1. Footwear – Wear what your feet are already somewhat used to. I brought sneakers but wore sandals (with backs) from Galilee to Jordan and back to Jerusalem. They were fantastic! Two observations about continual sandal wear. One, you will much better understand the biblical custom of footwashing was a necessity. Two, you will come back with a fantastic sandal tan.

2. Hydration – This is perhaps THE most important consideration. Good water must be bottled and bottled water is expensive, hard to carry, and warms easily in the Middle Eastern sun. Bring a camelback!!!!! They have plenty of backpacks that easily hold a camelback. You can save yourself a bunch of money by filling up the pack at the hotel (or other safe water source) in the morning and it will last you, cool, all day! Besides, it is much greener than throwing away plastic bottles.

3 Laptop – Bring your laptop, particularly on the bus. You will never be ever to remember everything, no matter how memorable you think it is. After the first day or two, even waiting until the end of the day may allow a great loss of information and memories. Use the travel time to jot small notes and download your pics in the evening. That way, when you leave Israel, you have a complete journal of your trip with only minor spelling and formatting to complete upon your arrival.

1) The kids call you white, no problem. But don’t they also make certain assumptions about you, about your wealth and/or position because of that? That’s racism. See Merriam Webster. It’s a two-part definition, and we’re teaching the first part.

2) I’ll stipulate it’s a far-drawn conclusion, but with as many wacky things people have thought through the years (almost any witnessing attempt today has to correct some misguided ideas) I think it’s a legitimate concern.

3) And while songs do not have to be verbatim Bible, I believe that if kids are going to be indoctrinated with them as they are, they should be pretty close. And I’m not riffing on Patch the Pirate here, but go to any church in Fundamentalism and see which kids can sing BY MEMORY almost any of the Patch Songs. I know I can still sing these songs decades later. Kids are sponges, they soak things up with ultra absorbtion that lasts a lifetime. Let’s be very careful about what we stick in that sponge.

However, on two points you need some work. First, declaring that there are differences between people is NOT racist. I have traveled quite a bit, and been called white by many different people. I was not offended, nor was offense meant. It was simply the correct observation from my white pasty skin. Paul’s condemnation of being judgmental was a comdemnation of judging people based on human standards, not God’s. We are NOT to prefer one over another based on race. When I show preference to someone based on their skin color, that IS racism. When we sing about differences, there is nothing wrong with children acknowledging the differences. The Ecuadorian kids called me white! Does that mean they are a bunch of slobbering racists like the KKK members? No. Second, you take the phrase, “died for all the children,” to a false logical conclusion. It does not follow that a child will grow up and then say that because they are an adult that Jesus didn’t die for them. For example, Jesus died for children. I grew up, now I’m not a child. Therefore, Jesus did not die for me. You will not hear a 20 year old say, well Jesus ONLY died for me when I was a kid, now that I’m older His death means nothing for me. It just doesn’t follow.

The song is not verbatim from the Scriptures, however, where does it say that I HAVE to sing something that is verbatim? You have to prove that part. I can and do sing songs which contain DEDUCED Scriptural Truth. And I believe that I am supposed to. See Jesus’ discussion with the Pharisees, Mt. 22.31-33, where He condemned them for NOT making the logical deduction from Scripture that He said they should have.

Love ya bro!

Hey, this is the letter that i mentioned. It is what defined conservative evangelicalism for me.
http://www.centralseminary.edu/publications/Nick/Nick257.html

and then a follow up that was posted on sharper iron
http://sharperiron.org/article/now-about-those-differences-part-one