History At A Glance...

Me on the Mt. of Olives

Greeting from the Holy Land!

It has truly been an amazing couple of weeks. During this time I have been learning about the History of this great Nation. It is very fascinating to learn the history while being here. I think that this hit home for me when reading 1 Kings 2:10 "Then David joined his ancestors. He was buried in the City of David." Then I was thinking, wait a minute the City of David is like a 20 minute walk from where I'm staying. King David and all of his royal family is buried right here. Cool!

View from Mt. of Olives
Looking at the Jerusalem/Palestine boarder

"Those who do not learn history are condemned to repeat it". A common quote that someone forgot to tell the Nation of Israel because man did they make a lot of the same mistakes. I have found a new desire for the Word of God and how important it is to truly know and understand not only the New Testament but how absolutely important the Old Testament really is. Walking around here I am really living out the history of this place.

View from Mt. of Olives
Old City Jerusalem
and the Doom of the Rock

Golden Gate

With learning about the history books of the Bible we also looked at the Wisdom and the Prophetic books. I think to myself; how did I never know that all of this was in the Bible. The poetry, knowledge and God's Word. It is beautiful and historical and wonderful! While looking at the Psalms we wrote our own:

Girl at the Wailing Wall

Oh God, my God I long for Your voice
My Creator, give me Your utterance
Though I sit and I wait for Your direction I hear the silence torment my heart
Though I long to be close and know you I feel the emptiness; the formidable void of abyss
God, draw close to my soul, whisper mysteries to my inner being Father, come alongside my mind, express Your extraordinary nature to my spirit
I know that you speak, and that You are always there
I will sit and wait for your words to be imprinted on me
Though the enemy tires to take me from you
You are my Savior, and my provider and I know that you will never Leave me

Garden of Gethsemane

Learning the Word of God is so vital to living a life for Christ. If I have learned anything this week it is that to live for God, we as believers need to know the Word of God. Having this passion for the understanding of God's Word is something that every person following Jesus needs to find to truly understand and really know God the Father, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit our Helper!

Statue at the Church at Gethsemane

Inside the Church at Gethsemane

This next week we are traveling around Israel going where Jesus went, we are going to follow Him! I would love to hear from you or if you have any questions, I would love to hear from all of you!

Bath pools at Bethesda

Church where Pilot sentenced Jesus

Path of the Via Dolorosa (The path Jesus walked to be crucified)


Prayers at the Wailing Wall


Wailing at the Wall


Two girls at the Wailing Wall

Prayers

Is it a fast that I have choosen...

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?"


Being here is very surreal, I am in the place where God choose to put His holy temple to place His holy people, His chosen people. There is such division, such a religious spirit here. As I walk through the streets I go from a typical middle eastern place then to a very Jewish place and it's only like 50 feet away. I see the Muslims bowing down to pray many times a day and also Jewish men with Yamikas and tassels.

I have been doing a lot of reading in the Old Testament about God's promised land, and His chosen people. The tension here about Gaza makes me sad. There are more Israeli military walking around here, but don't worry we are safe here in Jerusalem. This has been a week of really re-finding myself and my passions. I felt like I lost my creativity and I was struggling with being here.


Through the teaching this week and what God is teaching me I finally feel like I am starting to get my artistic self back. I am really starting to get excited about communicating through visual aspects.


With finding my creativity I am finding God in a new way, seeing the His Love in the Old Testament for His people is opening up so many new aspects of Him to me. He is my Creator who I get to co-create with, that is so exciting! This week has been one of personal growth.


I did an assignment this week which really put me back into my creativity and also God spoke to me through His scriptures!










This weekend we are seeing the sights around here and then the next two weeks it's back into the Bible, we are learning the early and late history of Israel, so cool to learn about this while being here!

Sinai or Bust...

After the interesting week of teachings in Cairo we all headed out to the Sinai on a 9-hour van ride. We are staying in Sinai on the shore of the red sea; it is absolutely breath taking here. Yesterday I sat with my classmates on Egyptian couches 20 feet away from the beach. Basking in the sun reading, (I’m reading The Chronicles of Narnia right now) was one of the most peaceful experiences ever. Just sitting there with the sound of waves breaking and the thoughts that this is where God showed His wonders to His people.


Two nights ago was a very trying night for me. We as a class climbed Mount Sinai, though I only had a small backpack on, my back hurt so bad that I thought that I was going to pass out. So Emily offered to take a camel with me, the both of us made most of the way on the back of a camel. I don’t think that I can explain sitting on the camel thinking this could have been the place where Moses met with God. Looking up at the stars it gave new meaning to when God told Abraham that his descendants would be more than the stars, In the desert there are so many stars, I don’t think that I could give it justice in words just how magnificent it was!


We reached the top after 750 steps at about 3:30 A.M. and probably 30 degrees out. It was clod but beautiful. At about 6:20 the sun began to rise and it was amazing, God is so amazing and just the thought that Moses was there talking with God…man this is so cool! A Korean worship song broke out and I sang, “Then Sings my Soul” quietly along in English. One of the coolest things I have ever done! We went down another way then we came up and about 3800 steps later we were down (today my calves are burning). We visited Saint Catharine’s Monastery and inside are the burning bush…or so they say. I touched it and it was neat! The others went on to spend the night in the desert, I was getting sick and I after the Mount Sinai climb it felt like I was going to die so I went back to the camp. I’m sad that I couldn’t go but I’m feeling better
today so that’s good.


Tomorrow we are traveling to Jordan where we are staying for 2 nights and visiting other Biblical sites. Then it’s on to The Holy Land where we will be for one month. I will write again after we all get settled! Miss you guys but I am having the time of my life!

"Out of Egypt I called My Son" (Hosea 11)

The New Year comes with new resolutions, one of many resolutions that made my list for 2008 was to keep in touch with everyone who supports me so much. Though at times it is difficult due to lack of internet access and honestly not knowing how to make an international call, it was made clear to me that a blog is an easy way to not only share with you my experiences but also my pictures which are a very big part of what I am doing during my travels.


I am currently in Cairo, Egypt where one of the 7 wonders of the world lay, the great pyramids! We went to visit them on the 5 of January. They were swarming with tourist in January, which in reality is very understandable because the weather has been amazingly beautiful! Along with the masses of foreigners many locals we mounted on camels trying to sell a ride and a photo. It was so amazing to just be standing in a places where so many important occurrences from the Bible took place. It was very sobering to stand and just look across the miles and miles of sand stretching out eventually breaking at the Red Sea, the pyramids at my back. Walking along, a local man gave a vigorous complement directed at my eyes and followed it with an offer of marriage in exchange for 2 million camels, though I was tempted my better senses gave in and I declined.


Later that same day we went to a place called Garbage City. It was literally a dumb where trash lined the streets and crept its way into the locals homes. Everyone who lives in Garbage City works by sorting the trash into similar piles to be recycled in someway. Women sat alongside men in the rubbish and sorted, the children ran around playing with dirty faces and most of the time without shoes. Being a 6 foot white girl, along with a very lively blond Danish girl we were notice right away. The people would stand proudly asking to us to snap a picture of them. Though the women were harder to convince, kids swarmed to us in such a loving and playful manor. It was a little overwhelming, not only the very pungent smell but all the eyes looking upon me. A truly amazing experience and an honor to take pictures of these people.


As, the week begun so did classes that included a trip to the Museum of Egypt. Where I got to see lots of mummies (the animal mummies were my favorite). Lectures now fill my mornings and photo assignments and reading the Bible fills my afternoon. On Sunday the 13th we are going to be driving across the desert to Mount Sinai. Then we will be traveling to the Red Sea and will be staying along the coast until we eventually make our way up to Jerusalem.


This is such an amazing experience and I want to make all of you as much a part of this as me. I will be updating this blog as often as the access to internet allows, most likely every week! Please continue to pray for me during my travels, also if you can e-mail anytime (I would love that) if you have any questions or just want to say hi!

armase42@yahoo.com
armase42@gmail.com
(or you can just comment on this blog)