Wadi Qilt, Jericho, Nebi Samwil, Gezer 20 FEB

On Saturday, February 20th, we went on a "Physical Settings" field study trip to the area of Benjamin and Ephraim which includes Wadi Qilt in the Judean desert of the West Bank, Jericho of OT and NT, Nebi Samwil, and ended the day at Gezer.

The wilderness is a vast, beautiful place. But I wouldn't want to travel it by foot . . . or spend the night out there! (Gen 49:27) A Wadi is the channel of a watercourse (we would call it a deep valley or canyon) that is dry except during periods of rainfall. Jerusalem is on the western ridge and has rainfall of approx 24" per year while Jericho less than 15 miles to the east gets only 2". The Wadi Qilt is very deep and a barrier to traffic both foot and vehicular. Travelers must trek alongside it rather than cut across it. This is what Jesus and the disciples would have done traveling from Jericho to Jerusalem. This is probably the area Jesus was referencing in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Needless to say very rough, rugged, desolate, and foreboding terrain.

We then went to New Testament Jericho and visited the site of another Herodian palace. Herod the Great was quite innovative. Here he had the bricks laid in a diamond pattern, making it more sound. He also had a bridge built to span the Wadi Qilt for when waters were on the rise.

We arrived Old Testament Jericho (Joshua Chapter 6) at high noon, and it was very hot. The group, including Nat, went into the site where he saw the excavated remains of the oldest known building, a pre-pottery Neolithic A (8500-7500 BC) tower...see pic. I opted to sit in the shade of a palm tree, amid all the other tourists. I had my sunglasses on and was resting my head on a large clay pot watching the world go by, but apparently looking as though I was napping. A group of Chinese tourists decided to take one another's photo next to me. This happened to me once before on a bench seat across the street from the Garden of Gethsemane. That time it was a group of young Asian guys who weren't shy at all about sliding in next to me for a photo op. I'm not sure what it is about me, but they sure do find me fascinating! Perhaps they think me a rare Israeli antiquity?

We then went to Nebi Samwil (City of Samuel and traditionally the site of his tomb but probably not accurate inspite of the highway roadsign!). It is a Palestinian village just north of Jerusalem. We climbed atop a building which serves as both a synagogue and a mosque! From the roof we could see Jerusalem (City of David) and City of Saul (and other locales). We sat and listened, using our imaginations, as Dr. Wright read about Joshua and the Israelites and all of the chases & battles that took place below us. From this same vantage, it was amazing to see how close in proximity the two capitols of Saul & David were.

Our last stop was at Gezer to see the remains and one of Solomon's six chambered gates, which had been excavated by JUC students and staff (in the 1970's, I think). The surrounding hill country of Ephraim/Benjamin was absolutely lush and green with panoramic views of Tel Aviv and the Mediterranean.

We also saw some large upright stones. Archeologists suggest that the stones represent a treaty between the city of Gezer and nine other Canaanite city states. Rituals related to a treaty between these cities were probably performed here. Amid them was an altar. But what was important to the students? Who can climb up to the top of one faster . . . the girls or the boys!

Shalom y'all

Thirty-five years ago today . . . . .

I grew up in a very loving family, though not particularly religious. I doubt that anyone would have denied God's existence, and my two sisters & I were taken to Sunday School, but we just didn't talk about Jesus or discuss Christianity. And the huge Bible which would have provided everything we needed to know sat unopened on the living room shelf . . .

I was a rebellious teenager, and continued to make bad choices into my young adult life. One day a very good friend, Ann, told me that she had re-dedicated her life to Christ . . . huh???? And she expended a tremendous amount of time trying to convince me that I needed Him in my life, too. My response, "I'm glad for you, but it's just not for me."

One Friday afternoon . . . specifically February 21, 1975 I was finishing up my day as a secretary with the utility company in Corpus Christi, Texas. I was reading the newspaper and a very small public notice in the classified section caught my eye: "Gardendale Baptist Church will present the film The Rapture tonight at 7pm". Well, Ann had told me about this mysterious catching away of Christians and I thought, "Wow! If they can capture this on film I want to see it!" So, I called Ann and asked if she had any plans that evening. She coolly replied, "No, whatcha got in mind?" When I asked if she wanted to see the film with me, she said sure and asked what time she could pick me up. I told her I would meet her at the church, because I wanted my own car to attend a party afterward (I knew she wouldn't want to go to this particular party).

I met her in the church foyer and as we entered the sanctuary she said, "Hey, there are two seats in the middle of this row. Okay with you?" It was great with me because it was close to the back of the church! So we made our way in and sat down in time for the film to begin. It really wasn't very good. In retrospect, how do you capture such an event anyway? When it ended, a visiting evangelist spoke. I don't remember anything he said, but God was closing in on me! At the close of his message, the evangelist said, "I don't always do this, but I want to ask a question . . . If you were to die when you leave tonight, and you know for certain you will go to Heaven, I want you to stand up." I was caught! There I was sitting next to Ann. I had told her, repeatedly, that her "religion" wasn't for me. If I stood, I was a liar. And as most around me stood, I remained seated and for the first time felt something I had never heard of or felt before. Conviction.

The evangelist asked that those who remained seated make their way to the front for prayer. It was as if I didn't even feel my legs take me from the middle of that row, down the aisle, to the altar. In retrospect, I appreciate God's sense of humor in dealing with my pride issue. It would have been a much easier and closer walk had I not been sitting all the way in the back of the church! I knelt down, trying to decide what to say. The only two prayers I knew to date were "Now I lay me down to sleep" and "God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for this this food." Neither seemed to apply. So I said, "God, Ann says you are real and that she has a personal relationship with you. If this is true, I believe I need you in my life because nothing else seems to be working for me." I opened my eyes to realize that I was the only adult kneeling at the altar. There I was with about dozen small children who had come to give their hearts to Jesus. To his credit, the evangelist came to me and asked if we could talk for a few minutes. We went to a side pew where he went through some scriptures with me, explaining my need for a saviour, and prayed with me again. Something else I had never felt before . . . Peace.

We went to Ann's mother's home after the service (I completely forgot about the party I was to go to). I found out that early that morning, Ann's mother "Molly" called her, "Would you like to believe God for a miracle today?"

Ann, "Sure. What's up?"

Molly, "I just read in the newspaper that Gardendale Baptist Church is showing a film on the rapture tonight. Let's pray that Shirley will want to go."

Ann, "Okay! I'll call her and ask her."

Molly, "That's not a miracle. Let's pray and believe that she'll want to go without prompting." Well, you can imagine Ann's surprise when I called her at 4:45 that afternoon asking if she wanted to go see the film.

There I sat that night in Molly's living room experiencing something else for the first time . . . pure, unadulterated joy! After a short while, people began showing up I had never met before. I found out that Ann and these people had been gathering two nights a week for the past year praying for my salvation. Ann had called them and told them to be at the church that night to continue to pray. They arrived early and sat in a way to form a "prayer circle" in the pews, with two seats available in the middle. God and Ann knew I would want to sit in the back!

I have stayed in touch with Ann & Molly over these years. Her little sister, Susan, and I are now best friends. She was part of the "conspiracy", too, and I'm forever grateful to the Bludworth Family. And I'm glad to say that everyone in my family are now Christians, too. God just needs a seed . . .

Today is Sunday and here I am in Jerusalem (who would have guessed). It's been a wonderful day as Nat & I attended Christ Church and I've reflected on these 35 years since that Friday in Corpus Christi, Texas. So much has happened since I walked that aisle and gave my heart to Jesus! Those little children who prayed alongside me that night would be young adults now. I hope their journey with the Lord has been as meaningful as mine. I'll ask them someday . . . soon I think. Because He who called me is faithful.

"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city . . . The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life . . . He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon."
Revelation 22

"Let us rejoice and be glad, and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given to her to wear. Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.
Revelation 19:7-8

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Got your robe washed?

Shalom y'all
Shirley

Mt. of Olives, Herodian & Bethlehem, 13 FEB

Mt. of Olives, Herodian & Bethlehem

Part of our semester duties is to prepare bus lunches for the field study trips. And since we get to particpate in the "Physical Settings" class trips . . . we made enough for us, too! We got up early last Saturday, 13 Feb, and prepared breakfast for everyone. Yehye served those students who were not going on the trip, and cleaned up for us. We joined the class and walked to the Jaffa Gate where we boarded at 7am and started our study on nearby Mt. of Olives, where we ourselves had been before. On this trip we visited the Greek Orthodox Church with it's impressive goldplated onion domes, which we only saw from a distance on our earlier trek to the Mount (see pics on earlier Mount of Olives post).

We learned from Dr. Wright that what we see does not necessarily always line up historically. For instance, what we originally thought was Absalom's Pillar is actually a tomb for a temple priest, and the traditional site of the Garden of Gethsemane is probably not the spot where Jesus prayed. The grove of olive trees at this site are at most only 800 years old, as the originals would have been utilized along with all other area trees as firewood during the Roman siege in 70AD. But nothing changes biblical facts. We do know that Jesus did spend much time on the Mt. of Olives, and he did pray somewhere up there before being betrayed by Judas, arrested by the Romans, and taken across the Kidron Valley to Jerusalem for trial. Local and church tradition, we see now, are always to be questioned.

We went to Herodian (Herodium), one of perhaps as many as twelve palaces commissioned and built by King Herod the Great. Most were built from 20-10BC (industrious fellow) in locations such as Caesarea (including a port formed by a seawall which he was told would be an "engineering impossibility;" the guy really liked a challenge), on the coast of the Mediterranean, on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, in Jericho, and on the mountain fortress of Masada. We are eagerly anticipating our trip there.

Herodian is a very impressive site. It has a breathtaking view overlooking the Judean Desert and the mountains of Moab (now in Jordan) to the east, and the Judean Hills to the west. It was built in two separate areas, each with a distinct function: a circular fortress, including an elaborate palace, surrounded by a wall with towers on top of the hill; and Lower Herodium, in the plain to the north, with a group of royal buildings around a large pool.

The combination of fortress and palace is a uniquely Herod innovation, which he repeated on Masada. At Herodian, a circular palace-fortress was constructed on top of a hill, which rises almost 200 feet above its surroundings. The outer walls measure about the same in diameter. The fortification was originally about 100 feet high, with seven stories. Two of these stories were underground foundations, strengthened with barrel-vaulted ceilings, and the superstructure of five stories was considerably higher than the palace courtyard. Wooden ceilings separated the stories, which were used for storage and as quarters for soldiers and servants. Huge towers projected from the walls on all four sides. The eastern tower (the largest) was a massive, round tower on a solid stone base and measured approximaely 60 feet in diameter. It had several upper stories with elaborate rooms, probably for the use of the royal entourage. This eastern tower rose above the entire fortress, its roof commanding a panoramic view; it also served as a hiding place in times of danger. There is a current archeological dig in progress because Herod's tomb was discovered in Herodian in 2007.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/Herodian1.html

On our drive to Bethlehem, we passed through the area where Naomi & Ruth would have moved to after Naomi's husband and two sons died (one being Ruth's husband). We stopped and took a few photos at a threshing floor, not unlike the one where Boaz & Ruth "met".

In Bethlehem, we visited the Church of the Nativity where Dr. Wright says is very probably an accurate location for Jesus' birthplace. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Nativity

Once inside the church, we followed the crowd into the "grotto" where a silver star marks the spot. Israelis are not allowed in Palestinian controlled Bethlehem since the second intifida which began in September 2000. In mid 2002, Israel built a long, 25 ft. high concrete wall separating it's capital Jerusalem from Bethlehem. Israeli's call it a security wall to prevent suicide bombings and terror attacks. Palestinians call it the apartheid wall. We can see it from Mt. Zion. We didn't have much time to sightsee this day, so Nat & I plan to return soon on our day off. We'll catch Bus #21 at the Damascus Gate and it will drop us off at the checkpoint entrance to Bethlehem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Intifada has a photo of the wall. We were not allowed to take any pictures as we passed through Israeli security on our return to Jerusalem from Bethlehem. My, my how things have changed since the Prince of Peace was born in that little town.

We do wonder if Joseph & Mary stopped for a "Stars & Bucks" latte on their way to the inn?

Shalom y'all

Shabbat Dinner & Vespers 05 FEB

Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from sundown Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact time, therefore, differs from week to week and from place to place, depending on the time of sunset at each location.

Shabbat recalls the biblical creation account in Genesis, describing God creating the heavens and the earth in six days, and resting on and sanctifying the seventh. Shabbat is considered a festive day, when a person is freed from the regular labors of everyday life, can contemplate the spiritual aspects of life, and can spend time with family. For this reason, many Jewish places of business shut down for these 24 hours. Traditionally, three festive meals are eaten . . . on Shabbat-eve, at lunch, and as an end-of-Shabbat evening meal. The day is also noted for those activities which are prohibited on Shabbat prescribed by Rabbinic Judaism, but not all Jews follow these categories.

Meals begin with a blessing over two loaves of bread (lechem mishneh), usually a braided challah (only baked for Shabbat), which is symbolic of the double portion of manna God gave the Jewish people on Preparation Days during their time in the desert after the exodus from Egypt. It is customary to serve meat or fish, and sometimes both, for Shabbat eve dinner and Shabbat lunch. The third meal, eaten late Shabbat afternoon, is called Seudah Shlishit (literally, "third meal"). This is generally a light meal and may be dairy.

JUC has its own tradition to honor the Jewish Shabbat. Last Friday night everybody involved with the campus dressed up a little and gathered in the dining room which had been transformed into a beautiful place for the "family" to gather. All of the tables were covered with white linen cloths and each had fresh cut flowers lying on the table, two candles (to be lit by the "mother"), a braided challah, & communion cups. Dr. Wright led us in reciting traditional scriptural prayers for the men, women & children. The challah was passed and we had communion together. Then we went upstairs where Ronnie & Tamer had prepared a delicious chicken dinner.

After dinner, we all moved to the auditorium for praise & worship. Each week, someone will give a brief testimony or devotional which serves two purposes. It encourages the community, and gives us an opportunity to know one another a little better. Last Friday our cousins, Tim & Abby, told us a bit of each of their lives growing up in Christian families. Back and forth, they told us their individual testimonies of coming together when they met, fell in love, married and began their journey with the Lord . . . first with Samaritan's Purse in Indonesia, then on here to JUC for further study & training. It was a beautiful story of two people we would love even if they weren't family!!! We also got to celebrate Abby's birthday this past Wednesday!

Now it's Friday again and as the sun sets slowly in the west . . . in the MidEast . . . we'll gather for Shabbat dinner & vespers. Tomorrow, after early breakfast, we'll go with Dr. Wright and the Physical Settings class on a field study day trip to Mt. of Olives, Bethlehem & Herodian (built by guess who).

Shabbat shalom y'all

St. Anne's Cathedral...note the acoustics!

Old Testament Jerusalem

Old Testament Jerusalem

New Testament Jerusalem

New Testament Jerusalem

Walk Around Jerusalem

One of the benefits of our coming to JUC is the opportunity to audit classes. In other words, we get to enjoy selective lectures and go on many of the field studies with the students. While our kitchen duties won't allow us to attend Dr. Wright's "Physical Settings" class, we do get to go on all of the trips. The first two were the past two Sundays . . . a walk around Old Testament and New Testament Jerusalem. Much imagination is necessary when attempting to go back in time.

Where JUC is situated, and the walled in Old City we have been visiting for over a month now, is New Testamant Jerusalem. This is where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Dome of the Rock (Temple Mount), Western "Wailing" Wall, Via Dolorosa, and the four inhabited quarters are (Jewish, Christian, Armenian, & Muslim). The walls surrounding were built, and rebuilt, during the Crusader, Byzantine, and Ottoman periods.

It's debated whether Jesus was crucified and buried at the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (CHS) or the Garden Tomb outside the northern wall (which we have not visited yet). Dr. Wright says he is not certain if there is enough evidence to place these events at the site of the CHS but he is certain it is not the Garden Tomb. CHS is very ornate, with Greek Orthodox & Catholic icons, candles and burning incense. While we were there, a procession of singing priests were "making their rounds" throughout the interior. Interestingly, during the Ottoman Empire the reigning Turk stepped into a squabble and gave the key to the church to a Muslim family. To this day, it is a member of this family who unlocks and locks the doors each day. You can imagine how demeaning this is to the Christian community. There are actual rooms upstairs where only Catholics can stay overnight. They are austere and available through prior arrangement. The clincher . . . once the door is locked at night, it remains so until 5am the next morning. A story has circulated that an overnight "guest" suffered a heart attack in the night, and they could not get him out! But, whether Jesus died and was buried here or the Garden Tomb, I can't say for sure. I'm just glad that wherever it was . . . it's empty!!!

Old Testament Jerusalem is the "City of David", which is outside the current Old City walls descending sharply down southward to the intersection of the Kidron and Hinnom valleys nestled between high hills all around including the Mt of Olives to the north and east. The City of David begins outside the Old City southern wall, directly across the Kidron Valley from Silwan village (a volatile area which Dr. Wright cautioned us to avoid). There are no identifiable remains of David's palace only foundations and retaining walls suitable for previous large buildings. The area today does not reflect where one would expect royalty to abide but it was most probably chosen by David because the valley is where the water flowed and collected (water is life in this area... even to this day). Also it was an established city of the Canaanites who where conquered by one of David's mighty men, Joab. (Next to Damascus, Jerusalem is the longest continuously inhabited city in the world.) It was a productive agricultural area at the time, and we saw the site where the King's Garden would have been at the base of the hill. You can well imagine the psalmist when he sang:

"I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD who made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people from this time forth and forever. Psalm 125:2

We walked through a portion of Hezekiah's Tunnel on the dry pathway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezekiah_Tunnel Water still flows through, and visitors can wade through its entire length as long as you don't mind water up to your calves, tight spaces, and you carry a flashlight. We may do this when temperatures in Jerusalem reach 100 degrees in the summer.

And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? II Kings 20:20

And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem, he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city and they did help him. So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?" II Chronicles 32:2-4

This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. II Chronicles 32:30

Next, we went to the Pool of Siloam (keys also held by an old Muslim man). New discoveries are being made at this site since 2004, including steps which ascend/descend from the temple site to the pool. Jesus most probably walked these same steps and directed the man born blind to go there after putting the mud salve on his eyes.

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man." "How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded. He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see." "Where is this man?" they asked him. "I don't know," he said. John 9:1-12

There are also recent discoveries of Roman coins, which a young man was eager to show us.

We looked at a painted mural which depicts what the pool would have looked like in Jesus' day. That concluded our morning of discovering the City of David or Old Testament Jerusalem.

After lunch at JUC, we then began a "discovery" of the New Testamant Jerusalem. We entered the current Old City through the Dung Gate, past the Western (Wailing) Wall, through a museum to the entrances of Herod's temple. We sat on the steps where the apostle Paul reportedly sat as a student of Gamaliel.

The Western (Wailing) Wall receives the most pubic notoriety but we were impressed with the extension of this wall, uncovered after 1967, especially the southeast corner. The "pinnacle" of the temple was the highest place among the royal colonnade built by Herod within the area of the temple. Here at the base of the temple mount wall the stones are massive. We photographed one, estimated to weigh over 250 tons, but others are estimated to weigh 500 tons! We walked past some which were hurled down by soldiers of the Roman Legion after the destruction of the temple on the 9th Day of the month of Av in 70AD. The recently uncovered stone slab pavement of the street reflects the impact of the huge stones cast down.

Some believe the distance from the top of the pinnacle to the pavement below to have been seven hundred feet. It was from here that the priest watched, waiting for dawn, to give the silver trumpet signal for beginning the services of the day where he summoned his waiting brethren beneath to offer the morning sacrifice. This is where Satan enticed Jesus:

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.' " Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' " Matthew 4:5-7

Next we visited St. Anne's Church and the Pool of Bethesda, both within the Muslim Quarter. The Church of St. Anne is a beautiful 12th-century Crusader church, erected over the traditional site of the birthplace of Anne (Hannah), the mother of Mary (again, using your imagination). The architecture is captivating, because it is purposely designed with "flaws" . . . opposing windows, columns, & moulding with just the slightest difference in design to reflect that we, too, are flawed and only made perfect when united with our Creator.

Saint Anne's acoustics, designed for Gregorian chant, are so perfect that the church is virtually a musical instrument to be played by the human voice with a 7 second echo. Pilgrim groups come to sing in the church throughout the day and only religious songs are permitted. One of our students (appropriately named Melody) led us in singing a couple of songs . . . truly beautiful!

Is this truly the site of Mary's mother's home? We don't know, but it is fun to imagine young Jesus visiting his grandmother on this spot. For thirty plus years would He have passed a crippled man nearby at the crowded Sheep Gate, near the Bethesda Pool?

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. John 5:1-8

Our last stop was at the Austrian Guest House on the Via Dolorosa, where we were allowed to climb to the rooftop and watch the sunset over New Testament Jerusalem. It remains very eery to hear the muzzein's call to prayer from the many Muslim minnarets throughout the Old City. One in particular began right next to the guest house. We looked in the window, expecting to see a bearded Muslim in a robe singing/leading the ritual prayers. Instead we saw a plain clothed fella holding a microphone in his right hand, standing casually with his left hand resting in his pants pocket. Could just as easily been on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour (and lost if based on quality & pitch). But he was pleased to let us watch, throwing back the window curtain for a better view. One of our students, Todd, remarked,"Hey, where do I sign up for that?"

A great day with a great bunch of kids in a great city with a great teacher! We walked this past Sunday from 7am to 6pm. After dinner, it was a quick "spit bath" and bedtime. Because the alarm was set for 5:15am to prepare breakfast and lunch again.

Shalom y'all