Seeking peace in the Holy Land (trip blog – part 1)
Hi Dojo readers!
I’m back from my trip to Israel/Palestine for the 2014 Christ At The Checkpoint Conference…and it was AMAZING.
Throughout the trip, I took many pics and video which I’m just now beginning to upload between de-jetlagging naps. You can see the pics HERE and I’ll be adding more in the coming days.
While I was there, I kept a journal at times (which is big for me since I’m not usually a journaler!) because I knew I wanted to remember things and write about them here on the blog when I got back. Due to the sensitivity issues surrounding travel throughout the West Bank/Palestine (Israeli security has been known to hassle people who visit Palestine and an Isreali official released a semi-threatening comment the day before the conference regarding people planning on attending), I decided to wait and write about the trip when I was back home rather than blog about it live.
So here are some of my reflections from my very first (but hopefully not my last!) trip to the Holy Land…
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3/9/2014 – On my flight to Philly from Charlotte right now. From there I’ll get on the nonstop overnight flight to Tel Aviv. Right now, the two teenage (or maybe college?) girls beside me have taken AT LEAST a half-dozen tilted-camera selfies…duckface and all. Nonstop duckface selfies and texting. I have no idea to whom, but I’m guessing their boyfriends. I can’t place their language, but it seems duckface has become a universal language among young women these days…unfortunately.
I also saw an article posted on Facebook from the Israel Post just before I got on the plane warning evangelicals to avoid CATC2014. Too late, I guess!
Looking forward to learning about life in Israel/Palestine firsthand since there’s so much political posturing, demonizing and propaganda on all sides. Lord, give me an open heart, open eyes & ears, Spirit-filled discernment, wisdom, favor in the eyes of those I meet and safe, smooth travel.
She just took another selfie.
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3/10/2014 – Arrived after 11 hours on the plane. No sleep. Watched “Chasing Mavericks” on the plane and the boy at the beginning TOTALLY reminded me of Davis (my nephew)! Great movie…but I’d rather watch it not sitting next to the engine of a jumbo jet.
I finally met my friend Paul, who’s also coming to the conference, on the plane. We’ve conversed a lot on Facebook over the past couple of years, but never in person. It was great having a voice to go with the face finally. We made it through customs at Ben Gurion Airport with no problems at all. They asked me what my father’s name is, that’s it.
A taxi driver named Wael was waiting for me at the exit holding a sign that said “Disicple Dojo.” He offered me a cigarette on the way to the car. As he was paying for parking, another taxi backed into us. The driver was on his cell phone. They gestured and yelled in Arabic, but no harm, no foul I guess.
On the drive to Bethlehem from Tel Aviv, I’m struck by how many cemeteries and graves are marked along the way. I was reading the apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees on the plane and we just drove right past the Memorial to the Maccabean Graves. There seems to be a heavy emphasis placed on honoring and making heroes of the dead in Israel, and for quite understandable reasons I guess.
Coming to the first traffic checkpoint now with machine guns and a guard tower. The libertarian in me cringes at the sight, I must admit. I’ve never been to a more militaristic country…though I’m sure that’s the intention that the government and IDF aim to convey to any would-be enemies.
The residential buildings are built in a way that evokes the terraced limestone hills they are surrounded by. But there seems to be less interest in architectural aesthetics and more on functionality and utilitarian needs. I wonder if any of it has to do with the communist/socialist influence stemming from early Zionist culture. Or is it common in other countries throughout the region as well?
Just entered Jerusalem. Gonna take some pics and soak in the visuals of this city I’ve read about all my life but never seen with my own eyes until now.
To be continued…
Categories: Blog, Global, Ministry, Political/Social issues