Works With Youth

[workswithyouth]

1. Building in Dizengof Square, Tel Aviv 2. Fountain in Dizengof Square, Tel Aviv 3. HaBima, Tel Aviv 4. Tel Aviv oceanfront 5. Walking through Yafo 6. Shuk at Mahane Yehuda, Jerusalem 7. At the Kotel (Wailing Wall), there was nearly a riot taking place between different Jewish religious groups.

[workswithyouth]

Israel, again

Wow! I've been in Israel for a month. A month already! It's great. Massah 2016 arrived about 10 days ago and this year's trip is off to a great start. This team is so different than last year's group - even though we're "doing the same thing" it's going to be entirely different!

[workswithyouth]

There were blue skies! I didn't realize how much I was missing the sun! #notmassah2015 #thisisNOTindia #missing #massah2015 #vietnam

[workswithyouth]

When a flock of goats takes the traffic circle in #DelhiAdventures #massah2015 #lookingforSHAthegoatherder

[workswithyouth]

#delhiadventures #massah2015

[workswithyouth]

#nosleeptillDELHI #india #massah2015 #busride

[workswithyouth]

Those mountains #massah2015 #india #himalayas #nofilter

[workswithyouth]

Winding Down

After another harrowing bus ride (I have never driven through fog so thick), we arrived back in Delhi. It's reverse culture shock. We're staying at a hotel that's rather nice. But it's really nice to feel taken care of. We're staying in Delhi until we leave on Tuesday night. Most of this time is being spent debriefing and talking through the last 8 weeks - what we've learned, what we experienced, who we ministered to, and how God has changed our lives. Already this morning, I have been so encouraged to hear each one of us sharing about how God has worked in us. Our last few days in Dharamsala were pretty full - between shopping and packing, spending time with the friends we made, continuing to meet new people and sharing with them - in all honesty, it felt like I could stay a long time and invest deeply in the traveler community. Both Friday nights we spent in Dharamsala, we met together in one of the cafés to do Kiddush for Shabbat. At each one, there were friends we had invited, and other people there as well. We would like the candles for Shabbat, and say the blessings over the wine and the bread, and enjoy a meal. For the Israeli travelers in India, Shabbat is probably the only time in the week that they know what day of the week it is. Having a Shabbat meal is something they look forward to. And so do we. Each Shabbat, Isaac on our team would do a short teaching from the parasha, the weekly Torah portion. Within this framework, there would always be a short gospel message, or an introduction to Jesus. The first Friday, we were at Friendly Planet, and in addition to eating, and the parasha, we also, sang traditional Jewish songs to new tunes, and then just had a jam session. Our second Shabbat in Dharamsala was right before we got on the bus to Delhi. It was great to have that time together and be able to say goodbye to the friends we made, and shared our faith with. And then on to Delhi with us.

[workswithyouth]

The Last 10 Days

We have just 10 days left in Massah 2015 - hard to believe we still have that much time left. It feels like I've been part of Massah fooooorrrrrreeeeevvvvveeeeer. We have been in Dharamsala for several days now, and we're going to stay here until it's time to return to Delhi and debrief our summer together before everyone goes home, and I fly on to Vietnam and Thailand. Dharamsala is a small city, made up of three villages. Our team is divided up into two of the villages and we hike between these two everyday. These two villages are full of Israeli travelers, including families with small children! The other village is the home of the Dalai Lama, the exiled government of Tibet, and the main Tibetan Buddhist temple. Dharamsala doesn't feel as "Indian" as the other places we've traveled in. It's been different in Dharamsala than Manali and the Parvati Valley. The people we're meeting, we're making deeper friendships with, more than deep spiritual conversations. Friends not strangers.

[workswithyouth]

Beautiful, beautiful #Tosh #lizgoestothere #India #massah2015

[workswithyouth]

Manali, Manali

Hard to believe that we've been in this little town for 5 days already. After a long, humid, sweaty bus ride from Delhi up here, the coolness of the mountains was a welcome relief. Manali is in the Kullu Valley, aka the Valley of the Gods, and is in the Himalayas. We're nestled between two peaks here, and the view from my guesthouse each morning is beautiful. The clouds falling over the peaks of the mountains is a bit different each day, and I've sat and watched the scenery change as I've read my Bible and spent time praying on the balcony. In case you begin to think its all rosy... The mattress is so thin, my body hurts each morning from sleeping, carrying your own TP is annoying, especially when you forget, being unsure if every bite might make you sick is tiresome (but delicious!). I could go on. I've heard about this place for years, but it takes seeing to really believe it. For some reason, in this obscure corner of the world, there really are hundreds or thousands of Israeli travelers. In Manali alone, we've seen probably 100 or so in these 5 days. Culturally, it makes for an interesting place. As far as our ministry here, it's a pretty simple concept - make friends, chat, share the gospel. It's surprising how easy it is. I caught a cold right after we arrived here. I think it was due to 4 straight days of intense travel, and climate changes. It took me a bit to catch up and begin participating in our purpose here. But I've never had so much fun sharing the gospel, the hope we have in Jesus. Pray for us that we continue to have energy for this, health and safety too.

[workswithyouth]

We went on an amazing hike from #vashisht to see waterfalls!! We hiked to the base of the second falls #massah2015 #lizgoestothere #India

[workswithyouth]

^ You are here. #India #massah2015 #manali #17hourbusride #giselleandlizgotothere @giseeeeeeeelle

[workswithyouth]

Yesterday, I got to #tajmahal this world is an amazing place! #India #massah2015 #worldwonders

[workswithyouth]

We arrived in Delhi last night and got to our hotel at 3am. We're already up and moving - sort of. We're waiting for our bus to arrive to take us to Agra to see the Taj Mahal! Tomorrow evening, we catch a bus for Manali to catch up with the "Humus Trail."

[workswithyouth]

WE LOVE ICE CREAM FOR BREAKFAST #55minutes #giselleandlizgotothere #vienna #take3 @giseeeeeeeelle

[workswithyouth]

#take2 #vienna #giselleandlizgotothere @giseeeeeeeelle #55minutes