Leaving on a Jet Plane

Wow, we have been horrible bloggers lately! It won’t get much better over the next couple of weeks, but I’ll try to give you a little update…

We leave today for Israel! Hard to believe this trip is already here, but we leave in just a few hours… and I’m still shoving stuff in my suitcase! This is a hard trip to pack for, not only with the regular TSA travel restrictions, but we are also restricted by the size of our rental vans. We have to make sure we can fit both people AND luggage in the vans. Not to mention the fact that half of the sites we are visiting have dress codes, so outfit selection has been difficult. Knees and shoulders must be covered, but we need to stay cool in the 100 degree heat!

Anyway, the first few days of our trip will be spent visiting Holy sites and other places of interest, including the Mount of Beatitudes, Caesarea Philipi, Tel Dan, the Sea of Galillee, Capernum, the Dead Sea, the Western Wall, Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane, the Temple Mount, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, etc. Whew! Just typing all that made me realize that this is really real!

After all the touring, our group heads to Haifa to work with Tents of Mercy, a Messianic Jewish congregation. We’ll be serving in whatever way they need us, including painting, organizing their food pantry, sorting clothes and babysitting. Their facility also has a youth center, so we should get a chance to hang out with some of their young people and do some activities with them.

Pray that God will give us and our students the opportunity to minister to a number of Israelis – whether it is through our service or through our words. Pray for our safety and our peace of mind.

While we’re gone, we might have an opportunity to update this blog, but our Internet access will be limited. We will definitely be updating the Tallowood Student blog as often as possible – www.tallohoodtoday.com. Each team will be posting, so keep an eye out for the Haifa team posts.

A million pictures and lots of stories to come when we get back!

-Laura