All these things

Maybe it's a liberal interpretation of the verse but I watched Matthew 6:33 happen to my wife today. One of the tough parts about packing to leave for two years are the things that you'd really love to bring but you're not sure you'll ever get to use. And if you can't say, "yes I'm sure I'll use that all the time" then it probably won't make the cut. For Mandy that meant her tennis raquet. Anyone who knows Mandy knows that she loves tennis. She's played and even coached for years now. But when we left we just weren't sure there were any tennis courts in Bethlehem so we left our raquets home. Sure it was tough and I knew Mandy was pretty bummed but what can you do? What sort of missionary refuses to go to the mission field because she can't play tennis? Well don't you know there's tennis courts just up the street at Bethlehem University. We've been trying to find out what the court fees are like but nobody seems to know. It just hasn't worked out. Then the other day I find out that one of my ninth grader's father is the head of the Palestinian Tennis organization! (He also owns an ice cream shop so he's our new favorite person). We paid a visit to his ice cream shop last night (it was good but it was no Sundaes in the Heights). We hadn't even gotten in the door and the guy says to us, "I hear someone here plays tennis." Long story short, even though we had to get up at 7 a.m. on our last day of vacation this morning Mandy got to play tennis, right here in Bethlehem. I couldn't help but think as I watched my wife get back in the groove listened to the familiar sound of the ball popping off her raquet that she gave up tennis for God. God gave it back. "...seek first the Kindom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well."

And for all those Red Sox fans out there, Happy Anniversary. Two years ago today the Red Sox won the World Series.
Good luck Tigers!

2 Days in the Galilee

Well it’s Olive Harvest time here in Palestine. We are hopefully going tomorrow to help Miss Grace and her family in their week long olive harvesting effort. It is quite an event around here. It’s not a date on the calendar. Everybody just knows it’s about this time. The olives begin turning from green to black and families go out with ladders and tarps and prune the trees and pick the olives. Personally, I never used to like olives. Mandy still doesn’t. I just can’t help liking them now. I bought the first can of olives I’ve ever bought in my life the other day. Everybody serves them here so I’m kind of getting used to having to be polite and pop a few here and there and all of the sudden I realized I don’t mind so much anymore!

Sunday morning we set off on adventure with Gwen and Sarah, two of the other American teachers here at our school. We hopped in the little Hyundai van and made tracks for the Galilee. For those of you following along on maps at home we traveled north through Jerusalem and then turned west down towards Jericho. We travel right between Jericho and the Dead Sea into the Jordan River valley. Then we follow the Jordan River north until we hit the Sea of Galilee. We had reservations at the YMCA just north of Tiberias. I know it sounds strange to stay at a YMCA but it really was more like quaint little bed & breakfast than a community center. However it is sort of like a speakeasy, you could drive right by it and hardly realize it’s there. We did manage to find it and it was a fantastic spot. The rooms were a little rustic but in general you got your money’s worth from the view. (See our pictures on Snapfish)

We found the YMCA and then set off to do some exploring. We stopped at this museum that houses a boat that was pulled from the Mud in 1986. There was a drought that year and the water receded to a record level. Two men who live on the Sea of Galilee found remains of a boat in the Mud. Archeologists worked painstakingly to pull the boat from the mud and keep it intact. They managed to so and now people come from all over to visit this boat which they have dated to be about 2000 years old. This is a boat from the Sea of Galilee at the time of Jesus.
Preserved and sitting right in front of us. It’s such a cool spot. We had a picnic lunch on the lawn outback overlooking the Lake.

From the Jesus Boat we took off to hit a few more sites. We went to the church called the “Primacy of Peter.” This little out-of-the-way church is built on a little cove on the northwestern corner of the lake. There’s a set of ancient step carved into the bedrock here beside the lake. It’s thought that this was regular spot for fisherman to moor their boats here in the first century. Tradition holds that it is here that Jesus appeared to the disciples after the Resurrection and reinstated Peter.

Then we went to the site of Capernaum. This was Jesus home base for his three years of ministry. The ancient Christian community here identified Peter’s house and three successive churches were built over the site - one in the 4th century, one in the 5th century and the one that overlooks the site today. Another unbelievable part of Capernaum is the synagogue that they have uncovered there. The most impressive parts of the standing sections of the synagogue date to the 4th century but the foundations of that synagogue date back to Jesus time, making this the very spot where Jesus would have worshipped while he was at Capernaum. (See Luke 4:31 and following for example)

From there we went up to The Church of the Beatitudes. This church is set high up on the hill that overlooks the area of Capernaum. This is where tradition holds that Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. This church is absolutely beautiful and it overlooks the Galilee in a way that is beyond compare. We spent a lot of time here before we finally left just before sunset to go into Tiberias for dinner. (Just a helpful aside- be forewarned if you order “Saint Peter’s Fish” in Tiberias and it doesn’t say “fillet” that means your fish comes out whole with the head and all.)

Monday, we woke up and had a fantastic breakfast on the patio overlooking the Sea of Galilee and we got on the road about 10:00. First we stopped by Magdala where Mary Magdalene was from. It was just a tiny fishing village and there really isn’t much to speak of there but they have uncovered some remains there so we swung by to snap a picture. Then we went to the church that commemorates the giving of the loaves and the fish. This church’s claim to fame is the mosaic that dates back to 5th century depicting two fish and a basket of bread.

From there we made for the hills to catch a couple more spots. The city of Corazin is up in the hills in the northwest corner of the Lake. As we were driving up to this site I was thinking of how Jesus pronounces “woe” upon these cities. I couldn’t help but think if I had to WALK all the way up into these hills to preach to these people and they didn’t respond I’d probably curse them too! But Corazin is a really cool spot. The hills in the northern part of the Galilee are all Basalt. Basalt is this dark black volcanic rock. It gives this area scorched feeling and it was hot by the time we got there. Bethsaida was the same way. We went to Bethsaida next. At least that spot is on the upper end of the Lake where the Jordan River dumps into the Sea of Galilee before pouring out the southern end. So with the water near by there’s more vegetation and some shade. But Corazin has a completely different feel. We don’t read of Jesus in Corazin much at all. All we know is that he went there and presumably they were not convinced that anyone who lived just down the hill could possibly be the Messiah so they don’t respond to him. So Jesus pronounces woe upon them. He says Tyre and Sidon (to Phonecian cities in current day Lebenon) would respond better than Corazin and Bethsaida. And these two spots stand as desolate reminder to us that Jesus demands a response. These two sites remain uninhabited to this day having never been able to maintain a city since.

After a bit of a rest, dipping our feet in at the banks of the Jordan River we continued clockwise around the Lake and came to Ein Gev. Ein Gev is Kibbutz that has become quite successful. They have a wonderful Hotel where we stayed on our JUC field trip 5 years ago. We stopped and had a late lunch or an early supper at their restaurant. They had St. Peter’s Fish on the menu both ways but we opted for Fettuccine Alfredo instead. We took our time and had dessert and by the time we were ready to leave the sun was beginning to set. We left the Galilee down by the Jordan river and followed our same route home.

The more of these little sites you visit by the Sea of Galilee the more it gives you a picture of what Jesus’ everyday life was like. You can picture His disciples taking off in their boats from the shore. You taste the fish they caught and it reminds you of the security they left behind to follow Jesus. So here we are back in Beit Jala and the olives are ready. It makes me think of the Disciples again back on the shores standing there staring at Jesus and not quite sure of what he’s asking them to do. But they just know it’s time for a change. They can see the fruit is ripe and they have to jump into the harvest now with everything they’ve got.
Happy Olive Harvest everybody!

Arabic Hospitality and Succot

We have been spending quite a bit of time with my students’ families. Last week Thursday night, we joined a family birthday party at Mariana’s. She lives across the street from us. It was a nice, three- bedroom apartment that opened out onto a balcony off the side (if you are familiar with our Uxbridge apartment, it was very similar to that, only a bit bigger-higher ceilings). They have a terrific view of Beit Jala! We enjoyed the night view and their olive trees below. Mariana’s Mom had prepared about 4 different cakes (for a two-year-old’s party)! Mariana is cousin to another student in my class, Johnny, so he and his family were there as well. It was nice to see the children interact outside of class, and enjoy some yummy cake and hot tea.
Last Sunday we went to Majd’s house. He lives with his family in Beit Sahour (where most of the shepherd’s fields are), a town in a valley below Bethlehem. His family lives in a basement apartment. It was very small for a family of 5, yet cozy. It’s polite to bring a toy or treat when you are invited to dinner, so our friend Lily (the first grade teacher at our school) had picked up the game Rummikub. The kids played it all afternoon! I was amazed with their ability to sit! We had rice with chicken and beef, both of which were cooked in an olive wood oven. All of the food was delicious! Majd’s Mom does not speak much English, so she and Lily conversed in Arabic for most of the meal while Doug and I talked with his father, who is also a teacher. (The kids were playing the game) We moved outside for fruit, which was followed by ice cream and tea. Surprisingly, they had many trees in their backyard. It was very nice. Majd’s mom kept asking me how he was doing, and how he could pull certain grades up. Lily and I were bombarded with questions about the children for most of the afternoon! I kept trying to steer her away from conferencing about her child, but she didn’t give up. Oh well, we had a nice time. I have to get used to thinking about school and grades all the time when spending time with families from school.
Yesterday we(the American teachers) went over to Nadine’s house, a student in my fifth grade class. Her Mom is also our school’s landlord (evidently we own a parcel of land next to the building, but not the building). Their house is a castle. It overlooks Beit Jala, Bethlehem, and with binoculars the wall outside the Old City of Jerusalem. We enjoyed a yummy chicken and rice meal, which was served by the family. I felt like Nadine was my servant. The Mom didn’t eat with us at all, but was busy serving us. She must have thrown 7 chickens at us, at least! Our favorite was a small chicken stuffed with rice. We thought that was a great idea. After tea, Hiba (Nadine’s older sister) took us to the roof to check out the spectacular view. I just love the stone building landscape here. However, there is a huge wall being built right outside Beit Jala. It is an eye sore. It is going up right next to their house. There are always reminders of where we live. I wonder if it will cut into their land. We had a great time, and enjoy looking at the castle every time we pass it going out the DCO (border crossing).
We celebrated Shabbat with Josh and Lauren last night. It was a harvest moon, so we took a drive out to the Mount of Olives to catch a phenomenal view. We were looking East towards Jordan and the Dead Sea. It was a perfectly clear night. Then we went back to their place for dinner. It is Succot now, the Feast of Tabernacles, so Jews were camping out in their Succas. It’s a celebration of the harvest (as explained further in Deuteronomy 4) They make a hut out of lumber and then cover it with palm fronds. Most succas we’ve seen have cloth draped all over it. They place the succa wherever they can find room outside the house. They put lights in it because they spend 7 evenings out in it. A table and chairs is put in the succa and the families enjoy time in there, praising God for His providence. Josh and Lauren’s landlords had made a succa which was fun to see. We took a picture of the inside so you all could enjoy too. It is a neat tradition! On our way home to Bethlehem we saw many succas outside apartments and houses. It was so cool to see them illuminated in the dark. The Bible commands the people to rejoice; it was neat to think that those succas inhabited joyful people!