Friday, January 6

post by Tina and Amy

We would like to name this day “The Day of the Wildlife”. Within a few hours and a few more miles, we were successfully distracted from Emily by cats, dogs, peacocks, camels, goats, horses, and a donkey! But let us start at the beginning of the day…

The day started off rainy, so we put on our ponchos and pulled out our umbrellas and got on the bus. We went to Shiloh. Shiloh is the city where the tabernacle was in the time of the prophets. The area was in the process of being excavated and Emily pointed out an old wine press where the women stomped the grapes and danced. Nellie even led us in stomping and dancing for a brief time! This was the first area where we weren’t fighting off people and trying to find elbow room. This also meant there was no trash littered all around (we had a brief discussion on whether taking trash to the dump cost money and that’s why everyone leaves it around!) Nellie also found some pottery; one piece still had the handle and one with painting on it. She’s excited to see what the archaeologist we’re meeting next week thinks about it.

With the description of the tabernacle, we also discussed how a loaf of bread always had to be on the table and there needed to be enough oil to keep the lamp lit through the night. Emily had us imagine that we were in our tents at night and being able to glance over to the tabernacle and see the light always shining through the night, representing that God is always with us, an ever constant light in the darkness.

After some final pottery hunting and discovering an olive press, we loaded up the bus and traveled on to Jericho. We made a brief stop at an outlook where we could see the outline of a mountain, Alexandrian. We reflected on the Jordan River and the symbolism the crossing of water meant. From Moses with his crossing the Red Sea passing the reigns, and then to Joshua when he crossed the Jordan to Elijah with his mantle passing on the Spirit to Elisha, and eventually to John the Baptist baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River. There are so many parallels in the Bible that we completely miss because we don’t know the background on them! It’s been great having Emily to point those out for us.

We made it to Jericho, had a quick lunch of pita bread with assortments of meat, cheese, and peanut butter! The ever present Hummus was also there, yum! We’ve also noticed that instead of attracting flies with our food, we attract cats! Emily told us a story of how her friend now calls them “crats” since they were here to take care of the rat problem, but are now a problem of their own! We also shared the roof with a few peacocks! We decided Jericho really is a beautiful oasis in the middle of the desert, and if we had to live in Israel, we’d choose here!

We then marched around the site where they believe the old Jericho was located. Apparently they have not found evidence of the city from when Joshua was alive, but because of the location and descriptions in the Bible, that is where they think it took place. Several archaeologists have worked in the area, but the main finds have dated back to the time of Abraham and Isaac, when it was a Canaanite city. After some time exploring the land, we were loading up on the bus when we saw it… a camel!

Needless to say, we bartered a guy down and Amy and Tina got a two for one ride on the camel. Amy’s mother would have been so proud of her camel riding skills and Tina’s dad was so impressed, he took a turn too! So along with Pastor Dave, Loren, Virg, Pete, and Purple Granny all took a turn on the camel! After Pastor Dave turned down 6,000 camels, 4 sons, 2 daughters, and a room of her own in exchange for Tina’s hand in marriage (which Eric thought was a good deal – lock up your daughters Rachelle!), we loaded up safely back on the bus.

Our journey then took us to New Testament Jericho, and one of King Herod’s palaces. With the company of some goats and the distraction of a baying donkey, Emily helped us envision what Jericho would have been like in the time of Jesus. We discussed the different taxpayers and beggars and got a closer look at what life would have been like for people at this time.

From Jericho we took the “Patriotic Highway”, a road we’ve been studying in class as it’s been around for a loooooong time”, back to Jerusalem. We made a stop in the Judean Wilderness and took a moment to appreciate what the wilderness really is. We had a few quiet moments where we just looked and looked in to the distance. When asked our thoughts, we realized how big God is and how little we are. We talked about how the wilderness really makes people rely on God for everything, just as the sheep had to fully rely on their shephard. There’s nothing to eat or drink out there, and no green to be found. It really seems like more of a desert than we had realized.

After some reflections and pictures, we were then attacked from all sides by vendors on donkeys. These kids had been waiting for us to finish our time together so they could sell us their goods. One even stole Eric’s pen and ran off, saying “It’s for school, it’s for school!” No worries, Eric eventually got his pen back but no harm was done. Thanks again for all of your prayers and support! We just realized tonight that we only have 5 nights left in this hotel (a few more at the other hotel) and it’s crazy how we have adapted to our lives here in Israel. For being the youngest ones on the trip, we are always the first ones in bed or at least seem to be getting the most sleep! Tune in tomorrow as we take our next trip, which ends at the Mediterranean Sea! J Holler!