I know I haven't blogged since the 4th week, but I just wanted to add a little picture to show some of the fun I had on the trip! I fully intend on making up for the last week/week and a half that I didn't blog on.

This picture is from the day we went to the Dead Sea. This was an awesome experience for me because unlike last time I came to Israel, I was actually able to rub mud over my body and get/float in the water!! My friends and I swam out pretty far into the ocean and had a great time just floating and talking. It was definitely a day I won't forget.

February 9

Today was a kind of uneventful day. It started off by having a lecture with a professor from Jerusalem University about Islam. We learned about Islam’s background and the similarities and differences between Muslims, Jews, and Christians. The lecture was interesting in some parts, but I felt like I was in class again…different from what I’ve been used to recently! Haha! We got out of the lecture around 10 and I went to the market with some friends from then till about 12 noon. We had to be back at the house to go to the Rockefeller Museum. It was cool to see all the things in the museum, but many of us had a really short attention span at this time. =]  Needless to say, we weren’t there for too long. After dinner, we had a debrief over the lecture with the Professor from Jerusalem University and Dr. Hemby spoke about the three religions, saying things that really stirred my heart. He said that Christianity is not just another world religion. A religion always trys to work it’s way into God’s favor, but we don’t have to do that because of the resurrection of Jesus. All the work has been done for us because Jesus is alive. Examples of why Judaism and Muslim are considered religions is in the way Jews go to the Western Wall to pray and Muslims pray at a specific time, 5 times a day. He said that what we do, we do not to gain God’s favor, but because we have favor already. He made two points that really touched me and made me think. He said that 1. It’s impossible for God to love us any more than He loves us right now, and 2. God loves everyone else on the planet just as much as He loves us. I obviously knew this before, but after being in this land and becoming more acquainted with these cultures, I’ve taken a new outlook on these people. Like most of this trip has been, I’ve learned and grown so much here. SO, after another pretty easy day, I’m now here writing to each one of you. I can’t believe that I’ve already been here for almost 3.5 weeks and only have 12 days left here… It has definitely been an incredible experience for me. I don’t necessarily want to leave, but am starting to get to the point where I’m ready to come home. It will absolutely be a bittersweet emotion when I have to come home.

 As an extension of when I spoke about writing my Psalm, here it is. It’s not like most of my writings, but it’s what God was speaking to my heart that day as I was sitting cliff-side in En Gedi, looking out onto the Dead Sea. I hope you enjoy!

As I look out at this body of water,

I can’t help but think about the beauty of all your creations.

Even though this sea may be called dead,

You have made all things beautiful.

You have made all things for a purpose,

These mountains,

That sea,

This sun,

Me.

 

Not until now have I realized how much you love me,

And how much you want my love.

Not until now have I truly listened to the sound

Of your deep, soothing voice

Softly whispering my name.

Give me the strength to follow your voice;

To hang on to each word with every ounce of my soul.

 

With each gust of wind, I feel you hold me.

With each crash of the waves, I hear your voice.

With each sparkle of the water, I see you smile at the sight of my face.

You are my father, the one who comforts me through it all.

You are my one and only, the one who will never let me down.

You are my love, the one desire of my heart.

Make me; mold me, Oh Yeshua, my Lord.

 

Much love from the Holy Land! <3

February 6-8

This past weekend was my 3^rd Shabbat since I’ve been here is Israel. Usually we don’t make plans for Friday and Saturday, but this Friday was a little different. If y’all remember, I mentioned not too long ago about how our group goes to John and Calev Myer’s church every Saturday night. Once a month their church reaches out to the Muslim community by going to a neighborhood and picking up trash. We just happened to be here the one time in February they would be going! So, early Friday morning we met up with the group and picked up bags and bags of trash for 2 hours. I wasn’t prepared for what I saw when I was there… I had no idea things could get that dirty. We went into the dirtiest and most trashed neighborhood around. I took some pictures of it, and it just blows your mind, the piles and hills of trash that have accumulated throughout the years. It looks like for years, these people just throw all of their trash over this hill, and that is exactly what has been happening. Supposedly, the people around there don’t have any way of disposing of all their trash, so they would burn it. But whenever these people would burn their trash, the city would fine them. So, these people pretty much have no other choice but to throw their trash on the hill. I don’t even want to know the different things I was picking up that day. It ranged from everything between diapers to animal bones. My friend Sarah and I found this backpack and it took both of us to pull it out of the ground because it had been there for so long that grass and roots had started to grow on and in it. After we were finished with that community service, we went back to the house and just chilled, which was really nice. That night we had our Shabbat service, and as an extension of last weeks talk about being the salt of the earth, a leader in our group spoke about being the light of the earth. My eyes were really opened about how much influence we truly have on other people in this world because of the calling God has put on our life.

Saturday was an easy-going day and I got to rest, which was really nice. As usual, we went to the Myer’s church service this night and afterwards went to dinner.

Sunday marked our 20^th day of travel since I’ve been here in Israel. We started off the day by going to Bethlehem. It was really interesting to go here in the way we had to change busses at the entrance of the city. I found out this was because the city is under Palestinian control and Jews are forbidden to enter. So, since our bus driver and tour guide are both Jewish, we had to switch busses and get a new tour guide for the afternoon. We first went to the Shepard’s field, where the angels appeared to the shepards and told them that Jesus was going to be born and he would preach the gospel to all people. This was a huge event for them because shepards were considered low on the social status, and so when they heard they were going to be considered equal, it was an important moment. We also went to the Church of the Nativity, where the place of Jesus’ birth and where His manger had laid is commemorated. I’m not sure if the spots are exact, but even just being in the same vicinity of where those events took place is absolutely incredible. I mean, that’s my savior we’re talking about!! After Bethlehem, we went to Herodian, where the remains of Herod the Great’s palace are located. We walked to the very top and looked over Israel. From there, we could see Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and it was just crazy to think about and picture Herod standing up there after receiving the message that Jesus was just born. After Herodian, we went back to the house, starting off this next week nice and easy.

Archeology

Alright, so today we went to an archeological sight and instead of digging, we sifted from about 1015AM-4PM... we got there at 9AM and were briefed on the history of why they started digging in the first place, some things they have already found, and what we were going to be doing. The sight started because of the Temple Mount. The mount itself is owned by the Muslims, but underneath it is owned by the Jews. Supposedly a while ago, the Muslims started secretly digging underneath the Temple Mount at nights without anyone knowing and the Jewish government ended up finding out and they had to stop. It took a couple years for these archeologists to get the permit to go through all the dirt and land, but they finally did. The unfortunate thing was that they couldn't dig at the actual sight, they had to move everything somewhere else. So that's where we were. Since all the dirt and land had to be bulldozed and carried in huge trucks in order to be moved, there were lots of small pieces. So, for those 6-7 hours, we dry and wet sifted through all the dirt they brought to the sight from the Temple Mount. Overall, our group found 12 coins, a bronze ring, a couple bullets, and lots of mosaic pieces and pottery. It was a fun job to do for a little bit, but it did get a little repetitive after a while, just being perfectly honest. But, it's what I should have expected. I sifted for a good 5.5 hours and about the last hour we were there I sat in a tree and talked with a group of girls on this trip. It was a fun time. The only other thing I did today was go out to a restaurant with a large group for a girl's birthday that is on the trip. We already ate dinner at our house, so we mainly just had appetizers (for those who wanted them), desert and drinks. Even though the day wasn't as eventful as some of the other days, it was a really great day. =]

P.S. Happy birthday Matt!!! Hope you had a great day today!

News

Hey y'all! Since I haven't put any pictures up of my trip yet, here are links to two guys' websites who are taking pictures on this trip. Enjoy!

http://williamjonathanphoto.com/index2.php?v= v1under

OR

 http://picasaweb.google.com/MrMutz

ALSO, there has been a huge change at Southeastern since we have been here. As of June 30, Dr. Mark Rutland will no longer be the President of Southeastern University and on July 1, he will be the new president of Oral Roberts University. As a result, Tommy Barnett has been appointed the transitional chancellor of SEU. If you want to know the whole story or more about what happened, you can go to Southeastern's website: seuniversity.edu. It's a very sad change, but I know that God wouldn't have done it unless He had a greater plan for the school in mind. That is why we are trusting in Him during this transition!

love you all <3

February 4, 2009

Today was a short but sweet day. The only place we went to was the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve. On one side of the reserve we looked at a synagogue that had original mosaic floors that were almost fully complete still in it. On the other side, we hiked up the mountain to David’s Waterfall, or the Ein Gedi Waterfall, whichever one it’s called. The mountains we were hiking on were the same mountains David hid in when he was running from Saul when Saul wanted to kill David as a result of his jealously. The reason the waterfall is called David’s Waterfall is because it’s where David and his men would come out to drink and bathe while they were in hiding there. It was a gorgeous reserve and waterfall. After having our daily spiritual lessons from Dr. Hemby, we hiked back down the mountain. Because the main person of today was David, we were required to read Psalm 57, 63, and 142 – all Psalms that David wrote. So, our “assignment” for the day was to write our own Psalm, the “151^st Psalm”. Because we were given an hour to write, 3 of my good girlfriends and I walked to a desert area a little walk away that overlooked the Dead Sea. It was a beautiful sight to see that definitely inspired my writing. I’m not completely done with my Psalm, so I’m not going to type it up and post it quite yet. But as soon as it’s complete, I will put it up. Even though we only went to one place today, we didn’t get done until around 2PM. Once getting back to the house, I went to a coffee shop near by with some friends and hung out for about an hour to just chill. And now I’m here! Sorry once again for being behind on the blogs, but I can now say that I am all caught up! =]  Now I’m going to bed because tomorrow is a long day of archeological digging! Good night all! 

February 3, 2009

Today was an overall awesome day! Other than no longer being dehydrated, we went to some pretty cool places. The morning started off in Caesarea Maritima. I’ve realized that there are like 3 different Caesarea’s in Israel and this one gets it’s name not just because it was in the time of Caesar, but because it is right next to the Mediterranean Sea. In Caesarea Maritima, we went to the famous theatre that was excavated in the early 60’s and became a national sight in the 70’s. To learn about every nook of this theatre and what took place there was incredible. Not only did shows go on at this theatre we were sitting in, but it was also the place where Herod Agrippa most likely died. (That’s actually a really interesting story! If you want to read it, its in Acts 12) This theatre is also most likely the place where the Apostle Paul stood in front of Agrippa and his wife for a trial while he was under house-arrest for being Roman citizen who lived in a Jewish community (story is in Acts 26). After spending some time there, we walked over to the remains of Herod’s palace. The reason why Herod’s palace was in Caesarea Maritima was because Herod grew up as a Jew and when we got older converted to Romanism. Because of this, he wanted to live somewhere far enough away from the Jews so they wouldn’t rebel against him. I was surprised at how many remains there actually were from his palace. Along with the palace, we saw where his private pool was and where he had built a port on the edge of the Med. Of course, because of the dry seasons, the water drops significantly each year, so the port doesn’t even come close to the water. But we could see the main outline of where it was and what it looked like. It was the biggest port in the eastern part of the city and 3^rd in the world at that time, having the capacity to hold 60 boats at once. Even though I don’t think Herod was the greatest guy, I strongly feel that he was one of the greatest builders this world will ever see. After finishing with Caesarea Maritima, we drove to an old aqueduct that was on the beach of the Mediterranean and we had about 15-20 minutes to spend on the beach at the Med. It was so much fun! One of the best parts of the day =]  After our play time, we headed to Nazareth and had lunch. The first place we went to in Nazareth was the Church of the Annunciation, where remains of Mary’s house is located and a commemoration of when the angel appeared to Mary telling her she was pregnant with Jesus. Next we went to the Church of the Synagogue, where Jesus went to and preached from the book of Isaiah, after coming out of his time of the devil tempting Him. This story is in Luke 4, and the main theme of what Jesus preached about was how He told the Jews that the gospel was not just for them, but the Gentiles as well. Our last place to visit today was Mount Carmel. Many events occurred on Mount Carmel, most of them involving Elijah. Many of them had to do with Elijah challenging the prophets who believed in other gods to prove themselves, and of course Elijah always won. For example, calling the fire down onto the sacrifices and challenging Bale, the god of the storms, to a lightening contest. In the end, God proved himself and the Israelites slaughtered all the prophets. Aside from the importance of Mount Carmel, the view is unbelievable. You can see for what seems forever! It was a great sight to end a long day with.

Short and Sick (2/2/09)

Today honestly was one of the worst days on this trip so far for me. Ever since I woke up, I have felt horribly nauseous and could barely go anywhere. But, I fought through the crappiness and went ahead and traveled with the group instead of staying at the house, even though today was the one day this week we walked to our destinations. The first place we walked to was the Western Wall, or Wailing Wall as I usually call it, by walking through the Damascus Gate, through the Muslim quarter, and then to the Wall. Instead of having free time by the wall at first, we went into the Western Wall tunnels. Here we saw the very bottom, original stones from the time of Kind Herod and tunnels that the Roman soldiers used to walk through. It was pretty cool but unfortunately because I felt like I just wanted to crawl in a ball the whole time I wasn’t paying much attention. Once we got we through with the tunnels, we were able to have some free time at the actual Western Walls. I went up to the wall and said a small prayer and then looked over the small separation wall between the men and women’s side of the wall and watched 3 barmitzvas! Its so crazy how different cultures can really be… After all that jazz at the Western Wall, our guide took us through the Jewish quarter and explained all it’s history. Once we were done with that, we went to our next destination – the Temple Mount. We weren’t able to go into any of the mosques because we weren’t Muslim, obviously, but all the detailed décor of the buildings were pretty awesome to see, especially the Dome of the Rock. I actually found out on this trip that on his deathbed, King Hussein donated $7 million to put real gold on the dome of the Dome of the Rock. While we were there, there was a worker putting the gold on the roof. Only one time you’ll be able to see something like that! Once leaving the Temple Mount, we walked to the Old City into the Muslim quarter. There, we had lunch at the “greatest pizza place in Israel.” It definitely wasn’t as good as pizza in the states, but as for Israel, I’d have to agree with their motto. After eating I was luckily able to find people to walk back to the house with me so I could lie down and feel better. I ended up sleeping for 3 hours! It was great =]  I ended up finding out the reason behind my nausea and sickness all day…dehydration. Who would’ve thought?! Julie’s lesson for the day: DRINK TONS OF WATER!!

First day of February!

Today was a busy, long, and very rainy day. Our first stop was the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was given. We went to the church on the top of the mountain that serves as an observation point of the mountain and it’s surroundings. I learned that the observation point on top is exactly at sea level, unlike the Sea of Galilee that we could see from the mountain, which is 650 feet below sea level. Also that there has been a lot of controversy on whether Jesus gave his sermon at the top of the mountain or the bottom. Two reasons why most think He gave it standing at the top of the mountain is because when looking down from the top, it resembles that of a theatre and since the winds blow north to south, the sound of His voice would carry to all of the people. Even though no one knows the exact spot of where Jesus gave his sermon, my professor said something that I absolutely agree with. He said, “it’s not the exact place that matters, it’s the events that happened there.” This is so true for me because even though we might not find exact spots, the fact that I’m in the land where Jesus walked and lived is amazing in itself. Anyway, just some interesting facts about that… Our next stop was the Valley of Tabgha, where the Church of Peter’s Primacy is located. This church commemorates when the disciples saw Jesus for the 3^rd time after He rose from the dead and when Jesus forgave Peter and restored him and his calling, asking him “Peter, do you love me more than these?” in John 21. Right next to the church we were at was the Church of Multiplication, where Jesus fed the 5000 Jews. Other than being near to that sight, a cool fact about that miracle is it’s the only miracle that is mentioned in all 4 of the gospels. Across the lake was the Decapolis, where Jeasus fed the 4000 Gentiles. Being close to where both of those miracles took place was an amazing feeling. Something that really touched me about the sight of The Church of Peter’s Primacy is when my professor talked to us about the conversation between Jesus and Peter. These are a few things I got from it: no matter who we are dealing with, we will always be dealing with imperfections. If and when we blow it, it doesn’t mean it’s over; we need to get beyond it. This really spoke to me because as some people know, I have a tendency to hold onto situations and let my emotions control the rest of my day, maybe even longer. Needless to say, God really spoke to me about that. Right in the backyard of the church was the Sea of Galilee, so that was our next stop for the remainder of our time there. I learned a bunch of information about the Sea, but I won’t bore you with a list of random facts. =]  We didn’t get to spend much time there, but we got to walk right up to it and take in it’s beauty. Once we left there, we headed to the Galilee boat ride. Unfortunately since it was a rainy day, the boat ride wasn’t as good as when I went on it the first time I came to Israel. There were tarps on the sides of the boat to cover the riders from the rain and they didn’t have a demonstration of how the fisherman during the time of Jesus used to throw out their nets and catch fish. It’s alright though… A cool thing I saw from the boat was a story coming straight from the Bible that involves the “evangelistic triangle”: Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazim. In Matthew 11 it talks about how God put “woes” on the cities because they took the miraculous, God’s miracles, for granted and didn’t repent. They took the power and presence of God for granted. I saw the physical affect of God’s woe. From the boat, we could see all the cities and each one of them was a pile of rocks. Even though Capernaum is a city that you can still go to and visit, it’s still basically a pile of rocks. Pretty awesome to see with your own eyes! After the boat ride and lunch we went to the museum where the ancient boat is held that archeologists believe is from the time of Jesus. This was cool to see again and relearn the process of how it was excavated. Our next stop was Capernaum, where we saw the remains of Peter’s house and of a synagogue. They were awesome remains to see, but we couldn’t stay for very long because we had an appointment… Baptisms in the Jordan River! Even though I was a little disappointed in the shortened visit to Capernaum, I was SO excited for my baptism. I have been baptized two other times in my life, but this one was different for me. It was a symbol of the rededication of my life to God and His will for me. It was one of the most meaningful things I’ve ever done in my life and was a monumental point for me. A real example of God’s compassion was shown during this time because it had been raining literally the whole day and right before we were going to have our baptisms, it was pouring. WELL, right before we started the baptisms, it stopped raining and was sunny! And to make it even better, the rain didn’t start up again until we finished with the last baptism. How great is that?! God really is good!

Thursday-Saturday, Jan 29-31

Thursday didn’t start off the best, but slowly got better throughout the day. We had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning because we were leaving at 5 to go hike up Masada and watch the sunrise.  Really, the only crappy part about the morning was waking up so early and having to hike up a mountain while being really sick. But, watching the sunrise was pretty worth it. It was beautiful. After being on top of Masada for a while, we left to our day’s next activity – a jeep safari! I don’t know why they call it a “jeep” safari, because we definitely weren’t in a jeep. It was more like…the front of a small semi with part of a section of a bus at Disney World – completely open with lots of rows in it. It’s kind of hard to describe, but I hope you can get somewhat of an idea of what it looked like. Anyway, they picked us up at Masada and we were off, driving all over the Judean wilderness, going places a car should never be able to drive. A definite highlight was having lunch in the middle of a desert, overlooking a monastery that was in a crack in between two mountains. How many people can say they’ve done that?! Pretty cool stuff… So our safari lasted about 6 hours and needless to say, we were glad when it was over. Our butts were hurting from sitting for so long and our bodies were freezing from the cold wind blowing in the open car. But, it was definitely an amazing experience. That ended our 12^th day of our trip (10^th day of actual touring), and that night got a much-needed 12 hours of sleep that night!

Friday, I was a bum. Not much more is needed to be said. =]  The only thing I did was go get lunch with some friends at a place called “Burger Bar”. Kosher burgers, of course. It was actually really really good though, and even though the waiters could barely speak English, one of them just happened to know enough to tell me that I had a beautiful smile. Crazy when that happens. Haha! Friday night we had our second Shabbat service. It wasn’t as intense as last week’s service, but it still touched me. One of my friends actually spoke for a couple minutes about how God tells us to be the salt of the earth and she said some things that really caught my attention. Not too long after service, I went to bed and got another much-needed great night of sleep.

Today has been a lot like yesterday, in the way that I’ve been a bum most of the day. Other than eating breakfast and lunch and meeting with my group for 2 hours, I’ve just been catching up on this blog, writing the events of the past 5 days. Tonight we’re going to the Myer’s church again, so I’m pretty excited for that! All in all, it has been a crazy busy week. I will do better at writing in my blog each night, rather than waiting 3 or more days and then having to write a ton! Haha! Thank you for everyone's prayers for my safety and health. I am feeling a million times better than I have been the past few days and I think whatever I had has finally passed. Love you and hope all is well back at home!

Wednesday, Jan 28

Wednesday was probably my favorite day of the whole trip so far. We started out by going to a place where you overlooked the city of Jericho. Unfortunately, because the city is under Palestinian rule, we aren’t able to physically go into the city, but looking over it all was pretty cool. Our next stop was Qumran. It’s not the actual place where the Dead Sea scrolls were found, but it is possibly the place where a group of Essenes, called the Dead Sea Sect, was located. Ripped up pieces of the DDS were actually found in cave #11, which is near Qumran. Because there are countless numbers of pieces, it’s been almost impossible for the archeologists to piece them together. But as of last year, they began using DNA testing to match the skins of the animals the scrolls were written on in order to at least group them together. I thought that was pretty cool. After Qumran, we went to the Dead Sea!! Fun fun fun! Almost our entire group spread mud over their bodies and we quickly went from an all-white group of 32 to black body-builders. Well, for the guys anyway. (We let them pretend for the time being =]) The last time I went to the Dead Sea, which was the first time I came to Israel, I had a nice size injury on my knee, so I didn’t get the full experience of the sea. But this time was incredible! Some of the students and I went out pretty far and were amazed by the fact we could stand straight up and be standing on absolutely nothing. God has an amazing imagination! So…once that salty experience was over, our group headed to an experience that was added to our trip at the last minute. We drove to a Bedouin camp in the middle of Negev deserts. The Bedouins are people who survive living in the middle of the desert and live in tents and whatnot. Even though the camp we went to was more of a tourist attraction rather than a real Bedouin camp, we still got the experience. When we first arrived, you would never guess what we did. WE RODE CAMELS!! Now that’s something not everyone can say they’ve done! They sat two people per camel and there were four or five camels all attached to each other by a rope in a row. I rode with my friend Brittany and our camel was like the grandpa of all camels. He not only looked old, but he thought he was too good to walk in the line with the other camels, so walked to the side the whole trip. We decided to name him and thought George would fit well. For some reason, that turned into Jorge (sounded out like the Hispanic version of George) and we figured that since most Hispanics have 4 or 5 names anyway, so should our George. SO, his full name was Jorge Gonzalez Luis Lopez. Or for short, George Lopez. =]  The only downside to the camel ride was that the camel behind me seriously had rabies. It was like coughing up loogies (spelling?) and foaming at the mouth and almost spitting on my leg! Luckily, it never happened. After riding the camels, we set up our things in one of the tents at the camp and went to a meeting. One of the leaders at the camp talked to us about the Bedouin culture and we got to taste Bedouin tea and coffee. The tea was amazing; it was made of dates! Definitely not expected. The coffee on the other hand…ugh! I had to shoot it down because it was so bitter! I think that’s how pretty much all coffee is here though. Their culture is so interesting! For example, they believe in polygamy and can have up to 4 wives, and whenever you stay at a camp, if they give you a full cup of tea it means that they don’t like you and you aren’t welcome to stay – very different than any of us are used to. They served us dinner not too long after and it was incredible! Probably the best meal I’ve had since I’ve been on this trip. They served us a huge bowl of rice with lamb kabobs and different sauces and toppings with homemade pita bread, they all made that night. Yummm! After dinner, we were taught a number of Israeli dances by our bus driver. His name is Moti and he used to be in a professional Israeli dance group. So fun, but surprisingly tiring! A couple people took videos, so those should be interesting to watch! Not much else happened that night, but it was okay because it had been a busy day. That then leads me to our next day – Thursday.

Tuesday, Jan 27

Wow… I can’t even tell y’all how awesome these past few days have been… I know three days is a long time to go without blogging, but the past two days (not including today) we weren’t in Jerusalem, so it was kind of impossible. To start off Tuesday morning, I woke up really early and couldn’t go back to sleep. So…instead of trying to fall back asleep knowing it wasn’t going to happen, I went onto the roof/balcony of our house that overlooks Jerusalem to just be alone and with God. When I got up there it was pitch black except for the streetlights that were on around the city. Of course, that was also because it was only 5 in the morning. So as I was watching the sun slowly rise over the city, God was speaking to my heart. I haven’t written in a while, and everyone who knows me knows that I love to write, especially poetry. What God was speaking to me wasn’t necessarily poetry, but it was precious to my heart.

“I watch this city as it sleeps in peace

and the sounds of reality slowly arise.

As the birds chirp their good morning symphony

The Lord speaks softly and calls me by name.

‘Julie, my daughter, my beautiful bride,

I move these clouds just as I move your heart.

You are in my home, my love and my land,

Breathe in the air, for it is I that you breathe.

Just as I have given this city rain,

I have given you peace in the depths of your soul.

I love you more than you can even fathom,

So love me in the way I have always loved you.’

The horizon appears slowly as the sun awakes from sleep.

The sky has changed from black,

To a rainbow of blue and orange.

Then an added yellow, purple and bright pink

And the sounds of a new day that has finally come.

I say through morning brisk and the distant church bell’s song,

‘good morning sweet Jerusalem, a new day has come.’”

Anyway, I just felt like I should share that with those who know we the best on this world… Once the day truly got started, we went to the big city of Tel Aviv and I loved that place! It’s the second largest city in Israel and is one of the most populated. It was pretty easy to see why, I felt. It was really modernized and had a cosmopolitan lifestyle, and of course was on the coast of the Mediterranean. We first went to the supposed tomb of Samuel, and then the Simon the Tanner’s house. By that time, it was time for lunch, so we ate schwarma at this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant. It was so yummy!! I can’t remember if I had eaten schwarma before, but I definitely think I liked it more than falafels. =]  Something random to add: when we were walking on the street, we passed by a cave with fruit bats! Weird, right? And then we had walked to a Roman statue in the middle of the city and while looking at the Mediterranean Sea in the distance, there was some random old guy who looked like he tanned for at least 30 minutes a day doing yoga in the middle of the park. He was putting himself in positions no man should ever be in. *shiver* haha! ANYWAY, after eating, we went to Tel Aviv University to visit the Diaspora Museum on the campus. It was about the history of Israel and the scattering of the Jews among the nations. Since we were going to the Arab market after the museum, we were all pretty quick going through all the rooms! Haha! The market was so much fun! I bought some really cute stuff =]  I love experiencing all the aspects of these different cultures…it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. The market was only a couple blocks away from the Mediterranean Sea, so once everyone who was in my group was done shopping and walking around, we went to the Med. Unfortunately, the part of the sea we were on was all rocks. So we weren’t able to stick our feet in the water, but we stood on the rocks and looked out on the horizon of the beautiful sea. We left not too long after that, which ended up being a good thing because being sick and walking around all day in cold winds without a jacket isn’t a good combination!

Sunday and Monday

Sunday and today were both pretty filled days! Starting on Sunday, we went to the Israel Museum and learned all about the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was awesome! I think the coolest piece of information I found out was how the scrolls were actually found. Two Shepard boys were throwing rocks in caves trying to get their sheep to come out, and they heard one of the rocks break something on the inside of the cave. So when they went to investigate, they found the scrolls, but had no idea what they even were. After passing through the hands of a number of people, the scrolls were finally put in the right place, and I got to see them! There were a number of different scrolls there that they had found; the complete book of Isaiah, and parts of the books of the Temple Scroll, the War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness, the Pesher Habakkuk Scroll, the Community Rule Scroll, and the Thanksgiving Scroll. It was amazing to see the actual REAL hand written scrolls right in front of my eyes... the handwriting was so perfect and everything was perfectly spaced. Only someone with extreme patience could have that job, I think. After that museum, we went to where the famous Menorah is, right in front of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, basically. The Menorah was so pretty and had such amazing detail. On it are scenes from different stories in the Bible, which I will put a picture up of tomorrow with its description. We didn’t get to go into the Knesset, but the outside architecture was different, being designed after the tabernacle. When we left there, instead of going to the Rockefeller Museum as planned, we went to the birthplace of John the Baptist – Zachariah and Elizabeth’s home. Like most of the sights here, there was a Catholic church built over the actual spot, but inside of the church was a small nook built inside of the actual house. It was way cool! Connecting with this time in the Bible, we also went to the place where Elizabeth and Mary met when they were both pregnant, during the period where all the babies were being killed (vague, I know.) Once again, a church was built there, but I do have to say, it was a gorgeous one.

Today, we started out our touring by going to a cave that was mistakenly found in 1968, filled with stalagmites and stalactites. I don’t really know how to describe them, but they’re way cool looking. (Look it up!) Next we went to Bet Shemesh, the place, or near the place, where the story of Sampson and Delilah occurred, and the exact spot where the Philistines returned the Arc of the Covenant to the Israelites after taking it into captivity. From where we were standing, we could see the Valley of Sorik, which is where Delilah is actually from. Keeping on with the cave theme, we then went to two Sidonian caves where Phenesian people would place their dead. Morbid, I know, but the artwork and Greek writing on the walls made it a little better for me. Supposedly they were all original pieces. But who knows for sure. =]  The last caves we went to were called bell caves because they looked like bells. Creative, right?! These caves were pretty incredible though…they were completely made of limestone and at the top of each of the caves were holes. Whenever these caves were made, the person/people would start at the top and carve their way down and pull out all this limestone to make this ginormous cave. This was one of the funnest and most uneducational parts of the day. =]  Along with walking all through out these caves, we took group pictures, sang “This is the Day” as we heard ourselves echo, and played ring around the rosy. Some memories I’ll never forget. The last place we stopped was one of my favorites – the Valley of Ela, where David slew Goliath. To have our lesson, we sat along the edge of the brook where David chose his five smooth stones. In front of us was the actually valley itself, behind us was the hill (it looked more like a mountain to me) where the Israelite army stood and hid from the Philistines and Goliath, and to the northeast of us was the hill where the Philistine army stood. You could almost see the event playing out in your head as you were sitting there. This was definitely an “A” spot and to be there was an experience like no other.

Well, that’s all for these past two busy days! I’m off to bed in the city of peace! Good night!

Sorry it's been a few days!

Hey y’all! These past couple days have been busy with travel and such, and I have been pretty tired at night, therefore why there is no blog for the past two days. So! I’m making up for it now. On Thursday, we had a 3.5 hour drive up to the highest point north in Israel; Tel Dan. Throughout the drive there, it felt like we were literally driving through the Bible. We passed by the Bedowin deserts, the first original inhabitants of Israel, and which is known as the land of milk in the Bible because they were shepherds and their animals, such as camels, goats, sheep, etc., produce milk. We also passed by Jericho, which is called the land of honey because of their agricultural abundance. It’s also known as the world’s oldest city, the lowest city in the world, and the oasis in the desert. Almost the whole drive, we were alongside the Jordan River – Jerusalem’s longest border. And obviously, we also passed by the country of Jordan and the West Bank. Something I found out that some of you might have already known is that the West Bank isn’t actually on the west; of Israel, that is. Geographically, it’s on the east of Israel, but west of Jordan. Pretty interesting… We saw the Moab Mountains east of the Jordan, and it’s highest point, Mount Nebo, where Moses is buried. Then we passed through Somaria, where Mount Gilboa is located, which is where King Saul took his last stand in war and afterwards David cursed the mountain saying that it will never see a drop of rain again. What really got to me about that is when looking at Mount Gilboa, it seriously looks like it hasn’t gotten any rain in forever. It was very bleak and dry, which shows the realness of these stories in the Bible. We also passed by the Sea of Galilee, which I found out is the only body of water that’s below sea level and has fresh water. Next to the Sea of Galilee, we passed through Tiberius, and Migdal, the city where Mary Magdalene lived. When we finally got to our stop, we went to the nature reserve in Tel Dan. This was pretty cool because I didn’t remember going there when we came to Israel about 5 years ago with Uncle Robert, until we got to the top and were at the spot where the golden calf was placed as an idol and animal sacrifices were made. Then I remembered and got really excited! It’s so cool because I remember a lot of places we went to 5 years ago, but I never remembered the history and now that I’m learning all of it, it makes all the sights and stories that much better and more worthwhile! After the reserve, we went to Ceaseria Philipi and learned about all that went down there, and after ate lunch at a Druse falafel restaurant. It was amazing!! My first falafel since I’ve been on this trip so far =] Our last stop was the Golan Heights. Like before, I didn’t remember this sight until I was actually up there, and when I got out of the bus pretty much started freaking out. It was coffee in the clouds!! I got a little emotional at first because I was just thinking about the significance of that spot and seeing the pictures in my mind of us cousins with grandpa in the coffee shop…but it was really cool to be back there. I didn’t have any coffee, but being there was good enough for me. SO FINALLY, after all that, we drove the 3.5 hours back and finally came back home.

On Friday, we didn’t really do anything too interesting. We decided that Fridays and Saturdays of each week were going to be chill days since Shabbat begins on sundown on Fridays and ends Saturday nights. But we did have two people come speak to us, John and Calev Myers, a father and son that run a church here in Jerusalem for Messianic Jews, if I’m not mistaken. They just had a word for us and wanted to speak to us about the culture here and gave us a small sermon. After that, we were free for the rest of the day and I went to the open market strip. I know that’s not exactly what it’s called, but it was pretty cool. SUPER busy because everyone was getting stocked up for the weekend since everything would be closed for over 24 hours, but it was a neat experience. That night, Dr. Hemby, one of the professors here, gave a Shabbat service and afterwards we had a time of worship. During this time, the Holy Spirit was completely surrounding each of us and moved in a huge way. Many people were spoken to and it was an amazing time of worship and prayer.

Today, Saturday, since it was Shabbat, we didn’t do hardly anything. The day was laid back, which was nice for a change, and the only thing we did as a group was go to a church service held by the Myers, who had spoken to us the day before. It was a great service, but was a little difficult to connect to since everything had to be translated.

So, that’s it! This first week has been truly incredible and I’ve grown not only in my knowledge and understanding of the land and it’s history, but spiritually as well. I’m excited for all the new adventures next week holds!

I walked where Jesus walked

Today was the first day we used the bus and it was a nice commodity to have. =] The first thing we did today was go to the Mount of Olives. I found out that it is considered the holiest of the three mountains in Jerusalem, the other two being Mount Zion and Mount Moriah. If anyone has ever wondered after looking at a picture of the M.O.O. why there are so many freaking graves, I finally found out the reason today! I just tried looking up the verse in the Bible real quick and couldn’t find it, but what the main overview says is that those who are buried at the foot of the Mount of Olives will be the first to be resurrected when Jesus comes back. I think the thing that blows my mind the most is that when looking at the cemetery from straight on, it looks like a field of rocks. Now that should say something about the numbers of graves. The cemetery is separated into 3 different sections – 1. Jewish, 2. Christian, 3. Muslim (also known as the Kidron valley) – and when looking at the area, it is pretty obvious to see the separations. The reason we went to this cemetery in the first place was because we were walking down the Palm Sunday Road.

Also off this road was the Garden of Gethsemane. I love this place and it’s significance and today I was really hit hard. More than half the time I was there, I just sat and wept. I cried about how deeply Jesus loved us and how even though he was betrayed and hurt by his closets friends, He never once stepped away from the will of God, His father. The words “let your will be done” really came clearer for me than they ever have. I’ve said that I would give everything to God and not let it affect me and whatnot, but I honestly never truly have. Jesus did. He put His pain and the heaviness of His heart into His father’s and didn’t let it interfere what He was on earth to do. That’s what I need to do.

After the Garden, we went to St. Peter in Calicantu; the Armanian church that is the supposed sight of the dungeon where Jesus spent His last night alive on earth, mentioned in Psalm 88. The dungeon was cool and all, but what I truly enjoyed was the pathway of stone beside the church. It was the remains of the pathway that led from the top of Mount Zion all the way to the top of the Mount of Olives, where it is written that Jesus was taken and walked on after He was taken captive in Gethsemane, brought to the dungeon, and then to His crucifixion the next morning. Jesus walked on those stones. I walked on those stones. I walked where Jesus walked.

The last places we visited today were the first neighborhood that was built outside of the walls of Jerusalem, build by Sir Moses Montefiore, and a promenade where we ate a picnic lunch looking straight out onto and having a perfect view of the city of Jerusalem. It was pretty incredible.

Well..I know I wrote a lot today, but it was an exciting one! I hope y’all don’t become bored with what I write, but if you do, please please let me know! =] Goodnight

a long day of walking!

Today was a day filled with lots of walking and so much history that I felt my brain was going to explode! We did a walking tour throughout the city of Jerusalem - both the old city within the walls, and the outer, more modern Jerusalem. Our tour guide for this week, Kenny, is probably one of the most knowledgeable human beings I've ever met! He talked literally nonstop the entire tour. He's a pretty interesting guy too.. he's a cajun Hebrew, born and raised as a Jew in Louisiana, and moved to Israel as part of the Zionist movement, and now lives in a Kibbutz. I don't know the exact definition of what a Kibbutz is, but what I got out of his explanation was that it's an Israeli settlement that can have a range from 15-1000 members, and has a big sense of community. Anyway, one of the places we went today was the Tower of David Museum. It took a while to get all the way through, but was way cool. I just tried to upload a picture I took of a view from a high point from the museum, but it won't upload.. =[  So I'll just have to give a description. In the picture, it shows part of the museum, the Tower of David, the city walls, and the first neighborhood built outside of the walls of Jerusalem. It's pretty cool.. I was also going to put a picture of me standing by part of the city wall. Just by looking at me compared to the wall, the size of the wall is crazy! Unlike anything I've ever seen! After that picture was taken, we went through Jaffa gate and into the old city. While inside the old city, not only did we walk around and go to the museum, but we got to walk on the top of the wall around Jerusalem! It was one of the coolest things ever. To one side, there was the old city and to the other, the new. Towards the end of the tour, we went and saw the upper room and King David's tomb. But, Kenny said these places weren't exactly 100% accurate, so more than likely it wasn't actually the upper room where the last supper was held and the holy spirit came down, and it wasn't King David's real tomb. Haha! Oh well, it was still cool to see. 

Overall, it was a long but informative day. I wish I was able to upload these pictures, but I guess I'll just upload them on Facebook when I have time next. =]  As for now, I'm going to attempt to go to bed. It's a little past 1AM here and unfortunately, I'm not a single bit tired.. I'm about to try to conquer the huge monster on my shoulder named jet lag. Please pray that I will get over it very soon!

I love all of you very much! Night!

Shalom Shalom

I'm finally here! Woohoo!! It's around 11PM and my 5 other roommates and I are still getting all of our stuff organized. Even though the room is only meant for 4, it'll just force us to become closer faster! haha Surprisingly after a total of 2 days of traveling, I'm not tired.. I slept all but an hour of the 12 hour flight from Newark to Tel Aviv. I've made a lot of friends already the short time I've been with this group, which is a relief. The girls I'm staying with are really fun. After the hour bus drive from Ben Gurin (I might have spelled that wrong) airport, we arrived at our house. We had a meeting, dinner and then a group of about 10 of us went for a walk. We went to a coffee shop and it was so much better than starbucks! (sorry Jess =]) It felt pretty comfortable walking around the city, the little that we did. I didn't really feel scared or out of place..other than the fact that we were one of the only groups of people speaking english. haha Overall, it's been a pretty good day! I will put up pictures of the room and the building tomorrow when I'm all unpacked and situated. Tomorrow starts our days of travel and learning!

Leavin on a jet plane

So it's 4:57 AM and I'm finishing up last minute items before I leave! My mom, Matt and I are leaving at 5:30 for the airport because my flight is off at 7:30...an early start to a very long day. I cannot wait to tell y'all about all my fun adventures! Pray for safety and I'll update when I get to the Holy Land! Much love.