Another really long overdue update. So much has happened since my last update so I will try to be concise but also hit the major points. As far as class goes since my last update we had Keith teach Philippians one week and then the next week we had Pete Deison come and speak on the Holy Spirit. The next week was Spring Break which we will get to that later. This week we have had Charles Stolfus here walking us through the book of Hebrews which has been great.
Besides class stuff I honestly can’t remember much of what happened the couple of weeks before Spring Break. I remember the week before break was madness because I was trying to get a ton of stuff done before I left for Israel. Oh yes, my family and the Burns family came to visit the weekend before I left for Israel and I had an amazing time with them. So great to spend time with friends and family and to just be refreshed by these amazing people that God has placed in my life. These past few weeks have been really cool because God is just reminding me of all the ways that He has blessed me.
Ok, Israel, here we go. Let me just start out by saying that it was the trip of a lifetime! When people ask me about Israel, I really don’t even know where to begin because there is just so much. God used that trip to teach me a lot of things that I thought I already understood and it was so cool to get to see things first hand and to get a better picture of the land and the culture and just everything! The first couple of days we spent in the northern part of Israel around the Sea of Galilee. We went to Caesarea by the sea, Mt. Carmel and overlooked the Jezreel Valley (aka the Valley of Megiddo), rode a boat on the Sea of Galilee, went to Capernaum, the Mount of Beatitudes, the Jordan River, and the Golan Heights. The third day we went to Beth-shean (aka Scythopolis which was one of the cities of the Decapolis), Qumran (where they found the Dead Sea Scrolls), En Gedi (a little oasis in the Judean desert), and rode camels (but actually dromedaries – look it up) at the Bedouin camp that we stayed at that night. The next day we went to Masada, spent the afternoon at the Dead Sea, and then drove to Jerusalem. The next 2 days were jammed packed with seeing sights all around Jerusalem. We went to the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, Hezekiah’s tunnel, Mt. Zion, the Upper Room, the Western Wall (aka the Wailing Wall), and then to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for a lecture. The next day (and last day) we started out visiting the Temple Mount which is where the Dome of the Rock is located and is controlled by the Muslims, so we got our Bibles confiscated there and had to hide any crosses that we might have along with a couple of other things people in our group got in trouble for (ex. having their elbows showing, touching while taking a picture), the Pools of Bethesda, walked part of the Via Dolorosa, went to the Garden Tomb and to Caiaphas’ house and then had a farewell dinner and headed to the airport. Pretty much there is way too much for me to type out in this update but it was amazing. I loved it all, but one thing that stuck out to me a lot was in the Garden of Gethsemane we got to see two olive trees next to each other, two completely separate entities, and then looking at an older olive tree which had obviously had multiple olive trees grafted in, and just seeing that I finally had a clear picture of what it means to be grafted in. I also so first hand the hardening of the Jews hearts. The fact that our tour guide, Roni, knew so much (in fact way more than I do) and yet still didn’t believe. He would preach the gospel without even realizing it. It just made me realize that knowledge is not enough and there is nothing we can do or say but that it has to be the convicting of the Holy Spirit. And while it is so sad to see these hardened hearts, I know that it is only because these hearts are hardened that we as Gentiles have the chance to be grafted in and that until the final number of Gentiles are grafted in, the Jews hearts will be hardened. But it also made me remember the great importance of praying for the lost. I also loved looking over Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives and seeing the things that the Muslims have done to “prevent” the coming of the Messiah/Jesus’ second coming. First of all, the fact that they are doing things to try and prevent that shows that they know there is something greater! Also, I think it’s funny/ironic/sad/whatever else you could say to describe it that they think that putting a Muslim cemetery in front of the Eastern gate and filling in the Eastern gates will keep Jesus from coming through them. I mean come on! My God is so much greater than that! Anyway, I could go on for hours (just ask my family, we spent hours looking at my pictures). If you want to know more, please ask, I would love to tell you about it!
Ok, I think those are the biggest things that have happened since my last update. Time for prayer requests/praises: Prayer for everyone at the Institute who are trying to figure out what comes next – specifically for me I’m still waiting to hear back about the internship with the Institute for next year and just recently a possibility for a part-time job for me for next year seems to have arisen and it’s something that I would absolutely love so pray that it would be God’s will for me! Prayer that we finish the rest of our year out strong, hard to believe that there is only about a month yet. We’re still working on belief statements and have panel the second to last week of the Institute. Pray for Kanakuk and all of the kampers and staff that will be there this summer. I’m so excited to be going back for the entire summer (minus a week for church camp that they have so graciously given me off). The first half of the summer I’m going to be a UC (Unit Coordinator) and the second half I will be babysitting the Hampsch kiddos again. These are the two jobs that I did last summer and I absolutely loved it so I’m excited to have the opportunity to do them again. Some major praises – God continues to provide in His timing, I have received more financial support and it is so great to have that finish line in sight. His provision never fails and His timing is perfect which is what I’m clinging to as far as waiting to find out stuff about next year. God has really shown me His provision this year and that is something that I am extremely grateful for. Praise that some friends are going to be in town this weekend. Praise that I am continually blessed by my internship, the people I’m working alongside as well as the kiddos that I’m working with. Praise that while this year has definitely had its rough spots, the growth has been worth every second of it. (Side note – I was convicted at the Garden of Gethsemane while reading Jesus’ prayers before His arrest and crucifixion and just the way that He prayed for God’s will to be done and how rarely that is my prayer. So that has become my prayer, that no matter what it takes, God will continually mold me into His image and that I will glorify Him through it all.) The sanctification process is hard, but I know the end result is worth it.
Thank you again for all the love, prayers, and support you have given me this year. I couldn’t tell you thank you enough. God has blessed me richly through your love and support. I love you all so much!
I’ve added some pictures from my trip so hopefully you can see them and the captions. I’ll hopefully have the rest of the pictures up on facebook in a couple of days.
Theater where Paul gave his defense before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa
Ok, so apparently this is the only picture it will let me add, hopefully more will come soon...
