Very early in the morning they came unto the sepulchre…

Hi Everyone,

Happy belated Easter. Jerusalem was pretty lively during the ‘passion’ week. On Friday me and the two girls from Poland went to the old city where thousands and thousands of people gathered together to commemorate ‘Good Friday’. They all start in one place (which ironically is now a Muslim school) and walk through out the old city, singing and chanting the whole time. There are fourteen stations that have some special significance. The final stop is the church of the sepulchre, where orthodox Christians believe Christ was crucified, wrapped in the grave clothes, and buried. They believe all of that took place where the current church is located. The whole trip takes around two hours. While we were walking I started to get hungry so I started singing about being hungry, to the tune of whatever the crowd was singing, and the guy in front of us started laughing and turned around to ask where I was from. He said he could tell I was American from my song…because he was thinking the same thing hahaha. As it turned out he was from Alaska too, or sort of. He lived in Wasilla for 17 years. He was a pretty devout catholic and showed us all around the church and explained the significance and history of all the different rooms and what not. It was all very interesting, though I don’t know how much I believe it.

Sunday Elias’s father and I went early to the garden tomb (the tomb outside the city walls where most protestants believe that Christ was buried). They garden is run and maintained by an association from England, and they had a service at 6:30 in the morning, just as the sun begins to rise. There was about 1,500 people there. Almost all of them foreigners. The service was of course in English. It was actually pretty neat. The held services through out the day in a couple different languages. The last service was the Arabic service at 3:30, which we all went to. It also was pretty neat. There was not nearly as many people there, maybe 300 or so, but at least a hundred of them were foreigners. There were also a number of messianic Jews there. Unfortunately most of the service was translated into English. I mean it was good that it was translated so that the people could understand it…I just don’t like that everyone caters to the English language.

I would post pictures of the Tomb, but again, the internet is not cooperating with pictures...

Monday was more or less a normal day, so I stayed home and studied and practiced Arabic. That night we went to al-ram to visit relatives. It was a lot of fun. Now that I’ve been here so long I feel much more comfortable. There was a family visiting them from Germany. The father was originally from Jerusalem, but he converted to Christianity from Islam and left for Germany because it wasn’t safe any more. Now he is a missionary in Germany. He is not Baptist, but it was very interesting and helpful to speak with him.

Well, I don’t have much else to say. I come back to Alaska late Thursday/early Friday (right when brother Harbin leaves…) I am looking forward to coming back, even though it appears that it will only be for a short while. I miss every one up there. See you all soon.

Back From Jordan

Hey everyone, I know my posts are getting farther and farther apart, but that is because I am finding more and more to do. The beginning of the last week some of Elias' friends came to visit, one American guy who is studying with him in Germany and two Polish girls. So we spent a couple days going around Jerusalem and other parts of Israel. Until now I really haven't seen any of the 'tourist' sites in Israel. We went to Jericho and to the Dead Sea. It was quite interesting. Apparently you can go see the ancient walls of Jericho, but we didn't have time since it was quite a distance from the city. However, there were some other ruins that we were able to see, and learn about the history of the region. Also we saw the sycamore tree that Zachaius climbed up to see the Lord, or at least it is believed to be that tree.
Thursday we went into Jordan. The girls from Poland really wanted to go to Petra. I had planned on going to Jordan to visit a couple Universities, so it turned out well. Unfortunately schools in Jordan are closed on Friday and Saturday, so I had to go on Thursday, and I only had time to visit one of them. Elias' parents have a friend in Amman, so that is where we were staying. The University I went to was the University of Jordan, in Amman. It is a very large University, and one of the best in the Middle East. They have a very good Arabic program for teaching international students Standard Arabic. The program is a year long and quite intensive; 15 hours a week. I also checked at the Physics department to see whether I could help out there. The department chair said there is a possibility, but it would be unofficial, and I wouldn't be able to teach a class by myself, since the official language of instruction is Arabic. That University also has a masters program for physics, as well as a masters program for teaching physics, and a new program for medical physics...all of which may be useful for future residence in the middle east.
I was actually quite impressed with Jordan. It is a nice looking country, and seems pretty stable. But probably what caught my attention the most was how friendly the people were. I met a few people at the University who were quite helpful and very happy to meet an American who was interested in their language and culture. There was also a man at a donut shop who helped us very much with travel arrangements. He said that if I come back to Jordan to come see him and he would help me find a place to stay and what not.
Friday we went to Petra. It was incredible, I would try to describe it, but I don't think I could. You'll just have to wait to see the pictures. There are alot of bedouins who live in the area. Most of them work as shepherds, living a simple nomadic life. Most of the women make hand crafted trinkets and things to try and sell to tourists. I wonder how many people have tried to reach those people with the gospel...not very many I think. They live a very hard life. I wish you could have seen them, and looked into their eyes. Surely our Lord would have wept over them.
This is Easter week, and I hear that Jerusalem is pretty lively during this time. I guess there are alot of events commemorating the Passion Week. I don't think it makes any difference. Many of the Christians here have special celebrations and fasts during the Easter season. I would rather celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord every day of my life rather than a few weeks a year. Hopefully there will be a lot of people coming to the church.
OK, I've gotta get ready for church. I'll see you most of you in a couple weeks. I leave Israel the 14th and leave Germany the 18th. I'm not sure exactly when I arrive in Alaska, but probably some time on the 19th. Until then, everyone take care...

Noah

sorry, the internet is not cooperating with pictures, so you'll have to wait for pictures.