Another Shabbat, Gathsemane

2/2
Shabbat Shalom.
Went again to Jerusalem Assembly, where Meno is talking about end times, and then headed to the old city. Tae, Jen, Lexi and I headed to the Muslim quarter to go exchange money at Shabon's shop. Shabon is so helpful. He has such a neat little store with good prices and He is so good to us IBEXers. He had stools for us to sit on and had a boy go fetch us some mint tea that i'm pretty sure he had to buy and it was oh so good! Every time we go there is something to drink or food. It really challenged me. This man, whose eyes are blinded from the truth, could be so sweet and thoughtful with no reason! We didn't do anything to Shabon to make him be this nice to us yet he treats us with respect and generosity. As Christians we are told to love and we make it so hard and here is Shabon, generous and good to us. Ponder your life for a minute. Shabon a Muslim. I am a Christian. Why is it so hard for us to act out in generosity and love? How are we going to stand out, are we going to let others do our job?

Then we were on our way to buy food and Lexi wanted something other than Falafel so the place we stopped, it is common for the owners to stand outside their store to get you to come in, and the owner started asking us where we were from and why we were in Israel. He asked us our majors and Lexi said Bible and he started asking questions about if it was both the New and Old Testament or what exactly we believed. We clearly stated how we did not agree with Catholicism (Jews do NOT like Catholics or Christians even for that matter so you really have to explain who you are and what you believe rather than associate yourself with a word). He warned us not to get too involved with the Bible because there is a lot of weighty stuff. Man, he knew some of the Bible but instead ran away from it! It was really sad. Our sin is weighty but look at what was done for us! There is joy in this Book! Yet this guy was scared of the Bible. I couldn't get over the fact that he could not believe there was such a thing as a bible major let alone someone who would do it.

Anyway, my group walked to the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane. We went to a church, that had more to do with Mary, then a cave like one the disciples would have stayed in while Jesus prayed. Then we went into another cathedral which was beautiful.

the sanctuary where the example cave was for the disciples

outside the Cathedral

outside the cathedral

ceiling in the cathedral

group who went to the garden

Garden of Gethsemane

Our time was quickly gone and we headed back in the rain where the bus brought us back to Yad Hashmona.

Then we had Saturday Night live and I had the privilege of going to Natalie and Wendy's, our secretaries, to have yummy food and play games. It was fun getting to know people in my group more

Little Tidbits

1/30

I was able to skype Kristi which was sooo good!

Then Emily messaged me saying she was in the library asking if i was ever gunna come so i responded how i just got done skyping a friend and would be there in a minute and then she said "skype me!" So once i got into the library and we were sitting right across from each other we skyped :) i love her :)



After lunch, a bunch of us went to the elvis inn to get hot chocolate or coffee that comes with a mug. After that, Emily had really wanted to go to Abu Gosh to go to the store and i wanted to get peanut butter so we headed off and accidentally dragged Ben into coming with us. It was just so fun having time to get to know them more.  It felt good to get out and walk and just talk about our backgrounds a little bit. Then, once we got back Emily and I went back to the library.

taken by Princess

1/31

THUNDER STORM! So cool! The lightning just lit up our whole room through the curtain and the thunder was so loud and it held out longer than any thunder that i've heard. It was just dumping water. Everything was soaked; the walkways started to be streams.
At lunch I had a meeting with the staff since they chose me to be a wing leader (which shocked me but i am so honored to be able to get to know them more as well as Ben and Leah). We were given our responsibilities and then was just able to talk.

The day ended with Sarah, Ashley, Jen and I going to the Miklot to do homework and play the keyboard and that was a lot of fun.

February 1st

Jen and I made sure one another was awake at 6:30 to do devotions and it was so good.

For chapel, Meno, our pastor from Jerusalem Assembly spoke on being ambassadors for Christ and being a sweet aroma to this dark world. Man, he is absolutely hysterical! I laughed so hard. Afterwards we played some group games.

Model, Dead Sea Scrolls, Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane

1/27
We went to a Jewish Museum today that had a model of Jerusalem during the second temple period. It was amazing as it was so detailed and cool to see the layout. The information to put this together was the information from Josephus mainly but also archeology.

Then we went to see the dead sea scrolls. Now that was incredible!!!! The Hebrew was absolutely beautiful on the old, worn animal skins. We weren't allowed to take pictures :( We started by looking at the book of Isaiah. Crazy! These were written before the time of Christ and they were preserved because they were found by the dead sea where the air is dry because it is below sea level. It was so cool.

Then we walked around and had lunch

how they park, it's normal

Then we went to the most conservative orthodox jewish quarter of living in Jerusalem. It was so sad. The city was covered in black cloth and it felt so much like a cult and again my heart just broke. Everywhere we go we see the Jews with either their Old Testament or prayer books out constantly reading or reciting as they walk, wait for the bus, or ride the bus. They have such dedication and it is such a good challenge for me to have that dedication to Scripture. It saddens me to think that they can be in the Old Testament so much and miss the Gospel of Christ. They are a hurting people, a people of mourning. Thank you Lord for opening my eyes! This community was seriously like an old movie. I felt like I went back in time and it felt so unreal that there are societies still like this! It is their normal. Imagine growing up as a kid in that environment, that is all you knew. You wore black dresses all the time, went to an all jewish school, walked throughout your jewish city where everyone looked just like you and you know nothing of outside except the weird, heathen people who come into your community to watch you. How weird would that be! I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of them because imagine if people just came to take pictures of how you live. . . all the time. I took a couple and then am stealing the other ones from friends :) Later Bill said they don't mind pictures because they are proud to not be of this world. Oh my heart breaks for them.

taken by Chris

Then we drove up to the mount of olives, to a place that was dedicated to the ascension of Christ. It was such a beautiful area with luscious green grass, beautiful olive trees, and an amazing view of the city. Such a perfect place to ascend. We read Luke 24 where Christ ascended and Bill had us look to the sky as it was read. It was really neat.

ha ha Water Closet, it just cracks me up

Then on our way to the possible place of the Garden of Gethsemane we went into a graveyard that people pay thousands of dollars to be buried there since that is where Jesus will return. Bill shared the joy of life after death and that these graves should be a sign of hope to us. There were jews there that were praying to the dead and it was so sad!

The possible place of the Garden of Gethsemane was also very beautiful. This was the first time i started to feel the weight of it all. The thing that stood out to me was at this sight you could see Jerusalem's walls and the road that goes down the Kidron Valley and back up the Mount of Olives. Just think, Jesus could've looked out on the city with a heavy broken heart and see the soldiers coming down from the city. He could've ran on the other side of the Mount of Olives but He didn't. As we read the passage from the Garden the Muslim prayer started ringing out from a tower in old city Jerusalem sounding for miles. That broke my heart so much. I honestly feel like i'm in another time frame. It reminded me of Jim Jones, the leader of the People's temple who got a following and moved to a secluded area where many left their families and later poisoned them with kool-aid. Any way, he played on loud speakers his voice constantly and that is totally what the muslim voice reminded me of. These people are so lost! They are seeking after God yet they chose another. It broke my heart to think of these broken, deceived people in the Lord's city. It was just crazy to hear scripture and a muslim prayer at the same time. Then we walked down the road and hopped on the bus.

Shabbat Shalom

1/26

At 9:25am we all loaded two buses that took us to Jerusalem Assembly for church. It is interesting to have church on a Saturday! The bus pulled up to this concrete, spray painted, inner city building that looked super sketchy but as we walked up this weird hallway of steps to the fifth floor we came across the church floor which was really nice as well as the people. The sanctuary had chairs, hard cement floor, three bladed fans, and cloth draped over the ceiling. For the service(s), Pastor Meno starts with announcements in both English and Hebrew and then someone gives a devotional where Meno translates it into English. We sing in Hebrew and then Meno gives the sermon while someone translates for him. The service usually goes long because of all the translation and this service was three hours but it was good, just hard to stay awake since I was so tired. After the service a bus came and picked us up and took us to the Old City. My group got yummy pizza for lunch and then looked at shops briefly. We were went back to the church of the holy sepulcher.

in the church of the holy Sepulcher

What a sad city. The smells are disgusting: smoke (everyone smokes), food, incense, spices, who knows what else. Trash is everywhere, they don't know the meaning of trash can. People try to rip others of for a living which makes everyone (including us) to be rude. Such a hopeless, hurting place! At the church of the Holy Seplecher it was sad to see people worshiping objects rather than the King. I saw people put random objects where Jesus was supposedly laid, to make their items "holy." They dumped their stuff out, left it for a few seconds and then put it back in the bag and left.

Then we went to the wailing wall which was such a neat experience, never thought i would get this opportunity! First off, Jaden forgot that he had his knife in his bag and you have to go through security to get to the wall so he was pulled aside and questioned which was a little nerve racking. We were obviously oblivious students :) There are soldiers everywhere here, always walking down the street with these huge guns in their hands. Jerusalem = crowded, polluted, soldiers walking down the streets (some very young) with their hands on these massive guns, children fighting and being bullies, adults just as bad, as we are walking first seeing a little boy pin another boy to the wall and take his glasses to continuing down the street to see a grown man pin another one to the shop laughing; no respect, no kindness. It is just a sad city! We saw soldiers walk by and then go into the security room and that is when we got really nervous for Jaden but all was well as long as he left the knife with them and came back for it afterwards. :)

Anyways, there is a side for the men and another for the women in regards to the wailing wall. What a crazy thing, to actually touch the temple wall. . . beyond words! I went up with the many women who were there and was able to touch the wall. I could feel the rough cold stone, see the prayers that were put into the wall, watch women weep as they pray out of their prayer books and touch the wall. I feel like i'm in another world. My mind could just not grasp it! I was touching the temple wall and these women were morning because in their mind their means for atonement is temporarily lost. When it was time to go you back out in reverence, without looking back so it is up to the people behind you to move. You continue to face the wall until you are almost out of the courtyard. It was interesting. Man, so surreal! I touched that wall!

Jewish children waiting outside the wall while the dad went and prayed

the wailing wall is the one right behind that tunnel, in front of the temple mount. You can see some of the courtyard area

Soon it was time to head back to Jappa gate to wait for the bus so we walked back through the streets

First Shabbat set loose in Jerusalem = Success! I was pretty nervous going into it especially since i don't care for large crowds and new areas but it went really well. We met the bus at the gate, rode back and then went to dinner. At 8 we have "Saturday night live" which was really fun. We do all different things but tonight we did games like sheep and wolves, pull in the middle, balancing chairs, I have never, and the school bus. It was a lot of fun and neat to see the group interact. They were good games :)

And that was the end of my first Shabbat here!