Day 6: Excitement!

As I sit here and look at my journal for today,  I realize that it was probably one of my most meaningful thus far on my adventure to Israel. Jerusalem is such a wonderful place--it's honestly quite difficult to put down on paper the atmosphere here. I started out today meeting the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, where she gave us a wonderful talk about certain difficulties facing the city. I learned from her that the Palestinians are allowed (and encouraged by Israel) to hold elections so they can be represented in the government and have a voice as to what goes on in the city. However, the Palestinian authorities actually tell their people not to participate in these elections, because it would be acknowledging Israel as a legitimate nation. However, the same Palestinian authorities then go around telling the media how oppressive Israel is because there are no Palestinians in the government. It really showed me how we as Americans, and as world citizens, are so bad at doing research for ourselves. We tend to take anything we hear on the news as truth, and I think that is a grave mistake. So I would encourage all of you to always look into what you are reading for yourself--no matter how reliable the source.  

We then headed to the Mount of Olives where I was able to get breath taking views of the city. As I walked down Palm Sunday road, I was amazed at how close I felt with the Lord. I've felt such wonderful love surrounding me throughout this trip, and I know it's the kind of love our Father wants us to experience with Him all the time. After the walk, our group was ushered into the Garden of Gethsemane. The olive trees here were over 2,000 years old, and they were enormous. I could completely understand why Jesus would come here to pray. It was such an interesting place with so much symbolism attached to it. I was able to take an olive branch away from the Garden, and I now have it in my Bible.  

Next was the Old City of Jerusalem where we had lunch in the Jewish Quarter. I got to see the Western Wall, and tour the Western Wall tunnels. It was neat to see the stones of the wall and realize how amazing it was that King Herod was able to build something like that.  

Then for my favorite part of this ENTIRE trip: King Hezekiah's Tunnel. For those of you who have never read the historical fiction series Chronicles of the Kings by Lynn Austin, please read them! They are about King Hezekiah and his reign. Anyway, those books completely made this tunnel come alive for me. I was like a little kid at Disney Land, walking through the tunnel with water that at times could be thigh-high. I think the entire rest of the group thought it was a little crazy how in love with this place I was. There were times the tunnel ceiling was so low I literally had to do a "squat-walk" as I went through it (I definately got my leg workout in for the day!)  I felt like I had personally known the people who built this tunnel after reading Austin's books, and the entire experience was absolutely mind-blowing. I will say again, please, please read those books if you haven't already. They have strengthened my faith tremendously, and I think you will be blessed by them. Plus you will be able to better understand what this tunnel was. To give a short synopsis, Hezekiah basically took part of the tunnel that David had used in the past, and extended it so he could get water into the city before the upcoming Assyrian invasion. He didn't want his enemies to have access to water in the area, and he also didn't want the entire city to be vulnerable to attack via the water system. 

A fun side-note is that I am getting better at my Hebrew! I still know pathetically little, but it's really fun to know a few words and be able to communicate with people, even in a small way. This trip has really taught me that the fastest way to learn another language is to completely surround yourself by it. Many people I've talked to have told me they became completely fluent within 5 months of moving to Israel.  

Well, that's all for today! Please keep me in your prayers tomorrow, I am headed to Bethlehem. I am very excited, but this is an area of Israel completely controlled and governed by the Palestinians. We are not allowed to wear shirts of any kind associating us with CUFI or even Christianity, just for the safety of the group. We have been reassured it is simply a precaution, but I am a huge believer in the power of prayer, and would appreciate as many as you can give.   

Much love to you all, only 5 days left in the Holy Land for me! I have already taken about 2,000 pictures, so I will have lots of stories when I get home. :)  

Laila Tov! (lie-luh tov) Or as we say in English, "goodnight!"

P.s. Check out this blog by one of our CUFI leaders, Josh. You may even find a quote from yours truly!

Picture: Western Wall & tunnels (top row), Palm Sunday Road & Garden of Gethsemane (middle row), City of David & Hezekiah's Tunnel (bottom row)