Europe and back

Well, I'm writing this safe in Harrisonburg. It has been an incredible journey, and it feels good to be back (although it's a bit of a rough transition with jet lag and reverse culture shock).

I wanted to share briefly about the last two weeks in Europe. It has been time of following the Jesus Movement through the Mediterranean. We went to Greece, spending a few days in Athens, learning about Paul's ministry there, connecting between the two worlds he was a part of--Jews back in Israel, and Pagans and Hellenistic Jews of Greece and the Med. We had a free day, where I went with 9 others to a Greek island (Aegina), and we rented 4-wheelers and spent the day exploring and basking in the beauty of the island. It was definitely a highlight.

From there, we went to Italy, spending 4 days in Rome, looking at the huge churches, the Vatican, and different things representing the vast Roman empire as well as Paul's work in that city. It was interesting to see some of the most grand and expensive and huge churches that were dedicated to Peter and Paul...is that what they really were intending with spreading the church and Gospel? Coming from the Sea of Galilee to the institutionalized church of the Western world was a stark contrast, filled with questions and challenges.

We ended the trip with 4 days of free travel in Italy, and I went with 5 others to Capri for two days, an island just off the coast from Naples and the Sorrento Peninsula (about 2 hours south of Rome). It was a beautiful island, with vistas of mountains and rocky cliffs off into the clear blue ocean. We hiked around some, and generally enjoyed the time there. We spent the rest of the time on the Peninsula in Sorrento and Amalfi, with gorgeous coastlines of towns built onto the cliff faces. It was a great, mostly relaxing way to end the trip.

This experience has far exceeded my expectations, full of growth in so many areas. It has truly been a life-changing experience, and one that I will continue to unpack over time. I've appreciated all your prayers and support through this journey and for being willing to journey with me in this small way through the blog. I hope to reconnect with you all in the near future, and appreciate your grace and patience as this readjustment process can be difficult at times.

May you feel God's peace even in times that seem to be lacking peace, and may you experience God's love in new ways.

Peace. Salaam. Shalom.

to the end of Israel

Since I wrote last, we spent a week at Kibbutz Affikim in the Galilee. Kibbutz- life was interesting to experience, as we learned about Jewish history in the Galilee, including the history of Kibbutzim in Israel. These Kibbutzim were started as communities that shared everything, based on some of the communistic ideals from Russia. To use an equivalent, the Kibbutzim are similar to Hutterite communities. Today, however, Kibbutzim are not as popular, although they still are used and are economically stable. They often have guest houses, aspects of tourism (such as museums, restaurants, etc), and industry. At Affikim, they had a milk farm, providing tons of milk even internationally. We got to work with the cows some of the days, and even saw a calf being born. It was an interesting experience to live on a Kibbutz for some time as we learned more about Jewish history in the Galilee since about 1900.

After one week at Afikim, we moved to Nazareth on Palm Sunday. We've been staying at the Fauzi Azar Inn, a place with EMU ties. It was started by a Jewish Israeli interested in alternative tourism and bringing all kinds of groups and peoples together. This place has been successful and is connected with the start of the Jesus Trail. We spent several days volunteering at Nazareth Village, a place that models what 1st century life would have looked like. We've used that area as an interactive classroom as we study the Jesus movement in this area. Having this hands-on time of learning has put new meaning to stories, parables, and the Scripture, since we are able to use simple houses, donkeys and sheep, and fields to act out and look at these stories. During our time volunteering, many of us have dressed in 1st century clothes, and one day I milked the goats and mucked out the stall in 1st century clothing and with 1st century tools. That means mucking out a stall in leather sandals. It put new meaning to footwashing.

Spending Holy Week in Nazareth was special as well, as we've reflected on the origin of this peasant, who started a movement in the Galilee that spread quickly all over the world and is still alive today. We spent four days on this newly blazed Jesus Trail, that goes from Nazareth to Capernaum. It was such a great experience to walk these 65 kilometers, seeing this diverse land, staying with different people, and reflecting on how Jesus spent his time in this area. We were trying to take Jesus' words to travel lite and rely on the hospitality of people to heart. It was a refreshing time outdoors to reflect and think after an intense two months in Israel.

We now have two days left in Israel. We are wrapping up with some papers, debriefing, and some lectures to transition into the movement from Jesus' ministry in the Galilee to Paul's expansion to the "reaches of the earth." We will follow that through Greece and Italy for our final two weeks of this cross cultural. I appreciate your continued prayers for focus and safety as we move more and gear up for the transition back home.

Blessings to all,

Benjamin