Walking In the Footsteps of the Human God

Hi friends and family,

We know you all are anxious to read about our trip so far!  First of all - be relieved to know that we have all arrived to the Middle East safely!  8 of us took the route of MSP to Paris to Tel Aviv.  Christian and Reese took the scenic route through Toronto and Istanbul!

Travel has been mostly uneventful, filled with anticipation, and super fun to be together.  Our downers were the fact that Kate's suitcase didn't make it from Paris to Tel Aviv, and I (Sara) got very sick on that same flight.  I've always known that flying with little sleep was a bad combo for me, but this one hit me hard and I'm bummed that my entrance to Tel Aviv was a rather miserable one.  Do not fear - a good hard sleep has healed me.  (And I may not ever want to get on an airplane again - I hope they like me here in Israel/Palestine!)

The Mediterranean beach in Tel Aviv, just after Sunset on Friday.

Breakfast this (Saturday) morning at our hotel in Tel Aviv.

On our way to learn!

Today we met the rest of the TGIP (Global Immersion Project) contingents - a group from Arizona, a couple from San Diego, a grad student living in Jerusalem from Atlanta, our sweet roommate from Des Moines, a pastor from Oakland, a pastor from Pasadena, a young woman from Reno, and Jon, Jer, Catherine, and Jamie, from TGIP.

We were led through the Damascus Gate (with more small market shops than I have ever seen in my life) to the Old City of Jerusalem.  From there we went on the Ramparts Walk, which gave us an incredible view of the city, then to the Garden of Gethsemane and accompanying Porta Sancta church.  We had some incredible teaching by Jon at the top of the Mount of Olives that he ended with a devotional thought and question that is sure to keep us thinking as we return home.  The view in that moment and starting to process how we become Everyday Peacemakers at home is definitely one of the most poignant moments of the TGIP experience so far.

A view from Herod's Temple, at the beginning of the Ramparts Walk

Garden of Gethsemane

The boys on top of the Mount of Olives.

But our day wasn't done!  Before ending with a falafel and shawarma (chicken) dinner, we walked up to the Temple Mount, considered the "most holy site" of Jerusalem for Jews, Christians, and Muslims, past the Western Wall, and back out the Damascus Gate.  Betsy's fitbit said that we walked over 21,000 steps, 9 miles, and 91 flights of stairs!  What?!  Some of our brave souls even added to that with a 4 1/2 mile run this morning!  We have some tired bodies over here!

Personally, the part of the day that I have still been thinking about is the fact that at some point phrases from a song that a friend of mine has written started floating through my head, and I wasn't sure why.  While walking the sacred ground of the Garden of Gethsemane, they remained.

What walls would fall if love ruled our hearts?...

Have you loved with compassion?
Kept yourself from hate?
Have you loved like a Savior who gave it all?
Have you looked upon your neighbor with grace in your heart?
Do you know why the greatest is still love?

What stones would fall if love consumed our hearts
What words could lips find to speak?
What have we done to show the world God's love?
How have we worked for peace?

And then I saw this:

And that's kind of where I'm at.  This city is full of walls built by stone upon stone, and I just wish that we could see like Jesus saw and speak as he spoke, and love as he loved... I don't know if the question is, "how have we worked for peace?" as much as it is, "how will we work for peace?"

-Sara Lightbody