the exodus in reverse, and a story of recycling

After the bit of a rough start that our group had to our travel week, the rest of the week went remarkably well. Carmen and Christina had gone back to Jerusalem last Monday to go through the process of replacing Christina's passport, something I have heard can be quite the ordeal. Thanks to your prayers, Carmen and Christina went to the Embassy at 8:30, and Christina had her new passport by 2:30 the same day. Directly after, they returned north to Nazareth and our group was able to spend the rest of the week together as planned. No, our things were not returned, but our group did have an efficient week of traveling around Israel, seeing many of the places that Jesus went in His ministry.

(on the Mount of Beatitudes)

With our pictures, our goal was to gain a better understanding of the biblical locations and how they relate to the scriptures. For this mapping project, we also used many of the images from the post-gospel New Testament locations we visited this last fall in Greece and Turkey. Going to these locations, it amazing to now sense a little more understanding of the context in which many of the passages of the Bible were written. Seeing the places, it was almost unreal to know that Jesus had been in very similar places thousands of years before.

On Tuesday, as a team we were able to drive around the Sea of Galilee, visiting the Jordan River, the Mount of Beatitudes, the Capernaum Area, the Golan Heights (which were very eerie as they were covered in thick fog,) and stopped to wait for sunset on the east side of the sea. Throughout the day, it had been raining, and as we waited to see the sun fall down I questioned whether the rain would let up. We prayed though that God would hold up the rain for us to photograph sunset. Even after praying though I doubted if My prayer had really gone anywhere. Sure enough however, just as Jesus calmed the wind and the waves many years before, He then allowed for the holding up of the water that was falling out of the sky, providing for a beautiful sunset. I enjoy it when God proved my skeptical faith to be wrong.

(after the rain was stopped)

Wednesday of the travel week our group went south, past Jerusalem, to Bethlehem. As we were walking to the hotel we were planning to stay in, it was once again raining heavily, and we were trying to walk as quickly as possible while attempting to stay as dry as possible (something that wasn't working out too well). Soon though, we had a friendly souvenir-shop-owner pulling us into his store to sit down for Arabic coffee. I usually question this, as I have become fairly accustomed to be drawn into these shops only to see that I am requested to buy something. This time though, that was not the case. This man wanted us to sit down, just to talk and hear about our lives, and was just as open to sharing about his, and even helped to set us up to stay at a local guest house, which ended up being a very pleasant place to come home while we were there.

(In the church of the Nativity)

I feel so blessed by this man, but it was hard to hear about the difficulties that he has faced as a Palestinian living in the West Bank. Before the security wall was built, he spoke of how he was allowed to pass back and forth between Jerusalem and Bethlehem as he pleased. Since the wall has been built though, he is almost entirely restricted to Bethlehem, as even within the West Bank itself, there are security checkpoints wherever you go, which makes traveling to nearby towns a hassle. This is problematic when you have family and friends on both sides as this man does. He can get Visa's to come and visit friends in the U.S. or Europe, but has to fly out of Jordan because it is so time consuming to wait for permission to go into Israel to fly from Tel-Aviv. But all the while telling us these things, this man remained un-bitter towards us, and treated us as his friends. Soon he brought out his instruments (drum, tambourine, and violin-type instrument) on which we played together (and I danced) happily, though I'm sure there was no sort of musical structure to our song.




This man was a Godsend to our time in Bethlehem, and I believe was the main reason God had us in Bethlehem. That Thursday we spent the whole day in Bethlehem, trying to get to the biblical sites, and we did so with the help of this friend, who drove us around in his well-broken-in automobile. It rained most of the time we were in Bethlehem. Though the rain was a bummer for picture taking, it wasn't a bummer as it helped us to spend much more time with our newfound friend.

Later in the week our whole school reunited again in Jerusalem, and we left last Saturday to make our reverse-exodus back to where we are now in Cairo, Egypt. This last week we have had some in-depth instruction from our friend here on the use of lighting in photography. It was a lot of fun, and he really impressed me (and all of us I think) with a lot of inspiration for the creative ways I can be using light in my photographs. I think this week will prove to be very influential on the photographs that are yet to be taken in our travels.

(Sayed, a newsprint dealer)

(On the roof of our hotel)

(on the nile)

(These shoes were made for wearing)

Just yesterday a few others and myself wanted to make a visit to an area of Cairo known as Manshiyat Naser, or Garbage City. Most of the people who live in this area sort through the garbage to find the materials that can be recycled and re-sold to make a living. These people live almost literally submerged in the garbage that they sort through. They do have living areas where they can get away from the piles of trash (at least somewhat) but a majority of their lives are spent in the midst of heaps of rubbish. I was interested to see how the garbage business was actually run, and God provided me with the opportunity to meet a real-life garbage dealer.

(wait)

As I was taking pictures of a family in one area, I soon saw that the family was in the process of selling recycled plastic to a couple men, a policeman in street clothes and one man by the name of Sayed (pronounced sayEEd). Sayed offered me a Coke, and told me a little about what he does with the plastic - basically buying the sorted plastic, and selling it to recycling companies in China for about $400 USD per ton (this is the price for white plastic, whereas black is much cheaper as it is a low quality plastic), and spoke of how good of a business it was to be in, as they basically take something that people aren't using (trash) and sell it for money. He was an extremely friendly man, and was very willing to help me understand what the people in Garbage City do with all the "garbage" that they sort. Though this was a short encounter, I was thankful that God provided me the opportunity to understand the people a bit more than I would have otherwise been able to, AND it was cool to see people getting so much use out of the resources that are available to them. It makes me think.

(A deal transpires between cronies)

(Sayed, a dealer of recycled plastics)

We are only in Cairo for a few more days before we will be moving on to Ethiopia. This Friday afternoon we will be flying to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, where we'll be located for around a month. While we're there I am not sure how much access we will have to the internet and communication, but I will be doing my best though to keep you updated on all that we're doing there. I look forward to being in one place for a more extended amount of time. Thank you for all your prayers, and I appreciate your continued interest and involvement in all that God has been and continues to be leading me in.

from nazareth with warm regards

This last week in class was very enjoyable. We had Ashley Smith come to us all the way from South Africa to speak to us about the prophets in the bible, and some of the history behind the city of Jerusalem. It was evident that he had a lot of wisdom to share on these topics. Also being in Jerusalem, it was an amazing place to be learning about such things.

A theme that stood out to me was how the Israelites were thinking that God was only concerned with the outward appearance of their sin, when in fact God was more concerned with the inward attitude of their hearts.

Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Amos 5:23-24

As the Israelites would often go astray, God sent many different prophets to show them that what He was seeking was their hearts. Even when the Israelites didn't listen, God used other nations ruling over the Israelites to make Israel into a nation that understood who their God was. From Ashley's teaching this week, I see that God is not a back-pocket God to be used when things go awry, but he is a God that we should involve in every part of our lives, internally and externally.

...

Over the next week, our school has divided into smaller groups of about five people, so that we can go out and tour the different locations where Jesus lived, walked and taught around the land of Israel.

I am on a team with Carmen (Georgia), Christina (Florida), Tara (Oregon), and Sung Ha (Korea). Yesterday we left Jerusalem in our rental car, planning to go up to Caesarea and Mount Carmel before settling in Nazareth for the next few days. Early in the afternoon we stopped for a quick stretch on the beach in Caesarea. As we returned to the car we found that our car had been broken into, and four of our bags had been stolen. Christina's Camera, Passport and credit-cards were stolen, along with one of Carmen's bags, Sung Ha's laptop, camera, and all of his pictures, and my bag containing my laptop and external hard-drives. We filed Police reports in the area, and are currently praying for something miraculous to happen.

Right now we could really use your prayers for the situation. We realize the odds of this situation are not very good for our things to be found, but we are also trusting in a God with whom there are no obstacles. Pray for our things to be found, but pray also that this can be an opportunity for whoever took these things to encounter the love and forgiveness that is found in Christ. Our Bibles and journals are in these bags, so who knows; maybe they will find the truth and love that is found in God's word.

We're told that sometimes the people just take the main valuables from the bags and then leave whatever else they don't need or want behind. Even this would be a blessing as there are a lot of other less valuable but very useful items in these bags, i.e. chargers, glasses, clothes, journals, bibles, etc

Carmen and Christina have gone back down to Jerusalem to get a new passport for Christina at the US Embassy. Tara, Sung Ha, and I will be staying here in Nazareth for the next couple days, and after that we may be moving on, possibly to Bethlehem.

It's a bit frustrating, but I'm believing God's purposes in this are far greater and run much deeper than anything I know. Your prayers in this situation would be so much appreciated, both for the recovery of the stolen goods, favor for Christina at the US Embassy in Jerusalem, and the direction God is leading our team for the rest of our time in Nazareth and wherever we may end up going later this week. Prayer can change the way things are.

Thanks for once again taking the time to read. Have a blessed week!

and there's still much to learn

Much has taken place over the last two weeks. I feel like my eyes are in the process of being opened to so much more than I could have ever known before being exposed to these people and places.

Our first week here was spent learning more about the heart of an artist. For this we were blessed to have Mauricio Palacio come all the way from Mexico to share with us his heart for creativity. For myself, I see that the things that Mauricio shared helped to release a lot of suppressed creativity. Over the last year, I feel that God has really called me to step out more in the art that I make, but for the last few months, I have been a bit unclear as to what it looks like in the situation I am in. Mauricio's teachings really challenged me to be more intentional about making art that points to truth and love and beauty.

A big part of what Mauricio shared with us had to do with the idea that God has created all people with the ability to create. Part of all of our purpose is to continue the process of creation in our lives, with whatever we do, whether we consider ourselves "artists" or not. We know that truth is found in Jesus Christ (John 14:6). We know that love is also demonstrated to us in the selfless love that Jesus gave us (I John 3:16). Every day we can use our eyeballs to view the beauty that is expressed through God's creation (Romans 1:20). When we understand this, I think we can see everything we do be touched by creativity, from office work to shoveling snow off the sidewalk.

(the dome of the rock)

(a funny boy)

(a man)

(inside the damascus gate)

(issa (Jesus) and Mohammed. interesting? i think so.)

(Lido, an Israeli soldier)

Last weekend, John Paul, Naphtalie and I had the blessing of being able to take a bus to the northern area of Israel, near the Sea of Galilee to see some of my family friends who live here in Israel. It was so refreshing to be reunited with people from the wonderful place that is Washington State. Their hospitality, warmth, fellowship, and knowledge were a goldmine.

These friends were kind enough to show us around much of the beautiful country in the northern area, including the cliffs of Arbel, Nazareth (where there is a replication of a first century Jewish village as it would have looked during the time of Jesus,) the Jezreel Valley, Mount Tabor, the Jordan River, around the sea of Galilee, Capernaum, and the Mount of Beatitudes. This time of the year, it is fairly cold here, but the cold was definitely worth enduring to see all the hills of the area covered with long, thick, rich, green grass. I think it was one of the most beautiful areas I have ever been able to visit. It now makes clear sense why Jesus spent so much of his time in this area.

(a man at the threshing floor of the replica nazareth village)

(at the well)

(a roof, similar to the one the friends would have lowered their sick friend through to be healed by Jesus in Mark 2.)

(possible forefather of Norm Abram. anyone who understands this reference gets a gold star.)

(john paul, learning the ways of a skilled carpenter.)

(this is how they made thread in the olden-olden days.)

(in the jezreel valley, near where gideon chose his troops, where Saul died, and much other old testament history took place.)

(a church on the top of mt. tabor.)

(mt. tabor. Deborah commanded Israel's troops on mt. tabor in Judges 4.)

(at the jordan river.)

(the sea of galilee. near where Jesus met the disciples after his resurrection in John 21.)

(naphtalie. a stunning expose on athleticism.)

(from the mount of beatitudes)

This last week, we have spent studying the historical books, and some of the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. For this teaching, we had Phil Leage come to join us from the YWAM King's Lodge Base in England. An interesting fact about Phil: he did his School of Biblical Studies in the 1980's at Makapala, the same base where I did my DTS in 2006.

The thing that stood out to me most in Phil's teaching was something that he said about God's purpose for Israel as his chosen people. For the longest time I have thought that Israel was a group of people that God chose to be his own, and only when they did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah did he allow Gentiles (people who aren't Jewish) to enter into relationship with himself. This I see, was a wrong view. Phil pointed out the truth that God did choose Israel as his people, but he did this that all the nations of the world might know him through Israel.

In Genesis 22:18, God tells Abraham, "and through your descendants, all the nations of the earth will be blessed - all because you have obeyed me." And later in Exodus 19, God speaks to Moses and the people of Israel, "Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the nations of the earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be to me a kingdom of priests, my holy nation..."

The idea that the Israelites are to be a kingdom of priests speaks to the idea that they would be a people to maintain a relationship between the God of the universe and the nations of the world, interceding between God and the rest of the people of the earth. Our God did not just choose one people so he could exclude all the rest, but he chose one people so that through these chosen people other people would know of his greatness. However, as can be seen in the cycle of sin of Israel in the Old Testament, on their own human strength, it seems as though they could not fulfill this priestly role. No man on their own strength - Israelite or not - could have done so.

Sadly, when Jesus (Son of God, clothed in human flesh) came and died on the cross and rose from the grave, many of the people of Israel did not recognize that he was the ultimate sacrifice and therefore the one to be our High Priest once and for all. Hebrews 7: 27-28 says, "He (Jesus) does not need to offer sacrifices every day like the other high priests. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when He sacrificed himself on the cross. Those who were high priests under the law of Moses were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed His Son with an oath, and His Son has been made perfect forever."

(the garden tomb. possibly Jesus' tomb, or at least something very similar to it.)

As many of us know in varying amounts of depth, there is an ongoing conflict in this land...a conflict that has taken place basically since the time God made his covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. Today, Israel as a nation exists on land that the people of Palestine claim they are entitled to.

I cannot explain this situation. I don't understand it, and I question whether any man could fully do so. But I'll share what God is showing me.

When I see a conflict, I have always thought that there should be one side of a conflict that is right, just, the side to follow, etc. However, with this conflict, complex as it is, I see that there is not necessarily one side that is acting in the right. With Palestine, God does not want to wipe them out because they live in the land that Israel is occupying, but he does want for them to come to a realization of the salvation that is found only through his son, Jesus. Equally, though Israel is still God's chosen people, they are not exempt from a need to accept Jesus as their Messiah. Both sides of this conflict have at different times responded appropriately and inappropriately to the other, and this cycle continues to go on today.

People (Secular-Jews, Orthodox Jews, Islamic Arabs, Christian Arabs, Orthodox Christians, etc. [there are a seemingly infinite amount of religious sects here in Jerusalem]) in this situation need to be valued for the value Christ has placed upon them, regardless of what they believe. We have value regardless of what we do, say, think, know, or understand; Christ loved us while we were still sinners. There is a conflict for the territory of physical land in this place, but I am beginning to see the greater spiritual conflict that must be taking place for the territory in the hearts of these people.

The following are some pictures on the West Bank side of the Security Wall which is now almost fully surrounding the West Bank. I was able to make a quick visit to Bethlehem yesterday, and found it to be a most enjoyable experience.

(an Israeli soldier)

(a palestinian yardsale.)

We must pray. Pray for a realization of the love that is found in Christ, on both sides of the wall. Christ didn't love and accept us depending upon the side of the wall we were on.