 1947. Then, invading Arab armies came in and completely destroyed the inhabitants, but the children have migrated back, and now are the grandparents in the area. That's like summarizing an entire movie we had to watch.

After this seminar, we had ten minutes to eat pizza before we had to get on the bus and travel to a museum and study about Efrat's history (which I already disclosed). Watching the movie became a little tiring, but I think its just a build up of a lack of sleep. After the movie and tour, we went to the Old city of Jerusalem to do some shopping for souveneers. I got some pretty good deals - but yelled out that I loved George Bush in an Arab section of the market - really smart move. Jordan and I kept getting ripped off by all these guys who were trying to sell us water for 7 sheckels. We didn't buy any of those. Eric was "too tall" for many a shop, and I had too many toes to bargain with a guy. Or so went our excuses.

We got back to the hotel and then we had another lecture with David. We looked at the scripture in context, and discussed what Moses' real sin was when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it - and why his punishment was not getting into the promised land. After about a half hour, we went to Psalms where it says that it was because of his harsh words. The point: use scripture to explain scripture. Tomorrow we are discussing with David the book of Matthew and the gospels and claims that Jesus is Messiah (David is an Orthodox Jew). Pray that that goes well.

After that we had an amazing dinner that really was good. We had wings, spaghetti, and I forget the rest. The WATER was so good - I think just because I have been thirsty all day. After that I went up to the room and worked on Kidstuf for about 2 hours (surprise surprise).

After this, Shawna and I had to reshoot our hello to Dr. Meyer at Valley Forge. That went well (we did it in one take) and then we talked to Michael Onifer (the director of the trip) about the church and youth ministry and ministry models and stuff. The A/G started out once with the claims that the church should be very close to the New Testament church whith the believers sharing every aspect of life together - iron sharpening iron. The question was raised, do we do that enough? Do we have a solid cloud of witnesses that we share life with? Do we have people that keep us accountable outside of our spouse? They were things to think about. And if the church today really fulfills the functions of the church of the New Testament. God help us to be more caring and compassionate towards each other. I know I need to be.

After that, I came up to the room and Ben was leading worship with a couple of people. We sang a couple of songs, and then I headed next door for a discussion about the condition of the heart. That meeting turned into a revival meeting. It was one of the most powerful things I've been to in the world. We prophesied and prayed over one another, and prayed over our shortcomings. It was intense and took us to 3 in the morning. Hence, now I'm writing frantically and trying to get to bed soon. But it was one of the most powerful things I've ever experienced. God was there - God moved in my life, and I love these people. Shawna, Donier, Shamir, Burtrand, Eric, Lydia, Sondra, Kevin and I were present. AMAZING time.

Now I'm gonna call mom cuase its her birthday and go to bed.

Shalom from Efrat.

Day 23 - David Project

After our amazing time last night, waking up this morning was not a pleasant experience. Benjamin took 30 minutes in the bathroom. Let me just express how happy and joyous this started off my day. For the record, he wants to clarify that he did not spend all of those 30 minutes in the shower. The water probably was only running for 5. I kept waking up like every 5 minutes shouting BENJAMIN HURRY UP! I was so out of it. But it took him FOREVER to get out. I rushed through my shower and didn't shave cause I was late for breakfast (I know - I couldn't look my best for all the Israeli women. Maybe I'll just have to grow that Amish beard again. I'm sure the Israeli ladies would love that!) (And so would the Morris clan - thus sayeth Cousin Amos).

I got down to the breakfast line (which is in the lobby currently because they are renovating the restaurant here in the hotel). I grabbed two puddings and quickly downed them before we had to head to the basement/bomb shelter/synagogue. I don't know if you remember me talking about that before, but its quite a place to have meetings. I knew we were meeting with the David Project, but I didn't know what that was exactly. People were late this morning, so we didn't start right on time, but when the speaker started, he's like…ok well its 9:30 now…and lets see…I have you until 6. My mind was like WHAT?!?!? But it actually was a very interesting time of discussion and finding out yet MORE that I didn't know about the Arab-Israeli conflict. We learned about a lot of hate propaganda spread in college campuses, and then watched a documentary about the Jewish refugees in Israel and the Middle East (because no one ever addresses the JEWISH refugees - just the Palestinian refugees). It was very interesting. It was a little long, but we got a a break for lunch, where Hannah (the birthday girl) Ben Grace Shawna Shamir Daniella Asia and I went to a place that makes pretty good wraps and "spicy chips" which are french fries with "seasoning". They weren't spicy though, and not really salty either. I went to the post office again but the line was way too long.

We came back and studied more about Israel. What else? :-) We then talked about good public speaking and debating skills. We then broke into groups and had to argue points of interest. It was a lot of fun. I realize I come off strong sometimes in group settings, and I'm not used to working with high caliber people who are all very competent, so I tuned down my personality and let other people steer the group in the way that it should go. We did a really good job, if I do say so myself.

We then had about 20 minutes before dinner. I went and watched some diving on the Olympics.. I don't think I've ever really been into the Olympics before, but I really liked watched that. I think the US didn't medal though, but they were young girls so its ok. They can do it again in 4 years.

After dinner, almost tragically, we had another lecture. I was kind of dreading it just because it was such a long day and I didn't want another two hour lecture. But we got there and our speaker, Neil Lazarus, blew us away. He is awesome, hence his company is called "awesomeseminars.com". It was amazing. He taught us how to be proactive and assertive in our pro-Israel propaganda. It was so awesome. He told us it's ok to say in our politically correct society "You're wrong" when appropriate.

A scenario he gave us is when someone approaches you and says what about the settlements in the Palestinian territories that Jews have? That's what is causing the conflict. If the settlements were gone, the war would be settled.

This is the awesome response. I sincerely wish your claim was correct. But history has showed us that your claim is totally inaccurate. Because in 2005, we totally pulled all Jewish communities out of Gaza, totally about 9,000 people. The next day, all the synagogues were burned, something that hasn't happened since Nazi Germany. They also burnt all the Jewish greenhouses. Then they started killing each other. And then they started launching rockets and neighboring Jewish towns outside of the Gaza strip. So we've seen that settlements aren't what is causing the conflict. BOO YAH!

He was so awesome. After he was done, we had cake for Hannah. Then I did some work for Kidstuf and blogged and talked with Rufus and Ben and soon I have to pack cuase apparently we are moving hotels again to go to Efrat. Yippee.

Today was awesome. Only 3 days left.

Shalom, for the last time, from Jerusalem.

Day 22 - Jerusalem

This morning was rough to wake up to. I got in a chatty kathy mood last night and just yipped it up with Ben to 1 in the morning. Just chatting it up. Not talking about anything in particular. Besides the random fact that Rufus likes Jordin Sparks.

This morning I tried to go to the post office this morning to send a postcard to Dr. Meyer. But I couldn't do it. We left at 8:45 to go to the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem. Malcom Hedding, Director, talked to us about a biblical perspective of Israel and how to be spiritual advocates for Israel without getting too invovled in the politics of the matter. If we always approach things from a biblical perspective, and not side with parties, we can remain the most effective influences for Israel in our communities. We are supporting a nation of people, not a political party or agenda. Jesus preached peace to Israel, and we as Christians owe a debt of gratitude to the Jews.

After this (I'm making it brief because today was a very full day) we went to Hebrew University. We met with reps from their undergrad, grad programs, as well as their special programs and their student life guy. If I had the time in my life schedule, I would definitely have done a semester here. It is actually cheaper than a semester at the forge. I'm going to have a talk with the missions department and the Academic Affairs office about integrating this experience into the semester abroad requirement for the Intercultural Studies major. It is an amazing campus. And they have amazing opportunities to study here. Seriously. In my project I will have a section devoted to Hebrew University.

After our meeting, we got to go eat lunch in the cafeteria. It was good - but everything was really dry. We had a good discussion about fasting and food and the Lord. It was good. I know I don't fast enough. Maybe we will do a church fast at Rohlers soon. Or maybe VFCC. I think that would be cool.

After lunch, we had a "campus tour" where we walked around and saw random sights. We got in this 1st century tomb, which was unlocked so we actually got to go in. And then we saw this amphitheatre. But the tour was hot and kind of pointless cuase it really accomplished nothing.

After the glorious tour, it took us like 30 minutes just to board the bus and leave the campus. We then headed to Stand with Us, which is an organization that works with college students to combat hate messages about Israel that speakers present. We saw a video displaying these hate messages and I was in shock. We were then instructed about what we could do to combat these messages. We then learned about pressing issues in the USA and Europe. Another thing the lady shared with us is that she was on a subway in NYC, and a Egypitian met her, and after learning she was a Jew, felt her head. He was so sure that she had horns. That's what he had been taught about Jews. And he had never met one before her. I think that speaks for itself.

We came back to the hotel and hung out in our room with Eric. Then dinner, which we were very scared was going to be solely vegetarian, but eventually the turkey came out (in orange sauce) but THANK GOD there was meat (cause the veggies were not doing it). We also had really buttery mashed potatoes (!!!!!) but I'm not quite sure if they were real or not. But I had a huge helping anyway.

After supper, we went to a bonfire with the Stand With Us people and their interns in Israel, advocating for change and becoming future leaders. It was good. We had KOSHER marshmellows (because apparnelty smores aren't kosher - I know - really weird). They tasted like cotton candy and icing. They were pink and some were white. They were good. We sat down with 2 of the Israeli's - Barrio and David. We played 2 truths and a lie (because I won't be back at the Forge for orientation). Then Jenaie introduced "this is the book." It's worse than the "who has the hat" game. It took me FOREVER to figure it out. I'm gonna play it at the forge. Or maybe Kidstuf Orientation.

Jordan and I had a good talk on the bus on the way back to the hotel. And then we had a time of worship in our room with Ben on the guitar. It was good. Then we went into Hannah's room at midnight and sang happy brithday. She is 22. Then Rufus, ,Ben, and I had a great prayer time before bed.

And now, dear one, I am tired and am turning in. I won't spoil any of your Olympic anticipations by giving away who wins what. But the USA rocks.

Shalom from Jerusalem.

Day 21 - Jerusalem

Week 3 has come and gone in this experience. That is crazy. Crazier is that I'm halfway through college at Valley Forge and starting my junior year this fall. And that I'm working as a Children's Pastor. And that the Lord is working in me and calling me to things that I never could dream of. Just wow.

Today we had a slower day in comparison to the others that we've had. We didn't have anything planned in the morning, so we got to sleep in, which was a HUGE blessing. Both of my roommates left me though, so I didn't really have anything to do for lunch. So I stayed in the room and watched the Olympics. The US stunk it up in the rowing competition. But later I saw that Michael Phelps won a gold already. Oh yeah! When we all get together in our room, we scream and cheer for the USA. It's weird because we only get Euro and Israeli channels, so the US isn't always on every network. But when we find them, we scream and cheer loudly. The US girls gymnastic team is going pretty well - they're in second tonight after 4 rotations. They need to step it up and beat the Chinese.

Anyway, onto Israel things. I only ate starbursts for lunch and then we had a meeting at 1:30 with Dr. Petra Helt. She is a German Executive Secretar at the Ecumenical Theologial Research Fraternity of Israel. She survived a terrorist attack (suicide bombing yards away from where she was standing) and now works in PR and research and combats "Palestinian Liberation Theology." She spoke to us about Dhimmitude, and the treatment of Dhimmis, or non Muslims, in the Muslim world. It was very interesting. Some of my pre reading had to do with this, but she shed more light on it. There are laws in Muslim countries, enforced by radical Islam, that basically deny any rights to those who aren't of Muslim religion. These people are tolerated, but they have no legal rights. They cannot complain or file complaints against the government, and always praise their oppressors. They also pay a lot of extra taxes, and have to endure humiliatiing public ceremonies that showcase them to the rest of the community. Plus, if they resist, they can be killed. It was very interesting to hear about all of this. She said that this is what is causing the decline of Christianity under Islamic rule. I know that Christians and Jews are oppressed, but I don't know that every community does this. I think it might be in the more radical versions of Islam. She compared these countries to Israel, which is democratic and anyone can speak out against the government. It just made me think, I guess.

We had a 20 min break after this lady spoke, and I ventured the streets of Jerusalem alone to find a McDonalds. I found it and bought a snack wrap for 10 sheckels (they have a 10 sheckel menu like we have a dollar menu). It was spicy and I think had a little curry in it, but after my starbucks lunch, it tasted AMAZING.

Our second lecture was from Yoram Ettinger. He is the Chairman of Special Projects and the Ariel Center for Policy Research. He spoke to us about the Palestinian Refugees. How this is the ONLY refugee situation in the world that has their own council in the UN. Which differs from the normal Refugee council in that it perpetuates the Palestinian situation, it doesn't settle the situation. We learned about the REAL figures of the refugees, and where they all came from. The total figure comes to about 300,000 being generous. The same amount of refugees were created from Kuwait after Iraq's invasion. But the whole world didn't jump on Iraq. Right now there are about 100 million refugees worldwide from the past 30 years. And most of these situations have been settled. But the one in Palestine keeps going. It is the only refugee situation that gives to all generations, without generational limitation. Most refugee situations involve training and assistance of the refugees, and possible relocation to find jobs for their newly aquired expertise, but nothing is being done with the Palestinians. They just sit there and get paid and live in their camps. And the Arab worlds don't want to asorb them. So its kind of lose-lose every way you look at it.

He also mentioned the fact that Jordan is a Palestinian state. 75% of Jordan is "Palestinian". So we don't need to create a palestinain state. There already is one. So if we're gonna reference that, we're creating ANOTHER palestinian state. But most of the Arab countries are virtually empty. So they wouldn't have a problem accomodating the refugees.

It was a good speech. I really enjoyed it. I wish we could figure out a way to settle the situation already.

After that, we had more free time til dinner. We went to the post office, but it was closed. Then we sat and watched the Olympics on TV and watched the American girls gymnasts. They better win. We were definitely cheering loudly.

Dinner at 8, Worship in the basement with Ben @ 10. Good time of fellowship.

I can't believe I have less than a week here.

Lord, Bless me and help me gain everything I can out of the next 4 days. Amen.

(Pray that too. I need all the prayers I can get).

Blessings to all.