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.