Greetings from the Valley of Elah!

Today we went to a few different places on the Shephelah. We took a short bus ride over to Kiriath-Jearim. Once there, we broke up into bus groups to explore the area with our guides Ronen and Ronen. We saw a watch tower, an oil press (gat shemen in Hebrew), and a wine press along with a few more things needed or used in an ancient Jewish village. After that, we went to Bet Shemesh where Samson compromised on his Nazirite vow. Our group had a chance to escape the rain by entering into a cistern where Rich spoke. After coming out of the cistern, we went down to Azekah and hiked up this large hill which looked over the valley of Elah. Craig Hill taught on the battle where David fought Goliath. We had our own chance to go down to a river bed and pick up some small smooth stones. From there, we made our way over to the Bell Caves. As a group we sang “How Great Is Our God.” It was amazing to hear all of our voices together praising God. After the bell caves, we had lunch and then went into a burial cave and walked down and through a few underground basements which have steps carved out of stone, one room leading into another. Our last area of the day was Lachish where Craig and Rich taught on how God is our vinekeeper. I learned a lot about how God provided for his people, and how his people would wander away and return to Him.

– Cati Neely

My words can do nothing compared to what I see and feel. The soil sinks beneath our feet in compliment to the storms today, white doves fly over green fields, vineyards cover the valleys. We can feel the sunshine on our faces, and we can smell fresh rain. At our first stop, I was overwhelmed with the presence of God. When we learned that the Ark of the Covenant sat at the top of the hill across from where we stood, it became real to me that we were in God’s Holy Land. Picking up stones in Azekah where David chose his stones for his battle with Goliath, along with walking through the underground city of Bet Guvrin brought the Old Testament to life. Craig Hill taught us how to use what we’ve seen to put a scale to our imagination when reading the Scriptures. At Beth Shemesh, Joey Webb taught about how Samson made compromises all throughout his life even though he had taken the Nazirite vow. So often one compromise, or sin, leads to another and after a while we don’t notice God’s presence anymore because we were so caught up in the sin that felt so right. It is in our weaknesses that God strengthens us. At Lachish we learned to be like a “city on a hill” (Matthew 5:14). Lachish is at the top of a hill that you can see from miles away. People run to it because it holds goodness: protection, nourishment, defense, etc. We who believe in Christ Jesus are filled with the Holy Spirit. Therefore we should live a life through which people are drawn to our goodness that comes from God.

– Laura Fairbanks

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