The Dead Sea and Jerusalem

Yesterday we had nothing planned for the morning so we headed to the Dead Sea. I remembered how people say that you just float in it and it is true. In water that was over my head I could be floating vertically with my shoulders out of the water. The water is that salty. It also burns your skin if you have any scrapes or sensitivities. On our way back to Bethlehem we also stopped at the place where the dead sea scrolls were found. Traveling there and back we had to go throught Jerusalem and traveling through after being in Bethlehem really gave me perspective about living in Palistine. Bethlehem, being a refugee camp, is so much more supressed and it is very sad to see.

This morning, we went over to Jerusalem to see some of the holy sites. Being Sunday, the garden tomb was closed so hopefully we will see it before we leave. We followed the Via Dolorosa to the church were some believe Jesus was nailed to the cross, where he hung, and was buried. I think that it is sad to see how comercialized all of this has become. These sights have been glamorized and the effect of what it was really like somewhat ruined. It was great though to see these spots and try to imagin what it used to look like. We also walked around the old city wall. How cool to live in a city with walls.

I love the history that is here and the different sights, sounds, and smells of being in a different place. Just about everything that we eat is put in pita and have vegetables for every meal drenched in olive oil and vinegar.

Tonight we have the party we are hoasing for the people that we have met in Bethlehem. Last night we went to Catholic Action (this is the place where we have plaeyed and done clinics). We now have many friends there who want us to stay. I had the opportunity to share my testimony. When we were done, one of the women who was a muslim told us how much she appreciated that we came over here to share our stories and testimonies with them. We also gave them copies of the magdelena film which is about the life of Christ from a woman's perspective and they loved it, taking multiple copies to share with friends. Bethlehem has been so great and the people so receptive. I look forward to our next week in Nazereth and what it has in store!

Bethlehem

To answer my mom's question...it does not lie silently and it is not little. The town has grown substantially since Jesus' birth. The shepherd's field (which we saw today) is now even in town! There are the remains of the caves that they used to live in though so it gives a whole new visual to the shepherd sleeping at the opening to the sheep pen. It far from silent. Bethlehem is in Palistine which is not part of Israel. There is infact a wall that surrounds Palistine and the refugees from the war are not allowed to leave the city! There is a large muslim population that lives here and the mosques broadcast prayer 5 times a day which includes one call to prayer circa 4 am which will wake even the soundest sleeper. People here are also terrible drivers...even worse than Ben and Andy so the there is always the sound of beeping horns.

This morning we had the opportunity to go back where we played last night and do a clinic with the women we played with yesterday. They were very happy to have us back because though they love to play volleyball, they have never been tought to play. We played the team at the Bethlehem University this afternoon. The most fun thisg for the girls was getting to mix with the other team and play. We are building some great relationships here. We have invited everyone we have met to a party we are hosting Sunday and it is amazing to see the positive response we are getting. Please continue to pray for our ministry and for the people that we are meeting. We play again tomorrow night. Thankfully we have the morning off and I think we are going to go float in the Dead Sea!

update

hi everyone! We arrived yesterday and are settled in our hotel in Bethleham. We have already had a clinic today and are about to leave for our first match. We are all a little jet laged but are excited to be here. The church of the nativity is within walking distance to our hotel so we will be visiting that one of our evenings off. It is very interesting to be in a place with so much Christian history.

This morning we were able to go to a church that was having a VBS type program. We had fun sharing and playing with the kids. I find that my spanish skills are useless because they all speak arabic but suprisingly many of the kids speek english quite well. It was also funny because there were two guys from UW that are working at the church through their college group. Talk about small world.

Please continue to pray that we have an effective ministry here and that we will be able to build relationships with the teams that we play.

Training camp

Day three of practice and everyone is doing well and everything is going well. We have had some amazing team times learning about God, growing in Him, and being in the word. The team is really coming together. For a group that has only been together for a few days we seem like we have known each other for a long time. I'm being forced off the comp now, but remember you can use the right link to get to the team blog and see team updates and pics!

Ohio

I arrived in Ohio yesterday. It is nice ot be here and out of the 110 degree Arizona heat! The girls on the team are arriving today. I came a day early to meet with the leadership team and go over this next week. We will be here at AIA headquarters in Xenia for the next week practicing together and prepairing for the trip. We are set to fly out on the 24th. I am excied about what this next week will bring and to see what God will do through this team.