Last night concluded the small tour groups. It was sad to say goodbye to my special ladies, but the tour's finale made it alright. We listened to Dr.Garr at a church within walking distance of King David's temple. The weather was perfect-breezy and cool. The praise and worship was probably the best I've ever heard. We worshipped in an beautifully designed church with arched ceilings that reverberated every note. Dr. Garr delivered a message that emphasized the importance of Christians supporting Jews. He put it this way, we have a Jewish God, a Jewish bible, and a Jewish messiah. Neglecting the jews would mean neglecting the crux of Christianity.
Today was the beginning of our relaxation weekend. We started the day early, that meant a lot of sleeping on the bus, and headed for the dead sea. After and hour of sleep I woke up to a breathtaking view. To my right were the towering, desolate mountains of Ein Gedi and to my right was the glistening, turquoise sea. The salt content causes the water to sparkle with an intensity like diamonds. We drove past the cave where the dead sea scrolls were found. It was a surreal moment- I was looking at the place where a boy stumbled upon 2000 year old writings of the book of Isaiah. I don't think it was an accident that he found such a poignant piece of history during the time the UN was deciding if Israel should be its own nation. Viewing Masada (ancient israel's last stand) was made 10X more epic with my personal background music of Pirates of the Caribbean and The Chronicles of Narnia ;)
I felt so privileged to swim in the dead sea. i mean seriously, how many people my age can say they floated in the lowest place on planet earth?? The water was warm and reflected a sea glass hue. Even if I could instantly feel every hidden cut on my body, being able to effortlessly float surpassed my discomfort. The sea floor consists of all rock salt. We smothered our legs and feet with the stuff once we realized it was an excellent exfoliator. Now we have the skin of a 3 year old :)
Currently, we are driving through the desert on our way to the resort on the Med. sea. I can't think of a better place to have shabbat (sabbath)!
I probably won't post tomorrow in order to observe shabbat, but I'll try to post asap bc we are scheduled to some pretty awesome stuff!
-Mads
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| where the scrolls were found |
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| floatin' |
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| traditionally believed to be Lot's wife (a pillar of salt) |
Prayer-continued protection (we can see Jordan to our left, Saudi Arabia straight ahead, and Eygpt to our right) & uplift our bus driver he had a rough day today to say the least
