Waiting at Ben Gurion Airport

We had big plans today but a few things kind of messed it up. First we wanted to see a bit more but the heat really sapped our energy. I could tell that the team was really dragging because they are tired. But we did see the ancient site of Meggido where the final battle in Revelation will take place. Then we traveled to Caesarea to see Herod the Great's palace he built on the Mediterranean Sea. The ocean looked great so we decided that on the way to the airport we would swim in ocean at the old port city of Joppa after lunch. That was cut short by all the trash in the ocean. We took our showers and called it a day.

So here we are at Ben Gurion Airport waiting to check our bags in at 8 pm. We have. Mixed feelings - we want to come home to family but we want to stay to keep exploring. It's been a GREAT trip but I think I'm looking forward to gettinng back. We'll see you in about 24 hours!!

Jon (for the team)

Winding things down

Right now we're at Beit Bracha - a Christian prayer and retreat center located just outside of Tiberias on Galilee Lake. The weather has been really hot but we're hanging in there. Both yesterday and today have consisted of a bit of touring and down time. The team is tired and in some ways they have tremendously mixed feelings about the end of the trip. They are sad to leave Israel but are excited to get home.

The last few nights we have been debriefing the trip. I think this is one of the most crucial parts of the trip. We bookend it with good training on the front end and good debrief on the back end. We have probably spent close to three hours working through the trip and sharing what the Lord has done in our lives. I think what's hard is trying to describe the Lord's internal work in our hearts. We wish that we could put words to it to describe it more clearly.

Yesterday we had some deeply spiritual moments on the lake and in some of the churches. It's almost surreal to think that this on the northern end of this lake Jesus spent much of his time ministering! Probably to the person we would say that our time on the lake yesterday was a highlight. We also visited a few churches that mark significant places of Jesus' ministry. Then we ended the afternoon with a baptism service in the Jordan River!

Then today we traveled to a few more churches and then to Nazareth. We visited the church in Cana of Galilee (John 2) to see where Jesus changed water to wine at a wedding ceremony. And after lunch and a swim in the lake, we're back at Beit Bracha for some down time before dinner. No debrief tonight but we'll walk around the town of Tiberius.

Then tomorrow we begin the descent into Tel Aviv and eventually back to the US. We'll be going through Megiddo (the future site of Armageddon) and then into Caesarea to see the ruins of Herod's summer palace on the Mediterranean. We'll walk around Tel Aviv for a bit before we have dinner and then board the plane to start the trip back. Just so you know we will touch down at LAX at 10:30 am. We have drivers ready to pick up the team and bring us back to the church. We will see you there around 12-12:30 pm.

We all agree that it's been a full trip. In some ways it's felt like it's been two trips - one to Jerusalem and then a week of camp. With the caliber of students on the trip it's no surprise though that the trip has gone incredibly well. We did what the Lord had for us at camp and we have remained open to Him while in Jerusalem and in Galilee. And there has been no drama or sickness on the trip! I hope that when we return we will be able to put into words just what we have experienced. Thank you for your prayers and we'll see you in a few days!

Camp is over!

I need to keep this short because we are leaving in a few minutes. Camp was a huge success! I will let everyone tell you their stories but I think for the first year we accomplished what we set out to do. I think about the seeds of reconciliation we are planting for the future. 

I have been thinking much about the Desert Fathers, many of whom lived in Jersusalem as second century Christians. The monastic movement originated from their influence. Largely the movement began as Constantine authorized that Christianity was the religion of the empire. Some Christians began to move then to the desert to escape the cities and the influence of the city. While we might argue with some of the extreme expressions of their faith in denying themselves so much in order to follow Christ, their basic belief was that the Christian life one of struggle and in the desert the struggle with the sin in one's heart became apparent. 

As I shared with the camp counselors, every generation has a struggle and if we in the west think it's any different then we are sadly mistaken. This generation of college students has a struggle that they must embrace if they are to begin to deal with the deep sin that lies in their hearts. This generation of young Israeli and Palestinian believers have a struggle they must embrace - not one of violence but one marked by the Spirit. Messianic and Palestinian believers in Jesus must not get tired of the struggle to live out the peace of Christ which surpasses all of our human understanding. This is a huge task but I am confident that God is doing something in people's lives here that will astound people in the future.

Today we are headed out for a bit of touring! We are leaving in a few minutes for the Dead Sea and Qumrun (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered). Exciting day but busy! Then we are off to the Sea of Galilee where we will have a few days of debrief in a Christian run retreat center close to the city of Tiberias. These will be great days as we begin to share what God did in us and through us!  I might not be able to write another blog until we return so if not, we'll see you all on Wednesday! Thanks for praying for us and the camp. We sensed the incredible covering of prayer while we've been here!

First full day of camp

This is why we came! Yesterday the kids arrived in the late afternoon to a Baptist run camp outside of Tel Aviv in Petah Tikvah. It's actually a very modest camp that looks a lot like a park in Orange County. There's not much development out here except for the signs that the camp has lost space over the recent years. A baseball field replaced an open field where a lot of the older campers remember playing. Seriously, I've never seen men's fast pitch softball but they play it here! And believe it or not, the wireless internet connect is in a dugout on one of the fields (No, I'm not sitting in the dugout with the baseball team... they are on a different field).

The weather has been hot and more on the humid side than Jerusalem. But we have heard there is quite the heatwave in Southern California so I guess we're blessed to have cooler weather here. I would say this though... this is cool compared to India....

Most of the kids speak English but of course they fake not understanding to manipulate our students! And we see right through it! The camp is a mixture of kids that come from Palestinian homes in Nazareth and Jerusalem and kids that come from Messianic homes. But even with that said, the stories of their lives are important to listen to. Some who live in Jerusalem are isolated because they live in a Kibbutz (a small community-work like living arrangement). Others might not venture outside of their respective ethnically divided areas. On top of all this, we have some kids from Darfur, Sudan ... children of refugees who escaped the civil war there. But the kids are sitting (as Kay and I are doing our students' laundry) listening to a message from the Bible on reconciliation. How do we love each other when there is so much history of mistrust and even hate on both sides?

I had the opportunity to converse with some of the young counselors who are here as well working with Musalaha. Even their discussions expressed how difficult it is to reach some agreement due to the nature of the conflict. Yet, there seemed to be at least the willingness to explore the other side's point of view. When they asked me what I thought, I told them that it's on the shoulders of every younger generation to give thought and to incarnate (flesh out) a new picture of what brotherhood in Christ is to look like. Other generations had to do this and now it's our turn. We can't back away from this or get tired of speaking about it even though there is no change. This is our vocation, what God has called us all to.

Please continue to pray for our students. The kids keep them up late and then get up early so they are not getting as much rest as they did before. Their health and rest is important if they are going to keep this up until Friday. Also pray for these kids' hearts. They have to make a lot of space for others. Finally, please continue to pray that the rest of our support as a team comes in. We still so desperately want to be at full support as a team. But now that I'm here in the middle of this, I'm convinced that God has invited us to be a part of something very unique in a situation where many people have lost hope. If you asked our students, they are not naively optimistic when they the next generation has hope that Christ can heal wounds with true biblical reconciliation.... Thanks for being such supporters of what we're doing! We have even more stories to tell now!

Shalom,

Jon (for the team)

A day in Bethlehem

At least early on the process, I was a bit apprehensive about going to Bethlehem. After all, it's in the West Bank and ruled by Fatah. The checkpoint was ominous as we pulled our passports out in the bus. But to our surprise, we moved through the checkpoint quickly and on to Bethlehem Bible College for a lecture and lunch with some guests. Bethlehem Bible College is a recognized college in the West Bank whose purpose is to train men and women in the ministry that they might stay and minister to their people.

But it was our lunch that was the highlight. Over falafels we met with some of the college students at the Bible college to have lunch with them in order to get to know them. What we all realized is how easy it is to lump Palestinians all into one kind of person. Yet, here before us were Palestinian young men and women who loved the Lord and wanted to reach their own people group! We heard their stories about the difficulties they face both in being Christian and Palestinian. The sense is that they do feel like they are on the extreme margins. Our hearts went out to them as we first prayed for them and then exchanged names so we could add them as Facebook friends. The internet really does provide a level of community!

We toured a bit around the city - the church where the shepherds saw the star pointing to Christ's birth, the Herodian - Herod the Great's residence that he built in a mountain, and the Church of the Nativity that marks the place where Christ was born. We even had time to visit a Palestinian refugee camp to minister to people, to hear their stories, and to see the wall that was erected to separate Israel from the West Bank. It was one of the best days that we had but yet one of the heaviest as we all understood the weight of the conflict. There's a lot more to tell but that will do for now!

Today we are headed out to church and then on to camp outside of Tel Aviv. Our spirits and health are great! The excitement level is huge as all the preparation the last few days - exploring Jerusalem and Bethlehem and the lectures - has acclimated us to the Land. We are ready to minister to the kids. There will be 64 kids there from 9-12 years old, both from Palestinian Christian and Messianic families. That does not mean that these kids have chosen to follow Messiah personally but they will have opportunity to do so. Nor does it mean that these kids have had the chance to talk about reconciliation in an age appropriate way. We look forward to the opportunities that God has for us in Petah Tikvah... Door of Hope!! Thanks for praying for us!

I couldn't write anything last night because I was exhausted! Yesterday we had the whole day with a tour guide to walk through Jerusalem. First of all, the entire Old City that is walled in is about 1 square kilometer. It really isn't that big but once you start adding up and down and little alleyways it gets strenuous. Second thing you need to know is that the Old City is broken up into four sections or quarters, the Christian Quarter (where we are staying), the Muslim Quarter, the Jewish Quarter, and the Armenian Quarter.

We met our guide at 9:30 and proceeded to Christ Church, the first missional church to the Jews planted in this area, built around 1849. We met with and heard about the church from a Messianic Jew, Hadar. Wow! What a moving story of how God worked in her life. Then it a sprint to get to the Temple Mount before it closed for afternoon prayers. We just made it and I know I speak for the team when I say that it was quite a moving experience. I'll let them tell you when you see them. Three of the world's great religions - Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all have a vested interest in this small plot of land called the Temple Mount. Then we moved down to see the Western or Wailing Wall. Again, it was an incredibly powerful picture of people's petitions to God. Then it was on to an assortment of places during the afternoon. Finally we ended visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Mixed feelings there but it was a good way to end the day and lots of walking. Well.. that is... until after dinner when we had a new rush of energy. We bought tickets and walked around the wall that surrounded Jerusalem!

Today was more training at Musalaha to prepare us for our week with the kids. Then in the afternoon it was more walking! This time we made it up to the Mount of Olives and then walked down to the Garden of Gethsemane. Of all the days we've been here today was incredibly moving as we had a devotional in what's thought to be the garden where Christ prayed to the Father to let the cup pass from Him. Finally, we walked again to join a Messianic Congregation for their Sabbath celebration. The body of Christ is big and diverse as all of us agree how great it is to hear people pray in their native tongue instead of English. All of us are pretty exhausted from walking so much!

Would you continue to pray for us? The team really is bonding and that's important for the work we have to do at camp. And after walking something like 9-10 miles in two days not a peep of complaint from anyone. This really is a a stellar team. But pray that the Lord would keep us focused now that we have a few days before we head to camp to start preparations. We understand 65 kids will be coming now.

As we were having a devotional in the Garden today, we all reflected on the magnitude of Christ's work on the Cross for us, and not just for us, for the whole world! We are blessed to stand in the gap to bless these kids who come from such different backgrounds. But what we do share in common is our humanity and the historical fact that Jesus paid a penalty that we couldn't afford to pay. Thank you for your prayers and support!

First Day in Jerusalem

Today was our first full day in Jerusalem. It was up not so early to get breakfast in the hotel. If thee's one thing that won't happen on the trip, it's our going hungry. Every meal is a buffet meal of absolutely wonderful salads, kabobs, hummus, pita, and fruit. None of us are going hungy and we're actually eating vegetables and fruit. That was a rare occurence while in India.

The morning was training at Musalaha's headquarters. We broke bread with them for lunch and even had something like Indian naan! The training was excellent and started the preparation for what camp will look like. What we learned is how difficult it is to reconcile and restore a relationship if there is no trust present. What we are doing is helping these kids who come to camp begin the process of building trusting relationships with "the other."

After lunch we toured Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. It was a pretty heavy time, especially reading and listening to video recordings of people who had survived the death camps. It was all a fresh and stark reminder of what happened prior to WW2 in much of Europe under Hitler's regime. It's a sad episode in modern history, one that had a great effect on the modern world's willingness to open up land for the state of Israel.

One great story! We walked to a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf about 10 minutes from our hotel. As they were walking they found a Palestinian young man and as the conversation went along they realized that he was a new Christian. In fact, five months ago he was baptized after "seeking" for about three years. It was the most wonderful thing to have our students actually engage in conversation with a young Palestinian and then find out that he was a brother in Christ! He was so excited to meet us that he joined us for coffee on a beautiful summer Jerusalem night.

All of us have lots of questions, some that we will get answers for, others that we will wait and trust God in His timing. But we are all committed to the reconciliation process. Please continue to pray for our health and team unity. I think at this point I'm the only one with kind of an upset stomach but I'm sure that's in store for many others.

Tomorrow we are on a day long tour of Jerusalem. Then Friday we have a lecture in the morning and the afternoon is free. That evening we will visit a Messianic church close by as they celebrate the Sabbath, Shabbat. Thanks for praying for us! We are blesesed and sense your prayers!

Shalom,
Jon

Trying to get out of town

There's one thing I'm looking forward to... it's getting on the airplane headed first to Philadelphia and breathing a sigh. If it didn't get done by then, it's not going to! Can't wait.

I was at a beautiful wedding today. Jay and Grace Williams gave their daughter away to her high school sweetheart! It always gets me when the doors fling open in the back, the crowd stands, and in comes a beautiful woman dressed in white. Of course, we know what the groom is thinking as he's staring at her as she approaches him... "Wow, I did really well!" And everyone in the crowd is thinking either, "I can't wait to get married" or "She's gorgeous."

It reminded me that when Jesus returns He's coming to Jerusalem. In a few days we will see the Kidron Valley the very place were Messiah is expected to return. And when He comes He will come for His Bride, the Church. And she will be given to Him in all of her radiant splendor. As the Bride enters, the angelic hosts will stand up - this is who Christ died for. And in her beauty she will give herself to the Groom. And He will look into her eyes and reiterate His intention to have her and to hold her. His promise is good and will never be broken. As He looks at her, He remembers that she has always been the object of His undying love. Even though she has given herself to other lovers, she has always been His. But that's the past because now in her radiance she is stunning! And because of this I pray, "Lord do not tarry any longer!"

Thank you for your prayers and support! Look for the article about our team in the OC Register tomorrow morning! And please join us in praying that the Lord provides the balance of our team support. We are still about $10,000 short. But just as He was faithful to invite us to go, He is faithful and will provide what we need on this trip! We leave Monday morning at 6:45 am from the north campus parking lot. If you're up come and see us off!

The team met for lunch yesterday at Sahara Falafel in Anaheim. This is an area called "Little Gaza" but it's not like "Little India" in Artesia. The Middle Eastern stores are spread out a bit more. Plus, there's a Honeybaked Ham down the street. Don't anticipate seeing many places that serve ham in Israel.

The food was unbelievably good! Wow! We tried a number of dishes but most stuck to beef and chicken shawerma, shish tawook, and falafel. It was hysterical watching all of us trying to figure out how to stuff it all in pita bread. Oh my the hummus was outstanding... ummmm... hummus. We thought, we actually might eat well while we are there!

As far as the team goes, I think we're starting to gel. I realize that it's hard to bring a team together before you leave on the trip. But once we're in the air bonding will happen. Plus the nature of the trip forces us to work with each other to pull the camp off. I'm thrilled about this team.

We are about 80% of the way there for support. Trusting that the Lord knows what He's doing and the balance will get raised. This Sunday an article will come out in the OC Register about our team and what we're doing in Israel. Maybe that will stir others in the area to give!