DAY NINE In Israel

Day nine was an interesting day, a kind of disappointing day, and a totally amazing day as well. On the night we arrived in Israel we all signed up for specific project that were going to take place on Day nine so today was the day. I had signed up to go to the Melabev Senior Care Center. The seniors who go to Melabev go during the day returning home in the afternoon and all of them have some form of mild dementia. While there we played word games with them, Markus and Johannes played the violin and guitar, we sang a few songs and then they shared with us the welcoming of the Shabbat. Most of us had not participated in it before and it was really cool to get to share that with them.

When we were finished there we headed to Ben Yehuda Street where we had lunch and did some shopping. So this is where the disappointing time comes in. Lisa and I were shopping and we lost track of time so we were a few minutes late getting to the meeting point so that we could go to the next place which was the Hineni Terrorist Survivor Center. We were going to meet with two victims of terrorist attacks and they were going to share their stories. I really wanted to go and was frustrated and upset with myself for missing it. The funny part is that Lisa and I hung around instead of going back to the hotel because we knew that the bus was leaving from Ben Yehuda at 4pm. We waited for the bus and then got on with everyone and no one noticed that we had not been there!

In the evening we went to the The King of Kings Young Adults Worship service called "Deep End". This is where the totally amazing part comes in...The worship service was awesome. Each service they have a message that they portray through music, video, stories, and scripture. The music was excellent and was in both English and Hebrew. I love going to services in other languages because you can experience the presence of God even though you don't fully understand what is being said...it really puts your life and the "importance" of North America into perspective if you know what I mean.

During the service God really spoke to me about a lot of things. He reaffirmed my move to Winnipeg and my goal of being a missionary. He also birthed new dreams in my heart which I had never thought of before, gave me answers to things that I had been struggling with, and He talked to me about personal things.

On of those personal things was that I had developed a small crush on one of the guys on the tour. I wasn't sure what to do with it, if anything. Now for those of you who know me well know that I'm not one to emote very many personal emotions, nothing that would make me vulnerable so when God spoke ever so clearly to me and told me to tell him I was shocked but I knew that I now had to do it. I still can't believe that I did. When we got back to the hotel I confided in Lisa as to my plan, she thought I was crazy. I told her I was going to do it the next day. I also informed my roommate, Andrea of what I was going to do and she thought it was crazy. I guess you'll have to find out what happened on DAY TEN;)