Boker Tov!

Jamie and I on Ashkelon Beach

A beautiful sunset

Abby and I picking grapes
Good morning everyone! So it has again been a while since I have updated my blog. It has been a busy week and the time has been flying by. We have been in class mostly for the last week. However, over the weekend we were able to go to Ashkelon beach and swim in the Mediterranean sea. It was amazing!! The water was sooo warm, but it was also very salty. The waves were very strong and very frequent though so it made it very hard to swim, most of the time in the water was spent diving under the waves and trying to avoid being caught unaware by a wave, which if you were, you were quickly sucked under, knocked around and by the time the wave had passed, you were very disoriented (this is the voice of experience talking ;) ) Anyway, we also played soccer on the beach and then watched the sunset. The sunset was amazingly beautiful!! I have never seen the sun so red before. On Monday we were able to go and pick grapes in a vineyard which was very fun!! In a couple of weeks we are going to stomp on the grapes on the moshav in a replica of an ancient wine press. It was a lot of fun. Yesterday we went to see the land about Bethlehem, but more about that later . . .

Shalom!

Hello everyone, it has been a little while since I have posted anything on my blog so I thought that I would let you all know what has been going on. It has been amazing being here in Israel and learning all about the land and the Bible and how over and over the Bible is confirmed by archaeology and geography and other extrabiblical sources, it is really a boost to my faith to be assured again that the Bible is inerrant and I can trust everything that is in it. For the past week we have been mostly in classes or doing homework. However, we did just take a field trip to learn about the approaches and surrounding geography of Jerusalem. Next week we will be going on a field trip to study the land of Benjamin. We will get to go to Jericho and march around the walls, I am told that it only takes approximately 14 minutes to walk around the city of Jericho. So that should be pretty awesome. So far classes have been going really well here, I am learning a lot, but there is a lot of reading to do. I don't know if I have ever read so much in my entire college career as I am reading now. It is all very good though and most of it is enjoyable. My ancient Israel class is going to be very difficult, and stretching, which is a very good thing, I want to be challenged here in this land, that is one of the main reasons that I came here and so I praise God for the challenges that He is bringing into my life here. This land is definitely challenging to be in. There are many things that I miss about home, but I know that this is where the Lord has me now for a reason and I prau that I am able to take full advantage of my time here and not get distracted.

Pic explanation

The first picture below is a group of us near the southern steps, the second picture is of our tiny little room, really a broom closet and the final picture was taken on the temple mount

Jerusalem

Since we have been here in the beautiful land of Israel, I have had the great priviledge of going into Jerusalem on two different occasions. The first time we went we emphasized the Old Testament and the second time we went we studied the New Testament. In the Old Testament walk we got to see Hezekiah's wall that he built before Sennacherib came to attack Jerusalem. This was the time that the Lord miraculously rescued Jerusalem by sending an angel that killed 185,000 of Sennacherib's army. We then went and saw the city of David and the ruins of what is believed to be David's palace. The final stop of the day was to go through Hezekiah's tunnel. It was amazing to see the amount of stone that had to be moved in order for this project to be completed and it was all done with picks! Crazy! In our New Testament walk we went up onto the temple mount and then went and saw a street from the first century which Jesus would have walked on. We then went to the southern steps that led up to the temple where the Israelites would sing the psalms of ascent as they went up to the temple. This is also probably where Peter preached his sermon on the day of Pentecost. While we were there we read one of the Psalms of ascent, it was a very moving experience. We also went and saw ruins of a 1st century herodian house. We then went to the church of the Holy Sepulchre which is the site of the crucifixtion, burial and resurrection. It was absolutely incredible and indescribable how it felt to be standing in the spot where my savior spilt His blood for my sins. We ended the day by going to the garden tomb which is an alternate site for the crucifixion and tomb, but is definitely not the right spot. However, the tomb does not have a church built around it and therefore it was easier to get a picture of what golgotha would have looked like in the 1st century A.D.

Eretz Yisrael!!!

Hello from the land of Israel!! We arrived in Israel about 4 1/2 hours ago Crazy!! When we left the airport we drove through the Adonija (sp?) valley where Joshua chased the canaanites through. We also drove through the setting for acts 9:32, the story of Peter healing the lame man and the raising of the dead of the widow. Sorry for being so vague, but my brain is not working completely right now since I am a little sleep deprived. I was able to sleep on the plane ride over here but definitely not enough. Tomorrow we have orientation and then classes begin with full force. On monday we travel to Jerusalem for the first time!! So after that I will have lots of cool pictures to post. So for now, Shalom!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Alright, it is official, we are flying out for Israel in 10 and 1/2 hours!! Crazy!! If any of you out there think of me, please pray that our group would be safe and that we would all just learn a lot from this whole experience. I will be posting pictures and updates on this site soon from the land of Israel!! I love you all and will miss everyone tremendously.