Thursday, November 25, 2010

blessed beyond measure

Holidays are my favorite time of the year, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am very excited that I will be home for Christmas in just a few weeks, but this week more than ever I have been really missing home, as this is the first year I have been away from home for Thanksgiving. 

Being in a different country for Thanksgiving has been a very new experience and makes me even more thankful on this day. I am so thankful for the IBEX staff that has taken so much time to make us feel as much at home as possible. Today they prepared a Thanksgiving feast for us and it was almost as good as mom's Thanksgiving dinners! 
This week I have been thinking about all that I have to be thankful for and these come to mind.
  1. Thankful for thanksgiving - How awesome is it that our country sets aside a day to reflect and be thankful for all that we have been blessed with. Not to mention Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite meal of the whole year.
  2. Thankful for Christ my Savior and the salvation I have in Him - Last night we were in Jerusalem and did a walk through Jesus' last night before the crucifixion. As with everything that I am learning here, it made it so real and I was able to get a taste of what He would have felt like as we walked all over the Old City, we gazed into the same heavens that He did on that night and prayed. I am thankful that God did not spare His only Son, but sent Him to save His children.
  3. Thankful for my family - It is true that distance makes the heart grow fonder, I realize what a huge blessing each and every member of my family is. The older I get I realize how wise my parents really are, how much my sister is my best friend, and that things just are not complete with the best brothers a girl could ask for! They have shaped the person I am today and I cannot wait to be with them again soon!
  4. Thankful for the body of believers - Today I was not able to celebrate Thanksgiving with my biological family, but I had the blessing of celebrating with my family in Christ, the body of Christ. I am thankful that God has given me such tight knit relationships with people I have only known a few months.
  5. Thankful for the amazing experience of IBEX - I knew that coming to Israel for a semester would change my life in many ways, but it has greatly exceeded my expectations! I am thankful that this opportunity has been opened to me and I have experienced the land first hand, been challenged in my faith and knowledge, and made amazing friendships with 32 great classmates and staff.
As I have been missing home I have found encouragement in these words from Elisabeth Elliot:
              "Be still and know that He is God. Remember that you are not alone. Give thanks." 
              "Wherever you are, be all there, live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." 
              "Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living."
I have been reminded that God has placed me here until December 11th and He has a perfect plan for this time that I have left here! 

I pray you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving from Israel!
            "I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High." Psalm 7:17

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

beginning of the end

With just 20 days left in Israel, I wanted to fill you all in on my wanderings these past couple of weeks!
We took a four day trip to the southern part of Israel called the Negev. This trip was about 40% educational and 80% fun! Going on trips with the group is much different than just going to class with them. I am so thankful for each person on this trip and love the time that we have together, learning and exploring.

Highlights of this trip:
  • Many hikes
  • Overlooking and driving through Machtesh Ramon, which is a canyon eroded by water
  • Sitting in silence for 45 minutes in the wilderness that the Israelite's wandered in for 40 years. Reading over Numbers 13 & 14 and Deuteronomy 8, thinking on the Lords goodness and unending faithfulness.   
                    "And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." Deut. 8:3
  • Snorkeling in the Red Sea
  • Seeing a life size model of the tabernacle
  • Hiking to the top of Masada to see the sun rise
  • Going to the cave that 7 of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in

Ain Avdat (one of our many hikes)

Red Canyon (another hike)

Tabernacle Model

Timnah Park

Sunrise from top of Masada
Masada

This past week I and five of my friends went to Greece for our travel study break. It was amazing to say the least! We had 10 days to do whatever we wanted and we started our trip in Athens. We arrived on Friday morning and stayed in Athens until Tuesday night. We took a ferry on Tuesday night to the beautiful Island of Santorini, and spent 3 days here before returning to Athens to fly back to Israel. Over the course of our trip we used just about every form of transportation available to us. Planes, trains, automobiles, feet, 4-wheelers, buses, taxis and almost rode a donkey up the side of the caldera. Our trip could not have gone better and I feel that I have so much to be thankful for. The weather was just about perfect, I even enjoyed the rain on the first day. We made it safely through airports and subway stations. Most importantly I am thankful for the group I was able to experience this with. Courtney put in lots of time researching Greece and with the help of our Greece "bible", we were able to experience Athens to its fullest. Nicole taught us about each historical site. And Brooke, Brooke and Lynlee each added to the trip, whether it was keeping us laughing or getting us great deals on meals and souvenirs.


My favorite day in Athens was spend exploring all of the historical sites throughout the city. We went to the Acropolis, Ancient & Roman Agora, Hadrian's Library, the Olympic Stadium, and the Ancient Temple to Zeus. The architecture here is really impressive and I can only imagine what it was like in its full glory. Athens is a really unique city and much different from Israel.


My favorite day in Santorini was spend exploring the whole island on 4-wheelers. We went to Cafe Crapes for breakfast and had the most delicious crapes. After this we rented 4-wheelers and headed to the southern most part of the island. Along the way we saw a black sand beach and ended at the island's lighthouse. On our way back up to the northern part of the island we stopped at a red sand beach and drove past the white sand beaches. It is crazy how diverse this small piece of land is! The east side of the island is flat beaches and the west side is steep cliffs dropping into the ocean. We watched the sun set from the northern most city of Oia, were we found white buildings lining the side of the cliff and the blue roofs that Santorini is known for. 

Other highlights of the trip:
  • Exploring the different neighborhoods of Athens
  • Eating lunch on Mars Hill, where Paul preached to Athens
  • Learning Greek culture and watching the people
  • Enjoying the company of 5 great friends
  • Day trip to Corinth
  • Gelato, Gyros and Tzatziki
  • Stray dogs that became our guard dogs
Ancient Corinth and Acro Corinth on the hill

Ancient Agora and Acropolis

Parthenon
Zeus Temple and Olympic Stadium
Mars Hill, where Paul preached from
Oia, Santorini
Sunset from Oia
Beach on Santorini

Looking at Fira, Santorini from the southern end of the Island

Our hotel and a view of Fira, Santorini

When we are not off exploring the desert or other countries, they keep us very busy attending class, writing papers and reading. I am finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel with all of the homework and am so glad!
Some of the pictures I have been posting are from my sweet and talented roommates, this week and this semester! I am so blessed by these girls!

Thank you all for your prayers and I am wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

galilee { 7 & 8 }

This was a free day and some friends and I chose to go to Tiberias in the morning, spend the afternoon exploring and then bike back to where we were staying on the other side of the Sea after lunch. I really enjoyed exploring the city and getting better acquainted with the people and their culture. Biking around the southern part of the Sea of Galilee was so much fun and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The part of the sea that we biked around was about 15 miles.

















Our last day in Galilee...

This morning we had more free time, I chose to read out by the sea. I am very thankful for this time and I was able to reflect on our time here. All that I had seen and learned, sometimes we move so fast that I forget what I am doing and where I am at. I am in Israel, exploring the area that my Savior spend the majority of His life. Where He chose to do miraculous things, and give us a little more knowledge of God. WOW, my unworthy little brain cannot even begin to comprehend those things. I read a little in 1 Samuel, Matthew and Romans. These are all more than just little stories, they are part of a much bigger, greater story. I have said this before but there is just something about having a place to put with the stories that makes it come to life. God is SOO great!

We then headed to Beth-Shan. This is the biggest and most important city in the Decapolis. This was one of my favorite sites of the week because there are many remains and I could tell that it was a great city.
















I greatly enjoyed this week, it has been memorable and life changing. One of my favorite parts of the week was reading Galatians in the morning on the bus. As we were driving to our first site each day our professor would read a chapter and talk about it with us. We have been very blessed with a faculty here that really care about each student; academically, spiritually and personally. Most of this week they did purely for our enjoyment, and I cannot say how greatly we have been blessed. I really appreciated this and learned a lot from it. I completely understand why they say that Galilee is 40% of the reason you come to Israel!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

galilee { 5 }

We had a different perspective on this field trip from the other ones this week, our Archaeology teacher led us today through Northern Galilee so we focused more on archaeology and its implications to the sites.
 
Our first stop was Hazor, a city that Joshua conquered and King Solomon fortified. This was a huge site because of its location on the main road (you can see in the picture).

Dan was our next stop. This site is huge and many remains have been found here. We saw a Syrian gate from the Middle Bronze Age that is the best preserved gate in the country. It was originally named Laish but when the Danites conquered it they renamed it Dan. At this site the first extra biblical text that speaks of David was found, this is so important because up to this point many scholars thought David to be a heroic myth. 

We then made our way to Caesarea Philippi. We find this site in Matthew 16 when Christ takes his disciples here to privately talk with them and Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. It is at this point in His life and ministry that He begins to focus on His death.


  Our next stop was Nimrod’s Fortress located on a hill in the foothills of Mt. Hermon. There is a fortress on this site from a later period but this is a possible site for the transfiguration in Matthew 17. When God showed Peter, James and John that Jesus truly was His Son.

To end the day we stopped on the Golan Heights, on the edge of the Syrian border. This is an area around the road to Damascus in Acts 9:1. Saul was on his way to persecute the Jews in Damascus and God speaks to him and changes his name to Paul. It is because of this event that we have many of the great books in the New Testament, and that through his ministry that the gospel spread to the gentiles. This story is so amazing to me, and another example of how God uses all people for His purposes. He took someone that was persecuting Him and His people and changed his heart. He used Paul to communicate His word to the world.
 






















This night we went to En-Gev Fish Restaurant. They have three options on their menu; St. Peter's Fish, Pizza and Pasta. I decided to get the fish, after all this was a once in a life time opportunity! I was not expecting what they brought me, on my plate was almost the entire fish, except they had kindly removed the guts. We were told you could eat it all (except for the bones of course), but I choose to just eat the meat on the sides of the fish. I tried not to stare into its eyes as I ate a piece off the side. I must say that it was pretty good, but it still does not compare to my dad's fish! 

Monday, October 25, 2010

galilee { 4 }

This day we traveled around the north side of the Sea of Galilee, this was one of my favorite days. (I realized that I keep saying "this was my favorite", to be honest I absolutely loved all of Galilee and they all were unique in their own way.) The places that we went to on this day were all in the main part of Jesus ministry and have been well preserved.

Our first stop of the day was at a possible location for the “cove of the sower” where Jesus spoke to the multitudes from a boat on the Sea of Galilee. We tested out the acoustics in this cove and now know first-hand how Jesus was able to speak to so many at one time. Our teacher stood out near the water (at the tip of the "tongue" in the picture) and we stood in the cove up on a hill. When there were not cars rushing by you could hear him quite well.
Next we made our way to Capernaum, this is the town that Jesus made his home after Nazareth, he performed many of His miracles here. This city is uninhabited today, which I really appreciated because we were able to see ruins from Jesus time. The rock found in this area is basalt, which is black in color which is different from all that we had been seeing in and around Jerusalem. I loved that you could see things from Jesus time, it has been very well preserved. We sat in a synagogue that sets on top of the one mentioned in John 6 that Jesus preached in. You can tell that there are remains under the current synagogue because of the difference in color of the stone used, under the white stone is the black basalt. Another identifiable site here is Peter’s house, this is a probable site because of its location in the town, the size and also its shape.
As we made our way around the northern side of the Sea of Galilee we came to Heptapagon, which is the place of seven springs. Many think this is the location of Matthew 4 where Jesus called the disciples while they were fishing. This is thought because the warmer water would be an attraction to the fish and it is very near Capernaum, which was the fishing community and where most of the disciples were from. This is also a possible site for the story of John 21 when Peter was restored to Christ after denying Him three times.
Following this site we went to the Mount of Beatitudes in Matthew 5. This is where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. Once we arrived here the guys surprised us all by reciting the entire Sermon on the Mount. This was such a blessing and awesome experience. (yep all the guys on our trip are in this picture, plus our teacher, 12 guys and 21 girls) 



















After this we went to Korazim/Chorazim. This is one of the three cities that Jesus performed many miracles, the other two are Capernaum and Bethsaida. All three of these cities had firsthand knowledge of Christ’s miracles and teaching, yet they all rejected Him. This makes me think of all of the ways that God has revealed Himself and His glory to us through even the simple thing of breath, and yet so many still reject Him today.

Next we went to Tiberius and took a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee to Ginnosar.We read of two events that happened on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus calming the sea and Jesus walking on water.

              “’Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?’” Mark 4:38-41




When we reached Ginnosar we went to a museum that now houses a boat from the time period of Jesus. In 1986 they found a boat on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and have dated it back to Jesus time period. This is most likely not Jesus boat but gives a good idea of what His boat did look like. It would have had a pole going up in the middle with sails on it. This boat would have fit about 15 people in it.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

galilee { 3 & 6 }

We woke up early from camping and headed out to Montfort. We hiked down into the canyon to a spring. After playing in the water
and trekking through some tunnels we began 
the hike out of the canyon to a Turkish Fortress 
on top of the hill.

We had a spectacular view from the top of Arbel, overlooking the Sea of Galilee. It was so clear and we were able to identify 
many of the sites located around 
the northern end of the sea.














We hiked down Mt Arbel and saw some cave’s that were used by the Jews during the first Jewish Revolt against the Romans. It was amazing and very sad to know that people were living in these. Josephus gives an heartbreaking account of Herod watching a Jew send his family out of the cave as he killed them one by one.   



Since this is all we did this day I decided to include day 6 in with this day.


We hiked down Yehudiah to a waterfall and some cliffs, hiked along the river and down a ladder, through a pool and back up. This has been my favorite hike so far, it was so beautiful and for a second I thought that I was in Colorado.

 






























After our hike we went to the traditional site of Bethsaida, like many other places we have been in Israel, this is not the real site. It is most likely the site of Geshur in 2 Samuel 13. At the real site of Bethsaida is where Jesus healed a blind man, and fed the 5000 on a plain nearby.

Our last stop of the day was a the Jordan River. We blew up tubes and jumped into the river. Although I have never been on the Amazon River this is what I imagined it to be like, there were palm trees and other shrubs overhanging the river and tons of birds. The Jordan River is MUCH small than I had imagined it to be. It is like the White River and even smaller in some places. 

These were probably my favorite parts of Galilee, I am so thankful for all of the time that our teachers have put in to make this trip enjoyable for us!

Friday, October 22, 2010

galilee { 2 }

Our second day in Galilee we went to three sites, none of them are mentioned in the Bible but they are historically significant.

Sepphoris – This was one of the only cities that was not destroyed by the Romans in the 1st Jewish Revolt, they had made a treaty with the Romans. Although the Bible does not mention this site it is thought that Jesus possibly came here while it was being built because he was a carpenter.

Akko – A city located right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, it is roughly 4500 years old and has an old city much like Jerusalem. We got to experience this city through the eyes of our unique tour guide, unfortunately about 90% of the things he told us were false.

Rosh HaNiqra – A very unique spot located on the border of Israel and Lebanon, there are caves and taverns here that have been carved by the huge waves of the Mediterranean Sea.

This night we camped on the Mediterranean Sea at Akhiv Beach, this was one of my favorite nights. This is the second time that we have been camping here in Israel, the first was at En Gedi by the Dead Sea which was scorching hot but still extremely fun. This night, out of the 53 days that we have been here, it decided to rain. We had a great evening of food, games and talking and right around the time we all decided to go to bed it started raining. Many people found shelter by a building and a few of us stuck it out and it was a fun experience, aside from being a little damp. I have always loved camping but I am finding out how much fun it is with 33 people and on beaches instead of the mountains.