God of this City

You're the God of this City 

You're the King of these people 

You're the Lord of this nation 

You are...

God truly is the God of this nation of Israel. I cannot get over the fact that I am here in Jerusalem, in Israel: the Holy Land. I have only been here for something like four days, and that time has already started to change my life. 

View from the Old City wall to the City of David and East Jerusalem

We arrived on Thursday at 2am. The girls squeezed into the handful of ready hotel rooms and the guys spent the night on the floor of a classroom at Jerusalem University College. JUC is going to be our home base for everything we do and learn, but we’re living in a hotel that is a five minute walk (up hill both ways) in the Old City. From day one I knew this was going to be an experience that I will never forget. We’ve talked with Palestinians and Israelis, Jews, Christians and Muslims, and just about every combination of ethnicity and religion possible. The idea that is being stressed to us is learning every side and perspective and story of a conflict, namely the Israeli-Palestine conflict. We have been exposed to intimate family struggles, and generation long dreams. This afternoon we heard from a Palestinian Christian who grew up in the Jewish school system! He lectured on the importance and danger of the historical narratives on both sides of the conflict.

Damascus Gate

We spent our second day (Friday) exploring the City of David, the Eastern Hill of Jerusalem. The highlight of the morning was adventuring through Hezekiah's Tunnel! The tunnel is super narrow, and has absolutely no light. The water flowing through it at one point came half way up my thigh, and on some of the shorter girls it came up way above their waists! We also saw where archeologists have recently discovered the foundation stones of King David’s palace, and I stood on a platform about it, around the same level his roof would have been. We looked down on the City of David, just like David did when he saw Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11. We also went down to the pool of Siloam. In John 9:6-7, Jesus heals the blind man by spitting in the dirt, rubbing into the man's eyes, and telling him to wash it off in the pool of Siloam, and he is healed! It was so rad seeing the actual Roman pool! 

Entrance to Hezekiah's Tunnel

Yesterday (Saturday) we continued to be guided around by our teacher, guide, and knowledgeable all around expert, Cyndi, through the Old City of Jerusalem to get our bearings. The city is broken up into four quarters (not at all equally). There is the Jewish quarter, the Muslim quarter, the Christian quarter and the Armenian quarter. We weaved in and out of them, and you can immediately tell when you cross a boundary, everything changes. When I walk through the narrow and confusing streets of Jerusalem, I feel like I am walking back in time. This city is the most fascinating place I have ever been! 

I am so excited to see what the LORD is going to show me this month. During our first class on Friday we went day by day through our schedule. I had a minor heart attack slash I was jumping with excitement on, no joke, every single day. Our schedule is packed with 7am to dinner full days. We will be traveling north through Galilee and Samaria, and south throughout Judea and the Dead Sea. We're even having a two night home stay with Palestinian families in Bethlehem! We will be meeting an complete array of people: from shop owners in Jerusalem, to ministers of the Palestinian National Authority's Legislative Council (basically Palestinian senators, aka very importnat people directly involved in peace talks) Yeah, I kind of freaked out when I learned about that one. This is going to be the most memorable month of my college years! 

"...O Jerusalem, the built up Jerusalem is like a city that is united together...Pray for the peace of Jerusalem..." (Psalms 122:2-6)