Tina Huber

Reflections Day 3

January 5, 2012

Each day I have said, “THIS is my favorite” but I have a feeling that today will make the top 10. This was the day we took the New Testament walk. We started today again with class work. I had originally thought that I would come away with more than just an experience of a lifetime with my daughter, I actually thought I would come back with a few credit hours from Jerusalem University College. After a couple of intense days in the class room I’m not so sure! It is all fascinating to me and I feel like I understand it, but I am just not sure I will be able to recall all this information come test time. We’ll see! We headed to a familiar path when we walked to our first stop. It was located right beside the Dormition Abby and was called The Holy Mother of Zion (or Zion, Mother of all Churches). This site is remembered as the first new testament church. It is also remembered as the place of the Last Supper and the Upper Room. If I understood it correctly, there really isn’t any archeological evidence of this but it is more tradition. One thing I’ve observed in this country is they have a way of preserving holy sites. So till someone proves otherwise I am okay with saying that I sat on the roof of where all this occured! I really enjoyed our discussion time at this site. We talked about how the first Christians were Jewish. It is pretty cool to try and picture how the apostles and early Jewish Christians would have incorporated this into their worship as believers in Christ. When we left there I was pretty excited thinking about how this really could have been the place where Christ broke the bread and passed the cup that would represent His redeeming love for us! There is always time to reflect as we walk to the next site. On our way to an archeological park we stopped in front of a huge Menorah or Golden Lampstand. Similar to one that you would find in the tabernacle. This was exciting for me because the bible study I am doing at home had just had a section explaining the concept of the fire was not fueled on its own ability, like a candle, but rather by the olive oil that was in it. The comparison for us as Christians to let God fuel us with His Holy Spirit. Cool moment for me personally. Once we got to the archeological park we discussed how incredibly moving it must have been for a pilgrim to come from a small village and see the temple structure. It surely stirred many emotions and the architecture was built to do just that. We imagined what the arches and entries would have been like as you walk up Temple. We saw part of the western wall. This is a fairly new discovery and is dated to first century. We were told that the road was probably repaved after the time of Jesus but before the time of the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. You could see the old pools for cleansing, where the grandiose archway would have been, and the road itself. Half of the road was covered in a huge rubble of giant stones from the destruction of the Romans. It is amazes me all the emotions I can feel at one site. Astonishment over the architecture, grief over the destruction, and excitement to explore it all. So, if that wasn’t enough we made our way over to the steps in front of the temple wall. Steps that Jesus most definitely sat on and offered His teaching. Steps that I got to sit on too. You could see how the geography of the land and activity in the Temple area makes its way into His teachings. The white washed tombs line the hillside of Mount of Olives. After our hike yesterday from the City of David, where the living water source was located, and the thought of someone having to haul that water up the hill to the temple, I have a new perspective when He talks of “heavy burdens” and “thirst no more.” I had several teary moments but I had a very emotional ending to my day. We went to the muslim quarter tonight. We entered a church call St. Ann. It is simplistic and glorious. The acoustics that were built in the design of this church were phenominal. Olivia led us in All Creators of Our God and King. It was angelic. The songs sound like you singing with the angels around the throne or at least that is what I imagined it would sound like. I absolutely loved it and took some time to worship my God that I love so much.

Hezekiah's Tunnel

Tina Huber

Reflection Day 2

January 4,2012

I have so many thoughts as I take in all the scenery and history to the places we are going, that I have trouble remembering it all when I get back at the end of the day. Maybe it is partly fatigue or maybe my age. The only way I can really reflect is to trace my steps and give a play by play of where we went and what it means to me. We started our day with class room time. It was 4 hours of some intense cramming of geology, history, and archeology. I don’t know if you know this, but I did so well in high school history I was asked to come back a second year. I find it much more fascinating now then I did then. Our afternoon started off as we headed towards the Tyropeon Valley to the City of David. This is quite a hike. Going there it was easy to keep up with the pace because it is all down hill. You tend to forget as you are trotting along that on your way back it will be the opposite! The area we went to is under an immense amount of excavation. This is a densely populated residential area so many archeological items can’t be reached because they are in someone’s basement! As we arrived to The City of David we viewed the excavation of an area that is dated to the 10th century. This is an important find because it fits the time line of David and some believe it to be the royal fortress. We also viewed two homes dated 6th century that are on the side of the hill that had been excavated. From what was found they can determine that this was a wealthy area and civilized. We even saw a toilet carved out of stone! One of the homes called the ‘burnt room’ had burn marks that were 2-3 ft deep in the stairs and I believe this destruction is dated to the Babylonian exile. I found myself envisioning this. Sitting in this area you can hear everything from the hills. We could hear traffic, prayers from mosques, kids playing, and construction sounds. There was a bible verse read from Zephaniah that made me ponder the terror they must have felt before the siege. They could hear the screams from those in the hillside after the first wall was invaded. I couldn’t help but think of the panic and fear they must have felt. Some of the artifacts found was a pile of arrows, so these families obviously knew of the threat against them and were trying to prepare for a last stand. I really wish there was more time to take it all in. We are given so much information in a short amount of time and have a very hurried schedule. I was disappointed that we were moving so fast through stuff. We then went to Hezekiah’s tunnel. What an amazing site! I was filled with so many questions. How in the heck were the able, in the 6th century, to start digging at two opposite sides of the city and meet up in the middle? How long must that have taken?

Hezekiah must have been preparing for Assyria’s invasion or their own revolt for years. We all know how long government road construction projects take. This has been my favorite trip so far. I liked it because the long hike through the tunnel gave me time to reflect on these questions and more. I started thinking about my disappointment of hurrying through or past all the other sites and how this was going to have an impact on my experience. I then felt differently when we came out of the tunnel at sat at the stairs of the Siloam Pool. Aubrey, our professor, shared that this pool is mentioned in the old and new testaments. She read passages from Luke 13 and John 9 where Jesus preformed a miracle on a man who had been blind from birth. We discussed how these were messianic miracles and the Pharisees would have recognized these as such. This is when it hit me. My experience will be completed not at the end of this trip when I have finished visiting all the biblical sites that I can. My experience will be completed when I go home and am reading God’s word. Imagery will pop into my head. I’ll grasp the culture, the land, and the history of this area and how that formed the perspective of the writers. Psalm 121 was read today. I’ve never tried to picture the writer standing in the streets of this city where you are surrounded by hill after hill after hill and then turning to the hill with the Temple on it. Where does my help come from it comes from the LORD. This was the perfect time to get over the hurriedness because we left there and hiked up a severe incline back to the Jewish quarter to view the Broad Wall before nightfall. This wall changed how the bible was viewed by archeologists. It has a first temple dating! This wall was built by Hezekiah in preparation of being attacked by the king of Assyria. It was a miracle that they didn’t fall to Assyria when the rest of the region did. Hezekiah’s preparation of the water tunnel and this wall protected his people. I finished the day by walking back to the dorm with Olivia talking about everything we had seen and heard. And that was the perfect end to a busy day!

2 planes, 1 bus, and 62 stairs...

As you can tell from the title my travels to get my dorm room were not too bad. We spent about 28 hours of total travel time before I was able to drop my suitcases off in our roof top room and head down to dinner. We arrived around 6:30 p.m. Isaraeli time. We spent the evening unpacking and preparing for our busy week ahead. Our room is amazing! We have a roof top view of the city. The David Hotel is located just west of our campus. It is a beautiful skyline to look at everyday. The down side to this room are the stairs! Anytime I have to go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, shower, go eat, or go outside I have anywhere from 40 to 60 stairs (one way) to go up and down. I am learning to organize my trips better. I just keep reminding myself of the buns of steel I will surely possess after this trip is done.

Day one was yesterday. We spent the morning in the Old Jerusalem area. I am attaching the summary I had to make for class that describes our day...

Today’s walk through Old Jerusalem has left my feet throbbing, my legs achy, my head spinning, and my faith strengthened. We started our day heading north. Our first stop was along a 16th century wall that used to wall in the city of Jerusalem. In front of the wall we sat in a gateway dated to Herod the Great. We changed directions and went to the Dormition Abby, a church tucked into narrow roads that is named for “the sleeping” place of the Virgin Mary. We then came to the Zion Gate. It was very narrow and covered with bullet holes from Jordanian assault in the 1940’s. We wove our way through these narrow ways passing shops along the way till we entered the Jewish Quarter. Here we saw the Hurva Synagogue located in a spacious courtyard. Hurva means ruins. It was named this for the previous synagogue was destroyed by the Jordanians who conquered that area in 1948. This area was very contrasting to every other place we visited because it was so spacious and it was a rather new structure. After we worked our way through narrow walkways we were led to an out look point that faced the east. We could see the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, Mount of Olives, and the Church of the Ascension. This was just an amazing view! So much history in one little area. We left this view and went to an area called Jerusalem Cardo. Here we discussed the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The Romans came in incorporating a grid system to the architecture. We sat in the Cardo ruins which in 1st century times would be the equivalent to our main streets. This market area and roadway went through the heart of the city. It was very difficult to hear what the instructor was saying because of the traffic, but there was a huge mural on the wall that gave a great visual to what it would have looked like. Old pillars remain, along with an occasional stone in the roadway. From the Cardo we went to the roof tops. The roof tops were interesting to me because they apparently are also used as walk ways. We saw many people passing along this path as we sat. We discussed how our geographical environment can shape our perspectives and how the Jews, who would watch all the passing through of travelers through the Cardo, perspective must have been. I was shocked to see how many animals were also on the roof top just wandering around. Even if you own the apartment or home the roof tops are for public access. This has given a mind set to many in the middle east that all they take care of is within their 4 walls. This is evident by the litter and clutter we saw. This isn’t a modern problem. In fact, the valley of Hinnom was at one time much steeper than it is today. But centuries of waste being thrown over the walls of the city has built up the ground. We left the roof top and went to The Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This place has strong archeological evidence that this is Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified. When you walk through the doors the first thing that catches your eye is slab of rock that is the rock that Jesus was laid on after his death to prepare his body for burial. The church also has part of the rock of Golgotha exposed at an altar. You can kneel down and touch it. There is so much to see and reflect on in this church it was

overwhelming to try and take it all in. I was fascinated at the domed area that has the face of Christ looking over all of creation with the first bishops encircling Him. Mary is the first bishop in the circle. The colors of how Christ and Mary are dressed was very moving. They were both depicted in blue for humanity and red for divinity. Mary is dressed in blue and draped in red. Jesus is dressed in red and draped in blue. I decided I must come back to this site on a free day and spend some time meditating on these areas. I think knowing history behind them and the evidence to support them will make this time of meditation more meaningful. Our last stop was to exchange some of our money. We stopped at a local shop and I got my first view of Israeli currency. This was just from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. We had a short lunch break and headed to the classroom in the afternoon till 5:30! So, I am overwhelmed with information and exhausted. I’m loving every minute of it!

So you can see our day is packed full. I looked at our schedule and it has 2 free days in the 24 days we are here! We are trying to pack 2,000 yrs of history in 3 weeks time. My next tour will include Hezekiah's tunnel! Last night as we walked around checking out the more modern sites, I realized that the Israeli's must have started the phrase..."When I walked to school it was uphill, both ways" I've never seen terrain quite like this! It seems like we are always walking up hill!

Preparing for Israel.

The first time I really thought about going to Israel was when I watched the Ray Vander Laan video series at Chatham Christian Church. The video series takes you through biblical sites throughout Israel. The way he explained the cultural and historical significance to biblical stories and people brought me a deeper understanding of God's word. I found it fascinating and knew that if I was ever able to go to the Holy Land that I would want to see it this way. Last year my daughter, Olivia, said to me, " I want to do the study abroad program at Greenville College and go to Israel." All I could think is don't panic! Just agree and maybe it will just be a passing thought on her part. Well, it wasn't. She searched out information and approached us again. My husband and I felt like this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for her and agreed that she should go. A couple of months later we got to meet her professor who was organizing the trip. Looking back I feel a little embarrassed now because I think I said something like this..."hi, yes nice to meet you, so how safe is this trip? What will you do if there is an uprising in the area? I'm a little concerned with all the violence in the middle east right now!" Hey, I'm a mom! That's what we do, right? The poor guy! He was super nice and put to ease most of my concerns. (for the moment anyway) I then confessed to him that I was more happy than concerned because I know this will be a trip of a lifetime and it was something that I have wanted to do for a long time. He looked at me and smiled and said, " We love to have adults come on the trip too!". Olivia quickly turned to me with the biggest grin and said, "Oh my goodness that would be amazing! You should come with us!". I kind of laughed it off and we left. I couldn't stop thinking about it! I kept hearing Olivia say, "You should come." A couple weeks later I finally just blurted out to Mark, "Would you be totally against me going to Israel with Olivia?" Pause button. You have to know a couple of things. 1. We have two kids in college 2. My husband is very financially conservative or as I like to call him "squeaky." I knew what he was going to say... "We can't afford that" or "that is too expensive" or "I would love to not work for a month and go off on an adventure too but" ....he didn't say any of that! He stopped brushing his teeth for a moment and said, "We could probably make it work." To me this was God at work here. My husband is a super generous man but even if he did think I should go, there is always a thought process going on. All the what if's have to be addressed and then the discussions of cutting back here and there, but we had none of that. It was a 5 minute conversation that left me in tears of excitement and joy. I was so excited I called Olivia to make sure she wasn't just being polite to me in front of her professor. We talked about it and she was still super excited about us doing this together. Olivia really did everything! She emailed the professor and sent me all information and paperwork. The deadline was coming quick and she made sure I had everything I needed. It really was a whirlwind and within a week, I was going to Israel with Olivia!!! There was much preparation to do to make the deadline and there has been plenty of classwork preparation for this trip too. Olivia and I have been doing homework by mapping significant history on maps of Israel and I have traveled every other Wednesday to Greenville to attend a class. I have even started the preparations for packing for our trip. Olivia and I are not the only ones making preparations. God is also making preparations! I feel like He started preparing my heart for this trip 10 years ago with that video series at church. It seems like all my bible studies I am involved in this year have also been preparing me. Has that ever happened to you? I have had a theme throughout my studies this year of God's amazing provision and love. I cannot wait to experience God in a whole new way. God prepare me!