A short day...

Last night when we went to get coffee at Aroma, one of the cook’s came out and said, “Autumn, this is for you.” He gave me a free dessert! How sweet is that?  The coffee was very delicious, and the view is spectacular. We sat out on the balcony and we could see the wall of the old city.

            This morning we went to see Soreq Cave Nature Reserve, called a stalactite cave.  In May of 1968, with a large blast, the cave was discovered. The cave is made of stone, and shows signs of development and aging. The cave is located on the western slopes of the Judean mountains, on the southern face of Mt. Yaela and south of the Soreq stream.  The inside was beautiful! The cave has such intricate detail, it was a really cool experience—except for feeling that at any moment, it could cave in and the stones would come down on us like daggers!

            We were in the area of Bet Shemesh today. The meaning of this place is “house of sun.” I thought it was really interesting when we talked about how long it took God to create the earth. The interesting part of this question, leads you to define an actual day. This is really crazy because according to scripture God didn’t create the sun until the 4^th day!

            Next we visited the Ella Valley, where David killed Goliath. Some of the guys reenacted the whole story, and it was very entertaining.  The stream by the valley is dried up—so it is now called a “wadi.”  It was crazy to be in the place where this actually happened, because it is such an inspiring story of how God is faithful—and he can use anyone, if he could use a young shepherd boy to kill a warrior.  I collected some small, smooth stones from the wadi.  We then visited a mount where the Ark of the Covenant went through, when Eli was the High Priest.

            After lunch we visited one more place—the Road to Emmaus, a place mentioned in Luke 24. We also visited a small church there, with a beautiful depiction of Jesus inside Mary.

            A crazy game of rock assassin has begun, so now everyone has to watch their back. It makes this experience EVEN MORE interesting. I love life. Peace out. 

the story continues

So this weekend was beautiful. On Friday we went to the Western Wall to see the Jewish people praying at the wall. There was prayer, dancing, and singing. The guys and girls separate into different sections. Friday night after the service the city was eerily quiet, compared to the rest of the week. Everyone stays inside for the Sabbath. There are clubs and restaurants all around our campus, but everything was dead quiet during Shabbat. I am amazed by the respect people have for their faith and heritage here! Saturday was quiet, as well, until after sunset. We went to a Messianic Jewish service last night and it was quite an experience. The worship and the message was all in Hebrew—we had our headsets with someone translating in English.  It was absolutely crazy that the speaker spoke from Matthew 16:13—where the Messianic confession takes place, in Caesarea Phillipi, the place we just visited! The Bible is coming alive for me as I am seeing places and then reading about the events and people who were there. God is so faithful to reveal himself to me.

            Today is the beginning of a new week.  We went to see the Church of the Visitation today. That is the church where Mary met with Elizabeth when they were both pregnant! The church was lovely. Then we went to see the Israel Museum—where the Dead Sea Scrolls are kept. It was unbelievable to actually see them, and realize how insane it must have been to be the shepherd who discovered them after so many years! We also watched a video on the Secret Community of Believers who separated themselves and lived in the desert. We had lunch in the city and ate falafels that were very delicious! After lunch we visited Knesset, and saw a huge Menorah. Mark explained EVERY detail of it! Then we took a walk and saw where the Prime Minister’s office is. We also had a brief lesson in the politics of Israel. I think we walked a little over six miles today. So, the night is young. Supposedly we are starting a big campus wide “rock assassin” game. I’m afraid this could get viscous. : ) We need to be downstairs to review in about twenty minutes. Then we are going to get some coffee with the guys later, and then hopefully I’ll be working out with the girls as usual. We are all still pretty sore from Mandy and my work out the last two days. Good night for now from Israel.

Day 3... making memories

Today we went to Golan Heights and we saw the road to Damascus, where Paul was traveling when he was blinded by the light of God. We could actually see the other countries bordering Israel- Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. It was incredible. was a beautiful view—actually the area was a military bunker where there were many soldiers gathered.  They asked to take a video of just a few of the girls saying “go lions!” in Hebrew. Then we took pictures with them. Men and women serve in the Military in Israel when they turn eighteen. Men serve a required 3 years, and women a required 2 years (unless they are married). I think it shows dedication to their country, having everyone serve. Our guide, Mark, says that most of them have the outlook, “If I don’t serve, who will?” So they serve willingly with pride for their beautiful country that so many wars have been fought over. The drive was about three and a half hours away, and we got our first glimpse of the Sea of Galilee—which we will be visiting next week!

         We had lunch in a little Druze community. The Druze have a “secret religion.” They believe in Allah, but they do not believe in Mohammed, so they are a separate group then the authentic Muslims. They believe that when they die, their bodies will be alive in another Druze, so do not fear death. Because of this, they are also very fierce soldiers. For lunch, we ate a Druze pizza. It was a thin pita, a white thick cheese, drizzled with olive oil. It was very interesting.

         Our last two stops were in Caeserea Philippi, where the “gates of Hades” are said to be. We took a group picture just outside the mouth of the huge cave of hell. There were old structures and ruins. This was where Jesus asked the disciples who they said he was, and Peter said he was the Christ. Then we went to the National Reserve of Tel Dan. We saw many ancient sites, but one that stood out to me was the gate Abraham went through.  This is the only site that historians know for sure is old enough that they know Abraham was there. How incredible.

         Tonight we went for a night exploring Jerusalem. We had a really fun experience taking pictures in a little park on a statue. Then we walked around seeing the city. Thursday night is the same as our Friday nights back home. It was beautiful. There is a party going on outside my window. 

Jerusalem Day 2

זה יפה הלילה בירושלים

I can hardly believe we have only been here 2 days! I honestly feel like I have been in this captivating little country for at least a week. Yesterday, our tour guide, Mark, took us all over the city of Jerusalem. We went to the Tower of David Museum, and learned about some of the history of ancient Israel. We learned about the three main Jewish feasts: Pentecost, Passover, and Tabernacle. We also walked the wall enclosing Jerusalem. I now laugh at myself for thinking I would not be able to work out while i was here. We have been walking up and down hills everywhere. Jerusalem is called the city of peace. 

Today was beautiful. 

 The view from the Mount of Olives looking down at the city of Jerusalem was breathtaking. From there we identified all the sites from where Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and his complete journey to ending at the place where he was crucified. We also went to visit more beautifully old churches. One was called the Dominus Flevit Church-- also called the Teardrop Church because this is the place where Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Today I learned the difference between reformed Jews, Conservative Jews, and Messianic Jews. I also learned about the "Law of Return," and what makes someone "Jewish" enough to return to Israel for permanently. They must be a second generation Jew. 

We also learned about the 8 gates surrounding the Old City of Jerusalem:

Jaffa

New

Damascus

Herod/Flower

Stephen/East

Dung

Zion

have you ever had your laptop hard drive crash the night before you're leaving the country to "study" abroad? 

have you ever lost your luggage on an international flight?

have you ever tasted a falafel?

have you ever walked the wall that separates Old Jerusalem from New Jerusalem?

have you ever seen King David's tomb?

have you ever been to the Mt. of Olives?

have you ever prayed in the garden of Gethsemane? 

YES YES YES to all of the above, its been quite a trip so far. 

 

My favorite experience today was singing at the very bottom of the house of Caiaphas where Jesus waited before he was crucified... "I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice, to worship you..."

there are no words to describe it. 

Jesus was talking about Jerusalem in this scripture:

Matthew 5:14 

 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden."

 Good night from Israel... we have an early morning tomorrow.