The Jordan River in North Israel
A view from Mt. Gerazim
This is a guest post by rising sophomore stud Landon Dermott:
Have you ever put your mouth on a fire hydrant? Me neither. But I imagine it would be much like the time we have been having here in the Middle East. There is so much to be experienced spiritually, in knowledge, and in experience. And we are receiving it all at an unbelievably high rate. I always felt like this would be such a wasteful thing to attempt to drink from a fire hydrant—so much water would be wasted. However, this is exactly how the Lord is giving to us here. Abundantly. Our cup is full and it is running over. And we can’t wait for more.
Yesterday someone said, “It seems like our cell reception is better here. We can hear way more from God.” And this is true, but we also know that the Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So the difference is left to us. And it couldn’t be more true. There is something unique happening in each heart and life here as we are walking in the places that Jesus did, and places with so much biblical significance and rich history. And the greatest thing about it? So many folks are taking it home together!
The theme of this trip is yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The goal is that we would all learn about the events of yesterday (the past), the people and culture of today, and what we can do to change tomorrow for ourselves and others because of all we learn. And that is what we are doing. We are learning the history at sights such as Mount Carmel, Megiddo, Jacob’s Well, Jericho, Bet’shean where we learned about that city’s struggle with the temporary things of this world, the Jordan river where many were baptized, Jericho, and the Mount of temptation. But the learning does not end there. We also went to a small city called Zababdeh and spent time with the people there. Everyone spent the day and night with a host family. Many found this to be one of their favorite parts of the trip so far—learning the culture of fellow followers of Jesus across the globe and connecting with them in a way many never would have imagined! And lastly, each night we have been getting together and sharing with each other our favorite things and discussing how we can let what we learn and experience on this trip not just be here, but be things we take home with us.
Our hearts are full. We have been drinking from a fire hydrant. But we can’t wait for more!
Don’t forget to check social media for our hashtag #jmuISRAELyhere and starting soon for the rest of our trip #JMUintheholYLand