Today was a very long day. We got up at 6:45 to go to the Western Wall tunnels and the Western Wall. This had been something I had been waiting for a long time. The week before we left for Israel, I went to get a massage. I was telling my massage therapist about going to the western wall and how I wrote down everyone's name that i could remember to put at the Western Wall. The therapist stopped my massage and started crying. She started begging me to put her and her son's name down on my paper. She told me that her son has been on drugs and that he is addicted. She told me that she believes God can answer any prayer but she has faith that if I pray for her son at the Wall that his bondage will break. I immediately agreed that I would pray for her and her son.
When we got to the Wall the guys had to go to the left side, and the girls had to go to the right side. There were so many Jews there to pray i could hardly fit in by the wall. I eventually worked my way in and said my short prayer and put the notes in the cracks in the wall. I fully believe God sees my prayers there at the Wall and he will answer each one.
After the Western Wall we left Amos in Jerusalem and we headed to Bethlehem, Palestine. We had to first cross the border which was much easier than I was expecting. Our bus driver, Raja, told us that anyone can come into Palestine, but only few can leave.
We went to the Bethlehem Bible School- JSB, which is a school for Kindergarten to twelfth grade. While there we got to look into the classrooms and meet the students. This was a huge deal for the kiddos because most of them have not been able to leave Palestine their whole lives and they have never met Americans before.
We first got to see the Kindergartners practice for their graduation. They were all singing children's christian songs that almost all American’s know from their childhood. All the children had their eyes closed and singing to Jesus. I was in tears the whole time, not just because it was kids singing to Jesus, but because of these kids backgrounds. Before we met the kids the owner of the school told us about the kids lives and how the school works. Most of these students are Muslim or Christian kids. The school is the best school in Bethlehem. They teach all their students English just like they do in America. This is not common in Palestine. The school also only teaches them Bible. It is law to separate the kids by religion when it is time for them to have prayer or to learn their bible or Quran. This school refused to teach anything except the bible and they let the parents know up front and have them sign a release form. If any parent is not okay with that they can send their kids to a different school. The parents over look this and so does the government, because the school is such a good school. To see these Muslim kids singing songs to Jesus and meaning what they are saying really softened my heart and reminded me what the main picture in life is.
Next we got to met with the high schoolers and ask them lots of questions. They were all really cool. I'm really excited because tomorrow we get to hang out with them and get to know them better. They will be our tour guides in the morning.
To go back to our hotel, we had to cross the border again. I was really nervous. Once we got their Raja, our bus driver, said that we were from America and the soldier just looked in the bus and then let us pass. It was much easier than I had heard about.
Day 10
Sadly today is our last day, but we saw so many things. We started out with going back to Bethlehem and getting the High school students. All the students got paired up with us to be our tour guides. We walked through the markets in Bethlehem to the church where the Catholics say Jesus was born. After that we got to go to the Shepherds field and see where the shepherds would have lived and kept their animals.
Afterwards we said goodbye to our high school friends and went to a Arab house. Their son actually goes to my university. The family had two houses. One house was in a Refugee Camp near the wall. The other house was a nice apartment in a better part of town. We were told not to mention anything about Israel since we were in the Refugee Camp. This is where a lot of people are rebellious towards
Israel. Once we got in the house they explained how life was living there. They were some of the nicest people I had ever met. The mother started to show us how to cook Arabian food. She had made rice with cauliflower, carrots, and chicken.
While she cooked the rest of the food her husband took our group to explore the camp and the wall. The husband explained how at any moment the rebellions could start throwing smoke bombs or shooting the wall with marbles just to try to be heard by Israel that they don't like to be locked up in a wall. We saw all of the art that the Palestinians has painted on.
As we were walking along the wall we heard the Muslim prayer song that plays so many times a day so they know when to pray. I didn't think anything of it until I heard it coming closer to us. Then I saw an ambulance. The husband had us all stop, then the ambulance stopped right in front of us along with all the cars that were following behind. The husband whispered to the people beside him that it was a funeral and that he must have died today because they have funerals the same day that they die because they need to be buried before the next prayer call. Then before I could let that sink into my mind everyone was getting out of their cars. Mothers, sisters, brothers, fathers, wife, children, people still in shock that their son, dad, or husband had just died that day. Then the ambulance pulls out a stretcher and brings the body into the house. I started crying because my heart broke. I had never seen someone dead the same day they had died, and i could only imagine how this guys family must have felt just finding out a few hours ago that he had died. In America we have days or a week to let death sink into our minds before we say our goodbyes, but here they say their goodbyes before they even realize what has happened. This really shook me.
After we went back to the family's home and had our meal we left Bethlehem and went to the Garden Tomb. This is where the Protestant church, and myself, believes Jesus was on the cross and buried. As I had talked about a few days ago, the Catholics believe that Jesus’s blood ran down to Adam's skull. Here at this location the Hill that Jesus would have been on the cross actually looks like a skull and people would have known it as Skull Hill. Seeing the tomb where Jesus would have rose from the grave was such an amazing experience. When I walked out of the Tomb I wanted to throw my hands up and yell to the world that he is risen! After we explored we got to take communion together as a group and sing songs. This was such an amazing way to close out our trip. We started with seeing all the places that Jesus had been to and ended where he arose from the grave. It was such a powerful place. I am so glad I choose to come to Israel than any other cross cultural experience It truly was life changing and unforgettable.
Here is the Video from my trip! Videoed by Brianna:
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