A month ago I wrote you concerning the events leading up to my departure for Israel. This month I hope to let you know what I have been doing in the past two months since I have arrived. I have learned many things, though in ways I did not imagine or anticipate. I came with visions of Jerusalem as being a place where spiritual life is something that just comes naturally, but I have found that spiritual maturity comes through daily reverence to the Father, and that can be experienced just as well in Waxhaw, North Carolina as it can in Jerusalem. Not to say, though, that I have not learned things here in ways I could not anywhere else. There is no place like Jerusalem. I recommend you all come here at some point.
I am currently enrolled in a 13-hour course load with 4 classes. I am taking Physical Settings of the Bible, Introduction to the Modern Middle East, Archeology of Jerusalem, and Ancient Egyptian History. Physical Settings has proven to be my favorite so far, in this class we travel extensively throughout the biblical world, sometimes taking us out of the country, to hear about the Bible in its original location. The professor is a big geology buff, so we always know what kind of rock we are standing on at any given moment. For this class location is key. As the professor says, "Studying the Bible without its geography is like playing Monopoly without the board." So far we have studied Jerusalem, Benjamin, Judah, the Wilderness, Shephelah, and Galilee. A trip to the Negev/Country of Jordan/Dead Sea is planned for the end of November. I am particular excited to see Petra, being a huge Indiana Jones phanatic.
My Middle Eastern class is pretty interesting, and it is taught by the son of the man who founded the Israeli Massad (Israel's intelligence agency). He is a former spy himself. Needless to say he has a real handle on what is going on here in the Mid East. Our grade for the class is taken from a single ten-page single-spaced paper. Israeli schools do not mess with that double-spaced nonsense like Americans, I guess. I am doing my paper on the Six Day War, which has fascinated me for years, and I am finding that the Zahal (Israeli Army) is pretty awesome, and will give any aggressor a run for their money, both Eastern and Western.
Archeology of Jerusalem is a handful to say the least. The professor is the biggest brain who ever lived, being one of the leading archeologists of all time. He has been intimately involved in almost every excavation since the 60's, and knows the first, second, third, fourth, etc. name of every archeologist who ever worked here. He knows where they graduated from, and he knows the day of the month of the year that they began and completed their excavations. He knows every rock in the city. Further he expects us to know all of it for his final exam from which our entire grade is taken. This is somewhat concerning.
Ancient Egyptian History shines a ray of light on the situation, however, as the two exams are both open book, and I am really interested and liking the class. Also there is a required field trip at the end of the semester...to Egypt. We are planning on seeing basically everything there is to see there including the pyramids at Giza, the Thebes West Bank, The Temple at Karnak, etc. The dates for the trip are December 6-13.
This light schedule has afforded me a lot of free time to go exploring in the country. I spend a lot of time exploring the Old City finding new things to see, doing some excavations for antiquities of my own (which I just found out is illegal), going on long hikes out into the Judah Shephelah where I am convinced is the most beautiful country in the world, and any number of new and exciting things. I am truly blessed to be here.
For my field education requirement at CIU I am teaching English to some Gypsy (Domari) children in the Muslim Quarter. Every Tuesday we go for a couple hours to play games and teach the children. I am really enjoying it. I have bonded with a little boy named Yasser there whom I am really burdened to help out. As I seek guidance in what to do, I just love on him as much as I can in the little time we have each week. The whole Domari community is very poor to the point that they cannot afford to send their children to school. Most of them grow up illiterate, and furthermore are written off by the Israeli government. There is no real way for the community to advance at all because of this. This may not be possible, and the idea just came to mind, but if any individual or church would like to give a donation or set up a fund to help these children go to school or provide the community with things they need, then write to me at [email protected] for more information, and I will start talking on this end to see what I can do.
Several nights a week I go and hang out with some Jewish guys who have befriended me. They are attending a school to study Torah in the Jewish Quarter. They are all great guys, and they consider me a brother. They call me Rabbi because I am currently sporting a beard. Over the past few weeks I have been able to get into conversations with them about our views of the Messiah. They consider Christians to be polytheist since we worship Mary and Jesus as divine. After our conversations most of them seem pretty excited to know that we do not worship Mary, and after explaining the oneness of Father and Son they seem to understand where we are coming from. They have difficulty with the conception of Jesus in the womb since they do not think God would come down and physically impregnate a human. After explaining that it was a miracle (like Moses parting the Red Sea) it helped them to understand. It has been encouraging to see how open they are to talking about these things in light of their beliefs. I pray that through our friendship that the Spirit would work to reveal to them that their Messiah has already come and delivered them. I ask that you would be praying for this as well. One of my friends has already been kicked out of the school for spending time with us, so this is more serious then I first thought. I will include a list of things you could be praying for at the end of this letter.
I will include pictures of my Jewish friends and the Domari community as soon as I can.
These are the basics of what I have been doing here. I am really enjoying my experience, and I am very thankful that I am able to be here. Thank you all for you continued prayers and support!
Prayer requests:
* Continued spiritual growth and maturity
* Sensitivity to God��s guidance
* Peace for Jerusalem and the state of Israel
* Provision for the Domari community
* Movement of the Spirit among my Jewish friends
* Overall safety
Sincerely,
Stephen James
"Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!"
Previous Newsletters Homepage
Other Essays