Today we had a quiz. I studied "for real" for about 20 minutes, 15 of that was at breakfast this morning. I got 37 out of 38. The one I missed was one of those where you cross out the right answer because you second-guessed yourself. Lame.
Everyone (mostly) around here was really worried about this quiz. It was harder than the last one, sure, but only in comparison. We've studied the stuff in class, went on a trip on Wednesday that brought it to life and people still studied for hours (I just shook my head at them). It was good. So far my quiz average is an A, but more than that, I remember it like it matters. Because it does :)
Today was good, the six hours of class went pretty fast actually. Hebrew was decent. We have a bazillion new words to learn by Tuesday -- plus all the conjugations that go with the verbs. Fortunately there are not many tenses in Hebrew and no present to-be verbs (is/are/am/etc...) I am going to get this, I just know it. To put it in food terms: Reading it = cake. Comprehending = half-eaten last week's cake. Speaking = cake from Christmas.
Tonight we went into Jerusalem to attend the Jerusalem Assembly (Believers! :) It was really good. Let me tell You about the coolest thing since the guitar: Singing Hebrew worship songs. Praise God for moments like that. The first song we sang was just beautiful and two of the worship leaders had voices that blended so well. We sang one song and then stopped and had praise/prayer and then Communion. Cool stuff to share it with people from literally every continent but Antarctica (duh). Then we got to sing more.
Come Thou Fount must be a popular song over here, we've sung it at two different churches. But let me tell you, there is little else that moves you like hearing Come Thou Fount in three languages (some Germans next to us I think) and "You are My All in All" in two languages. I cried. And I'm not afraid to admit it.
The message was on Leviticus 3, talking about peace offerings (the word Korban was used no less than 50 times tonight between songs and sermon :) The connection was based on how important/necessary it was to be pure in the eyes of the LORD before offering a sacrifice. Here's the crunch: We should be the same when we take communion. Here's a powerful thought that the pastor, Meno Kalishur (pray for that great man and other pastors, you think that's a tough job in the States...) shared: (paraphrased) "If the Communion plate is empty it means that the congregation should be full of people walking clean in the forgiveness of the LORD. ... [my thought: stop for a minute and consider the implications. Is that true in my church? umm...] ... If your heart isn't prepared, if there is sin in your life, then maybe you should wait." -- Fortunately a Friend reminded me of these verses just a few days ago and Meno brought them up: 1 John 1:7,9. What a merciful God we have.
And then we went to McDonalds. Cool huh? It was actually good! Who would have thunk it? (that phrase is for you Dad :) The regular burger I had was the size of my hand. Like bottom of palm to tip of fingers and circular. So not that puny little thing you get in America. And I had ice cream. And it was delicious.
And now I am done. And I used "and" to start about 15 sentences so I will stop. Except one more. And now I am going to go play games in a bomb shelter again. See ya.
Showing posts with label Assembly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Assembly. Show all posts
Friday, February 6, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Quick! While it's still Saturday!
So I have to type real fast because its almost Sunday and I want to keep the streak alive.
Today in a nutshel: Sleep in (Yes!) Church, Old City - where I had an absolutely delicious filafel for dinner, then a nap (yes!) and then the culmination of the day: the Battle of the Sexes.
Every Saturday night we have "Saturday Night Live" (SNL) a game night or hang-out time planned by our profs. It's a ton of fun. Last week we played Mad-Gab and some other things. This week we had a series of games, boys vs. girls. Boys won 32-25. We played a little charades, a roommate game (how well do you know your roomie sort of thing), we ate cake because it was someone's birthday, we played some other cool games, I had to use my Hebrew skills (ick).
All in all a fun day. Tomorrow I am being rebellious and going on a hike for most of the day... homework shall be the bane of my existence tomorrow night I fear.
Ah! It's 11:59. bye
Today in a nutshel: Sleep in (Yes!) Church, Old City - where I had an absolutely delicious filafel for dinner, then a nap (yes!) and then the culmination of the day: the Battle of the Sexes.
Every Saturday night we have "Saturday Night Live" (SNL) a game night or hang-out time planned by our profs. It's a ton of fun. Last week we played Mad-Gab and some other things. This week we had a series of games, boys vs. girls. Boys won 32-25. We played a little charades, a roommate game (how well do you know your roomie sort of thing), we ate cake because it was someone's birthday, we played some other cool games, I had to use my Hebrew skills (ick).
All in all a fun day. Tomorrow I am being rebellious and going on a hike for most of the day... homework shall be the bane of my existence tomorrow night I fear.
Ah! It's 11:59. bye
Saturday, January 24, 2009
A Speedy Shabbat
Here's the quicker version of today, since I talk too much anyway and I have to go in a little bit - there is fun to be had in the bomb shelter.
Today is the Sabbath (Shabbat), well, actually, it's over now since it's dark outside, but you get the idea. (The typical Shabbat will go something like I will describe in the next few paragraphs, exceptions will be noted.)
First things first: I got to sleep in, which is my idea of a day of rest! "Church," here referred to as Assembly or something similar, is at 11 so I got a semi-leisurely morning, not like I accomplished much, but I think that's the point. Right before the service we had to vote on our "wing leaders." This I have not mentioned before, so I will briefly explain. A wing leader is basically an RA, they get to make sure people sign up to clean the bathroom and then actually do it, they take care of other such things, they get to be keeper of the wing's cell phone :) and maybe the best part: they get to meet once a week with Abner Chou. The smartest 26-year-old teacher I have heard of and a super cool, super nice guy. Most of the wings here have about 10 people in them. Our wing has 4. And we are probably some of the most similar and most laid back guys here. I like it. So we talked about our "vote" before we actually went in, majority suggestion was that I get it. Mom, I have a confession, I'm committing to something extra-curricular, please don't worry that I am doing too much. This means that I get to be an RA again, who would have thought? Eli, the ex-RA has now been promoted to being an RA in a foreign country! It should be cool, especially the part where I don't have to ask someone else to use the phone and the part where I get to meet with Abner every week. I look forward to it.
That being explained, let's move on. Assembly: pretty much the majority of the people here at the Moshav go to church here. We get to sing in Hebrew, fortunately, the English version is on the powerpoint too. Now when I say English version I mean the Hebrew words are written in English letters, so we stumble through them and hope for the best. It was so cool though, we sang a couple Hebrew songs, but then we sang a couple of English songs. Come Thou Fount in Hebrew sounds pretty much amazing. It was a good day.
After Assembly we ate lunch (better food than normal since a group was here for the weekend. It's sort of like when the Board comes to Corban, or like Corban Experience :). Then we killed time until the bus came to take us to the Old City. We were there for a little over three hours, cruising the streets, perusing the wares, having a good Saturday afternoon, etc.
We stopped at our friend Shabaan's and in typical Arab fashion he gave us some mint tea. I was more along for the ride than anything. I had nothing I wanted to buy just yet and it was nice to get out and burn off some of that pita bread. Then we headed for home, going straight into dinner.
Dinner tonight was amazing! But not because of the food.
Tonight the food was pretty much normal. But the conversation was incredible. Four of us, my roommate Daniel, a guy named Tyler, and a gal named Jessi, had a really good conversation. I will briefly share it with you because it was so good. It started by talking about The Office (tv show) and Jessi was sharing how she didn't think Believers should really watch it because it contains so much crude and vulgar stuff (we like her line of thinking). From there the conversation exploded into the best conversation I have had here to date. We talked about all sort of things that pertain to true Christian living. Particularly how so often we will have a conversation like this and then go and do nothing with it. The question of the hour was this, "so now what are we going to do with this conversation?" -- So often we talk about great and challenging and convicting things and then do nothing about it. Our goal is to do something with it, to take it to the Lord and let those things that were discussed and those things which are on our heart sink in. It was just great.
I need to run now, time for our Saturday night shindig in the miklat.
Enjoy the weekend, may our great God bring Himself into your attention and may you buck the system of society and live unabashedly for Him.
Today is the Sabbath (Shabbat), well, actually, it's over now since it's dark outside, but you get the idea. (The typical Shabbat will go something like I will describe in the next few paragraphs, exceptions will be noted.)
First things first: I got to sleep in, which is my idea of a day of rest! "Church," here referred to as Assembly or something similar, is at 11 so I got a semi-leisurely morning, not like I accomplished much, but I think that's the point. Right before the service we had to vote on our "wing leaders." This I have not mentioned before, so I will briefly explain. A wing leader is basically an RA, they get to make sure people sign up to clean the bathroom and then actually do it, they take care of other such things, they get to be keeper of the wing's cell phone :) and maybe the best part: they get to meet once a week with Abner Chou. The smartest 26-year-old teacher I have heard of and a super cool, super nice guy. Most of the wings here have about 10 people in them. Our wing has 4. And we are probably some of the most similar and most laid back guys here. I like it. So we talked about our "vote" before we actually went in, majority suggestion was that I get it. Mom, I have a confession, I'm committing to something extra-curricular, please don't worry that I am doing too much. This means that I get to be an RA again, who would have thought? Eli, the ex-RA has now been promoted to being an RA in a foreign country! It should be cool, especially the part where I don't have to ask someone else to use the phone and the part where I get to meet with Abner every week. I look forward to it.
That being explained, let's move on. Assembly: pretty much the majority of the people here at the Moshav go to church here. We get to sing in Hebrew, fortunately, the English version is on the powerpoint too. Now when I say English version I mean the Hebrew words are written in English letters, so we stumble through them and hope for the best. It was so cool though, we sang a couple Hebrew songs, but then we sang a couple of English songs. Come Thou Fount in Hebrew sounds pretty much amazing. It was a good day.
After Assembly we ate lunch (better food than normal since a group was here for the weekend. It's sort of like when the Board comes to Corban, or like Corban Experience :). Then we killed time until the bus came to take us to the Old City. We were there for a little over three hours, cruising the streets, perusing the wares, having a good Saturday afternoon, etc.
We stopped at our friend Shabaan's and in typical Arab fashion he gave us some mint tea. I was more along for the ride than anything. I had nothing I wanted to buy just yet and it was nice to get out and burn off some of that pita bread. Then we headed for home, going straight into dinner.
Dinner tonight was amazing! But not because of the food.
Tonight the food was pretty much normal. But the conversation was incredible. Four of us, my roommate Daniel, a guy named Tyler, and a gal named Jessi, had a really good conversation. I will briefly share it with you because it was so good. It started by talking about The Office (tv show) and Jessi was sharing how she didn't think Believers should really watch it because it contains so much crude and vulgar stuff (we like her line of thinking). From there the conversation exploded into the best conversation I have had here to date. We talked about all sort of things that pertain to true Christian living. Particularly how so often we will have a conversation like this and then go and do nothing with it. The question of the hour was this, "so now what are we going to do with this conversation?" -- So often we talk about great and challenging and convicting things and then do nothing about it. Our goal is to do something with it, to take it to the Lord and let those things that were discussed and those things which are on our heart sink in. It was just great.
I need to run now, time for our Saturday night shindig in the miklat.
Enjoy the weekend, may our great God bring Himself into your attention and may you buck the system of society and live unabashedly for Him.
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