In the world but not of the world

Hello friends and family!

Just like the past 6 days, today was jam packed with hiking, bus rides, sermons, and sunburn. We started the day on a walk through the ancient city of Scytopolis. This city was breathtaking. Including 20 foot tall pillars, beautiful mosaic floors, bath houses, saunas, toilets and a theatre, this city displayed The more advanced building styles and technology of that time. At that time, Scytopolis was the cool place to hangout, and everybody wanted to be part of it. This city also offered many temptations just as any big city does today, and many people were pulled away from there faith seeking worldly pleasures. At this site, Mr. Schenck emphasized how we are to be in the world but not of the world. In our culture, everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes rather than what is right in Gods eyes. The world around us is filled with temptation and evil, and it is our job as Christians to impact the world around us for Christ rather than letting the world impact us.

Later in the day we hiked to Susita / Hippos, a city looking out on the Sea of Galilee. Here Mr. Schenck told the story of Jesus healing the demon possessed man named Legion (mark 5). After Jesus heals Legion, he tells the man to go to tell his family of what had happened. Usually Jesus tells his people to not share his miraculous acts ( the "Messianic Secret"), but in this instance, Jesus was performing this miracle in the land of the Gentiles.

Today was about 105 degrees. To give you an idea of how hot it is, I am sweating profusely just sitting here writing this. We took a break from the heat and visited a lush area of freshwater pools. In these pools were schools of fish that would eat the dead skin off your feet, maybe they were the same fish that ate dead skin off of Jesus' feet???

To end the day, we had the option to be baptized in the Jordan river. Being baptized is a very normal thing for someone to do, but it is very rare to get the chance to be baptized in the same place as Jesus did. Being baptized today was a reminder that our sins are continuously washed away by God's grace. Thank you for your prayers !

Harrison M.