Yesterday, we had an opportunity to visit Joffa and Tel Aviv – these two cities are essentially together. Most of our time was spent on the beach – interestingly, and most people do not realize it, Israel has a wonderful beach area right on the Mediterranean Sea. It was enjoyable to watch Israeli citizens enjoying their Shabot and spending time with friends and family casually on the beach. Other than eating some really great Israeli food at a couple of fantastic seaside restaurants, we did nothing else but relax and enjoy the day!
Today is Sunday. We have just completed a full day of preparing for 70 kids (2nd graders through 8th graders) who are coming to a summer camp tomorrow through Friday. We spent most of the day setting up chairs, moving chairs, removing chairs, and moving chairs again! Seriously, we had a “chair dance” going until noon. After lunch, Drew and I helped set up a massive cover over an area we plan to use for games and activities outside. To top off the evening, I played ultimate frizbee for the first time! It was incredibly fun (even though I know I will be sore tomorrow). We played with several of the camp counselors who are Israeli citizens and Messianic Jews – ultimate frizbee was a great way to get to know new people.
It seems like we have been spending time getting acclimated to Israel and the new time zone for the past two days. However, tomorrow we will be getting down to business. All of us from Abilene are excited about kicking the camp off tomorrow, and we are anticipating what God is going to do in the days to come. I am sure that I will have some interesting developments to report in the near future.
Shalom!