We are to love God and to love people

Mount of Olives:
Rachel spoke to us overlooking Jerusalem in the morning. We read from Matthew 21 when crowds start to see Jesus for the first time. Death doesn’t win but God always does. As a group we said the first half of Philippians 2 and it was a good reminder of what we’ve memorized and the power and meaning behind those verses. Jesus is King over everything in our lives.

St. Anne’s:
Sam spoke to us at St. Anne’s but before we listened to her we went into the church and sang How Deep The Fathers Love For Us. We read from John 5 and talked about the Healing at the Pool. We are called to tell people about what Jesus has done for us. The Lord is pursuing all of us and that is a blessing.

This trip has been such a blessing and the Lord is present here in Israel. One thing that the Lord has taught me on this trip is that wherever I end up after Joshua and for the rest of my life, I know that He will be with me every step of the way. I’m thankful that I believe in a God that cares about and loves me.

Wesley Hill

Today we walked all the way to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The church currently has 6 different Christian denominations that use it. This is the place where they thought Jesus was anointed and prepared for burial. It was probably the busiest place we went to this whole trip. They also had a ladder that some guy long ago moved and they decided as a symbol to keep it to show that nothing can be moved without all 6 denominations agreeing. The ramparts were just a long trail that were used to defend Jerusalem. It overlooked David’s city. It was really cool to see the view and where people actually had battles. This final day in Israel has been a great one and I’m sad to go.

Matthew

While visiting the garden of Gethsemane, Tucker gave us a chance to reflect on our time in the Joshua Wilderness Institute and all the God has given us. Overlooking Jerusalem, I thought about how God brought me to Hume Lake, a quiet place where not much happens. God gave me a year in the forest, living life with a community that is continuously seeking after Jesus. Not only that, He gave me some of the simple things I have come to appreciate all the more after going through a couple years of college: A place to sleep at night, three meals a day, and most importantly a chance to every single day, open the word of God and read, study, and enjoy Scripture. And for all that and more, I am grateful.

The last place our class visited together was the Southern Steps of the Temple Mount. There, we sat down and looked out over the city of David. Bob got up and asked us this simple question, “ What are you going to do with this trip?” In essence, we have spent 11 days in Israel, drinking from a firehouse of information. But the whole point of the trip was not to gain information, but to walk through the holy land with God, to allow Him to work in our hearts and take the information we learn and make it a tool for remembering God.

That when we read our Bibles, we would see the characters and places come alive. We ended our time there with a recitation if the Shema. A reminder that we are to love God and to love people. Praise the Lord for our time here and the experiences Joshua got to share together. We hope we were able to share this all with you as well.

Kyle