adventures

This week has been full of many adventures and has left me very worn out but it was well worth it. 
As I mentioned before this time in Israel is full of holidays and celebrations, today we are celebrating Yom Kippur which is the Day of Atonement. It is a very solemn day here and very different from any holiday I have experienced. It is a holiday that is observed country wide and this can be seen in many ways, the first we witnessed last night. We took a walk down to the freeway which is the equivalent of I-70 in CO or the 5 in CA, we were there just after sundown and the freeway that was once packed with cars was now completely silent except for the occasional car or biker. In observance of this day no one drives they even block the roads off in some areas. Another thing that is done in observance of this day is fasting, beginning at sundown Friday night to sundown Saturday night, I have never fasted before so it should be an interesting day! I found these two things to be very interesting because in America we would never close down the largest freeways for just anything and especially not something religious, and also on holidays in America its a reason to eat more instead of not eating at all. These are two very stark contrasts that remind me of where I am. I am very thankful for this day and the opportunity to take part in them while we are here. One of the biggest things I have noticed is that this country revolves around religion, it may be many different religions but everything done here has a reason and usually relates back to religion. 

In preparation for this holiday there are many celebrations that take place through out the week, many people are around and there are many things to do. So nine of my friends and I decided to check out these festivities and get a real feel for the culture we were living in. After our field trip to Jerusalem on Wednesday we were dropped off right outside of the Old City walls, this is where our adventure began!
We spent time in both the Old City and also the main market of the new city, we did things like:

• finding cheap Falafel's for dinner
• wandering through the streets of Jerusalem
• playing in a park
• studying & talking in a coffee shop for hours
• sitting at the Wailing Wall
• Sleeping on stone stairs                     

                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                  *The Wailing (Western) Wall @ 3AM        
a main theme through all of this was people, every where we went there were people and lots of them. No matter the time or the place the city was full!! I think this was the best way to study and we learned things about the culture we are living in, about each other, and even things for our test the following day. All this to say we then made our way to the central bus station and boarded our bus back to the Moshav at 6:30 AM. We made it back just in time to shower and be in class at 8 for 6 hours of class, much coffee was consumed and we were all drained by the end of the day. It was the weirdest feeling coming back and knowing we still had to go through an entire day. One thing I have learned from this week is to never let tiredness be an excuse, I know that memories made and experiences had will not out-way being tired for a short time.


Before our night on the town we had a field trip in Jerusalem again, this one had a New Testament focus. We actually got to go up on the Temple Mount, this brought a flood of emotions. To know that the glory of God was once in this place was incredible, it was also very hard to see the Dome of the Rock on this place and it being run by Muslims. But that being said it also made me glad and thankful that He is living in me and that things are so different from that time; Christ has paid for my sins, I no longer need a sacrifice and God allows me to come to Him all the time through prayer, how great is our God!!!
Other sites of the day were:

• The Pools of Bethseda
• The Burnt House Museum, a house that was recovered from the 2nd destruction by the Romans
• The remains of a priests house that was possibly where Jesus was taken to be questioned after being arrested
• Sifting through dirt from the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount, my group found a coin and also pottery shards from the 1st Temple period.

                                                                                       *Pools of Bethseda

                                                                                                   *Temple Mount

















Some last thoughts that I want to leave you with, as I come to the end of this fast I am physically hungry. But every time I think of being hungry I think of why I am doing it, it makes me meditate and pray. Also I want my hunger for the Lord to dominate any earthly hunger that I could ever have!  
                 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" Matthew 5:6

Up to Jerusalem

One part of this whole experience that I have not mentioned at all it the massive amount of stairs that we have climbed here, I lost count after the first day. From the moment that we stepped off of the airplane we have been going up and down stairs. I now have a very vivid picture in my head of what the writers of the Bible were talking about with all of the mention of hills, the area we are in is hill country. (Exodus, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Jeremiah)

I have been learning so much since being here and I have never been so excited to learn (aside from in Craig’s Sunday school class!) through it all there seems to be a reoccurring pattern and the author of a commentary I read today said it best,

            “When Israel complies with God’s will, they resemble the stars of heaven; no nation can dominate them. But when they flout His will, they resemble the sand of the seashore – trampled by every tyrannical foot”

                                   

God promised to Abraham that He would make his nation great, that they would never completely fade away and that He would be their protector. As I go through both ancient and modern history of Israel, I see this theme repeated over and over, our God is so great and truly is the protector and leader of His people!!

                                                                                                     *Streets of the Old City

This time of year in Israel is Rosh Ha-Shanah, which is the Jewish New Year. Our Jewish Thought and Culture teacher told us that this is the best time of year to go to the city, for many reasons. There are always lots of big celebrations, everyone is really nice because they are trying to earn their atonement while the Book of Life is open, meaning the bus drivers smile, they shut the door once you are completely off of the bus instead of while you are in the door way, and all of the little old ladies don’t hit you with their purse while you are in line. This being said, we were very eager to go to the city and see all of this but because of the holiday there is no transportation except for taxi’s which are very pricy, so I don’t think that we will make it to the city during this time.

We got to go to a picnic with our church here on Wednesday to celebrate the New Year, I must say I love church picnics here as much as I do at home, we had a feast! The place we went to picnic was located on a hill across the Hinnom Valley from the Old City and it gave us a beautiful view of the Old City, City of David and the Mount of Olives. Ironically this hill is called “The Hill of Evil Council” because the UN building is located here.

                                                                                      *My friends and I at the picnic site!

One of my teachers said that being here as a student is like learning with all 5 senses and I have to say he was completely correct.

Highlights of 2nd field trip to Jerusalem

• Seeing the truth of Jesus’ words “not one stone will be left unturned”
• Going to the Upper Room
• Walking up the stairs to the Temple Mount reading the Psalms of Ascent
• Walking through Hezekiah’s tunnel
• Sitting at the pool of Siloam and reading the account in John 9
• Walking “up to Jerusalem”

While I could go into great detail about all of these I will just give you my thoughts on a few of them. My favorite experience of this day was the Temple Mount, On the southern side of the Temple Mount we sat on the monumental stairway, we began to read the Psalms of ascent sitting to the side of them but then decided to try what people possibly did as they were going up to the Temple. We all stood on a step as one person read a Psalm, when it was finished we said amen and stepped up to the next step. This was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had, it made me really think about what we were doing and how things used to be. There are two different sizes of steps, there are many possible reasons for this, one being that it made them really focus on what they were doing and prepare themselves before they went before the Lord. This was an amazing concept to me and really made me think of my prayer life, often times I just rush into praying and do it very nonchalantly, I was very convicted and want to think of this each time I approach the Lord in prayer.

           “I lift my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth” Psalm 121:1

I have been meditating on this verse and all the implications it has, so amazing to see this in 3-D!!             

                                                                                       *The Group reading on the stairs

We walked down to the Siloam Pool and read the account of Jesus healing the blind man found in John 9, a few thoughts that come to mind. The faith that this man had is also astonishing, so often I think that God speaks to us and we would overlook this and continue doing our own thing. When this man was speaking with Jesus they were most likely near the Temple, to see how far this man walked and the terrain was incredible, I found it hard and I can see perfectly. Also just the message of this

story, that this man was born blind for this very purpose! God used this to show His glory and teach many people.

                                                                              *The group at the end of Hezekiah's Tunnel

To see more about the program I am doing and where I am staying visit:

http://www.ibexsemester.com/

http://www.yadha8.co.il/en/

These aren't the rooms that we stay in but this gives you an idea of the Moshav!

                                       *My roommates and I with the City of David in the background

first week

I have almost completed my first week here in Israel and I feel that I have so much to share. Since our field trip to Jerusalem, we have just spent our days on the Moshav exploring and beginning classes. Unfortunately with classes comes homework, I think that the majority of my spare time will be spent in the library reading. I will say that I am very excited about the classes and most of the books we will be reading are very interesting. Sitting in my Land and Bible class today I became more and more excited about reading the Bible and exploring the Land, it continues to come to life to me. I began to become overwhelmed with all that we were learning and would see.

After this first week, Friday is my new favorite day in all ways. Breakfast is always fun: delicious food, great conversations and all heading to class together. My only class for the day is Land and Bible, the teacher is phenomenal, the material is very interesting and we are in the land that the material is being taught about. From here we spend a few hours doing homework and waiting for lunch, little did we know this would be the best meal we had all week. The orient of the week is very different than what I am used to, Friday begins Shabbat, Saturday is their Sunday and they fully celebrate this day. They also have a big dinner and do a ceremony but we did not get to participate in that this week.

We also have chapel on Friday nights, I have greatly missed chapel and it was great to worship again and hear the Word preached. The speaker was the Pastor at the church we will be attending in Jerusalem while we are here. Since being here my perspective on the Bible and worship songs has drastically changed, being in the Land makes everything seem so real. To think that I get to live in the same climate and watch the sunset over the same valley that my Savior and many of the great Patriarchs did is mind boggling and it is such a blessing to be here.

Church was a new experience, the service was done in both Hebrew and English. It was very interesting and hard to follow because it was so chopped up, but none the less it was a great lesson on Luke 4:16-19 and Jesus teaching in the synagogue about how He was the fulfillment to the prophecies. Singing was also a new experience, our teacher had taught us one song in Hebrew but other than that we had no exposure to it. We all sang in Hebrew for the service although there were the words in English, I really enjoyed this!

We spent the rest of our afternoon in the Old City, we mainly just walked around and actually got lost a few times, but I think that there is no better way to become familiar with the city, I am still taken back each time by how different things are in each quarter. That’s it for now, check back soon!

*This is the view from the back of the Moshav looking over a valley at sunset.

Walking in the Holy Land

I have been in Israel for 4 days and still cannot believe I am here. We are living on a Moshav along with many other people and groups, it is are located about 9 miles outside of Jerusalem. The land here reminds me, in some ways, of Colorado, it is very green and mountainous. Most of the cities are built on top of these hills/mountains, due to the topography. The food here has been an experience, fish is served at every meal,I had the best humus that I have ever had and breakfast is quickly becoming my favorite meal of the day! 

We have been on two field trips since arriving and both were amazing! We got to go into Jerusalem and spent the day touring the Old City. When we entered Jerusalem it was nothing like I had imagined, it was much more modernized and more like the United States than I had pictured. Once we began drawing closer to the Old City it began to look more like what I had imagined although it still held many surprises and differences. Just as I had been told the Bible began to come alive to me as soon as we stood on top of a building and gazed at the Mount of Olives, Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a possible site for the place of Crucifixion and burial place of Christ, this was not at all what I was expecting because they have built a church over these places but after climbing up the stairs to the place of crucifixion and down many flights of stairs to the bottom of the building I realized this was really a hill. It was amazing to me to be able to stand in the place were Christ paid for our sins and also where He defeated sin and death. We were able to walk along the top of the city walls and made our way down to the Temple Mount and the Western (Wailing) Wall. This place was most amazing to me because we know for sure that this is where the Temple had stood, it was amazing to be standing just outside of where the glory of God had once been, I cannot even express the feeling or atmosphere. Throughout the day we walked through 3 of the 4 quarters and got the feeling for how different each of them live although they are right next to each other. Genesis 12 and Psalm 122 now hold whole new meanings to me after this day in the city! While this is just a little taste of all that I have experienced in these past few days and look forward to sharing much more with you.