GYI Israel continued...
March 5-8, 2008 (journal)
My niece, Megan dropped me off at Goerkes Corners for the bus after saying good-bye to Shelly and Kameron in the morning. I slept almost the entire way as the bus made its way down from Brookfield to O’hare where I had a couple of hours to wait before getting on my flight to London.
The flight seemed longer than usual because I couldn’t seem to sleep (unusual for me), but I finally ended up at Heathrow early Thursday morning after having watched 3 movies on the plane! I only had to wait a couple of hours for the flight to Tel Aviv and in a short time (4 hours or so) I was in Israel.
I was a little apprehensive as I made my way through immigration and customs because of all you hear going on in this country, but my suitcase made it as well (although the handle was entirely broken off) and I was on my way through what would prove to be some very busy but very meaningful days.
A few other folks that were also here for GYI shared a shuttle with me and we were off to Jerusalem and the Regency hotel. Once having arrived, checking in and having dinner, I headed off for bed….until midnight, when someone was trying to get into my hotel room! I had turned the dead-bolt and my newly arrived roommate (Kyle from Kuwait) couldn’t get in, so I let him in and went back to bed. But before I went to bed, I sat on the edge of the bed thinking that it was already morning and that I had already slept through the night! But once I figured out that I still had at least 6 more hours to sleep and had a laugh about it with Kyle, I fell right back to sleep.
We started Friday morning early, as would be our daily routine, checking out of the hotel and loading on a bus. We headed for the old city of Jerusalem and began a walking tour through the Armenian and Jewish quarters that would led us eventually to the Western or “Wailing” Wall. Along the way, our guide Koren (a very cool guy and Messianic Jew by the way) pointed out a number of things of interest in this ancient city. Unfortunately, one of those things was a posted announcement regarding a funeral for a young man who had just been shot the night before; one of 8 in a Hebrew University campus that had been shot by a Palestinian teenager. It kind of sobered him for a moment and then we moved on….
It’s interesting when you arrive at the Wailing Wall. We heard an orientation regarding it and then were given the option of going closer. After initially heading down the wrong side (I was heading into the women’s section !), I made my way up to the wall. I passed and took pictures of a Bar Mitzvah taking place near-by, saw numerous Orthodox Jews reading their ‘Torahs’ and even heard a ‘Shofar’ being blown. It seemed ok to do so, so I went up to the wall myself and put my hand on it; it’s hard to explain what started to come over me at that point, a flood of feeling, impressions and definitely the presence of God as I really didn’t say much but was spoken to through these impressions and the Holy Spirit’s presence there….that’s about all I can describe….
There was definitely a feeling of kinship as well with all of the Jewish believers around me that’s hard to explain. Being the first full day of the trip, this experience seemed to define in a way some of what God may be about in this time in Israel. Being at the wall, we were also able to go into an inside area where many men were praying and reading the Torah at the Western Wall. We spent some more time around Jerusalem and then got back in our bus and began our journey south into the Judean Desert where we would spend the night at a Bedouin Camp.
The Bedouin Camp was an oasis in the region of the ancient and modern cities of Arad and definitely in the wilderness! We were first treated upon arrival there by a camel ride in the desert; our camel was not too pleased with lifting up me and my invited friend from Japan, Paul Ewing! The camel made all kinds of noises as he lifted us up and as he let us down!
My niece, Megan dropped me off at Goerkes Corners for the bus after saying good-bye to Shelly and Kameron in the morning. I slept almost the entire way as the bus made its way down from Brookfield to O’hare where I had a couple of hours to wait before getting on my flight to London.
The flight seemed longer than usual because I couldn’t seem to sleep (unusual for me), but I finally ended up at Heathrow early Thursday morning after having watched 3 movies on the plane! I only had to wait a couple of hours for the flight to Tel Aviv and in a short time (4 hours or so) I was in Israel.
I was a little apprehensive as I made my way through immigration and customs because of all you hear going on in this country, but my suitcase made it as well (although the handle was entirely broken off) and I was on my way through what would prove to be some very busy but very meaningful days.
A few other folks that were also here for GYI shared a shuttle with me and we were off to Jerusalem and the Regency hotel. Once having arrived, checking in and having dinner, I headed off for bed….until midnight, when someone was trying to get into my hotel room! I had turned the dead-bolt and my newly arrived roommate (Kyle from Kuwait) couldn’t get in, so I let him in and went back to bed. But before I went to bed, I sat on the edge of the bed thinking that it was already morning and that I had already slept through the night! But once I figured out that I still had at least 6 more hours to sleep and had a laugh about it with Kyle, I fell right back to sleep.
We started Friday morning early, as would be our daily routine, checking out of the hotel and loading on a bus. We headed for the old city of Jerusalem and began a walking tour through the Armenian and Jewish quarters that would led us eventually to the Western or “Wailing” Wall. Along the way, our guide Koren (a very cool guy and Messianic Jew by the way) pointed out a number of things of interest in this ancient city. Unfortunately, one of those things was a posted announcement regarding a funeral for a young man who had just been shot the night before; one of 8 in a Hebrew University campus that had been shot by a Palestinian teenager. It kind of sobered him for a moment and then we moved on….
It’s interesting when you arrive at the Wailing Wall. We heard an orientation regarding it and then were given the option of going closer. After initially heading down the wrong side (I was heading into the women’s section !), I made my way up to the wall. I passed and took pictures of a Bar Mitzvah taking place near-by, saw numerous Orthodox Jews reading their ‘Torahs’ and even heard a ‘Shofar’ being blown. It seemed ok to do so, so I went up to the wall myself and put my hand on it; it’s hard to explain what started to come over me at that point, a flood of feeling, impressions and definitely the presence of God as I really didn’t say much but was spoken to through these impressions and the Holy Spirit’s presence there….that’s about all I can describe….
There was definitely a feeling of kinship as well with all of the Jewish believers around me that’s hard to explain. Being the first full day of the trip, this experience seemed to define in a way some of what God may be about in this time in Israel. Being at the wall, we were also able to go into an inside area where many men were praying and reading the Torah at the Western Wall. We spent some more time around Jerusalem and then got back in our bus and began our journey south into the Judean Desert where we would spend the night at a Bedouin Camp.
The Bedouin Camp was an oasis in the region of the ancient and modern cities of Arad and definitely in the wilderness! We were first treated upon arrival there by a camel ride in the desert; our camel was not too pleased with lifting up me and my invited friend from Japan, Paul Ewing! The camel made all kinds of noises as he lifted us up and as he let us down!
Paul and I upon our less than pleased camel!
A Bedouin man shared with us about their way of life, made us some bread on an open fire with coffee and tee and also shared some of his music with us on his lute. After a great dinner where we sat on mats in a large tent, we had some time together as a group to worship and share some thoughts with each other about our experiences so far. About 150 youth leaders were a part of these initial 2 days of pre-conference before the GYI Summit officially began in Jerusalem.
Before going to bed (in a very large tent with 120 other men!), my new friend Kyle and I took a walk out away from the camp to get away from the lights and see all of the stars. We talked about the fact that this area really looks no different today really than it did back when the Israelites would have been wandering in the desert for 40 years. Getting back to the tent, we were greeted by a chorus of 120 snoring men which made it a little hard to get to sleep!
Waking up the next morning we descended over 500 meters to the lowest place on earth, the Dead Sea. We went north along the Dead Sea’s western shoreline (which is receding at the rate of 1 meter a year) to Ein Gedi where we had a 1 ½ hour hike up the stream to a waterfall. It was cool to think about this area where David had hid from King Saul with its cliffs, heights, shady areas and interesting animals (some of which we saw; ibeks, hyraxes).
It was then time to continue on to the northern edge of the Dead Sea before we headed west and ‘up’ to Jerusalem, the Regency Hotel, and the GYI Summit where about 100 additional youth leaders would join us! We had our Opening Session that night with Dann Spader, president of GYI, sharing what it will take to see a movement of God among the youth of the globe.
I also met my new roommate Nicky Joya, a professor at a Seminary in the Philippines, this night and we spent some good time getting to know each other; many other meetings/networking/friendship opportunities would take place as well.
Before going to bed (in a very large tent with 120 other men!), my new friend Kyle and I took a walk out away from the camp to get away from the lights and see all of the stars. We talked about the fact that this area really looks no different today really than it did back when the Israelites would have been wandering in the desert for 40 years. Getting back to the tent, we were greeted by a chorus of 120 snoring men which made it a little hard to get to sleep!
Waking up the next morning we descended over 500 meters to the lowest place on earth, the Dead Sea. We went north along the Dead Sea’s western shoreline (which is receding at the rate of 1 meter a year) to Ein Gedi where we had a 1 ½ hour hike up the stream to a waterfall. It was cool to think about this area where David had hid from King Saul with its cliffs, heights, shady areas and interesting animals (some of which we saw; ibeks, hyraxes).
It was then time to continue on to the northern edge of the Dead Sea before we headed west and ‘up’ to Jerusalem, the Regency Hotel, and the GYI Summit where about 100 additional youth leaders would join us! We had our Opening Session that night with Dann Spader, president of GYI, sharing what it will take to see a movement of God among the youth of the globe.
I also met my new roommate Nicky Joya, a professor at a Seminary in the Philippines, this night and we spent some good time getting to know each other; many other meetings/networking/friendship opportunities would take place as well.
(to be continued)
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