Marhaba from Palestine!

It has been quite a journey through the wilderness since I last wrote. We traveled through the Sinai and climbed what is thought to be Mt. Sinai. It was a nice change of pace to be out and doing something more physically active after so much touring. We sang on the top of the mountain as the sun set on the horizon. As we traveled, we were reading from Exodus, which was such a cool experience to travel through the same desert the Israelites traveled through, and to read about the Red Sea and look out the bus and see it! Nothing brings those stories in the Bible to life than having real pictures of the places.

We then went into Jordan, and went to the famous city of Petra, the ancient Nabatean city with huge carvings in the rocks. We went next into the desert of Wadi Rum in the land of Edom. We stayed at a Bedouin camp for two days, climbing around the rock mountains, running down sand dunes, going on a jeep tour, and going on a camel day trip. That was quite an experience, and on the way back to the camp, I got to hold the reigns to control the camel. It was fun to learn the noises to make it do things (or think I'm making it do things). The desert is such an amazing place, with such diversity: flat and mountainous, sandy and rocky, all kinds of colors, hot sun and cold shade (seriously, like a 20 degree difference), life and death, life-giving and life-taking. Not only was Wadi Rum an awesome experience, but it was also a wilderness experience. We reflected on how it felt to live in the desert, to spend time in this wilderness, and how we could connect it to that of the Israelites living and traveling there for so long. While we often talk about how the Israelites complained so much and seemed to lack such faith, this experience helped to understand why they felt that way. One gains perspective in the wilderness where they need to figure out the source of their strength, the importance of community, and learning to be satisfied. Although we were there for a short time, I was able to experience some of these things.

We then spent some time in Amman and went to a couple other places like Madaba. A couple days ago, then, we arrived in Beit Sahour (just outside of Bethlehem) in the West Bank. We have a 2.5 week home stay here, and it has already been an awesome experience. The hospitality here is overwhelming, as is the immersion into this culture and the conflict here. It is a great change to talk with people, settle in to one place for a longer time, learn more Arabic, learn the streets of the town, interact with the children, and learn about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. Each day is a window into their life, with loads of information, troubling facts, and people's stories. We have seen some of the local places like the Shepherd's fields and the Church of the Nativity. It is quite cool to sing Christmas carols in the place where the angels came to the shepherds and where Jesus was born. I will have more to say about my time here after more time of learning and processing. Your prayers are appreciated as the group observes and learns and processes this situation.

Salaam.