Happy Thanksgiving from Jerusalem!

So… I’ve been the worst blogger over the past couple weeks. Honestly, I have not had the energy to write more than my personal/class journal. We have been extremely busy nearly everyday. This is my second day-off since I’ve gotten to Israel. Tomorrow is our last class trip around Jerusalem then we have a final exam on Friday.

It has been an incredible experience so far in Israel. It was an extreme contrast coming from Europe to the Middle East. Europe has nearly no religion and the Middle East is saturated with religions. Just by walking around Jerusalem, we encounter Jews, Muslims and Christians. People wear their religion on their sleeve, literally. I have been struck numerous times by how outward religion is here. Orthodox Jews are hard not to notice with their black and white suits, black hats, and long locks of hair. I have been told that the differences among Orthodox Jews include the color of socks (brown or black), type of hat (top hat or furry Russian hat), type of coat, etc. Also, there are the Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox and probably everything in between. Five times a day, we hear the Muslim call to prayer but I have yet to see a pious Muslim pray. There are various groups of Christians- the Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Ethiopians, Roman Catholic and others. There are six groups of Christians fighting over who has the right to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher so they each have their own chapels. It is such a bad witness when even Christians are fighting with each other. It’s sad to see believers disagree in such a tangible way.

The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is even more profound, however. On the way back from the Western Wall (formerly the Wailing Wall) in Jerusalem, many Bar Mitzphas were being celebrated with music and dancing. As I was walking by one group of joyous Jews, the Muslim call to prayer started to sound. The Jews’ trumpets got louder and tried to compete with the sound of Muslim prayer and Quran reading. At that moment, the conflict was so obvious and it became concrete. While our focus is not on the conflict, we had a Christian Palestinian speaker talk about the issue and what his organization does for reconciliation. Coming from the US, I had only ever heard pro-Israel arguments so it was great to hear an Arab Christian give light to the Palestinian struggle. I wish I could explain everything that I learned but the conflict is so complex that it seems to get more confusing the more I learn. Neither side seems to seek reconciliation; neither will budge. The Arabs feel like they have been pushed out of their home and don’t accept that the Jews are building settlements in the land that should be theirs. The Jews feel like they have no other land while the Palestinians have other Arab countries to go to. They both want the other to leave. While the Israelis call the 1948 war the “Independence War,” the Arabs call it “Naqba” which means “catastrophe.”

I was shopping in the market with a couple friends and we ended up talking to a Palestinian shopkeeper for quite a while about the conflict. We got on the subject because one of us asked if he liked being in Israel and he insisted that we call it Palestine. As Americans, we automatically get pinned as supporters of Israel just like any stereotype. We realized how tourists’ shopping habits can have a huge affect on people forming those stereotypes. He said that people look through the pile of patches and always skip over the one with the Palestinian flag and buy the one with the Israeli flag. Those small actions actually affect people.

I think I’m beginning to understand why the Palestinians are frequent rock throwers and suicide bombers. That may be the only way they can get any attention from the international community. Otherwise, the struggle is often portrayed as one-sided, as only an Israeli struggle. Still, I have more questions than answers.

Our program has been a great way for me to learn about the Holy Land. We are taking a class with Jerusalem University College, an American institute, on the geography of the Holy Land. We’ve been learning about archeology, terrain/geology, cities and ancient/modern routes. Like our professor Carl says, knowing the Holy Land helps you to understand the Bible like having a game board helps you to play the game. It’s really true because I can picture so many places mentioned in the Bible now and I understand how ancient travel worked. We have taken tours in Jerusalem, day trips to nearby regions and 3- and 4-day trips to the south (“Negev”) and to the Galilee area. We have visited countless archeological excavations that have started to run together but that really help to understand what things were like. After two and half weeks of these antiquities, I know that archeology cannot prove the Bible but it gives it so much credibility and validity. If you turn to 1 Kings 9:15, you’ll see three city names where Solomon had building projects. We visited those cities and saw the city gates that the passage refers to. We’ve seen sacrificial altars, synagogues, tombs, and pagan “high places.” Herod the Great was so called because he had so many building projects- mainly palaces for himself and other important Romans to enjoy.

We have done a lot of fun things on our trips like: riding camels, swimming/floating in the Dead Sea, hiking to waterfalls, spotting animals like ibexes, staying in a Kibbutz on the Sea of Galilee and swimming there… We also had baptisms in the Jordan River. Eight students were baptized where our Savior was baptized by John.

Our group is collectively exhausted because after three months in Europe, we have had to get up early everyday and move from hotel to hostel to the next hostel the next day. We are truly nomads and savor even three days in the same place. I’m looking forward to live somewhere- Santa Barbara- for a few months in a row.

I forgot to tell a really funny story…well it’s funny in retrospect at least. We were at Caesarea Maritima touring the site on the Mediterranean when all of sudden it started to rain. It didn’t only rain but it poured down on us. The heavens opened up and a flash flood fell from the sky. We were supposed to meet our whole group at a certain building in about an hour. Not having any idea how long the rain would last, we ran for cover and the rain kept getting heavier and heavier. Somehow, many of us students ended up under the same covering and we moved from one shelter to the next to get closer to the meeting spot. I have never been so soaked through in my life. All of us were completely drenched and none of us knew where our leaders were. After an hour of sending out reconnaissance missions from our little awning, the rain died down and we found Carl. The rain had done some serious damage in about an hour- swimming pools were created in no time. While it was kind of fun playing around in the rain, it was no loner funny once we got the bus and were soaked and cold. We tried to change into dry clothes but many of us were still uncomfortably damp and cold. We just wanted to climb into a warm bed or a sauna. Things looked up after a couple hours and we got back on track. Now the flash flood story is funny but it was a major test of our group’s character. We made it and are stronger because of it! Haha…

Our group was also greatly affected by the fires in Santa Barbara. We found out that Westmont was burning one morning, when it was evening there. Apparently some students from the City College didn’t put out their bonfire very well and Westmont lost seven buildings and faculty members lost 14 homes. Our leaders and professors on this trip lost their home. Ken and Kim Khilstrom and their son Kevin have lost everything. They literally have nothing to go home to in December. God has been gracious in providing peace and a place for them to live in Montecito. Please pray for Westmont and the Montecito community.

Well, Europe semester 2008 is coming to a close quickly and I am about to graduate college. I’m about to graduate college!! Madness. What’s next? Spain. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves here. At least one thing is sure: God is in control. That’s all.

If you made it this far (sorry about the 1500 word essay), send me a message or an email to say hi! Love you!