John 21:25

"Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written"

I can totally feel for John here. We have just finished our 2 week intensive course at Jerusalem University College and let me tell you, it has been intense but so worth it. We started every day around 7 am doing field study (where we would have lectures at the specific biblical sites) and study/observe till about 6pm. We have been basically everywhere there is to go in Israel from Dan to Beer-sheva. I struggle to even know where to begin to post what I have experienced/seen. It has been crazy, even stressful at times, but I cannot express to you all how much my faith has been revitalized. I believe everyone should come to the Holy Land if at all possible. It is so important to study the topography, geography and their present day political situations from the author's point of view in order to understand what they were trying to convey in their writings. In fact, my perspective has changed so much I am afraid I am going to want to give my "new insight" about every sermon I hear (don't worry Pastor Carl, I promise I won't shout out in the middle of your sermons). To give you some insight into where all we have been, I have compiled a list:

1. Jerusalem

- Broad Wall (also known as Hezekiah's wall)

- City of David (where the historical Jerusalem was located)

- Hezekiah's Tunnel

- Church of Holy Sepulcher (place where Jesus was crucified/resurrected) 

- Pool of Bethesda

- Pool of Silom

- Western Wall 

- Temple Mount

- Mount of Olives

2. Territory of Benjamin

- Jericho

3.  Shephela/Philistia 

- Beit Shemish (Town where Delilah was from)

- Zora (Samson's birthplace)

- Ashkelon (place where 1st arch was built by Canaanites- not Romans) 

4.Negev/Dead Sea

- Beer-sheva 

- Arad

-Greater Negev

- Masada

- Kumran (place where dead sea scrolls were found)

- Dead Sea Swim 

5. Galilee

- Caesarea 

- Meggido

- Nazareth

- Cliffs of Arbel (great commission) 

- Mount Carmel 

-Mount Heron (transfiguration)

- Tel Hazor

- Tel Azeca (David and Goliath)

- Tel Dan

- Caesarea Phillipi

- Sea of Galilee

- Gergesa (story of the demon-possessed man)

- Capernaum

- Qasrin

- Beit Shean 

...AND that isn't even all of the sites we visited! I could just go on and on but rather than ramble, I thought pictures would be more appreciated. There are so many concepts and meanings I have grasped that I would love to share with you all but they are for another time. 

Till next time, Shalom.

 Enjoy:) 

After our Hike in the Galilee

I adore the Galilee and its beautiful wild flowers (which are against the law to pick in Israel!)

He's the coolest.

Beautiful Galilee

Northern Galilee

At Caesarea Philipi

Climbing down the cliffs of Arbel

Beach at Caesarea

Study on top of Mount Arbel

Don't worry suite mates, I make everyone cuddle with me.

Mount Hermon

Random Happenings...

Here are just some random pictures from the past couple days. Tonight I plan on updating with some thoughts/what we have been doing, but let me just say, God is so good! Experiencing the bible in these new and different ways is so rejuvenating. But more on that later... for now, enjoy the randomness. 

Picture Time!

Host Cousin, Laura! (She referred to me as "my foreigner" in arabic of course)

House in Beit Sahour

Getting Reading to leave ATG (Alternative Tourist Group) 

Our Group in Marsaba! 

Love her! 

Fresh oranges straight off the tree? yes please! 

My wonderful host parents, Simon and Huneida.

On top of Mount Herodian

Birthday loving.. 

Hike to Jericho (See previous post)

Roommates and Host Siblings!

Host Brother!

Hike with my lovely friend.

Linford, faithful leader, as we dangerously balanced on the aqueducts. 

Love her!

Lovely Roommates!

Shopping in Bethlehem

chacos!

   

Arabic Teacher and Joel 

Study party at the cafe on Nativity Square

 

 Now for some pictures from the segregation wall:

"O Little Town of Bethlehem..."

"...The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight". 

Here is a thought my leader, Linford, shared with us the other day. 

"He [God] brought His son into the world to save the world from their sins and teach people to live in peace and justice where there is the most non-peace and injustice happening (both then under Roman occupation and now under Israeli occupation) *. He could have had Jesus' birth happen somewhere else, it would have been easier. But maybe the reason He did that was so that they/we would fully rely on Him".

*Disclaimer: I'm not saying that I am picking sides in the current political situation here in Israel/Palestine. I am simply stating that there is a lot of conflict and injustice happening..

These past two weeks here in Palestine have been some of the most challenging, unsettling, confusing weeks of my life but it has also been 2 of the best weeks of my life. I have encountered some truly beautiful people and am truly experiencing God in real and intimate ways. It is so amazing to be where Jesus was born, climb the mountains King David climbed, and to live in the town Ruth lived in. However, when I am in these places, right beside them are Israeli settlement/segregation wall. It's very unsettling to me to see such conflict and devastation going on around me. It feels like such a contradiction to be in the Holy Land and see this. There is story after story from both the Palestinians and the Israeli's that just breaks my heart in a way that I have never experienced before... especially stories from my own host family. I am embarrassed at how un-informed I was before coming to this beautiful place. My heart has broken for these people and I will never be the same. Sometimes I find myself wondering where is the hope? Then I remember....Jesus is the hope. Recall from the hymn, O little town of Bethlehem, the phrase, "the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight". Past, present, and future, Jesus is the hope. Jesus is the one I cling to.. He is my hope! I am not sure what the answer to this Israeli/Palestinian solution is and I don't know if anyone truly does. However, I see hope in people searching after God and following the teachings of Jesus. I think it's important to mention that I am not taking sides in this horrendous situation. Before we left someone shared the quote that "choosing a side only adds another enemy" and I am holding true to this statement. Do I love the Palestinians? Yes. Do I hope for a state for them? Yes. Do I love the Israelis? Yes. Do I hope for them to have a state? Yes. I just see injustice happening (from both sides) and that I am not okay with! It frustrates me how inapt I am at articulating how I feel/what's going on so if you have any questions please ask. So what is my role as an American? Stay tuned... I'm doing a research project on this very question that I will share with you all when I'm finished. 

To end, I want to share with you another amazing God moment I had based off of Psalm 23. It says:

A psalm of David.

 ¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 

 ² He makes me lie down in green pastures, 

he leads me beside quiet waters, 

 ³ he refreshes my soul. 

He guides me along the right paths 

   for his name’s sake. 

⁴ Even though I walk 

   through the darkest valley

I will fear no evil, 

   for you are with me; 

your rod and your staff, 

   they comfort me.

 ⁵ You prepare a table before me 

   in the presence of my enemies. 

You anoint my head with oil; 

   my cup overflows. 

⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me 

   all the days of my life, 

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD 

   forever.

The other day, we took a hike that supposedly this passage is based off of. It is the ancient road from Jerusalem to Jericho where the story of the good Samaritan is thought to have happened. It was a gorgeous day and such an amazing hike! Based on Psalm 23, it was not how I pictured it! Instead of lush green pastures, there is beautiful greenery (such as bushes and trees) that just provide this amazing contrast to the harsh desert and mountains that surrounds it. The verse He restoreth my soul truly came to life when I sat by a small river bed and just talked to God. It was an amazing experience.

To really end, I celebrated my birthday in Christ's birthplace! How cool is that? I also experienced my first surprise party.... I'd say it was the best birthday ever. Here is a picture of my delicious cake! 

That was a long post, hope to update you more soon! (Special thanks to my friends who keep reminding me that I need to update-love you guys!) 

Till next time...Salam (peace).

ps. random highlights of the past two weeks: dancing the cotton-eyed-joe in my kitchen with my siblings, coffee at stars and bucks in Bethlehem, birthday song in arabic, my wonderful host family and reading bible passages and then looking out my window and seeing where it took place. 

"Just as the Israelites have passed through Moab"

JORDAN:

Our time in Jordan was short but was absolutely wonderful. However, our time in Jordan started out on a rather sour note. We travelled on a ferry from Egypt to Jordan that was PACKED with people. Long story short, after a traumatic luggage retrieval, one of the guy's in our group bag was stolen while he was helping someone else. This was a disappointing way to start off the trip,especially in addition to some other unfortunate occurrences, but it really challenged us as a group to put Bishop Thomas' words into practice and truly strive to love everyone. However this is not what I remember from Jordan. We started off our stay in Aqaba, which is right by the Red Sea. We took a relaxing day and just walked around the city. I, of course, ended up at the beach. I can't express how amazing it is to be in the place where these incredible biblical stories took place. Now onto the camel ride! After Aqaba, we went to Wadi Rum (where Mollie Lehman if you are reading this, is where Star Wars was filmed). We camped out with the Bedouins for 2 nights.This included camels, jeep rides, hookah, mountain climbs, Arabic coffee and relaxing together as a group. The picture below is my view of the entire four hour ride. My camel (who shall remain nameless so that i could sing "i'm riding through the desert on a camel with no name") loved Travis! He nuzzeled up to him at any given opportunity. 

A crazy thing happened (well a lot of crazy things happened) but while we were in the camp I met a US Army man from Greencastle, Pennsylvania! Go figure I'd be in the middle of no where and meet someone from my home town. After we left Wadi Rum, we headed to Petra. Which was amazing! We toured in the morning and then in the afternoon we held a "church service" in an old monestary where Christians use to worship. It was beautiful... everyone was amazed by the four part harmony...we thanked out mennonite ancestors. 

After our church service, we climbed to a peak to look over the Negev. It was breathtakingly beautiful. 

We ended our time in Jordan on Mount Nebo. Which ended up being rainy and freezing but honestly was such a special moment for me. To stand on the mountain peak and read straight from the bible literally where we were standing is amazing. 

        Deuteronomy 34:1

"Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land--from Gilead to Dan,"

Overall, our time in Jordan was great. Tomorrow, I'll start updating you on my time here in Palestine... which has been life changing in itself. 

It's about time I shared with you all what's going on....

So, I've decided I'm a terrible blogger. I really need to work on keeping everyone updated with what has been happening on the trip. Granted, it's only been 3 weeks but I promise I'll do better. Pictures are coming soon! I guess why it's so hard to share what I have been doing is because I've been doing so much. Right now, I'm currently in Beit Sahour, Palestine. I'll be here for about a month living with a host family, studying arabic, visiting biblical sites, and attempting to wrap my mind around the current Israel/Palestine conflict. Just to give you a little information on Beit Sahour, it's a small town, right outside of Bethlehem and about four miles away from Jerusalem (which it is separated from by the wall). Beit Sahour is the town where Ruth lived, and is where the Shepherds who encountered Jesus' birth resided. I guess the easiest way to share with you what has happened thus far is to give you a quick synopsis on where we have been and what we have done. This post will be focused on Egypt. Hopefully soon I'll be caught up and able to share with you what is currently going on. Feel free to post questions or email me at hannah.tissue@emu.edu

EGYPT:
I am sure a lot of you are aware of the current political situation in Egypt. We were very careful as we toured throughout Egypt, taking extra precautions when needed. Egypt was very touristy. We did not have a lot of interactions with the people with the exception of our AMAZING tour guide, Sam. However, the things we saw were absolutely incredible. I cannot explain to you the way y senses came alive when I first experienced Egypt. Here is a list of some of the highlights from Egypt: Pyramids, Coptic Churches, Anafora (see post below), Mosques, King Tut's treasure, Valley of the Kings, Library in Alexandria, boat ride on the Nile, and truly seeing the Old Testament come to life. If I had to pick one experience from Egypt that was my favorite, I would definitely pick the day spent on Mount Sinai.  We started the day off at Saint Catherine's Monastery. There we saw the well where Moses met Zephora and what is believed to be the burning bush (which ironically had a fire extinguisher by it). After the visit to the monastery, we began our climb up Mount Sinai. Let me tell you, this is not a climb for the faint at heart. It was a struggle to make it to the top but like Moses, I was determined to encounter God in a new and real way. Once we all made it to the top, we had a beautiful meditation (led by our professor, Linford) and sang a few songs. Next, we all went to our own private spots and watched the sun set. There are a lot of things about this moment that I will forever regard as special between me and God. It was our own private moment that I will forever hold dear to my heart. What I will share, however, is that God revealed himself to me in such a real and intimate way up on the mountain... so intimately in fact, that it brought me to tears. I don't know how many of you are aware of the struggle I have had with God this past year due to church conflict, illnesses, deaths, and just confusion as to who God was but it has definitely been a time of growth and turmoil. However, in that moment up on Mount Sinai, God revealing himself to me showed me that the struggle is worth it! It's not easy but you must go through the valley to stand on the mountain of God.. literally! If I hadn't struggled with God, I may have never experienced Him the way I did. You may ask why I share this with you all but I just want to encourage anyone who feels like they are struggling to wait upon the Lord and he will hear you cry and make himself real to you. Amen?

Thanks for reading that ramble. Again I say, if you have any questions or comments feel free to ask. I know I was vague. That's all for now.

ps. shout out to my amazing parents for providing me with this amazing opportunity. 

can i keep him? :)