We arrived in Tel-Aviv on Saturday late afternoon / early evening where we had some delays getting through passport control, and security. No big issues and we were on our way after the short delay. We met our driver and we were on our way to Bethlehem. During our drive I was taking in the sights as they blurred by the window. As we got closer to Bethlehem we started to notice differences in the surroundings. We approached the separation barrier where guards were standing with guns. Our driver got us through pretty quick and we headed to the Bethlehem Bible College where we would spend most of the week. The rest of Saturday night was simply unpacking, eating and resting.
Sunday morning we woke up, had breakfast, which I was glad to see it was foods I was very used to. We then ran a quick errand to a local business to set plans for later in the week, then headed to Church. To be specific the largest Christian church in the area. Immanuel Evangelical Church - Bethlehem, Palestine. As we walked to the church it was much different than going to church back home. First our church back home we drive to, second there is a big sign, and huge campus. This church you must know where you are going in order to find it. There are no big signs, large parking lots or any other recognizable landmark. We walked in without knowing what to expect, service had already started but we were welcomed in.
After getting our translation earpieces we went and sat down a couple rows back from the front. Down in the basement sounds of beautiful Arabic worship music filled the air. Of course we didn't understand arabic but the translation earpieces were a huge help. The topic was the Holy Spirit and all the great things that He provides us with. There were several times of worship music and then Dr. Jack Sara, president of the Bible college was invited on stage to be the guest Pastor. Dr. Jack Sara is a powerful speaker. I was moved by his passion for the Word of God. After the the service was over we met in the lobby and were welcomed by many of the members of the church. As we were walking out the door to head to lunch we noticed our pictures on the wall. They were pictures describing us and describing the workshop were were in town to present on.
We headed to lunch with Jack, his wife, Pastor Nihab and his wife and daughter. We were invited into Pastor Nihabs home where his wife prepared a traditional Palestinian meal. Our lunch consisted of some things very new to me, stuffed grape leaves, stuffed zucchini, stuffed eggplant, I believe sheeps tail and chicken. I was pleased that there was chicken but I was strongly advised to try the rest. :-) I respectfully tried a little. This was the first step in a week of slightly adventurous eating compared to my normal. The meal was very good and I am glad that I tried it.
We went to meet with a local business after lunch and that started our week of meetings. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were packed full with meetings. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evening we presented at the Bible College to around 20 local business owners. Our sessions were great, with great interaction from the community.
After we were done serving Thursday evening we prepared for our day of site seeing on Friday. Friday started out with breakfast, then saying goodbye to the Bible College and some of our new friends. We met our driver and we were off to Jerrico, well we thought we were. Instead the driver took us to the second location which was the Jordan River where we were going to be Baptized. When we arrived at the baptismal site we were pleasantly surprised to see that we were the only ones there. We were able to spend a few minutes talking about baptism and what it represents. We were all able to get baptized without having a large crowd watching. As we finished the tour busses were rolling in. We spent a few more minutes after changing and letting our clothes start to dry before heading up to the Sea of Galilee. When we arrived at the sites around the Sea of Galilee that we wanted to see it was much of the same. Very small crowds if any, as we were preparing to leave the tour busses rolled in. We then ate lunch at St. Peters Restaurant. I had fresh fish, still on the bone and still staring at me. It was delicious. After eating lunch we moved on to the Mount of Beatitudes. This was a very cool site, we were the 3rd car in the parking lot. We proceeded down to a location on the grounds and read different scripture. This was an amazing experience.
After leaving the Mount of Beatitudes we headed toward the border to cross over into Jordan where we would fly out to Paris. Again, we were blessed with short lines and smooth crossing. We were literally the second group in line to go through the process. After successfully crossing into Jordan we found out our driver was "stuck" about 3 miles away because he couldn't get onto the property of the border control. Our trip leader jumped into action and somehow got the Jordanian police to escort us part of the way, then got a special driver to take us the rest of the way. This was really royal treatment.
We spent some time in the Jordan airport winding down from such an amazing week. We then took our flight to Paris at 1:30 am and arrived in Paris at 5:50 am. After spending 5.5 hours in the airport in paris we headed on our flight back to Detroit.
We spent so much time serving which was very rewarding, life changing and helpful to the people we were serving. I personally had many life changing experiences that I will blog about over the coming weeks. Overall the week was a HUGE success and I am looking forward to future opportunities to lead a group back there.
God Bless, serve one another, love one another and you will be greatly rewarded.
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