Saturday April 16, 2016
Today is our 3rd full day of touring and so
blessed by it all and we left our great hotel in Tiberias/Sea of Galilee and
started the trek south towards Jerusalem
where we will be staying until we leave on Thursday. It has thus far been an amazing trip and have
been told by many of those who have come on these tours, that the best is yet
to come…I can’t even imagine what God still yet has in store for me, for all of
us on this trip. Our group is amazing..so
much ohana (family) and love and we are experiencing things together for the
first time in many different places.
As we left Tiberias on our 85 mile trip south (approximately
1.5 hours), we traveled alongside the Jordan River that extends all the way
south down into the Dead Sea . Hill-El told us that we will begin to notice
the dramatic change in landscape now as we head into desert/wilderness
country. As we headed down, we would be
able to see the Golan Heights and Mount
Gilad to the east of us and also Mount Balboa Jordan the country
had begun to farm massive amount of land on their side of the border (the
Jordan River is the border for Israel
and Jordan )
and we saw so many greenhouses, brand new built greenhouses. Hill-El said it was amazing the amount of
crops and type of crops and technological advances that were being developed to
cause this new industry in Jordan .
For miles we saw this to the east of our bus drive down. However, on Israel side of the border
according to Hill-El, Israel had not been forward thinking as Jordan and had
created some farming by the people living closer to Jerusalem, but mainly they
focused on Date Palm Trees which produced dates and we saw a few of these farms
as we got to Jerusalem. The significance of farming in this area has to do with
water. The only water source for both sides is the Jordan River and
eventually the Dead Sea . However, the Dead Sea
is so salty that new technology has been created to de-salt it to make it
usable but it is very difficult. The
Jordan River is accessible but on the Israel
side, it is below major hillside cliffs, to the point that we could not see it till we got to the Qumran area which would be our first stop of the
day. Jordan on the other hand has easier
access to the river and thus has taken advantage of the access and their farm
production is booming.
Hill-El mentioned 3
significant things about this wilderness/desert area:
1) The
3 major religions of the world came out of dessert civilizations –
Christianity, Judaism and Muslim
2) The
Jordan River like most things having to do with
water, represents transformation…crossing from one side to the other, water and
its life giving abilities causes change, choosing to live on one side or the
other…and many other representations.
3) People
traveled a lot through this area by feet, many including Mary the mother of
Jesus walked this place at least 2 times, once to visit her cousin Elizabeth
who gave birth to John as she traveled from Nazareth down to Jerusalem and the
trek she took with Joseph and baby Jesus in her belly down to Bethlehem to give
birth. This wilderness area was a major
player in the history of our faith.
So today, our schedule was revised as we would only be
heading to 3 locations, 2 of which would be in Bethlehem .
Our first stop was to the area of Qumran Caves Scrolls. Qumran is
located off the shore of the Dead See (northern part) and this is where in
1946, by accident by a shepherd boy, the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. These scrolls were hand written parchment
paper that contained 3 types of scrolls found:
Apocryphal (writings that were
done back in the olden days of the Old Testament bible but not made part of the
bible), Biblical writings (the entire Old Testament with the exception of the
book of Esther were found here) and Community discipline information (law) for
the people living in this area. These
scrolls were not the original writings of the Bible, but they were exact
transcribed word for word copies of the Old Testament writings. The people who lived here had done these copied
writings. There was so much scientific confirmation and historical confirmation
of these things and to think that it was found by accident by a shepherd boy
trying to get his sheep back into the fold.
We were able to see 4 of the caves in plain sight and cave 4 is where
most if not all of the Biblical scrolls were found. When we first got there, the mountain range
looked almost to fake…like a set of a movie created in Hollywood .
I compared it to looking at the Koo’lau Mountains on the Waimanalo side
when you look up and see the mountains they look almost to real that it could
be fake. This mountain range, seems to
be 400-500 ft high, when we were there, we saw a few people climbing up or down
from some of the accessible caves. The
only cave not accessible is cave 4 which is located actually below the viewing
area. The mountains and hills and valley
are very defining. You can see how
rugged the terrain must have been to live and travel back in those days. The Dead Sea
was so visible and so big. We will be
visiting the Dead Sea and jumping into it on
Tuesday. So amazing to see the places of
the bible with my own eyes. We also got
see Mount Moab
across from Qumran .
From here we headed west to enter Jerusalem for the first time. We traveled up many hills and turns and came
through this long tunnel similar to the H3 tunnels and popped up into this city
built on a mountain. All limestone
buildings, all looking the same and just amazed how beautiful it is, Modern Day
Jerusalem. On the bus, they played an old school hymn that was very powerful
with anticipation and praise to Hosanna and Jerusalem as we headed into the walls of the
city. We would be heading into Bethlehem today to see
the Shepherds Field and the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus was born. However, prior to entering Bethlehem , we had to drop our guide Hill-El
off. As a Israeli citizen, he is
actually duel citizenship American and Israel ,
but because he is Israeli, he is not allowed to enter Palestine
controlled Bethlehem .
There are so much different rules, regulations, customs, and cultures to
navigate in such a small country and city due to the century long wars and
battles for land. Anyway, we dropped off
Hill-El on the side of the road as he lives in Jerusalem
and lives in the area and we continued on with Hatem (as he is allowed to enter
Bethlehem as he
is an Israeli Arab) and would be picking up a temporary guide for the rest of
the day.
Now, to say that I was a bit shocked as we entered Bethlehem through a check point guarded gate from Jerusalem is an
understatement. Jerusalem
looked so beautiful, so pristine, so normal…but as soon as we drove through the
gated wall area of Bethlehem ,
I felt like we entered a 3rd world country. It was a dramatic change in socio-economical
environment. We first had to stop at
this place called the Nissan Brothers (yes like the Japan auto maker Nissan)
business. We were met by a gentlemen who
was a seasoned and slick salesman. He
said he was a Christian Arab living in Bethlehem
and as we all know that is not an easy thing to do, with 60% of Bethlehem being
Muslim. He shared what would happen over
the next hour or so. He told us that we
would go into the store and shop for all authentic Christian stuff made in Bethlehem and then we
would have lunch after and then go do our tour.
In the store, he gathered us in an area, as there were other tour groups
in there at the same time and I felt like we were on Palestine QVC…lol. He said that our shopping contributed to the
economic well being of the Christians living in Palestine .
Ok then. So we spent the next 45
minutes looking around and being semi pressured to buy something. We were handed out a 15% discount card on all
things bought, but the discount was irrelevant as the prices were probably
marked up..the price tags on the items were at full cost and in dollars, but
each sales person already knew the discounted cost..so it really wasn’t a
discount in my eyes. After shopping for
a bit..Brandi and I was the 2nd couple to finish first..I went to
pay for my items and I had a pretty good idea of what my cost would be and the
initial amount told form the salesperson was about $70 more than what I knew it
to be..so politiely I asked him to recheck his math and lo and behold, I was
correct. Up to this point, this was my least
favorite part of the trip, even the 11 hour plane ride felt better than what I
was feeling now..the commercialization of my faith, of what occurred 2000+
years ago right in this city.
So when done, we headed back out to the bus..and this is
where the pressure to buy really starts…not even 10 feet out of the store, you
are bombarded with deals to be made with bags, shoals, stickers, David’s flute,
etc…NO does not mean NO here. So you
have to put your head down and get thru the gauntlet of 3-5 vendors to get to
the bus and be nice about it. Wow. With that being done, we drove a whole 2
minutes to our lunch site..we drove cause the restaurant is located about 300
feet up a road that they do not want people walking on due to traffic. Lunch was great. The type of food here just seems to be so
fresh and seasoned so well. There was
also a birthday being celebrated by a man in another tour group and the
restaurant had made cake for him..pretty cool that they would do that for
tourist and unlike in Amercia where you sing happy birthday once and blow the
candle, the happy birthday song played for about 10 minutes after the original
signing of it…it was pretty funny trying to figure out when they would stop the
track. Our tour guide and David came up
with a great plan and idea..the church where we would be going to see the
Shepherds field and Church
of Nativity Bethlehem like Jerusalem
is very hilly.
Se we left the Nissan Brothers shopping center and
restaurant and headed to the church that overlooked the Shepherds field
area. Our guide Naser showed us and
explained to us what we would see at the Church of Nativity Bethlehem . So much of the
Bible originates from this area. We got
to spend a devotion time with Ann leading us in a bible study of the birth of
Jesus from Matthew 2 and Pastor David shared out of Luke 2. of the significance
of this area. Nasar shared that in
Bethlehem, places of significance like this place and the Birthplace of Jesus
now have churches built on them, not only here in Bethlehem but all over
Israel. In this case and in the Church of Nativity
We got back on the bus, but prior to that, being asked again
to buy street vendor items. No still
means no in my book, but was not working to well for me. Lol.
We were now heading up to the church of Nativity
Now the Church
of Nativity Bethlehem for the census and where Jesus was
bon. Today, it is the home to a huge structure
on the top of a hill. Across from the
church is the original Muslim Mosque built and in between the two is the Palestine Peace Center Inn was filled
which was downstairs and not wait in line.
There apparently was a 1 hour wait to get to this area…but because we
were a small group and he knew someone or something, we were able to enter through
the exit and go against the flow of the crowd..typical rebellious Americans and
2 Hawaiians..lol. We were able to zip in
and zip out downstairs to see the condition of the manger and what it looked
like..pretty cool, but too crowded to spend time really experiencing and seeing
the area of significance. It was still
cool to be at and see for my own eyes, HIS-story in the flesh. It was now about 3:30 and another long day
and it was time to leave and go back to our big bus with Hatem waiting for us
so we could go back to Jerusalem (about 15 minute drive) to get Hill-El and
check into our hotel. Once again being
approached with a street vendor, my no was getting more soft, but yet still
firm..lol.
When we got back to the Nissan Brothers, Hatam was waiting
for us. We thanked our host Nasar and
the shuttle driver and began to board our bus, al1 14 of us…but having to go through
the gauntlet of 4 vendors. I waited for
the last person to get on the bus and was checking my emails and texts as the
internet was a bit slow up the hill. I
was asked at least 10-15 times in a 5 min span to buy something and said
no. prior to jumping into the bus, this
young boy bumped into me..and we are not in a crowded space…but I didn’t think
anything of it. I jumped on the bus and
asked if anyone wanted a bottle water, gave one to my newfound good friend Tall
Tom and went back to get 1 for me as Hatem began to navigate us back through
the traffic. As I got my water and went
to sit down, I realized my phone was not in my pocket, my right pocket…I began
to look for it in my backpack and on the chair and on the bus..I also made sure
I still had my passport and funds on me as they were secured in my back
pockets, all locked up..and then I realized the “bump”…I told David what had
occurred and told Hatem…through all the commotion of me trying to find my phone
and Hatem telling me that I must have forgotten it on the shuttle, we pulled on
the side of the street, as there was no way we could turn around and go back
due to the traffic. Hatem reached out to the guide and thanks be to God, long
story short, my phone was found…someone was driving it to us as we waited on
the side of the road. Hatem was told it
was found on the shuttle and I accepted that statement to remain sure I did not
lose my joy..but I know what happened…wow..what an experience for the day.
So here’s my take away from today…the seeing of the history
of the bible played out today in Bethlehem for me pales in comparison to how
uncomfortable I felt for the most part of the day. It was a very different environment once we
passed through the check point walls…there are many different cultures at odds
with each other here in Bethlehem, many issues, conflicts, differences….but the
one common thing they do have in common is dealing with visiting tourists…now I
don’t think we are marked targets, but we are foreigners in a place with turmoil. As I shared with the group later at dinner, I
always made sure I was the last person walking, entering into anything, making
sure that our group was intact and all were safe. I had my eyes and ears open to all that was
going on, because I actually did not feel safe in this area and I probably was
over sensitive to the environment, but I wanted to make sure that we would all
be together for anything. Cultural
diversity is a big thing in Hawaii ..we
live in a very diverse environment in Hawaii
and in America ..just
like Bethlehem ..however
the biggest difference for the most part is that we as an American culture have
not been trying to kill or get rid of the other races in mass attempts for
centuries upon centuries..I mean racism and violence exists in Hawaii and in the
continental states..but we have only been around for 200+ years..not 1000’s of
years of battle, chaos, suppression, depression, land issues, wars…people in
this area have been though a lot and as a world we tell them to get along…to be
at peace..yet we cannot even be at peace within our churches, within our
cities, our states and our country and our history of racism and hurts and
offenses have only been around like I said for 200 years…this area, this
county, this region, this continent has been at odds since time started….I can
only imagine in my small mind the injustices that have occurred throughout this
time…I cannot relate to nor fully understand their plight based on my
experiences..so when I think of the boy, who may have or may have not taken my
phone…I cannot be angry at him, I need to look at him with compassion and see
the environment that he is stuck in, that he has to live in when I leave
here…it’s a phone, easily replaceable, but this young boy will be rooted in
this environment till he dies..I will not be the last rude tourist or marked
target, in his time…but I can be the one that sees him through the eyes of God,
with compassion and mercy..for me today, I saw that God wanted me to look at
all people with His eyes and His heart and His compassion..like Jesus did. People need to know that they are not who
people say they are, our generational curses do not need to dictate who we are
in the eyes of God.
Lord, help me to see people through Your eyes. Help me to have compassion on those You have
placed in my life, for however amount of time.
Help me to value and love all, like you do, regardless of their actions
or non-actions. You have created all people,
Muslims, Jews, Arabs, black, white, Asian, smart, stupid, depressed and suppressed..You
want all of Your creation to be in love with You and with each other. Thank You Lord for today and for the first
hand revelation…and thank You for getting my phone back, which is insignificant
in the scope of things..but yet, still important for me. Your compassion is so overwhelming. Lord, I pray for Your continued hedge of
protection over our group for the rest of the trip. I pray for all of the visitors to this
country. Lord, I also pray in the mighty name of Jesus that all call You Lord
and Savior. Love you Lord and thank
You. Amen.
Well it’s 6:15am Sunday morning and today we got a full day
in front of us and am totally excited to see what the Lord has in store
today.
Today, I believe we will be visiting Jericho
and the Ein Gedi that we did not today yesterday and also go to the Mount of
Olives, Garden of Gethsemane , Mount Zion
Thank you all for the support, love and prayers. To God be the glory!! Love you all!!
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