Israel 2013 - Thoughts from Cile

I thought it might be good to hear from others on this trip, so tonight I've asked Cile to give her thoughts on the trip so far.  - John

Well, John asked if I’d write my reactions to our travels for days 1 and 2.  So far, I feel a great deal better now that I’ve showered and had dinner!  Yesterday morning began our journey of relatively uneventful traveling from Tampa to Newark to Tel Aviv.  It was, for me, a time of adjusting to the reality of what we’re doing…going to the Holy Land! Is this real? Am I really doing something I never even imagined I’d WANT to do?! Quite frankly, I’d never entertained the idea of going to the Holy Land because of all the conflict and safety issues associated with Israel-and I definitely never wanted to be a part of that kind of action!

The reality is that we’re safe and there’s no sense of danger here.  We landed at Ben Gurion airport and then went to Joppa along the coast. Joppa sort of reminded me of a much older St. Augustine, with its narrow alleyways, stone architecture, and a sense of history that can be felt.  As our tour guide, Ezra, said, “This is where heaven and earth touch.”  This is where Peter raised Tabitha from the dead and received the vision from God at Simon the Tanner’s house to share the gospel with the Gentiles - that’s you and me.  The Gentiles were the “unclean” ones to whom the Jews were to share the good news of Jesus Christ. So as I’m sitting here typing, I’m thinking, “who are the ‘unclean’ that I must share the gospel with?” Is there anyone that I’ve marginalized or am prejudiced against that needs the redemptive love of Christ? “Don’t call unclean what I have called clean,” God told Peter. “Don’t dismiss someone simply because they’re different from you,” God told me.  The love of Christ is far-reaching and powerful, I must not negate or minimalize it because of my preconceptions or biases.

From Joppa we went to Caesarea. At Caesarea, the grandeur of architecture built at the command of one who had deep pockets, inspired me to research ancient architecture and building methods when I get back home. Scale of the ruins, transportation of building materials, and architecture plans of this magnitude were awe-inspiring and thought provoking. And we also stood in the place where Paul made his appeal to go to Rome.  It’s a lot to take in.  Oh, and we drove by the Roman aquaduct (pictured), which is another amazing piece of ancient engineering.  Fascinating.

We are now back at Tel Aviv to spend the night.  As I reflect on the day, my words seem paltry and insufficient in comparison to my actual impressions.  They don’t adequately express what I was feeling and thinking earlier in the day and now as I try to share them with you.  I don’t have photos because I used up nearly all my cell phone battery playing spider solitaire on the plane coming over. Suffice it to say that tomorrow my phone will be fully charged and no games will be played so that I can take photos to upload and share with you.

Shalom.
Cile