Menno Haven Musing: Climbing Wall Faith (Part 1)

(Matt 18:1-10)

Recently we had a large family group here at Menno Haven. They gathered from near and far to spend a day at Menno Haven, playing games and enjoying Christmas together. One of the activities they did was the climbing wall. This was my first time facilitating at the climbing wall, although I've worked before helping kids get their harnesses on and managing the lines and such.

Most of the kids that were climbing that day had never done a climbing wall before. Before Kenny (the Guest Group Coordinator at Menno Haven) and I even had the ropes up, all the 7-10 year old boys were "discussing" who would go first and what walls they wanted to start on.

Soon we had everything ready and they all sat attentively while I showed how to put a harness on. And then off they raced to get in line!

Younger first time climbers have an interesting way of climbing. They get all excited, start to climb, decide they've gone far enough, and then are ready to come down. Some are barely up for a minute before they are back on the ground! It's not that they are scared, or that they've given up necessarily, they just made it as far as they want to go and decide to come down. For the first few climbers there really wasn't a concept of "getting to the top." They just wanted to climb! No end goal, just the thrill of climbing something.

I think this is a helpful reminder for us older folk. Most of the time we do things to reach a goal. We start a project to finish it. We vacation with a destination. We eat to clean our plate. We go on a walk to lose weight. We go to work to make money.

And this spills over into our spiritual life as well. We go to church to learn from a preacher. We pray to be closer to God. We sing and worship to experience God. We read the Bible to "get all the answers."

Now, I'm not saying goals are a bad thing! Goals keep us moving forward in life. Destination keeps us focused and on track. But sometimes we get caught up in where we are going and forget to enjoy the climb to get there. Achy muscles, slippery hands, and all! This can be dangerous when we apply a goal or a "destination" to our walk with God. If we expect that if we pray X number of times, or read X amount of the Bible daily, or just listen to the right preacher then God will, (Fill in the Blank) (like me, feel closer, tell me what to do, fix my problems, answer my prayers, etc) then we are missing the point.

Do you visit a friend's house with the goal of getting closer to them? Rarely. Usually we visit our friends because we want to spend time with them. So why should it be different with our relationship with God? But we do know that the more we spend time with our friends in our various difficulties, victories, and everyday monotony the closer we become to that friend, and the better we know each other. That is why reading the Bible, praying, walking in nature, journaling, and other spiritual practices should be done regularly. (Not all obviously. Practicing 2-3 is a good idea though.) These help us to spend time with God, without agenda or a goal other than to just be with our loving Creator.

(Side note, this is also why it is healthy for spouses to check in with each other regularly. Telling about your day, even if it is ordinary and uneventful, will help you stay connected, helping you to grow closer together over time.)  

Goals are not a bad thing, but they can distract us from enjoying the present, and though God will be with us in our futures, we can only be with God in the present. It is like a child climbing. Whether it is a rock wall, the kitchen counter, a tree, a dirt pile, or a stack of hay children love to climb for climbing's sake. Let's practice being more childlike, and enjoy spending time with God in prayer, or silence, or joyous worship event without expecting to get anything out of it other than just the fun of climbing. 

Menno Haven Musing: The Community Around Us

These last couple of weeks I have become increasingly aware of the community that surrounds us here at Menno Haven.

A couple of weeks ago the staff here at Menno Haven took a little trip.

We drove up to Amigo Center for a brief retreat, spending time getting to know each other better, and talk over some things that take more time than our weekly staff meetings allow for.  (It was a great chance to get away!)

While we were there we interacted some with the staff at Amigo. We traded stories and ideas, and in general enjoyed fellowship time together. Later, on the way home, we stopped at Camp Friedenswald and spent time with the staff there, touring the camp and sharing a meal with them. At both Amigo and Friedenswald we connected to the spread out community of Mennonite camps. Here we could share our struggles and visions with each other and connect over shared hardship, joy, and identity.


This past weekend we had our annual Association Gathering. People from around the area who enjoyed Menno Haven came together for a day or evening of volunteering and a short worship and business meeting. We again connected to people who shared our passions. We spent time with friends, and met new people.

This coming week a few of us at Menno Haven will travel to Phoenix, Az to attend the Christian Camp and Conference Association national gathering. Again we will be with other camps who share our desire to minister to others through nature, camp, and retreats.


Community is an important part of who we are. In community we find our place. We find comfort when times are hard, and challenge when we need to be pushed. In the Anabaptist tradition, community is highly valued. We believe that the Spirit of the Living God resides with us in the gathered community. 1 Cor 3 talks about this.
Verse 16: "Don't you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?" Here the "you" is plural in Greek. "Don't you all know that God's Spirit dwells in you all's midst?"

In community we experience God. We experience the Jesus in each other as we become vulnerable and still find acceptance. We experience the Spirit when we raise our voices in song praising God! We embody the body of Christ when we gather together to care others.

At Menno Haven it is comforting to know that we have such a large and diverse community: the fellow Mennonite camps around the country, our Association members who sacrifice their time and money to further our (and their!) ministry, our campers who come in the summers, our summer staff, other Christian camps. There are many people and organizations we at Menno Haven can be in community with.

What communities are you a part of? Where do you feel the presence of God when you gather with others? Are you searching for community?

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Heb 10: 24-25 

May you find the community you need. And may the Spirit and presence of God be there.

Menno Haven Musing: How did I get here?

Only one year ago I was nearing the end of my college cross country career, preparing for a semester of study in the Middle East, and working on applications for a year of service following graduation.

My list of options for post graduation at the time:
-A year or so of service
-Finding a church to work at
-Staying home and working on the farm through spring of 2016
-Maaayyybe seminary

That was as far as I thought I could see into the future, but I was wrong...

Somehow I ended up here, working as Program Director at camp Menno Haven in Illinois...
It's an interesting story, full of inner struggles, feelings of loneliness, unending unanswerable questions, and casual conversations that somehow stumbled into reality.
(Never underestimate the power of speaking (dabar). Once something is spoken, it takes on life and power. Thoughts can fade, but words live on in the memory of others, shaping their thoughts and actions. The right words, at the right time, and the right amount, can do anything.)

But you can ask me about those things later!

I've only just begun this new journey as PD, but I'm already loving it!

As Program Director one of my responsibilities is to host some of the guest groups that use our camp facilities. This past weekend we had a Hispanic women's group here. They filled our space with lively worship in Spanish, and charismatic prayers. What a joy to see and experience the great diversity of the body of Christ!

At the same time, we were hosting a Youth Leaders retreat, which I jumped into and out of as able. It was so life giving to spend time worshiping and fellowshiping with these leaders who are out there in the churches working hard to raise up the future (and current!) church. It felt so good just to laugh with people, sing with people, and dive deeper into the theme for the weekend (presence). Though desiring sleep, I have been encouraged and renewed this weekend.  

Then on Sunday I traveled to a church to preach in place of one of the pastors still at the retreat. After the service I had the privilege of being invited to a chili meal at the Native American church just down the street! Through connecting with people in those communities I began to realize what I represent to people now. I am the face of Menno Haven wherever I go. I carry with me the memories and dreams of many hundreds of people who have been shaped by Menno Haven. The way I act and present myself becomes a reflection of camp. (I think part of what this means is no more dumpster diving. :(  At least not where people can connect me to MH.) There is an amazing responsibility in knowing that you carry something with you into the world.

I wonder what would happen if more Christians would realize what they carry? When you claim Christ as your guide and savior, you become a representative of the body of Christ in the world. When people see you they don't see just you, but also the gathered body you are a part of. Just as when people see me they begin to make assumptions about Menno Haven based on how I act and relate to people, so too do people make assumptions about who God is or what your church is like based on how you act and relate to people, (and how you talk about other people!).


To cap off this wonderful start to the job, this evening I went on a little hike in the dark to rescue a canoe that wandered across the lake. Once getting out of the scary woods, paddling across the lake gave me a chance to take in the beautiful night out on the still waters. Even in the dark, God's glory still shone all around the lake. I will definitely be doing some night boating when it warms up next spring!

Stay tuned for more Menno Haven Musings!  

Home safe

Hi friends and family! 

First, a big thanks to all of you who supported Jordan and I as we biked across the a fraction of the country! Your support and hospitality was truly a blessing.

I parted with Jordan in Bluffton, OH and traveled on to Illinois by myself, safely arriving in Sterling, IL on Friday, May 15th early afternoon in time to watch the local high school conference track meet. For reference, I was hoping to get home by the 21st at the latest, and 17th by the earliest, so I was weeell ahead of schedule :) Total trip was about 933 miles from Harrisonburg, Va to Sterling, IL.

There are many stories that come from the trip, but one that I think is my favorite shows the power of prayer and God's protective hand.    

I was biking from Stryker, Ohio to Merry Lea Center in Indiana to meet up with friends. As I left, a slightly concerned Karen Graber told me that I could wait out the rain another day, she would love to have me stay another day. But like Paul going to Jerusalem I knew that I must go forward. 

As I biked away a large dark cloud began to form in front of me; never a good sign in the midwest. I was willing and prepared to get wet, but I knew that Karen and my mom were watching the radar knowing that I was biking into some chaotic weather.

As the miles wore by I soon saw a white cloud shaped like a spear. It moved like clouds do, in that slow and persistent way. It seemed to slice the big black storm right in two and I watched as two dark storms passed to the north and south of me. I stayed dry. 

It happened again and again. All day I saw storms and fierce clouds to the right and the left, but the worst always went around me. 

But I did get wet. For about 10 miles I suffered a steady warm rain that got me wet, but did not frighten me or turn the day sour. A nice coffee store owner even invited me in for a free cup of coffee and a chance to dry off. When I had warmed up and was ready to leave he told me that there was a tornado watch in the county. But onward I pressed. 

Except for that one little part of the day, I remained dry, watching storms pass all around me as I worked my way through Indiana. 

Maybe it was luck or fate, but I choose to believe that someone must have been praying for me; maybe my mom, or Karen, or some other person that I met in my travels. God watches out for us. We may still get wet, but it could have been lightning and twisters instead. 

So, moral of the story, pray for the people you encounter in life, either passing by in other cars, or on bikes, or in the store, or those who are in your home. Maybe they are riding into a storm. Maybe your prayers can bring a blessing when all they expect is rain. 

God is at work all the time. All we need to do is take notice and participate :)

Jacob  

Fleeting Moments

If I remember correctly, my last update was about the Jesus Trail and Nazareth... since then I've been to 3 different countries in about 3 weeks. I can't believe how quickly it's gone!

In Turkey we started in Antalya and worked our way along the coast to Ephesis. Our travel was mostly by bus but we did do a full day of hiking along the famous Lycian Road. Our education consisted of learning about the context of Paul's ministry, visiting many of the ports mentioned in Acts, and exploring the social context of ships and port cities and how they likely impacted Paul's theology and vision for the church. While we were in Turkey we talked to a Lutheran church planter (Turkey is an Islamic country). He said in all the years he had been in Turkey he never knew any happy old people. They were all bitter and stern. And then he met some elderly Christians. They were some of the most joy filled people he knew. When you get to a certain point in life you start to think about what happens after you die. He said that the old Muslims knew that they had not always prayed five times a day and lived a perfect life, they might not make it into Paradise. But the Christains knew that they where forgiven for all their short comings and by the grace of Christ they were saved. Since the 1980s when the first missionaries went to Antalya the church has grown from 10 people meeting to hundreds with plans to build new cultural centers. God is doing some amazing things in Turkey!

Greece had a similar emphasis on Paul, but being based in Athens allowed us to focus on why Jesus and the Gospel was so popular to the Gentiles who worshiped the many Greek and Roman gods. The gods offer great rewards for this life: beauty, wealth, wisdom, entertainment, abundance in life! (Similar things are offered to us today... just watch any commercial or read an ad... we just stopped calling them gods.) Jesus offers life in abundance (with almost guaranteed suffering) and eternal life.
One of the highlights in Greece was participating in the Greek Orthodox Easter midnight mass. Candles and fireworks and roasted lamb!

After stopping in Corinth we boarded a ferry for a 14 hour ride to Italy and then a 5 hour bus ride to Rome. We spent a few days doing independent exploration of the countless churches and historical cites around the city. Our learning officially ended by talking about how Paul, having met the True Lord on the road to Damascus finally got to meet the lord of the kingdom of earth and compare the two. The emperor of the known world vs the King of Creation. We also touched on the eventual merge of church and empire and the dynamics of that history. And we got to see the pope! From about 20 feet away, maybe 15.

And so we end our trip. Our group split off for our last few days of free travel before we return to the States, and I find myself traveling alone in the town of Assisi. (Home of St. Frances) It is my own little pilgrimage, a retreat from the comfort of the group into the green hills of Italy. Something interesting about the ideal of "returning," it means that you need to "leave" from somewhere. So much of these last 4 months I will need to leave behind. The land, the people, church services shared with travellers from around the world, beaches, trails, I'm even leaving a bit of blood and tears behind. Yes I have the memories, and some pictures, but it will all be from a place and time that I can't go back to in the same way, and I can't bring it with me to share with my friends and family.

But I can bring my changed self back. I can show my pictures and tell my stories, as incomplete as they are. I can try to live into this new person I've met within myself, this new self that has yet to meet my old life and patterns.

I came into this cross cultural looking to meet God in the Wilderness of my life, and I'm leaving with more questions than answers. But more contentment in the wilderness, as frustrating as it can be at times. I have wept over the beauty of the Spirit that transcends language and culture, and wept over the beauty of voices blended in song, and wept over the loss of a fellow travellers sister. In those ever fleeting moments I met God and knew my God to be the Lord and Creator of all. I do not what in my wilderness alone.

The plane lands in Dulles Tue evening. Graduation is the next Sunday. From one adventure into another :)

Walking the Jesus Way (literally)

It seems like forever ago, but one week ago today (Friday) our group was finishing up a 4 day hiking trip in the Galilee. Starting in Nazareth we hiked the 40+ mile Jesus trail to the ruins of Capernaum, the headquarters of Jesus' ministry.
It was nothing like what I imagined.
Our first day we up up up, just to get out of Nazareth, then down down and through green wheat fields and pine forests. Our assignment for the day was to make up our own "Behold! saying. Jesus had some of these like, "behold the birds of the air... the lilies of the field. Even Solomon was not clothed like one of these." (Very paraphrased ...) So our job was to make our own like, "behold the well-worn path. Those who say on in will reach their destination!" We spent our first night in Cana where Jesus turned water into wine, probably on his way from his baptism to Nazareth before the Luke 4 story.

Our second day we hiked through a pine forest. It smelled just like the Rockies! Our thought asignment was "The Kingdom of God is like..." That night was spent at a goat farm / Eco Hostel, Yarak Ozone. We had the pleasure of having an impromptu hymn sing in the dwindling evening light, sing song after song as they came to mind in our mixed and made up harmony. Singing has become a wonderful theme for our group. At any non structured moment, if someone starts singing a well known song of any type there will shortly be 3 or 5 or more voices all joining in with their own harmony.

Our third day of hiking we walked though some more fields. Eventually we worked up and over the Horns of Hitton and down through a little canyon filled with grazing cattle. Our assignment for the day was "blessed are the..." Are you catching the theme?? That night we climbed up the cliffs of Arbel to stay at a little Bed and Breakfast.

Our last day we went over the cliffs, past some more cows, and down the road to the town of Magdala on the Sea of Galilee. There we saw one of the only synagogues from the first century found in Israel. It is almost 99% possible that Jesus stood in this synagogue and worshiped. We also finished up the spiritual part of the hike with a little message by Linford to wrap everything up. We sat in a beautiful chapel looking over the Sea with a gigantic boat for the alter. Surrounding the space were pillars with each of the 12 apostles, and just outside in the narthex was a circle of pillars with the names of the women who followed Jesus with one pillar left blank for women today.

From Magdala we hiked a few more hours through fields of bananas and flowering citrus fields to Capernaum. We finished tired, hot, sweaty, a few more blisters, and with a big dose of satisfaction.

But we didn't have time to rest! (Or even shower...) Straight from the Sea of Galilee we took a 3 hour bus ride back to Nazareth. (It's a bit
... dissatisfying to hike for days and then drive back in a few hours...) At Nazareth we jumped right into volunteering at Nazareth Village, a village built to depict what it would have been like for Jesus where he spent most of his. Earlier in the week we donned first century garb and did varrious jobs like pull weeds while tours walked by and took our picture. This night we again dressed up, this time to help serve an evening dinner commemorating a transition in leadership for the village. After hiking all day and serving food all night it felt great to collapse into our beds at 11 that night.

But that's not that last of our Nazareth experience! Sunday a group of us went to the Catholic Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Annunciation. Remember, Nazareth is also the place where Mary was met by an angle and told she would give birth to the savior. This church supposedly preserves the place where that may have happened. (And there's first century ruins in the lower part to back up the claim.) I have NEVER been to such an exciting palm Sunday celebration! There was a bagpipe marching band and buggle fanfares and palm branches and large crowds. There worship service itself was mostly traditional Catholic in the local Arabic language. What a privilege to be a part of such an amazing worship!

Sadly, Monday morning it was time to move on. We boarded a flight from Tell Aviv to Antalya through Istanbul and off we flew. Turkey is great, but our time in the conflicted Israel/Palestine was special. Someday I will be back. Someday.

Despite the sadness of leaving the land I called home for 3 months I am really really enjoying Turkey, and soon there will be Greece, and before I know it Italy, and the graduation and then...    but tomorrow is not today and yesterday passed by too quickly. One step at a time. And right now that is going to be exploring Fathiye, Turkey and finding a cheap döner to eat :)

Jerusalem and Galilee

In the last few weeks I have found myself falling in love with this land and the people in it.

After a welcomed week of free travel where a group of 4 of us spent half a week in Istanbul, took a 14 hour night bus ride to the sea coast town of Kas (pronounced Kash, like your at the doctor saying "aaah"), and spent the remaining days hiking, playing in the Mediterranean, and reading we flew back into Israel for our last week in Jerusalem.

Previously we had spent 2 weeks at Jerusalem University College just next to the old city. Now we were going to be living in the Old City in the Muslim quarter in a convent called Ecce Homo. The convent is from the mid 1800's and marks the spot where tradition says Jesus was presented to the people after his flogging and Pilate said "behold the man" John 19:5. It was a beautiful place right next to the Temple Mount plaza. We spent large chunks of our free time sitting in the sun on the large roof patio area.

Our academic time was spent learning more about the Jewish religion and culture and learning 10 hours of Hebrew. We can now kind of sound out most things written in Hebrew... kind of.

There were many highlights for me that week. Just a snapshot,

Going to the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) for Friday night Shabbot service. There I walked amid large crowds of religious Jews praying and singing and dancing. Rarely have I seen people so excited to worship!

Given an assignment to trace Jesus' last night in small groups or alone. We started at the traditional place of the Last Supper and traced the story through the crucifixion reading the account from Luke along the way. I think my favorite site was Peter in Gallicantu, the place where Peter denied Jesus. I was there in a lull in the crowd so I spent time sitting on the spacious chapel contemplating the story. I was reminded by a sermon I heard once on the look that Jesus gave Peter (Luke 22:61). What look did Jesus give? What look does Jesus give me when I am guilty?

Saturday evening worship. Our worship committee planned a little service in the Ecce Homo chapel. In it I got to lead my first communion, and we had an unplanned hymn sing that lasted half an hour. What a beautiful place to sing!

I also enjoyed the Sunday church service at a church in Jerusalem. Yes it was mostly full of western mission workers, but it was still a group from all over the world brought together to praise God and bring light and hope to a work so often full of violence and unrest. As we sang in the old stone hall, people from across the world, my eyes began to well with tears.

I also must admit that one small highlight was getting the courage to talk to this nice girl who was volunteering at the convent. Long story short, she was very cute, and French, and it took me all week to actually talk to her. Unfortunately it was 15 minutes before we walked out the door... so I didn't get to know her that well... but at least I talked to her! :P

This last week we have been living on a Kibbutz north of Nazareth. A kibbutz is kind of like an intentional community, but with more private ownership. Our time has mostly been spent hearing lectures about contemporary issues in Israel, including the election that just happened March 16.

One talk that stood out was a lady that "pranked" us by pretending to be an ultra orthodox Jewish woman who then proceeded to act out different stories along the conflict spectrum. For me it was a good way of taking everything we had learned and seeing it all at once. And the actress was really funny :)

Next stop, Nazareth and the Jesus Trail.

The Bible through fresh eyes

Again our group comes to a major transition in its journey. Sunday in the early am we part ways and begin our week of independent travel (aka. spring break). Most of us are flying off to Turkey to see the sights that we'll be missing on our official tour later this semester, and a handful are staying in Israel to hangout and volunteer a bit.

I will be going to Istanbul for a few days with 3 other people, then we'll take an overnight bus down to a little village on the Mediterranean Sea for some relaxation, hiking, and general adventure seeking. :)

Although we are parting for a time, our group will be connected by the continual processing of these last 2 weeks. At Jerusalem University College we took an intensive class called Biblical Historical Geography (or some combination of those words...). We spent a few days in the classroom learning about the various rock types, passes, trade routes, valleys, and cities that shaped the Biblical story. Then we went out all over the country looking at these different places.

We were everywhere...
    Israel is incredibly small and diverse. One morning we were in Jerusalem, walking through snow to the bus, and by the afternoon we were playing in the surf of the Mediterranean Sea! For educational purposes of course ;) We walked the ancient city of Jerusalem for 2 days (which is not really part of the "Old City" at all) studying the City of David ruins, and the city during Jesus' day. We drove around the Central Benjamin Plateau studing how the Cinomanian rocks and valleys impacted Joshua's conquest strategy. We drove through the Shephelah region looking at how the Eocene limestone rock affected the way Saul and David expanded the Kingdom. We drove through the Biblical Negev looking at the Southern boarder and Abraham's journey. Up the Rift Valley looking at Masada, Qumran, and the Dead Sea scrolls. Then up to Galilee for a few days studying the land that Jesus walked in and the rich basalt rock farm ground.

     The Bible takes on a different picture when you read the stories in the place where they happen. We often read the Bible as a Disney story, all rosy characters and fun adventures in a mystical land. I thought I had a good handle on the Bible and the culture and history that surrounded it. But I too, a Biblical Studies major, have been reading the Bible as a story removed from reality. These weeks that has shifted.

The real change happened when we were in the Decapolis district looking at the story where Jesus healed a demonic and the demons went into a herd of pigs. Without going into a debate about demons, we looked at the man who was possessed. He may have been married, certainly had a family, mother father and relatives in the nearby village. He would have been shamed by his inability to hold down a job and provide for his family. Can you imagine what the neighborhood kids said to his children? And the man himself, unaware of when the next fit of possession would take hold, living ashamed, in fear, alone. He became a real person to me, with a real story.

I also began to think of Jesus in a new way. The bible says that Jesus was a carpenter, but the region has little wood. The houses are made of stone. It turns out that the Greek translates better as "master builder" (Tetron I think). Jesus would have been a general contractor, handyman type of guy who could throw around 50-90lbs stones. He wasn't a skinny little guy like we sometimes see. Jesus would have been a pretty strong dude who had a job that let him get to know a LOT of people as he went around hanging doors, and doing little repairs. Back then the builders also did not level the ground before building, so Jesus would have had the eye to build a straight stone wall without mortar on uneven ground that didn't fall. He's not quite your Sunday school Jesus. It was actually customary for Rabbis of the day to have a second job to provide for themselves. Next time you read the gospels imagine Jesus taking a break every so often to help repair a house to help pay for his ministry.

We also learned that the Romans were building a new town (Sepphoris) just 4 miles from where Jesus was growing up in Nazareth during the time Jesus would have been an apprentice. He would have had a lot of opportunity to practice and perfect his skills while meeting people from all over the region. This week Jesus became more human to me.

Many in our group also struggled with their first real exposure to the violence in the Old Testament as it contrasted with the pacifist teaching most of us had been raised with and the assumption of an inerrant and infallible Bible. There are many ways to reconcile the images of God in the testaments, but for now I'll let you, the reader, ponder the question for yourself. Maybe when I get back we can talk about it and I'll share my take on it :) For many the processing is ongoing and will continue as we come back after our week of free travel and spend more time in this small land of Israel.

About halfway through! It's going by soo fast! (Too fast?)    

The Complexities of Life

Current location: Jerusalem University, right next to the Old City. I'll be here for 2 weeks.
Current communication device: a computer!! After a month I finally have access to a computer for a while.
Current activity: procrastinating writing a paper for Nancy (don't worry, it's outlined. I just need to type it out one of these days..)

These past 10 days...
Lectures, field trips, a huge BBQ with our host family in Beit Sahour (4 different courses of meat!), a 5k in Bethlehem (I didn't wear a watch so I don't know my time. I think I got 4th... but it's hard to tell because it wasn't organized well and there were people cutting a lot) and a 3 night stay in an Israeli Settlement.

Let me start by saying that nothing in life is simple. No two stories are ever the same. Look at the Bible even. 4 different stories of Jesus, some where Jesus' ministry lasts 1 year, John says it lasted 3. Events happen in different orders, Jesus even dies on different days. In the Books of Samuel there are verses calling for a King and verses speaking against having a King right next to each other. But differences don't make the stories any less real... Thus the complexity.

I want you to hang on to what I am about to say, because through reflecting it might get lost: We spent 3 nights with Jewish families living in a settlement in the West Bank. They were VERY kind people and incredible hosts who welcomed us into their lives, gave us food, rest, and entertainment. They are very good people, but that doesn't mean that I agree with all of their opinions. Remember that as you read on.

One of the highlights and privileges of the weekend was having the opportunity to participate in a Shabbot service with our family. Shabbot is the Jewish day of rest. No electronics, no tv, no car, lights can not be turned on or off once it begins (we left the bathroom lights on all night), a complete day of rest. I needed it more than I realized! The Jewish day starts at sundown. We went to an evening service, and the next day there were 2 more prayer services. The afternoon was filled with blissful relaxation and engaging conversation.

The Jewish worship services are different from Protestant Christian ones in many ways. Personally I would compare them to Orthodox Christian services. There is a set liturgy of prayers every Shabbot that are sung. There is scripture reading and some synagogues have dancing, time for announcements, and special prayers sung by those in mourning. Beautiful singing. The atmosphere is casual, come and go, stopping in the middle of singing to talk with someone, young children running around, stand, sitting, not your familiar worship service.

One of the conversations over lunch involved trying to explain what a Mennonite was, and what pacifism entailed to our host family. They were blown away by the story of Dirk Willems who ran across the ice to save his drowning pursuer. They told me that they live by the Jewish law that if someone is coming to attack you, you should strike them first. You don't go around hurting people, but the idea is that your life is more valuable than others. Anabaptists would say that the other person's life is more valuable than your own.

While we were there we also heard many lecturers that gave us their side of the conflict. **Edit** The Jewish side:
-The settlement where we stayed is the same community where the 3 Israeli boys where kidnapped and killed last year. The memory of their death is still fresh.
-In the past there have been many bombings and killings, mostly in the Jerusalem area, but in places all over Israel. Recently there hasn't been as much violence, but the memory remains.
-Many Jews live with a certain level of fear. If they go into the wrong parts of the West Bank they will likely get stones thrown at them or be harassed by the local Arabs. For the settlers living outside the Green Line in the territory of the West Bank they are in close proximity to many Arab villages, and although relations with their neighbors are good, the people we talked to believed that the peace might not last and their neighbors might turn on them.
-The people we talked to felt like the land of Israel was theirs by right all the way to the Jordan River (which is true since they officially conquered it in the 6 day War in the 1970's) but more in the sense that this was the land given to them by God and even though the Romans expelled them around 135CE they still have claim to the land. Many people still have a fresh experience with the Holocaust having lost family of some sort and feel that the least the world could do to make up for it is to give the Jewish people a homeland of their own. What is the difference, they say, between the Germanic people or the French people having a land for their ethnicity and the Jews having their own land?

 
 In general, (and I know that generalities are a bad thing, but for the sake of explaining our experience...) the tone was something like "we know some nice Arabs, we live near some nice Arabs, but lots of Arabs want to hurt us, so we can't trust (any) Arabs."  It reminded me of the College Humor Youtube video "Diet Racist" which talks about racism in the US. Look it up sometime. How many people in the US don't trust any Latinos or African Americans simply because of the color of their skin and the assumptions people have about their cultures? Many of our hosts had moved from the US, and you could tell that they did not have any concept of their own power of white privilege, or understand social power dynamics especially in light of the deep differences between "hot" and "cold" cultures. (Hot being cultures around the equator, but with similarities also found in northern rural communities or tribal societies, and cold being northern cultures or industrialized areas.) The settlers we met with were very nice people, but they had their own biases about their relations and interactions with Arab peoples, just like all us are blind to our own biases and assumptions.

We had one lecturer (who got into a screaming match with some people in our group) that said something to the effect of, "everything you heard in Palestine was all lies, all Arabs want to wipe us out, they should all move out and leave the land to us." Never mind that there are 2.7 million Arabs in the West Bank. This was by far an extreme position and no one else we talked to came anywhere near this level of distrust and fear. One flip side we heard Settlers who were defending and advocating for the Palestinians and their speaking against their poor treatment and conditions in the West Bank. Nothing is simple in this conflict.

Another interesting dynamic was that while we were in Palestine, all the Palestinians assumed that Americans were pro-Israel, and in the Settlement all of our lecturers assumed that all Americans were pro-Palestinian. Both sighted the same media sources as being biased against them (CNN, BBC, Fox). Moral of the story, nobody likes America, the media is disliked and tells lies about everybody.
**End of Edit**

There were other things that were said by people in the settlement, but that's what I'll share for now.

I started by talking about the complexities of life, and of Jesus. Coming into this program I knew it would be complicated, hence "Listening and Searching," but, as I was recently reminded by a Jerusalem University College student, as a Christian my job is not to pass judgement, my job is to listen to the stories on all sides and love everyone as Jesus loved. I don't need to pick a side to help people. My job is to be a light, to be Light, to be a friend, to help where help is needed, and to pray for friends, and those who consider me their enemy. That is the calling of Jesus. That is my calling.

Shalom

**Edit note: I feel like I did not present the Settlement side as fairly as I should have earlier. Hopefully I complexified the issue for you :)

Life in the West Bank

First off, I realize that I said I was not going to update this blog very often, but I've got some extra time, and trying to recall everything at the end won't be as easy as telling bits as I go.

Second, I really recommend that you check out Lydia Tissue's blog mymeadventure.wordpress.com She does a great job of capturing the emotions of the experience. And she is updating her blog every week ;)

So if I remember correctly, last update had the group in Jordan traveling and taking it all in. We saw Roman ruins in Jerash, rode camels in Wadi Rum, saw the great carved tombs of Petra, and climbed Mt Hur to see Aaron's tomb. There was St. George church at Madaba and the mountain/memorial where Moses looked over the Promised Land and a few other little things in between.

Then we crossed the Israeli check point into Palestine. And our worlds were forever changed...

We are staying in a suburb of Bethlehem called Beit Sahour (spelled Bayt Sahur on Google maps I think) with host families, 2-3 people per family. Yes Bethlehem is in Palestine. At this leg our days have been organized by Alternative Travel Group (see pictures of our adventures on facebook at atgPalestine). ATG was started by some young people many years ago who were tired of people coming in Tour Buses from Israel, getting out, taking quick pictures of the Holy sights, scared to be surrounded by "Terrorists," jumping back in the bus and racing back across the boarder to Israel. ATG sets up trips in Palestine to help dispel the myth of dangerous Palestine. I am not kidding when I say that I feel just as safe in Palestine as I do in Harrisonburg, or my home town in Sterling Il, safer in some ways. There is a story of someone getting cheated in a money exchange and the community finding the person and throwing them in jail. I'm not saying it's perfect, but it's no worse than state side.

We spend our time here taking Arabic lessons, listening to lectures about Palestine (including history, literature, environmental issues, current issues, and Christians in Palestine), and taking field trips to different cites around the West Bank. Destinations are a mixture of places with current significance and Biblical action. For example Hebron which is a Palestinian town that is under partial military/violent settler occupation, but is also the cite of the tomb of the Patriarchs/Matriarchs (Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Rachel) and Davids capital before he moved it to Jerusalem. Side note, in Palestine Hebron is known for it's beautiful handmade crafts (textiles, glassware, etc).

When most people think of Palestine they think of a Muslim area, but Beit Sahour, where we are staying, and the Bethlehem area in general, is a Christian community. The number of Christians here greatly outnumber the Muslims. In Palestine in general Christains are just under 2%. In the 1980's Christians were 15%, but when Israel started to crack down on Palestine the Christians started leaving. Many of them actually went to Chile and today there are a couple million Palestinians living there. That said, there are still towns and villages here that are entirely Christian. Ramallah, the "capital" of Palestine even has a law that the mayor must be Christian even though the majority in that town is Muslim. The Christians here date back to the time of Jesus, many towns becoming followers of Jesus when Jesus passed throught doing ministry. They are the original people in that regard, proudly Arab. In many ways they are more ethnically Jewish than the Jews in Israel because they were Jews when Jesus came to town, became followers, and never left. Even with this deep heritage to the land, Israel oppresses them and wants them to abandon Palestine just as much as all the other Arabs in Palestine.

Things become complicated because Israel was started by European Jews who were looking for a country of their own after the Holocaust. Today Arabs (think Palestinians) make up 20% of Israel's population, within the boarders of Israel. Except Israel has a law that they can't get certain types of education in Israel, such as training to be Doctors and Lawyers, so many Arabs in Israel go to Europe for education.

If it seems like I'm bashing on Israel kind of hard it's because I am... we see it from Israels side every day so for a brief moment I am telling it from the other side. Sometime I might write a little blurb about the flawed theology of a modern Jewish state, but for the moment I'll leave you with this question. Is injustice a part of God's plan? An Arab priest I talked to said, "it's my bible too, my land."

And so we get to the complexity of the situation. In the words of our history professor, in order to understand the conflict you must go back to the Ottomans, the British Mandate, and the wars of 1967 and 1973. I'll spare the history lecture for now, but know that it is much more complex than it seems from the west. Also, don't believe what you see on the news, especially what politicians say, because it is basically all one sided and incomplete. Our last few lectures have stressed how much foreign governments have hurt the local movements.

One of the ways that this impacted me emotionally was seeing the wall, built with American tax money... Not only is it an exact repeat of Germany post WWII and apartheid South Africa, but it is a physical symbol of Israel's propoganda against Palestine. A physical reminder of the deep conflict dividing brothers, fellow humans caught in cultural and ideological conflict.
I cried. We are staying only 10 miles away from Jerusalem. You can see Jerusalem from where we live. But there is a wall between here and there. The last time my host dad was in Jerusalem was in 1993. For the few Palestinians that work in Jerusalem they must get to the check point by 4 to get to work by 8. Technically a few Christians and Muslims are given passes a few days a year during religious festivals, or when Israel wants some Palestinian shoppers to give them money, but they only allow for visiting during daylight and they must be back over by nightfall. Most people don't use the passes because logisticly it's a head ache.

We met one lady, upper 20's, who had been BORN in the US and went to an Ivy League school in the east, (Palestine has the highest per capita rate of college graduates in the region, but also an unemployment rate of around 30%) but since she is of Palestinian ethnicity she is not allowed to go into Israel. Currently she is working with her family's business in Taybeh, the town where Jesus went after raising Lazareth (at that time named Ephraim, John 11:54).

More injustices: Israel contains 80% of the west bank, meaning Palestine is not allowed to expand any cities or build any infrastructure on its own land.
The water is all controlled by Israel and is sent to the Settlements. Palestinian homes get water about twice a week, so they have big storage tanks on the roofs to provide for the other days.
Israel controls the prices in Palestine, some products can be made cheaper in Palestine, but Israel doesn't want people to go there to buy products so they force Palestine to sell things at a higher price.
Israel built roads to settlements (built illegally in Palestine) that Palestinians are not allowed to go on. Israel uses these roads to further separate and divide Palestine. In one instance we saw a road that went about a mile out of the way to cut through a farmer's olive grove. Now no one can get to that part of the field to harvest the olives and Israel will only buy the field if they can buy ALL of it.

Signs on the fences between Israel and Palestine ate written in 3 languages. In Hebrew and English they say "destroying this fence is dangerous for you" In Arabic "touching this fence is dangerous for you." There's a bit of a difference between "destroying" and "touching."

That's just a few.

You can't get a feel for it until you've been here.

In the face of it all we've heard the same thing repeated over and over again. "We done hate Jews, we just hate the Israeli government." "We don't hate the West, just the Western governments and their empire."

On a different note, places we've been in Palestine:
Bethlehem church of the Nativity
Kiddron Valley/Gehanna
Taybeh
Jiffna
Ramallah
Hebron (big problems with this one. Christian Peacemaker Teams are stationed here.)
Tomb of the Patriarchs
Bethlehem University
Wadi Qelt (the road to Jericho)
Jericho

That's what's been going on here. (On a positive note, it's been in the 60s and 70s ;) )

Upcoming: tours of refuge camps, tent of nations, 5k in Bethlehem on Friday(!!!) Pools of Solomon, Herodian cite, Nablus, and Jacobs Well. On Feb 11th we move to Jerusalem.

Peace and Grace

A quick update

Here's just a quick update on some adventures and thoughts. There has been soo much more, but space and time is limited.

We visited some great Roman ruins in Jeresh Jordan.
Saw a crusader castle at Karak.

Currently in Wadi Musa visiting Petra, an ancient city with magnificent tombs carved in the red stone. Today a few of us climbed Mt. Hur or Jabal Huran in Arabic, the mountain where Aaron died. (Num 20:22)

In past travels I've been annoyed by feeling like a tourist, but this time its different... kind of. Yes I stand out, and take out my camera, and I travel in a big bus with a group, but now I am a student. I have a greater purpose. I am here to learn and not flash around my North American wealth for my own traveller's curiosity. It's a small difference, but it makes me feel better none-the-less.

Something that we experience all the time here is the Islamic call to prayer. 5 times a day the minerets announce the time of prayer. During the time of prayer Muslims recite part of the Qur'an. I wanted to bridge this faith tradition with my own, so I've decided to say the Lord's Prayer every time I here the singing for prayer. It's my small contribution to connecting with others in a common practice over the wide gulf of religion and language.

There is more, so much more. But you'll have to wait a few more months to hear the rest ;)

The last night of knowns

I sit here, at about 1:30am, enjoying my last night in the states. It's been a great night of spending time with friends and making the most of the little time left before all normal routines of life get thrown upside down. We leave at 12:30pm tomorrow (Saturday) from campus to the airport. It's going to be a fun ride! :)

What I'm feeling:
Mostly anticipation! Lots of excitement! A dash of expectation!
I'm looking forward to exploring new places, I haven't been to this part of the world yet!
making new friends, I don't many the people in my group super well...
and spending time growing my faith and trust in God. I am can't wait to spend time with God in the wilderness, forced out of my comfort zone to rely on God's strength instead of my own.

What I'm most anxious about... not getting enough sleep and not being present. Missing out on amazing opportunities.

Thanks in advance for all of your prayer support and kind thoughts!