Walking through history

So touring has officially begun, we've been to Caesarea, the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee, Mt. Carmel, the Jordan River, Cana, and Nazareth to name a few. We now find ourselves in Jerusalem and are overwhelmed as well as thrilled to be here. God continues to work in major ways in each of our hearts and we're excited to see what is yet in store. Tonight held a special treat for us as we were able to hear the testimony of Zvi, a Holocaust survivor. There is much yet to tell but we'll let the pictures do the talking until each of us are home to share in person.

So Much To Talk About...

I am really sorry that I haven't had a chance to blog lately. The team has been so busy working, traveling, and serving in the local church. I thought I would post some pictures of the work we do at Kaplan hospital, traveling to the port city of Jaffa (Jonah 1:1-4) and Rehovot Museum, and the time we spent at the house of one of the members of the Kehilah. Enjoy the pictures and stay tuned for further updates. More to come.

Your tour leader,

Chris

Getting Into A Routine

Well as the days continue here in Rehovot we are getting into a routine. First, we wake up in the morning have some breakfast and head to the hospital at 7:45am. After arriving at the hospital we have some coffee, talk to the Israeli's, and then get to work. We have been cleaning the air filters in the large air conditioning units. We have been working as a good team, helping one another accomplish the tasks we have been given. Lunch comes at 12. The team enjoys watching Julius eat as much food as he can, it's quite amusing. When lunch is over we work for another two hours and then we head home.

Last night we had dinner at Gal's house at Kibbutz Schiller. Gal is an Israeli believer who attends the kehilah. I have known him for 3 years and every time I see him, his faith strengthens mine. While we were with Gal we swam in the pool, played some volleyball, and soccer.

Every Tuesday night the kehilah's college & career meets for worship, prayer, testimonies, and bible study. Tonight we studied John 11:20-54; Lazarus being raised from the dead. It was fun as we dug into the Word of God right here where Jesus lived.

We have a busy schedule ahead of us. Tomorrow we are going to the Rehovot Museum. Later in the trip we are going to the Valley of Elah (where David killed Goliath), and the caves of Makahdah to go spelunking!

Thanks for reading and God Bless,

Chris

Kaplan Hospital

The Shabbat weekend is over and today is the start of a new work week. Sunday in Israel is the rest of the worlds Monday. When we arrived we did our preliminary meetings with the nurse and our boss at the hospital. After the meetings we got right down to work. The girls were asked to arrange the belts used in the hosiptals industrial size air conditioning units. This was no easy task since the 800+ belts were scattered all around the maintenance floor and out of order. After they organized the belts they were asked to take inventory on how many belts they had.

The guys were given a power washer and asked to clean the coils in the air conditioning units. This task proved to be a bit more difficult than it looked, but we got done what we needed to do. Everyone at Kaplan was excited to see new volunteers arrive. Israeli's are not shy, they'll get right in your face and welcome you to their home.

Pray that God will continue to use us as we serve Him at Kaplan.

Your tour leader,

Chris

Kehilah/Fun in the Sun

Shalom Everyone,

Today we experienced church in Israel with believers from all around the world. Church in Hebrew is "Kehilah", which means "assembly" or "congregation". We had an opportunity to worship with Israeli's, Russian Israeli's, and students from all around the world who attend the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot.

It's always a culture shock to attend a kehilah service for the first time. Joye said it best, "...that was awesome!". The service is spoken in three different languages: Hebrew, Russian, and English. The sermon is preached in Hebrew and then translated into English and Russian simultaneously through skilled translators from the kehilah. Our hearts are always blessed to worship and hear the name of Christ preached in three different languages.

Ashdod

I promised the ORIGINS group that after church we would head to the beach in the city of Ashdod. The group went swimming in the water, caught some rays, played some volleyball, and watched the stunning sunset from the beach. Some friends from the kehilah joined us today also.

Ashdod is a biblical city. If you remember in 1 Samuel 5 it's the place the Philistines took Ark of the Covenant after stealing it from the Israelites. Soon after bringing it to Ashdod God cursed the Philistines with sores. As for the ORIGINS group we left sore-less, but we were tired :)

Thanks for your prayers,

Your tour leader,

Chris

Shabbat

Today we had a chance to rest and catch up with ourselves. After a slow morning we made our way down to the makeshift baseball field and played a few innings with about 25 young Israeli's. Josh and Julius really showed the Israeli's some of their American baseball skills with some great catches and good batting. It was a wonderful opportunity to reach out to the young Israeli's living in Rehovot.

Right after baseball we did our grocery shopping for the week at Rehovot's local market. We got all the essentials (candy, hummus, and pita). Just kidding, but we did get hummus and pita! It's always enlightening to be in the grocery store of another culture, to see what other people eat.

Friday nights in Israel = Shabbat. The businesses close early as people rush to get their food for the preparations of Shabbat. Tonight the girls (Hannah and Joye) celebrated Shabbat at Jack and Judy's, while the guys, (myself, Julius, and Josh) celebrated at Leor and Abraham's house. We enjoyed the rest God commanded the Jewish people to honor in the Ten Commandments with the freedom we have in Christ.

Tomorrow we will go to church "kehilah" for worship and fellowship. We will worship our Saviour in three languages: English, Hebrew, and Russian.

Thanks for your prayers.

Your tour leader,

Chris

We Made It

We made it safely to Israel everybody. Thanks for your prayers and support, God certainly protected us on the way over. We have such an awesome group comprised of two girls and two boys (Hannah, Joye, Joshua, and Julius).

After we landed we picked up our rental car we headed for Rehovot, Israel where we'll be volunteering for the next two weeks. We started our time in Israel with a traditional Jewish meal: hummus, bread, veggies, and chicken. We mingled for a little bit and then started the orientation process to acclimate ourselves with the new culture.

Once dinner and orientation were over we visited the local Israeli mall to exchange our money from dollars to shekels. Julius couldn't wait to acclimate back to the American lifestyle by purchasing a McDonalds McFlurry. Way to go Julius.

Now were back at home catching up on some needed sleep. Please continue to pray for us. More exciting news to come as our ORIGINS 2009 trip continues.

Your ORIGINS Leader,

Chris