Egypt

Wednesday, May 23

Mt. Sinai! We will spend about 24 hours in the Sinai Penninsula, plunging us back into the desert. We took a ferry across the gulf of Acaba and landed in Egypt. A crazy border crossing with people loading up carpets, luggage, food ... at the dock and we are winding our way through. Two hours of driving through the desert and we land at an oasis. In the evening, Max takes us to the monastary of St. Catherine tells us its history from the hill side as we watch the sun set. This monastary was created on the site of a chaple erected here by Helen, the mother of Constantine and has enjoyed the protection of both Mohammed and Napolean. The orthodox order of brothers here works and prays along side the Muslim families that maintain the grounds of the monastary here at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Prayer rugs and incense mark this holy place where one can see the original burning bush and Jethro's well. In the middle of the night (1:30 a.m.) we arose to begin our trek up Mt. Sinai. Camels would take us 3/4 of the way to the top and then we would climb the last 800 steps to the peak where we would sit listening to people from all over the world to watch the sun rise. This mountain top experience was marked by three deeply spiritual experiences for me. First, I was touched by the nearness of my camel and the gentleness of the camel driver with his animals. The night was generally silent with only the sound of my camel's feet on the path and the camel driver's gentle encouragement. This intimacy was balanced with the astounding vastness of a star lit sky - more stars than I had ever seen before. I was reminded of the sovereignty of God, balanced with God's gentle intimacy and knowledge of each one of us. The one who flung the stars into the heavens calls each one of us by name. Then at the top of the mountain it was like Pentacost or the great feast to come in the kingdom of heaven. People had come from north and south and east and west to worship on God's holy mountain. My third revelation came on the way down. Walking with my friends Christian and David, we were suddenly struck with the need to take our shoes off - we were aware that we were on holy ground. And there we read the story of Moses before the burning bush. Moses asks, who shall I say sent me? And God replies, tell them that "I am" has sent you. There is nothing left but awe.

Petra

Tuesday, May 22

This 3rd century Nabotean city is a wonder to behold. You might remember it from the third Indiana Jones movie. It is a dramatic place. We entered from a narrow canyon (Sook) This is a mile long entry way that would be easy to defend. At the end of the sook, one turns the corner to behold the first and perhaps most impressive of hundreds of monumental tombs carved right into the rock. As Max tells it, "the Naboteans started out as desert pirates but situated along the caravan routes, decided that the Howard Johnson's business made more sense." The rock formations here are astounding and the imprint placed on them by their Roman era inhabitants leaves ones jaw dropped throughout the day. We hiked about 9 miles over the whole day. It was a great work out. We climbed two peaks. This first to a temple complex that looked across to the tomb of Aaron and the second which openned into a huge monument (another Max suprise) called by locals, the monastary because of its secluded location. From there we walked even higher to an astounding view across the mountains that arose from the continental divide that follows the line along the Jordan river. Max's recurring quotation certainly fit today, "I wouldn't bring you to a nothing place!"

Wonders Everywhere

Monday, May 21

From Mt.Nebo, we traveled south along the King's Highway until we reached what I will call for now, the Jordanian grand canyon. Max has done a great job of surprising us on this trip. We rounded the corner on the bus and found this astounding wadi (dry river bed). From there we went on to Kerak Castle (a famous crusader castle) and then on to Petra. The top picture is the view from my window at Grand View Hotel - just a taste of the day to come.

Promise Land

I have been out of touch so I hope to update you for the past 10 days! So much has happened, we have been to the mountain top, and to the mountain top, and to the mountain top! Every day is so packed with once in a life time experiences. Lets begin where we left off, Monday, May 21 really was a day to remember. We headed south down the transjordan to Mount Nebo, the place where God showed Moses the promised land. Along the way we got our first look at the fertile Jordan valley and drove through the land of Ruth - Moab. It was easy to imagine Ruth gleaning in these fields of grain. From Mt. Nebo we had our first look into the promise land - the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, Jericho. Here we had our first worship service of the trip (post orientation) and I was so excited to preach there over looking the promise land. We talked about the echo of many voices who had gone before us to these holy places, the voices we had known from Sunday School, Moses and Joshua, Abraham and Sarah, the voices of Max and Julene who had prepared the way for our journey to this land, the new voices we were only just learning, the voices of our traveling companions and the other peoples who had walked this way, Ammonites, Syrians, Persians, Naboteans. We read from Hebrews 11, how Moses had gone by faith - God's faith, and that is how we go to into the promise that we have recieved through Christ. And when we go, we go with a cloud of witnesses, past and present.

ME

I noticed looking at my blog that there are no pictures of me, so you might be worried whether I am really here. So here is one. That's me in the white tee-shirt at the base of Hadrian's gate at the south entrance to Jerash. I'll try to do better in the future! So - when Hadrian came to town, the local folks of Jerash built this grand gate for him. When he entered the city he would have passed 900 columns as he went down main street. Tomorrow we are off for Petra but on the way we will worship on top of Mt. Nebo where Moses looked into the promise land and we might get our first glimpse of the dead sea.

Little towns the world around!

Sunday, May 20
This morning was like visiting Monticello in Jordan. We went to a small village (population 3000) called Habbukkah outside of Irbid. We got to visit with the village elders in their new community center and learned that 90% of the inhabitants are from one family. All of their children return to this olive farming village to raise their children. We enjoyed a formal coffee ceremony with these elders (very hot green coffee), had formal introductions and asked each other questions. Their hospitality was so kind. We were able to arrange this meeting through Habitat Jordan who builds houses in this area. Then we were able to visit a family for whom they had built a house. The father Abumaj was at work as a military musician (trombone!) so we met his wife, Ummaj (otherwise known as Rasan) and his two year old daughter, Maj. The momma was 18 years old. And their home was built on his family's land. Notice the names of the parents. When we met with the elders of the city, they all introduced themselves as Abu Muhammad or Abu Hassan, always with the Abu title. I thought that was just an honorific for the elders but latter learned that when one has a son, the father's name changes to Abu (father of) plus the name of his son. Interestingly, when we met this family, the momma showed me her husband's picture and said, "Abumaj." Maj is the name of the daughter. They are proud of their children! Notice the momma's name starts with Um (mother of). Here are pictures of Maj and Ummaj and pictures of our group in front of their home. Here also is a picture of the Jabbok - the river where Jacob wrestled with the angel. We crossed this river today on our way from Jerash through the mountains of Gilead and on to Amman (see Ammonites in your OT).

Back in Time

Saturday, May 19
Today we got to go to a site that was not on the itinerary because we did not get to spend the night in Palmyra as planned. So, we ended up in Bosra - also third century AD Roman ruins but the stones are not limestone but a local dark stone. The coolest part was entering a fort built in the middle of the twelfth century during the time of the crusades and emerging into the top of this huge third century theater. They used the existing structure in the 12th century to build their fort around. Today we had to cross the Syrian/Jordanian border which was accomplished without incident. And we spent the night in Irbid, Jordan. During the night I could hear the Muslim call to prayer. In the hotel rooms here, there are not Bibles in the drawers but stickers pointing the way to Mecca and often a prayer rug is provided.

Palmyra

Friday, May 18, 2007
Today we drove out of Damascus, through the desert to the oasis at Palmyra. This was a trade stop along the “Silk Road,” a caravan path connecting the east to the west and was an eastern most outpost of the Roman Empire. A famous queen named Zenobia ruled here. The ruins are spectacular. You can walk through the whole town: market place, temple, main street, theater…One can see the huge temple complex which gives me some idea what the temple in Jerusalem must have looked like. There is stone here imported all the way from Egypt. It is hard to imagine how they erected these buildings. One can also visit underground and tower tombs which held 300 members of a family, each embalmed and with a beautiful sculpted portrait for a tomb stone. I saw my first camels today also!

Aramaic!

May 17, 2007
On Thursday, we drove to Maaloula on top of a mountain. This is a Christian (Melkite - Greek Catholic) community that still speaks Aramaic. I got to hear the Lord's prayer spoken in the language that Jesus spoke! This is the rector at this 1600 year old church. Boy, stuff is old here. He explained a lot of theology to us, especially the beautiful icons in his church. I was especially taken with his explanation of a picture of Jesus at the Last Supper. Unlike the traditional Leonardo Da Vinci one, Jesus is seated off to the side. The father explained to us that in the local culture of this area, when you receive a guest and sit them at the table, they are no longer free to do anything but to be served. By placing Jesus at the side of the painting, the artist is conveying that Jesus is free to serve. Although he did not say it, I took this to mean that I too am set free to serve.

Damascus Day 1

We are in Damascus. Yesterday we saw the Omayyad Mosque where there were shrines for the heads of John the Baptist and Husein, the central Calif of Shiite Muslims. There were many Iranian pilgrims on pilgrimage to this holy site. We also walked down the street called "Straight" which you may know from the conversion story of Saul/Paul in Acts 9. And we visited the church their that is the traditional site for the home of Ananias. Finally we also went to a church that is on the sight at the city wall where they believe that Paul was lowered to escape the city. This is a picture of me in the required outfit for visiting the mosque. I will try to make another entry tonight, so please check back in. I miss you all!

Ready, Set, Go

Thanks to the generosity of the Pittulloch Foundation and the willingness of many folks to take care of my family in my absence, I am off to the Middle East to explore the ground of our faith. Guided by the highly knowledgeable and experienced biblical archaeologist Max Miller, we will see sights in Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and Greece. I hope you will check in regularly and leave comments for me as I embark on this odyssey. We leave May 14 and will return June 4. Please pray that our travels will be guarded by the One who neither slumbers nor sleeps. Psalm 121.