I’m sitting on a runway here in Tel Aviv, Israel and its about 11pm local time.  We just wrapped up our final day here in Israel, and what a day it was!

We began the day on the Sea of Galilee in the coastal town of Tiberius. I woke up around 5:15am and got some early pictures of the sunrise (below). The first half of our day was spent touring the sites where Jesus ministered, the second part of our day was consumed with geopolitical briefings, specifically the Syrian threat, and the Golan Heights. We wrapped up our day in Herzliya, just outside of Tel Aviv at a restaurant and final dinner as a group before heading to the airport.

This morning began at a museum which housed a 2,000 year old Galilee fishing boat which the locals affectionately refer to as ‘The Jesus Boat.’  You can learn more about their amazing find here.  Next we drove to the Mount of the Beatitudes where Jesus delivered the sermon on the mount, and likely other sermons.  The Catholic church has stuck a small church on the hill (I know you’re shocked), but the area where He likely would have spoken – on the side of the hill – forms a natural amphitheater and it is untouched for the most part.  The Catholic church has done a amazing job of constructing a beautiful garden around the hill.  The whole area is really beautiful and it was nice to hear from Pastor Mark Smith (Cadiz, Ohio) discuss the beatitudes and the importance of reflecting outwardly the changed heart Christ makes within.

Next we traveled just a few miles around the Sea to a spot on the shore where Jesus is thought to have restored Peter in John 21.  We heard from Ashland University Chaplain Joe Maggelet about how God “kicks us in the butt” sometimes because He loves us.  After a great message, we splashed our faces in the water where He walked, and cast a few stones into the Sea.  The mood was reflective but upbeat as we walked off the shore.  It was at that point where some of us were led into a small chapel on the way up the hill, just off the shore. Inside was a woman praying – it was a very small chapel with a domed ceiling – and it was obvious she was upset.  I came to find out later that Pastor Smith had just comforted her in prayer before a few more of us stepped inside. As more of our group filed in, our tour guide Uri began to sing ‘How Great Thou Art’.  Soon we all joined in.  The acoustics in that chapel were such that the harmony resonated the sounds of what could have been mistaken for a choir of 120 members! I don’t know what happened in that moment, but it gave us all goosebumps. Perhaps the Lord sent us there to simply exalt His name, but I have a feeling that our spontaneously song ministered deeply to that lady who neither spoke english, nor knew any of those who were singing.  It was a special experience.

Upon departure from the shore, we headed to Capernaum where we saw the foundation stones of Peter’s home, and the foundation stones of the synagogue where he likely spent time listening and teaching the Word.

Once we had wrapped up our time around Galilee, we headed up north into the Golan. Uri told us that the Golan Heights are regarded as Israel’s wild west. There is wine country, there are sports, camping, hiking, and so on.  This is where Israelis go to relax and have fun. However, its also the part of the country which directly borders Syria.  Syria is currently  engaged in a bloody civil war, with militant Islamic groups (perhaps including ISIS) pouring into the country in order to leave their mark and increase their following.

Our destination was a kibbutz on the northern border.  When we arrived, our gang jumped in three land rovers and began to climb through the anti-tank trenches and between mine fields which the Israelis had laid down since their victory in the 6-Day and the Yom Kippur Wars (ironically the vast majority of remaining land mines from that time are Syrian, not Israeli, there are thought to be around 1million of them). On a ridge which looks down onto the Golan, and into Syria, we heard for ourselves the gunfire between Syrian rebels and the Syrian government. On my left I saw the Syrian flag, and the right an Israeli flag.  It was all so close, and so tangible that I’ll never forget that view and the reality of how dangerously close to the border this northern situation is.

After that we ate an amazing lunch at the kibbutz and headed for south toward Haifa and Tel Aviv, crossing the River Jordan on our way. As we ate dinner together in the Tel Aviv suburb of Herzliya, we were all asked to give the top “aha moment” for each of us this week.  Many of us had so many that it was difficult to nail down just one.  I spoke about how the trip impacted me in three ways: spiritually, emotionally, and from a knowledge/learning perspective.  My biggest “aha” moment was easy to pin point – it was hearing the lady from southern Israel whose kibbutz was under constant fire.  Her resolve was heroic, and no one could have left that meeting unchanged.  It deeply touched me and I’ll never forget it.

One of the really unexpected blessings of this trip was the amazing camaraderie that our group shared with one another. In fact, Uri, our tour guide, and group leaders from AIEF/AIPAC said they’d never seen or been a part of such a special group.  It was a very deep and meaningful bond between all the travelers. The joking, the laughing, the love was unusual for such a trip, and our guides were unusually touched and emotional as we prepared to disembark.  When something like this happens, 8 special days, it’s hard to explain, but everyone felt it and the discussion turned to how this could have happened.  Some think that perhaps it was because we came in the midst of war – when Israel is being slandered in the international community and media, 12 Americans came and toured the country, lending support to generals, businessmen, IDF soldiers, wounded veterans, patriotic journalists with consciences, and ordinary people whose lives have been devastated by the thugs from Hamas.

One staffer, Becky, who helped arrange our trip put it well, “in order to really know a people and their land, you really have to come meet those people and walk their land.”  That’s certainly true, and it was an extra comfort to know God was walking with us.

I’m thankful for the opportunity, and especially thankful for the scores of people who prayed for me during my absence.  That meant more than you can know, and its the single most important factor that I attribute to such a safe and successful trip.

“Until next year in Jerusalem”  …. Soli Deo Gloria!

PJW

 

It’s about 5am local time here at the Sea of Galilee and I’m pretty much wide awake. The sun isn’t quite out, but there’s no way I’m going to miss a sunrise in this place!

Day 6 involved a lot of travel and a lot of history and geography.  As you might recall, we arrived into the northern part of the country the night before and stayed in Tel Aviv – right on the beach, I might add.  Sunday morning, day 6, we got up and did several things in Tel Aviv that were interesting.

First we went to see the Israeli Independence Hall, which sits in a former museum, and former home of the first Mayor of the city – ironically the first Mayor’s name was “Meir”, so he was effectively “Mayor Meir”…and to make things worse, he could usually be seen writing a female horse…a mere!  To cap it off (yes there’s more) the name of the horse?  You guessed it! Mere!  Mayor Meir meandered Tel Aviv mounted on Mere the mere.

Tel Aviv is really unlike Jerusalem or any of the other cities in Israel.  It was founded by 60 families who left the ancient city of Jaffa, which is just outside Tel Aviv, and bought the land (then a plot of sand dunes) from the Ottoman Turks for 600,000 gold pieces (I have no idea how much that is in today’s dollar) around 1909ish.  Their goal was part of a vision of a man named Weis whose inspiration was Theodore Hertzel (the founder of the Zionist Movement), which specifically was to plant a city that was a Jewish New York.  They wanted wide streets, modern amenities, and a thriving economic hub.  Today, that is exactly what Tel Aviv is.

One of the things you learn at Independence Hall in Tel Aviv is how the Jewish Nation State came together in 1948. I won’t be able to do it justice, but the basics are this…  The leader of the people at the time was a man named Ben Gurion (who their airport is named for), and the timing of the formation of the state came upon the heals of the holocaust, and the ending of WWII.  There was a thirst by the Jewish people to come back to their homeland, and there was an international recognition at the U.N. that the Jewish people should have a place in Palestine to call home.

The British previously held the land and were now withdrawing. So the U.N. took a vote on giving Jews a partitioned part of the land of Palestine (that is the Roman word used for the land of Israel).  The members of the U.S. voted to do this, with most everyone voting either in abstentia or in favor of the plan – only the collective Arab states voted against the resolution. There is more nuance to this, but that is the gist.

Ben Gurion and leaders of the Jews declared their independence literally as Britain was pulling out of the region – the timing was well executed. Unfortunately, the next day they were attacked by all 5 of the surrounding Arab states….the next day!  So as they sat in Independence Hall they knew that the hour was grave, and that the future was uncertain. Yet there was hope, and courage to do what they needed to do, and for the first time the Jewish people declared their independence.

One of the things that will strike you, perhaps, when you look at my pictures of Tel Aviv (which is loosely translated “old-new” to signify Theodore Hertzel’s and Weis’ dream of creating something new from what was their thousands of years before, and what had always been their dream) is the fact that it is not simply a city of sand dunes.  It’s one of the most modern cities in the region, and a thriving metropolis.  Microsoft, Google, and many others have R&D sites here.  The Intel chips in your computer, flash drive technology, smartphone chips, surface to air missile defense, and so many other technologies we live with each day were pioneered (and in some cases manufactured) in Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv itself is densely populated. It’s so dense that there aren’t even 400,000 people in the immediate city’s borders.  Real estate is at a premium, and because there’s no place to go but up, many tall buildings and cranes dominate the skyline.  The greater metro area is sprawling with suburban communities that promise the good life to technology experts and business entrepreneurs, with several million people calling this metro area home.

Before we left Tel Aviv we visited a trauma center that deals with all the aftermath of the constant rocket fire into the country. Here in Israel, and in the region as a whole, you essentially have an entire generation of people under the age of 25 who have never known a time without the need to run to a shelter due to rockets. This creates a massive chunk of the population (they were saying 10% or so) that suffers from a form of PTSD.  However, as our AIEF guide Becky rightly noted, its not really “post” trauma, its “ongoing” trauma.  The lift that has to be done here is enormous, and it isn’t simply inside Israeli borders. One of the things the folks we listened to continually brought up was the people of Gaza, and what they must be suffering without the ability to get treatment for trauma.  All told, its taking a massive toll on the people here in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.  The entire region has a generation of men and women who are scarred from growing up in this way.

Next we went further north out of the city to visit an Israeli Youth Village. The Youth Village concept/movement is an Israeli success story, and was really a heart warming and interesting place to visit.  You can read more about that concept online, but the gist of it is to take in children who are refugees from all around the region and grow them up in an “institution that has been de-institutionalized.”  What that means is that they try and imitate the family atmosphere and a normative life as much as they can without making kids feel like they are just being processed through a boarding school until they reach 18.  It’s “a deal/promise for life”, they stressed. And its this trust and this promise that actually leads to great independence and success. There are numerous success stories here in Israel who’ve graduated from this community (so to speak) – including three commanding colonels in the IDF in Gaza during this past war.

In a war-torn area the need for innovation and investment in future generations was the hallmark of the Village concept as well as the trauma center we visited earlier in the day.

From there we headed to the northern border with Lebanon.  The drive was very beautiful as we snaked our way through the mountainous region of Galilee.  Village after village in these mountains lay amongst vegetation similar to the Biblical time period.  There was wild hyssop and fig trees growing alongside the road, and the trees weren’t re-planted evergreens (as in the southern part of the country).  The region is  simply beautiful. After some time spent on the border discussing the very real, and quite astounding threat of Hezbollah, we continued our trip north to Tiberius where we ended the night. I won’t get into our briefing here, but needless to say, it gives you goosebumps to look down one hill onto several villages that you know for a fact are housing thousands of rockets all aimed in your general direction!

Our next stop, as I mentioned, was to be Tiberius which is on the Sea of Galilee.  As we headed down into the valley from the mountains the views were simply amazing.  The first time I took in the view of the Sea of Galilee from the bus it was as if my breath was taken from me, and an emotion quickly arose that choked me up. The combination of the spectacular view and the knowledge that the Lord Jesus’ ministry was all around me finally settled upon my mind in one instant.

Coming down from the mountains around the Sea of Galilee into Tiberius felt like coming home to a beautiful vision.  Hard to explain what that means. As awe inspiring as the views were, there was also a sense of calm and familiarity or comfort, perhaps, with what I was taking in.  It relaxed me to see it with my own eyes and realize how beautiful it is here, and how very peaceful it would have been to daily gaze around you and call this home.

This has been a bit of a long post, and today – in the coming hours of day 7 – we’ll be spending the first half the day looking at some key sites where Jesus ministered.  I’m really excited about this, and can’t wait to tell/show you how it went.

Until then, enjoy some pictures from today’s adventure!

Soli Deo Gloria

PJW

It’s close to 12:30am here in Jerusalem and we’ve just wrapped up a traditional Friday night Shabbat meal with some great people here in David’s City.  The meal included several stages of food, blessings, readings from the Torah, songs, prayers, and kind play by play explanations from our hosts (BTW: all pics from the day are at the bottom).

The meal was a hybrid of food that our hosts, the Rivka’s, had prepared personally or had catered in for the evening.  Three of their ten children were with us last night, two of which were still in the Army and had been in Gaza recently completing the military campaign against the Hamas Terrorists.

If you’ve never had a traditional Shabbat Meal the easiest way to sum up the thought is in the word Remembrance.  I would spend more time on this here, but there are too many other thoughts and events to relate right now.  This meal was not the Passover meal, but rather a Friday night sabbath meal which the Jews celebrate every week. It’s a time to stop, and relax, to be still and “know that I Am God” so to speak. For an older post on the parallels between the Passover and Christ our Sacrificial Lamb, click here. 

Before I go much further in describing the day, I just have to note that one of the things that continues to leave its mark on me is how our hosts or speakers are continually saying “thank you for coming to Israel, thank you for being here.”

Despite the violence, the rockets, the mortars we’ve come here, and its meant a great deal to these folks on the ground – people from all walks of life.  Not a one has missed the opportunity to pull us aside and with profuse words coming from the heart say “thank you.”  What does one say to that?  They know we speak with people who vote for Iron Dome funding that saves their lives, and the lives of their children.  It’s a small thing for us to be over here compared to what they are going through.

One former IDF officer looked me in the eye and said, “Thank you for coming at this time, its very brave and it makes us feel stronger.”

You don’t just walk away from these encounters unchanged.  I was moved to tears more than once during the day.

This evening was more of the same. The hospitality and the love has been simply amazing.

Before dinner we went to the Western Wall (the Wailing Wall) again, and this time the atmosphere was very different than it was earlier in the week. Tonight it was a highly energized crowd – with many people there! The songs, the prayers, the smiles and the dancing all indicated a people who were in the midst of a celebration.

The time of prayer at the wall was, again, just wonderful. How do I describe something like this? It is like a deep breath, or a long cool drink in the midst of an intense sports contest.  It is refreshing and renewing – it refocused me once again on why I’m here and who my God is and what He has done.

Now I realize I’m I’m starting at the end and moving backwards…so bear with me. Earlier in the day we met with two groups and then a lady who is part of a Kibbutz in the south of Israel.  It is the south that is getting shelled today by the terrorists from Hamas.

The first organization was called ‘Shalva’ which means “peace of mind” in Hebrew and finds its origin in Ps. 123:7 were the word “prosperity” can be translated “peace or mind” or “tranquility.” UPDATE: Our tour guide wrote an article in the Jerusalem Times about our visit – HERE.

Shalva was simply an amazing experience.  It is a huge Israeli success story about a man and his wife whose first child was normal and healthy until he was vaccinated for Diphtheria and just got a bad strain of medicine which resulted in blindness and deafness.  This is the man who gave us the tour yesterday. His energy was infectious; his passion for Israel and for children brimmed over from every word used to describe their mission here. The story is that instead of just coping, the parents (founders of Shalva) took him to New York and found treatment at the Lighthouse.

We were able to meet this an amazing young man – probably 38 or so now if I had to guess. His is passionate about politics and world affairs.  He’s met President Bush, and can’t stand Obama, although he is thankful as all Israelis are, that the U.S. has stood by Israel in this most recent conflict.  He also asks a ton of questions via a sign language method where he places his hands in another’s and impresses Hebrew alphabet shapes into the other person’s hands in order to convey his thoughts. It’s very cool. The entire center is in itself a blog post. Needless to say, I was very moved by their heart for those who are needy.  They said “we’re just fulfilling the biblical mandate to care for those who are feeble.”  I include it here so you can see the fullness of the scope of this trip – we were meeting with parts of this society that were conveying the diverse culture of innovation here.

In conclusion on Shalva…They did such an amazing thing that the government has come to them and asked them to do it nationally.  They’re now building a $50million facility on 7 acres in the middle of the city of Jerusalem.  7 acres is a gigantic amount of land considering what they have and how much of a fight it is over every single pebble over here.  Pictures from our time there are below.

Next we met with former IDF soldiers who are working to help assimilate wounded soldiers back into society and a normal life.  It’s one wounded soldier helping out another.  To listen to their backgrounds really paints a picture of what the mentality is over here, ad how these men view their work and their country.  To hear the heroic tales of their bravery on the front lines, but then also in supporting and lighting a fire under these other wounded soldiers to press on, was just amazing.

One of the things that is key for these IDF Soldiers that stood out to me was how they take teams of wounded soldiers and go to the hospitals right away after a soldier is hit.  They come alongside their parents (with their own parents coming with them!) and help them get the best doctors, describe the rehab process, and give them hope for the future.  All the while promising not to leave until their process is done…that will be years considering the effects of PTSD on these guys and gals.

After meeting with the former IDF guys, we had what was probably the most intense and raw meeting of the day with a lady whose Kibbutz we had been scheduled to visit that morning.  We were unable to travel to the south where her village is because of the rocket fire that started up and actually wounded two people near the entrance to the village. So she came to us – leaving her 15 year old son to watch the house.  She was nervous and very tightly wound to say the least.

During her talk he goal seemed to just tell us about what life was like on the southern border with Gaza.  She did this by simply telling us her last 29 days during operation Protective Edge, and the fact that for their Kibbutz this reality had been haunting them since March when random rocket fire and mortars had been landing in their area.

One of the great things about Israel’s Iron Dome technology is that it has an over 90% success rate – its just an incredible system.  However, because it costs well over $60,000 per missile (vs. the $500 rockets Hamas is launching most of the time) to take down these rockets coming from Gaza, the IDF doesn’t take down every single one – they take missiles down that aren’t heading for population areas and are landing in “open fields.”  The truth is though – for those living in the south especially  – that the open fields are their gardens and back yards sometimes.  The stress these people are under was written all over this lady’s face.

As she began to describe her day to day life and some of the personal affects the last few months have taken, the toll was evident.  The meeting ground to a halt at one point from the raw emotion of what was being conveyed, and we all stopped and prayed over her.  Not a dry eye in the place.

Yet, she continued on.  She pulled up her Facebook account to show the village, her friends, her life and we saw first hand mortars in gardens and backyards, and began to realize the fears now of underground tunnels popping up in the middle of their homes or schools.  How do you ward off this fear?  She said she represses it as best as possible, but it is very hard.

The obvious question when you read things like this without being here is: why stay?  The answer was given to me by our tour guide (a former IDF soldier himself who was actually in mid-town Manhattan during 911) “you don’t leave because this is our home.  If she were to leave, and go north, and then shelling started there, what then? Does she pack up her home, leave again? When does it end???  No.  This is our home, we don’t leave, we solve the problem as best we can and we live our lives as best we can (paraphrase).”

This is the resilience of the Israeli people, and that was my experience from yesterday.