My last post. This whole experience has been absolutely incredible, and I feel privileged to have been able to do something like this. As this week draws to an end I feel the weight of finals crashing down on me. My schedule is one of little grace throwing 3 major exams at me on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I have been studying intensely for these exams, and I find myself being reminded that my best is what I can give.
I was given an amazing opportunity to escape "the cave"( which is also the downstairs classroom) and enjoy the old city one last time. A friend and I went to some of the sites we've visited throughout the semester such as: the western wall, the Holy Sepulchre, and other places. I have been studying all day everyday since last Thursday, so I am getting burned out on studying.
I thought that it would be appropriate if I gave a semi-reflection of the experience. I don't want to give too much since this kind of thing is done more effectively in person, but here we go. This opportunity was one that I had not by any means expected or anticipate, but God brought me here. I wasn't sure why, but I know now, and I'm sure glad that I was able to spend 3 months living here. I have met some amazing people that have taught me alot about myself, and about God, and I appreciated that. I was challenged academically, to a certain extent beyond my abilities, and though it has been stressful at times I have appreciated it. I have been given the chance to study some material that has enlightened me to new ideas and ways of reading the Bible, and I have been able to grow in my walk with God.
Anyways, more in depth reflection when I get back, and I look forward very much to returning home. Thank you for investing time in reading this, I hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing.

wow, the adventures that I have been able to embark on in Israel. The last field study that we were on was to Jordan. This was an amazing place, both beautiful and historical. First of all, Jordan had very few Biblical sites, but many ruins of Ancient Greco-Roman cities. We went to places like Pella, and Gedara, Gerash...all very beautiful places, and I learned much there. My Highlight however was Petra. Petra being the cities which is carved from the faces of cliffs, the most famous being from Indiana Jones the last crusade. Needless to say, Jordan was amazing. Now I find myself with 2 weeks left fighting to enjoy every ounce of this trip. As I write this I am lucky enough to be staying at the Sea of Galilee, one more quick blast through the country. My friend Tom and I have been spending the day touring the country with a rental car, and filming a video for Tom's ministry which is scripture (memorized) spoken across the Holy Land. So we have been filming Tom as he quotes scripture, whole chapters and books, it's incredible, and traveling to amazing places. We continue tomorrow before returning to Jerusalem, and the last week of class. Anyways, This is what I have been doing for about a week now, and I promise to write about my adventures through the next week, take care

Today was an exceptionally special day, and I was able to do something I'll never be able to do again. In my Archaeology class we got the opportunity to spend the day at Lachish. Our professor is Dr. Gabriel Barkay who is one of the most famous Archaeologists and well known for his discoveries. Dr. Barkay is probably the most intelligent man that I have ever met. He spent 15 dedicated to excavating Lachish which is longer than I have been in school, kind of a weird thought. Anyways, we spent the entire day observing the various pieces to the site and it was really cool.
We started at the bottom of the site, and to be hones it was brutal, we sat in the dirt, on rocky ground for almost 2 hours while he lectured on the History of Research on Lachish, and the History of Excavation at Lachish. So after a couple hours at the bottom, we finally began moving to the site itself. As we moved up he showed us the different layers to the walls of the city, which part was original and what had been built up later. There was a distinct painted line on the build of the wall indicating where the original wall stopped. Moving farther up the site we came to the gate to the city which was pretty cool, we could see the sewer system dug into the ground, and what remained of towers at the entrance to the city. What was really cool was seeing how the mud brick had been preserved from fire destruction. The city was destroyed and then burned, but the fire hardened some of the mud brick in the wall which remained in tact. We spend alot of time learning about the layers to the excavation. for instance, there was a palace at the high point of the city, the lowest layer was layer A, then layer B, and then what we could see was layer C. For each of these layers a palace existed for a period of time before being destroyed.
Another cool spot we got to see was a well that was excavated. The well was actually completely covered before it was found, which is kind of scary considering it was 45 meters deep (hopefully no one fell in while digging it up). The well was discovered in the 1930's during a British excavation. It was later, about 1970, that Dr. Barkay began his excavation of the site. The coolest part of the day was hearing the little tid bits from Dr. Barkay and all the stories he had to tell.
All in all I was very happy with how the day went, and am thinking of going for my P.H.D with all the information that I learned today, well not yet but maybe some day.

Wow, it's been a while since I've written a post (I'm sorry). As we approach the last leg of the semester, it is getting pretty busy. We had a four day field study to Galilee followed by an exam this morning. Hebrew is getting pretty tough now that we're dealing with verbs and translating whole phrases, and this weekend will be focused almost completely on Archaeology. So, it the midst of all the craziness, I am still able to have some down time.
Alright, down to business, the four day field study. We started our trip off with a lengthy, but exciting, visit to Caesarea which is on the coast of the Mediterranean sea. Caesarea was a city built by Herod the great and was done extravagantly. We spend time looking at an old theater, we walked out to the port, we walked into the sea a little, and saw an amazing palace. Caesarea was a great visit...BUT, the day turned sour when I had an accident. We visited this aquaduct that Herod built which was about 20 feet tall. So we all climbed up and took pictures on it, which was fun. But, after taking pictures I decided to get a picture of me jumping off it from a lower part which was about 12-15 feet. As I jumped a rock followed me so when I landed it landed right on my head, leaving a nice gash. After loosing alot of blood and cleaning out the wound, we discovered that the injury was not as bad as it could have been, praise God. Later that day we visited Hazor which was really cool, and some of the valleys surrounding the area. The bus rides were really tiring especially since we had lectures at each site, and then had to hop on the bus for the next site. That night we stayed at a hostel at Ein Gev which is on the coast of the sea of Galilee. Let me just say, we ate like Kings that night with cooked Chicken, potatoes, carrots and lots of desert. To add to the mix, I was able to sit in a bar/lounge and watch soccer which was great. It was really warm being next to the sea, and sitting outside later that night was great. Looking across the sea at night was nice because all we could see was the city lights from Damascus, and some of the other cities.
The next morning we got to eat a great breakfast, and with real coffee (enough said, my morning was great). From there we hopped on the bus and headed to Dan. Dan was different than I expected, it was beautiful and kinda reminded me of home. There was really nice walking trails to the site, fresh water rivers, creeks, and nice big trees. Not just that, but the site itself was really cool. The best part of Dan was seeing a complete building that was still intact from the ancient times, and it was huge. Day 2 was spent visitng some more sites, but day 3 is the best of all.
The start of day 3 couldn't be any better, I mean this was the best day I have had in Israel yet. We got to sleep in, that was great, I drank real coffee with expresso, wow, and then we got a boat ride on the sea of Galilee. Could this day get any better. Well, yes it could, and it did get better. Anyways, on this boat we went out to near the middle and viewed the horizon line and pointed out some important information. The boat ride was great because it was warm, alittle windy, but bright and beautiful. After getting off the boat we went to the city of Capernaum, where Jesus lived, worked, and ministered for a period of time. Capernaum was another city on the coast, and here there was a synagogue with a base made of Basalt rock. The Basalt base was the original base exisitng in Jesus say, other features has been rebuilt. After Capernaum we went to Beniass where there was an old synagogue where Jesus would have taught. It was here that I got the chance to sit in the seat of Authority in the synagogue (the original seat), this is where Jesus would have taught from, very cool. Finally, we went to the cliffs of Arbel. There we got to climb down and see caves that we carved out in this side of the cliffs.
Day 4 was a good day too, we saw Beit Shan, Nazareth, and went swimming. Nazareth was cool, but not what I expected, it was really dense and you could not really distinguish the old city that would have exisited in Ancient times. Beit Shan was great to, it was the most complete city that I got to see, and so I really got a sense of what cities may have looked like back then.
Well, I've taken way to much of your time, hope you enjoyed reading, and enjoy some of the pictures.

So, Wow It's been a while since my last post, sorry to all you dedicated followers. I've been busy with classes and independent adventures; however, since it's been a while I have tons to talk about, so grab a coffee cause you might be reading a while.
So, I got back from our last field study and had literally no time to relax before the stress of homework and class jumped on my shoulders. I had an exam in my Physical Settings class, a Mid Term exam in Hebrew, and an exam coming this Thursday in Rabbinical thought and Literature; needless to say, the times are getting busy here. The week went pretty well considering how much work I had to do; however, time went by pretty slow as much of my homework was not as enjoyable, or appealing as homework usually is.
Thursday was cookie night, and it was fantastic. You know that cookie night is coming when you wake up Thursday morning and smell the sweet aroma coming from Dr. Wright's home at JUC. The thought of cookie night was in my head all day. After dinner some friends and I played the game loaded questions, which is a good game to get to know other people better, and it was a good time.
After playing loaded questions cookie night finally arrived and we hung out on the JUC roof, ate cookies and watched fireworks being shot from the Old city, it was beautiful. I had been looking forward to the weekend because there was nothing to do, no field studies, no homework...the perfect weekend. So I took advantage and went on an Independent adventure. Friday after class I went hiking to the Mount of olives. I brought water and extra Pita bread I was ready to go. Well, friday was hotter than ever so my water bottle, which held about a litre, was gone in like 30 minutes. I was about half way to the mount of olives when I ran out of water, and I still had to climb it, not good. So I stuggled up the mountain, enjoyed the view and began walking to a small shop to get water. As I approached this small shop (looking like I had spent the last week in the desert -sweaty-stinky-dehydrated) the shop owner came to meet me and said "you look hungry my friend". I looked at this guy like he was crazy and said "no I'm thirst, give me water". So I bought water (sweet nector from heaven) and drank like all of it immediately. This was my first day of the weekend.
Saturday I did the same thing, went hiking, but I began at the garden tomb. This is the other site believed to be the place of Christ's burial. It was very nice, but Archaeological evidence disproves any idea of this being Christ's grave. I spent the rest of the day hiking through the New, and old city. Saturday night I went to the Hynom valley where there is an old Archaeological site and put my Indiana Jones on. I began kicking some dirt around just curiously trying to see if I could find anything. Well, I found tons of broken pottery, but that's nothing special. I went further in the site then and found some tombs, so I dug a little bit there, and I found something, something that is of some serious value. Anyways you'll have to wait til I get home to see it. The rest of my weekend was good to........alright I'll tell you what I found since you're getting edgy in your chair wondering what I could have stumbled across. I found a stone about the size of half your palm. The stone is special however, it's made from a special type of rock and has been shaped into a cutting or shaping tool probably used by people from the Bronze age. I showed Dr. Wright my find when I got back to JUC and he confirmed what I originally thought, it was indeed shaped and used long ago. So...I got lucky and found something that turned out to be pretty cool. It's not the Arc of the covenant, but, well I'm still working on that one.
This weekend coming up is the second last field study and we're going to galilee so I'm pretty pumped. Nothing much else going on here till then, but I will be sure to record all my adventures for you so that you can read back home in the cold of what's becoming winter...while I'm enjoying 30 degree weather..ok I'll quit rubbing it in...until next time , Shalom.

Some of the greatest times of your life are when you can sit in silence and just experience God. This is what I experienced this past week. As I sat and read my Bible and spent time with God there was a closeness I experienced that was amazing.
This weekend was our first 3 day field study which brought us to many cool places. The first place we stopped was Sataf which is a small village outside Jerusalem. There we learned about the Hill country and what the "American Dream" would look like in Biblical Times. We saw some springs that were really cool. 2 springs to be exact that were created by Romans. One spring was in a small tunnel (kinda like Hezekiah's tunnel). We had no lights so we were walking blind into this tunnel and into a big room where the spring was, it was a terrifying experience (no it was cool), but we were really nervous walking through this tunnel. From there we went to the Phillistine Alluvial plain where we learned about Samson and the interaction with the Philistines, it was interesting. We finished our first day at Beer Sheba where we saw the remnants of an old city. We learned about its destruction as well by Romans. The new city of Beer Sheba was beautiful and reminded me of Florida, palm trees and warm nights, it was great. We also hit the mediteranian sea which was really cool. The highlight of the second day was seeing Arad and the ongoing excavation. The Archaeologists were excavating a temple there and found the Holy of Holies, but they found 2 big stones at the site which means the temple was to 2 Gods, Baal and the one true God.
Finally, the best part of the entire trip for me was Masada. Masada is a huge fortress by the dead sea built by herod the great. There were a couple palaces on Masada including a Thousand Gallon Cistern, it was huge. Masada was destroyed by the Romans, and there is a big theological debate as to the details of the destruction. I'd love to discuss the details so ask me when I get home, or back to Kuyper, it really is cool. Anyways we finished the day by Swimming in the Dead sea and David's Spring it was refreshing and a fantastic way to end a fantastic trip.

So, some friends and I decided that it would be cool to go out on a camping trip. A couple guys had planned a place to camp out and had organized the details so everything worked out nicely. So on friday after class we headed out for En Gedi and the dead sea. From JUC it was about a 45 minute hike to the bus station. Now, Friday was Yom Kippur, a Jewish Holiday, so the streets were crazy. We were walking fast trying to catch our bus weaving through crazy crowds, it was a crazy experience. When we got to the bus station I felt like I was at the airport, it was cool. We had to go through security, and there were signs showing the bus departure time and which gate to go to. Anyways, after just over 2 hours on the bus we arrived.
The beach at En Gedi was, well...there was no beach but there was a sandy or rocky camping area. The dead sea was 200 feet from where we were camping it was kinda surreal. After setting up camp we went for a swim or a "float". The water was shallow for the first 5 to 6 feet then there was a drop off. At the drop off we turned to face the shore and leaned back...and we were floating....it was so crazy! With no effort you floated feeling like you were on the clouds, but you look down and all you can see is deep water...so weird. We tried all these different positions we stood up and floated, we laid on our chest, and our back, it was cool. Now I have to say right now I had been warned that farting was unpleasent while floating, but I did anyways...not on purpose. Needless to say, my mother was right again..I regretted it.
That night was probably the best night I've had in Jerusalem. It was really warm I had my shirt off all night and it felt great. The night was a constant temperature of about 30 degress, it felt good. We met 3 guys from Israel there and they gave us stew (which was incrdible), tea, and we talked all night. It was so fun.
The next day was hiking day and it was the most beautiful place I have ever been. We hiked along a high mountain desert ridge and then entered a forest area into an oasis with waterfalls, and cold pools, green trees. The hiking day was great. We got back home Saturday night, and crashed since we were all exhausted.
This weekend coming up we have our first 3 day field study and we are going back to the dead sea, but also to Masada and around the area. Anyways, time to study hebrew so until next time.

This friday was different from other weeks since we did not have class but a field study. This field study took us to Ephraim and Samaria. We stopped on Mt. Gerizeem for a lengthy period of time and both took in the sites, and we learned about its strategic access point to main routes in Biblical times. The Hike was alot of fun and the view was spectacular. We also visited a church in Samaria where we saw Jacob's well. This is the well where Jesus asked the Samaritan women to draw water for him. They believe that this is the well since there is great access to water in the town eliminating the need for wells, so there are very few wells in town and Jacob's well dates back to Biblical times making it the most likely well that Jesus would have visited. The church was beautiful beyond words, there were mosaics and beautiful paintings and the structure of the building was done with such detail. What was truly amazing is that the building itself was pale white in colour so the paintings on the walls and the ceiling stuck out incredibly, they were truly vivid. Finally on our field study we visited the ancient site of Shiloh which is where the Ark of the covenant and the Tabernacle would have been. This site was cool because some ancient ruins were still in place, but you could also see where Archaeologists have excavated. The view from Shiloh was fascinating in that you could see for miles, it was great. Every field study that we have brings us to new places that are amazing and all have a beauty about them.
Well...the next day we had the chance to go on an optional hike to some water falls. The bus left Jerusalem at 8:00 and we had about a 3-4 hour bus ride. Amazingly the hike was fun, even after an all day field study the day before, and the trails were cool. The trails wound through cliff edges and through some forest with creeks running through. There were 2 separate falls one about 40 feet high, and one about 120 feet high. We decided to swin in the big one since you could sit under the falls and swin around in this cold pool of water, which made my day because it was hot out. This extra hike was the most fun I think I've had all trip, it was a chance to get out of the classroom and just wind down and have fun. The danger about being here in Jerusalem is that you're always learning new things everywhere you go so in a way you feel like you never leave the classroom, and I could feel some stress building. So, I loved this hike because it took some weight off.
Wow, I'm going on for a while, but there's alot that I have to say. Saturday night we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre because it was the reunion of the church and the had a special ceremony. It started at 11:00 pm and went to about 4:00 am. I didn't make the whole ceremony! What I saw though was really cool. They were burning Incense and blessing all the historic, or Holy sites in the church. They also brought in cross and had some rituals to go with that. There was alot of prayer, singing and worship...but it was all in Hebrew so we didn't understand a word; nonetheless, it was an amazing experience and something I'll never have the chance to see again so I was glad that I went. Anyways, I don't want to keep you reading for too long. This week thursday I begin traveling to EGYPT! I am really pumped and can't wait to tell all of you about it!

So, another day in the Holy Land on Mt. Zion, and what can I say it was great. I had a test in Physical Settings this morning, which went well, and the rest of the day off. As you might be thinking, yes I am converting to a middle eastern life style.....very laid back. Unbelievably I took some time to do laundry, some homework, and I played soccer. Even as I write this I am lounging around drinking hot Tea...hmmm I love Israel. But seriously, at supper today I went to Forum table, which is where students meet with Dr Wright and have a discussion about...well anything.
The discussion today focused on Midrash CHAZAL. What is Midrash CHAZAL? (you don't even know it but I just used a Rabbinic teaching method, I asked a question to begin discussing the topic) Well, M.C is a method used by practicing Jews to interpret the Holy Scriptures. By using M.C they attemp to fill into Biblical stories information that is missing. They try to understand the purpose of the scripture text, what is being said, why it's being said, and then they try to fill in the missing information to get the whole picture.
The question that we adressed today was: As Christians how do we view M.C, and is it useful for our own interpretation of scripture? The cool part of this discussion was that there was a wide range of answers that we as Christians came up with. People voiced there opinions and beliefs and it was an important time of growth. We also discussed what interpretation is and what authority interpretation has in comparison to the authority of scripture. We discussed some questions many us had, and though we may not have gotten a clear, clean cut answer it has brought us to a greater curiosity in terms of what we believe about some of these things. The question I asked that has been on my mind was: Is there importance to reading and maybe interpreting Extra-Biblical Texts such as the Gospel of Thomas, or Philip? I can honestly say that I know now, after hearing what was said in the discussion, what I believe on this issue.
I guess what I'm getting at is that this forum or discussion is just one of the examples to show that I am truly maturing in my faith here in Jerusalem and that real Christian growth is happening in my life. I have been blest to be here and to have this oppertunity to grow, and I'm glad that this experience is just getting underway.

So today was another day in the field, and we traveled to Benjamin today both the North and south side. Here's a fun fact for you all reading, approximately 60% of all Biblical events occur in Benjamin, at least according to Doctor Wright.
We started our journey today in the barren wilderness on the east side of the mount of Olives, and suprisingly enough it rained. Rain and desert in september...you figure that one out. Anyways the desert had a beatuy of its own that can only been seen. Once we moved from the desert lookout points we moved to the New Testament city of Jericho. Basically all that we studied was Herod's winter palace, which was or would have been beautiful. Harod used many techniques to build his palace that added to the palaces beauty. We stayed in New Testament Jericho for about a half hour and then moved into Old Testament Jericho. The reason that there are 2 Jerichos is that Herod built his palace away from the OT site and so the people followed and formed a city around him. Anyways, OT Jericho was fascinating because we could see some of the original structures from when Joshua moved in and took over. The walls, or part of them were still standing after all this time. Old Testament Jericho is dated to 8000 B.C and is supposed to be the lowest point on the earth, how cool. Even more cool was that down inside where the old city used to be there was a watch tower that now stood 10 feet off the ground. In the center was a hole that was dug out with steps going verticly down for about 20 feet into the ground and on top was a cage. Well, some friends and I climbed on in and we got a cool picture of us stuck in this pit with the cage down, it made for a cool pic (which I will add later due to internet problems). Once we toured Old Jericho we had lunch and moved on. The last major site that we visited was the Old city of Gezer. This place was incredible because it landed on the Coastal plains and you could see Ashkelon, where the philistines used to be, Tel Aviv, and almost Jerusalem. The views today were spectacular and it made for the best field study yet. Anyways, I have a test to write tomorrow morning, and I think I should study. Until next time, thanks for reading, and God bless.

Wow, so another year has passed and now I'm 20, hard to believe. I can honestly say that it feels great to no longer be a teen ager(and no longer be subject to all the teen stereotypes). It was a very good day. I started with only one class, which was a test, and had the afternoon off. I spent the greater part of my afternoon in the old city touring around, which was alot of fun. Around 2:15 I had to leave to go coach soccer. Jordan and I, Jordan being a classmate I am coaching with, left and hopped on the bus taking us to Beit Jala (a city outside the city). Not knowing that Beit Jala was in the West Bank I left my passport on campus so we had to get off the bus, walk back, get the passport, and hop on another bus. We figuered we would be incredibly late, but we would do our best to arrive as soon as possible at the Jerusalem school where we would be coaching. When we arrived, however, we realized Beit Jala is an hour behind Jerusalem, so we ended up arriving early for the practice, so I guess everything worked out to plan.
After practice some friends and I headed for Zollies, which is a pub in New Jerusalem and we enjoyed an evening out for the birthday. It turned out to be one of the funnest birthdays I have ever had. I had a great group of guys with me, and we had a ton of fun spending the night together.
We also encountered our first conflict here in Jerusalem. Know that everything is now fine and under control but it was scary for a while. I was in the student lounge when I heard 3 distinct screams coming from a women's voice. A women had been assulted near the JUC gates. Before anything too terrible could happen the man assulting her was scared off. Later that day, and night the man was seen hanging out around JUC, and we were thrilled to learn that the local Police have caught him, and he is off the streets, thank God.
Anyways, it's been an eventful couple off days, and there is much more adventure awaiting.

Today was an absolutely amazing day. We started our Field study on the Mt. of Olives and overlooked Jerusalem. Prof. Wright outlined the major features such as the Temple, and David's city so that we could get a prospective from outside the city. Seeing Jerusalem from a different place revealed a beauty within the city that can only be appreciated from afar. As we continued to another viewing sight I saw my first Camel! I know I sound like I'm in Kindergarden but the Camel was soo cool. You could pay money to sit on the camel and get a picture of Jerusalem, but since I was on a field study, and on a tight scheduale, unfortunately I did not get to sit on it. One of the most fascinating places was the Garden of Gethsemane, which is beside a church dedicated to Christ's prayer and his betrayal. The church was beautiful and was dimmed to make the appearence of midnight which is when Christ would have been praying about.
After the Mt. of Olives we headed for the Herodian which is a partially man made mountain made by, and dedicated to Herod the Great. They have a saying here, " You have not seen beautiful architechture until you've seen that of Herod the Great. When we climbed up this mountain we got the view of both Jerusalem and Bethlehem. On the top is the location of Herod's palace, or oasis. You can see the original ruins and layout of what the palace would have looked like, incredible. Next we moved on to Bethlehem for our last stop and we visited the church of the Nativity. This church is also beautiful and dedicated to the birth of Christ. The entrance is about 3 and a half feet high so when you enter you must get really low. This is to humble people before entering the church, and once we entered we saw beautiful paintings and mosaics and alot of Gold decore.
Again and again I continue to see amazing places that are in Scripture and the word of God comes to life. There is no greater feeling than reading about Christ's ascension on the Mt. of Olives, or reading about his betrayal in Gethsemane, or his birth in Bethlehem. I was told that once you go to Israel you will never read the Bible the same again, and now I see why. If I only learn a few things here in Israel one thing will be to gain a greater appreciation for scripture and hold God as the highest authority in my life. Our verse, or one of the verses today, was Psalm 23, but we read it as we overlooked David's land and it came to life.

Hezekiah's Tunnel

Today, since I had only one class this morning I decided to walk Hezekiah's tunnel. Let me first just say that this was one of the coolest experiences i've had here in Israel. Well, let me start with some facts about the tunnel:
The tunnel is a 1750 feet long, or 530 m, and was carved during Hezekiah's reign. The purpose of this tunnel was to bring water from one side of the city of David to the other. the tunnel goes from the Gihon spring to the Pool of Siloam( Jesus healed a blind man by making mud with his saliva and told the man to wash in the Pool of Siloam). The shape of the tunnel forms an 'S' shape, and the believed reason is that the diggers were following a natural crack in the rock. Further exploration in this tunnel revealed the digging tools used, and the Siloam Inscription(an inscription by the diggers).
Hezekiah's tunnel is mentioned in 2nd Chronicles 32:30 which says "It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and channeled the water down to the west side of the city of david...". Again in 2nd Kings 20:20 we read "As for the other events of Hezekiah's reign, all of his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?".
As I left this morning to go walk this tunnel I had seen pictures of the tunnel, and had seen the entrance, but had not gone in. I was excited but also nervous since the tunnel is narrow, the roof is of the tunnel is not very high, and it is filled with water. JUC has student cards for everyone, so when I got to the passgate the attendant wasn't happy to see it since it got me in for free. I had to first walk through Warren's shaft (which is also a tunnel with a big hole where Archaeologists dug). Once I got through there I arrived at the entrance. Before I began I read some Bible passages to get the background of the tunnel. As I was reading, two other tourists past by, and as they saw the entrance (which was pitch black) and they stood there talking about how scary the tunnel would be(this made me feel great since I was walking it on my own). As I finished I entered the tunnel. At first you walk on a small platform and then stairs going into the water. I borrowed a flashlight so that 'I could see, and as I started walking through it was amazing. You could clearly see on the sides where rock had been scraped away and where the diggers dug. The most interesting thing about walking through was that the diggers, a couple times, dug in the wrong direction for about 5-6 feet so you could take a wrong turn. The water levels changed throughout the tunnel, at the beginning it was waste deep, then throughout the rest about ankle deep or a little more. As I got about half way you could hear the echoes from my feet sloshing in the tunnel and it was really freaky because it seemed as if someone was following me. So about every ten minutes I would keep looking back because of the echoes. I was amazed at how narrow the tunnel was, my backpack was rubbing the walls almost the entire time. Near the end it's amazing because the roof shoots up to about 10 feet high, and then about 10 minutes later the tunnel ends. The entire tunnel took about 45 minutes and it was great, freaky at times, but great. I'm sure that I'll walk the tunnel at least one more time before I leave...

Today marks one week that I've now been in Israel, and I feel I've been here for a long time already. Classes started this week so I've gotten my first taste of what studying here looks like. I am taking 4 courses this semester that all fit into my program at Kuyper. I'm taking:
"Physical settings of the Bible", which covers the history of Israel but also the significant places in Israel that major events take place. We've had our first Field study which took us through the old Jerusalem city which was exciting. We saw the "Wailing Wall" where Jews come study and pray, but it's cool because people come write their prayers on a piece of paper and stick them in the cracks of the wall. We visited the church of the Holy Sepulchre which is the location of the Crucifiction, and the Burial of Christ. We saw the Markets and also the divisions in Jerusalem (Muslim, Jew, and Christian).
Biblical Archaeology which so far is my favorite class. Our professor is one of the most famous Archaeologists in the world which is amazing, and he is a great teacher. He actually taught us that Indiana Jones, the movie series, is based off of a real Archaeologist living in Jerusalem currently. When he found out that the movies were being produced he tried to sue Stephen Spielberg but he lost the case. Anyways, we started to learn the process of Archaeology, which is not like Indiana Jones at all...I know that kinda sucks, but it's still really cool.
Biblical Hebrew is also an amazing class, but it is very hard. Learning french was easy because the alphabet is the same as in English, but pronounced different. Hebrew has a completely different alphabet and I need to learn how to pronounce the names, and write the letters. Anyways it very tough, but also very exciting.
Rabbinical Thought and Literature, this class focuses on Jewish theology and the teachings of Rabbis. We are learning Midrash CHAZAL which is a way of interpreting scripture. This, by the way, is very different from Christian Reformed even though the biblical text is the same.
So those are my courses, I share a room on campus with 3 other men named John, Tucker, and Andrew who are all from colleges in the U.S. There are 2 Canadians on campus which are me, and a guy named Noah from Vancouver. On campus there are about 36 students. The weather is cool in the morning (cool until like 10:00), and then from about 10 till night it gets incredibly hot. The heat here is dry though so I sweat like crazy and I sweat constantly. I've gone through most of my socks since I wear shoes basically everywhere because walking long distance is not comfortable in sandles on stone roads. The food is very good, there are always about 3 parts to the meal. We always have Pita bread and Hummus (my new favorite snack), some kind of meat or pasta, and salad. Since tonight was Shabot (the night before the Sabath day) we had a special meal. We had shishkabobs with steak, Pita bread, salad, and hot dogs (explain to me how they fit into the picture). The food is always prepared well as if it is home cooked (not like Kuyper College...). One of the neat things about being in Israel here is the Market. The market goes thoughout all of the old city basically. There are shops on almost all the side streets selling clothes, drinks, pottery, and alot of Jewish decore. You can buy almost anything in the market, but it is a game of bartering. The new city is more reliable for buying things, but you can only buy more modern things rather than some of the cool souvenirs you'd find in the market. Military soldiers are everywhere and police assisting them. In Israel once you are 18 you are conscripted for I think it's 2 years of service. They carry full riot gear, and a scary semi-automatic rifle. The weird part in this is seeing girly girls who have been conscripted carrying weapons when they look like they should be in school, or out shopping, my point is they don't look like soldiers who should be carrying weapons.
Life in Israel is relaxed and laid back, but people here are very devote to their religions, and they make us as Christians in North America seem like we are very un devoted. There is a variety of people living here some are devote Jews with the little hat on their head, some wearing suits with the big hats and curly side burns, and Jewish orthodox wearing Ceremonial robes, you get the point. There are many different branches of religion here and it is cool to see. I find that between classes and homework there is alot of free time to sight see which makes this semester hardly feel like school some times. Now, however is bed time, so til next time, Shabot Shalom.

Today was the official start of classes and to be honest I was pumped. I had only one class today which was sweet, I had Dr. Wright for Physical settings of the Bible. This morning was introductory of course, but we found that the majority of the class will be out in the field. Not only that, but the class covers alot of very cool places I had no clue we'd be visiting.
The other thing that I realized is that this semester is gonna be more challenging Academically than I thought. Tomorrow I start studying Hebrew...please pray for me...I do like challenges though, so i'm sure it won't be too bad.
As I had much free time today after class I decided to walk through Jerusalem, and I went to see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is also the location of the Crucifiction. Check out this link for interesting pictures and fatcs about the church: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-church-of-holy-sepulchre.htm.
I have learned after a few Field studies now that it is difficult to really appreciate these historical sites during class. When I visited some of the historic sites in Jerusalem during class it became difficult to grasp, or it hadn't sunk in right away that Jesus and his disciples had actually been here and walked where I was walking. As I walked the Old city today on my own I really focused on trying appreciate these spots, but also allow them to impact me. As I entered the church I walked around and enjoyed all the amazing artwork like the mosaics made of millions of tiny stones to form the most beautiful pictures. I visited Golgotha again today, but being there for my own devotion made this visit a different experience. You could truly feel that this was a Holy place, and as I stood there in the shadow of the cross I could feel God's presence in a way that I have never felt before and it became real to me that Christ had been there.
I've had to buy some of my books and supplies and I've realized that Shekels don't take you very far...my Hebrew book alone was 180 Shekels. I've met alot of really cool people and I can tell already that some good friendships will be made. I met a guy that shares my love of soccer and so we plan sometime this semester to watch a game. I went last night with a group of about 8 people to a party at a local club/restaurant which was alot of fun (and had free appetizers...which every student can appreciate). As the semester gets going it's gonna move real fast so I need to appreciate every moment.

So today, being Sunday, I had the oppertunity to go to a local church. After some consideration, and not being able to find a CRC, I attended Jerusalem Baptist church with some friends. The service was very modern and even a little bit American in its style and format. We had to leave church a little early however since we has a Physical Settings of the Bible Field Study.
Today was the first guided tour of Old Jerusalem, which was very exciting, but it had a serious tone to it. The first place that we stopped was the place believed to be the location of the last supper for Jesus and his Disciples. We had the oppertunity to see the building, but also to walk inside the room where Jesus and his disciples would have gathered. As we moved on we saw other places such as the Mount of olives and the Ressurection Church dedicated to the Ressurection of Christ. We started to learn more about the Mountains and valleys that make up Jerusalem which gave us an idea of what the Biblical Jerusalem would actually look like. Another amazing place that we saw was a big church in Jerusalem, which in the Biblical time would have been located just outside the city walls. This Church is very significant because the church is built over the site of Christ's Crucifiction. As we walked into the church we saw many pieces of art which portrayed the crucifiction. As we explored through the church we came to the location where the cross of Christ was believed to be placed. There is a beautiful memorial with the original rock that lay on Golgotha and you can touch the rock in prayer and meditation on Christ's cross. Also within the church is the location believed to be Christ's grave site. Walking through the church and seeing these places was an experience that I won't even try put to words, but if I had to say something I would say that you could feel the power and the presence of God. The most difficult aspect of seeing these amazing locations is grasping the reality that Christ was indeed here in Body and walked this land, and now here I am walking in his footsteps. God is awesome and we have seen some amazing sights in the short time we've been here.
To shift gears a little bit I want to share a little about the JUC campus. There is 36 students on campus and a handfull of students off campus. The dorm rooms are huge, and I share a room with 3 other guys that are all from the United States. I am the only Canadian student (that I know of at this point), but there is a few students from places other than North America or Israel. The food is really good, alot of veggies (and I'm eating them all, you can be proud mom), rice, pita bread, and some meats. So far everything has been going really well, and tomorrow classes officially start...can't wait.

So today proved to be a little more exciting, but we still had to sit through orientation and getting our ID's and stuff. Around 3:30 we went on a photo scavenger hunt and had to tour around old Jerusalem. It's amazing how you can walk through the old city and see ruins everywhere of old structures and pillars that existed before. Much of the old city in built on ruins from Jerusalem long ago. It was fun seeing the market and spending time touring. The funniest part of this scavenger hunt is that it exposed us even more as tourists than we already are. People were staring at us constantly and many would walk away laughing as we took our pictures witht the various poses and such on our list. I had to exchange my money today from Canadian to Shekels and I ended up with a good exchange rate, 300 Canadian turns into 800 shekels. Anyways there is a bonfire tonight on Campus, which will be fun, then my first full day in Israel will be complete.

Wow...it'a crazy to think that just a couple months ago this trip was still in the works, and now here I sit on campus at JUC. As I left for the airport this morning I was taken back and humbled knowing that in just a few (around 20) hours I'd be sitting in Israel. As I approached the front desk for Air Canada in Edmonton I was incredibly pumped, but as the attendant asked for a Student Visa my heart nearly stopped (since I was told I didn't need one). It turns out my trip will be lasting about a week longer than 3 months, which is the longest time I'd be able to stay in Israel without a Visa; however, since I will be crossing the border at least once this trip I was allowed to pass through. As the day went on I landed in Toronto which was really cool and I thoroughly enjoyed a 2 hour layover, then I landed in Tel Aviv.
Now, my trip had gone incredibly smooth til this point, but....big 'But', I didn't know that I would be getting myself into a greater adventure trying to get to JUC. The Airport taxi, or Sherut, left the airport on time and arrived in Jerusalem swiftly; however, since the Sherut was packed full I ended up getting a nearly 3 hour city tour of Jerusalem dropping everybody off. As we dropped off the last rider I noticed 2 others in the Sherut with me, and they were also going to JUC, which worked out well. Later that night we finally got dropped off at Mt. Zion only to find ourselves lost! As we made our way around Mt. Zion trying to find the college we asked numerous taxi drivers for directions only to be dissapointed. So after about another hour and a half we bumped into the manager of JUC who then lead us to the college, thankfully. We then brought all of our luggage onto this beautiful campus overlooking the city and began getting settled in while some of the staff brought us the meal they had saved for us....needless to say it all worked out in the end.

Well, I thought that before this adventure begins I better explain how this big thing came to be. As I was peacefully enjoying my second semester at Kuyper College I was beginning to make plans for the future, which is something every good student learns to do...
As I was pondering my future over a coffee I was thinking about another student at Kuyper who had left for a semester in Egypt and all I could think was how cool, what if I could do something like that? Amazingly enough, the next day I came into contact with Prof. Heerema and so I asked about studying abroad. Almost immediately I was given a hand full of options for places I could study . Once I narrowed down my options I had to make a choice between Oxford, Australia, or Israel. Since my program is Pre-Seminary Australia was knocked off the list since it's a semester focused on Arts. Then I began to look closer at Oxford, but when I began reading, students applying needed a minimum GPA of 3.5, well...I'm not that intelligent so Oxford was out. So I began a process of prayer and God not only lead me to choose Israel, but God called me to Israel.
One of the greatest things about being called by God is that everything in the process has worked out perfectly. Every door on the way to making this semester happen has been opened wide, and in fact I felt as though God has pushed me through showing me that this is where God truly wants me. This trip is not only full of great opportunities to learn and grow, but also an opportunity to see scripture come to life. Being able to see the setting of the Biblical world is something incredibly special and I feel privileged to be offered this chance. On the other hand, I have formed many deep relationships at Kuyper in my first year and it is tough knowing that I have to put those relationships on hold. Knowing that God has called me to Israel and that every door has been opened, I know then that God is in control of my life and that also means my relationships. If I trust God and put my faith in him he will provide me with strength and provide me with all I need.
Philippians 1:21
"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain"

So this is it: the first of hopefully many posts on this wonderful blog. As I sit here and write i have a mere 5 days until my semester in Israel begins. It's hard to believe that this summer has in fact blown by; however, hopefully in the next couple of days I will be a little bit more prepared for this adventure in Israel to begin. Over the next four months I look forward to the oppertunities that await and the doors that God has prepared for me to walk through. Israel has both rich history and beautiful culture, and I look forward to becoming a part of both.