First Tste of Middle Eastern Tennsion

Over the few months I have been hearing about all the tension that has been arising all over the Middle East. From Egypt to what is currently going on in Libya. Today was the first day I had felt tension in the Middle East directly. As I was walking to the bank to get money for our weekend in Galilee I heard a loud explosion. To me i didn't think anything of it. There are fireworks that go off all the time in the area where i was so i thought it was just a really loud firework. As I was leaving the bank I saw cop cars flying down the road and I didn't really put it together. I figure something was going on but I wasn't sure what. When I got back to campus I saw Dr. Wright and his wife trying to locate every one and told me there was a bombing in the city. When he said that I finally put the explosion together and realizing that wasn't a firework. This has brought new light to the middle east to me. We always here about the tension that is here in the middle east, but experiencing it first hand is much different. You realize what people in this area of the world must go through; the initial shock, the wondering of what will happen next, then the courage to show that you are not afraid. experiencing this has been an eye opener because since i have been here there had been no tension here, so i began to think there was peace. Could I have been more wrong. As i am writing this we at the school are getting ready for a weekend away from Jerusalem. Things here are going to continue. Tomorrow will be just like any other field study just with more alertness to what is around us. Please be praying for the peace of Jerusalem and all of Israel.
May God be with us and with you, Amen

It has been some time

It has been quite a while since i last updated this. That is because i have been very busy the past few weeks. About 2 weeks ago are class went on a trip to the Negev and the Shephlah It was amazing the first day we spent looking at Tels in the Shepelah and it was awesome. To end the day we went to the beach and got to go swimming in the Mediterranean sea which was amazing. We spent the night in a hostel that was really nice in Arad. The next day we went started at a tell in Arad and then went to beer Sheba that was amazing and really cool. Then we went hiking up a wadi that was really cool. and really tested my nerves because i am not a big fan of heights but when i got to the top it was so worth it. the last day of the trip was spent going to Masada which was amazing. This is a giant fortress built by Herod the great on top of a huge mountain. on one side it was only 800 feet up and the other was 1200 feet up. We went up the side that was 800 feet up and there is a race up it the person who won did it in 2 minutes and 50 seconds. then we went to the Dead Sea and i got to float in it and that was amazing. then we went to en gedi and looked at the waterfalls there and then to finish the day we ended at Qumran where the dead sea scrolls were found. the whole weekend was amazing. The past to weeks end i have had time to just chill which were needed because in between them was mid-term week which was stressful enough. Yesterday and Today is the Holiday of Purim which might be one of the coolest holidays ever. The Jews dress up in costumes and go the the synagogues and listen to the book of Esther read out loud, and whenever the Haman's name is said during the reading people make noise and boo. Needless to say i had a headache afterward. This weekend starting Thursday I will be in Galilee which will be amazing can't wait. I am also past the half way point so In a little under 50 days I will be back home in the good old US of A.

I love you all
Davis

Samaria and More

Hey every one I have had a busy week since the last time I updated. Last Saturday I went to a Messianic congregation it was really interesting even though I didn’t understand a word the preacher was saying. The whole service was in Hebrew there were translation devices I got one but I had such a hard time listening to it because the person speaking in to was so monotone. The service was also almost three hours. It was great to see and did have an enjoyable time. On Sunday I had a field study to Samaria. It was a lot of fun. We went to Shechem, Mt. Gerizim and Shiloh. Each of these places were really awesome. Shechem was cool we went to the church that remembers Jesus at the well. It is said that it is the same well Abraham had made there. We were also able to drink water from the well. It was a neat experience. We also went to the ruins of Shechem. The old town was massive and had have been amazing. After we were done in Shechem we went to Mt. Gerizim. We did some really interesting things up there. My favorite part of the day was up there. In the book Joshua the Israelite people renew their covenant with God on Mt. Gerizim and then they yell out the blessing that Moses had said. We did the same thing we had a guy yell the Blessing from the top of the mountain it was really cool. After that we met the son of the high priest of the Samaritans. He talked about who the Samaritans are today. He told us that there are only about 800 left in the world today. He talked about how he could trace his heritage back all the way to Adam. It was really interesting to listen to him talk. To end the day we went to Shiloh and there we saw the ruins there. It was really cool. Shiloh at one point was the spiritual capital for the Israelites and the Arc of the Covenant wasn’t even there. It was cool to see how that land was a lot like Jerusalem but still very different. That was the weekend.

Over the past couple of days I have become more and more thankful for Messiah and the kind of classes they make us take. I am in a church history class and to how many people haven’t had to take one that are from other schools makes me thankful for what Messiah teaches. So i am thankful for messiah and all the classes it makes me take even though I sometimes may not want to. I ma thankful for that.

This weekend I am going to the Shevlah and Negev. If i were home I would be going to Camp Hebron with a bunch of awesome Teens. IJust know that I will be praying for you and hope God does amazing thigns there this weekend. I will be praying and someone should fill me in on what all happened.