Bri K

So I’ve heard that people have been checking the site only to find that I haven’t been writing–thank you!! The week has been hectic so finally i have a day off to sit down and share a few of the highlights from this week. I’ve been here for about 6 days and here’s a bit of what these days have held…

First, I’ve connected with some awesome people and felt at peace in the city right away. I’m really enjoying the people here. YAY! I can’t upload pictures from my camera because of the file size, but i hope to get some help from friends with other cameras and get some pix up on here soon! Here’s a great one below. You can’t really tell, but we were standing at a lookout onto a valley that was comparable to the bright green vegetation of Oregon–not what I pictured in Israel at all!

Chris, Liz, Bethany, Brooke, me & Adam

On the same day that pic was taken (an 11 hour day) we went into agricultural land and also high, ashy, rolling desert hills that look like the Sahara. It was amazing to get a feel for the vast climate zones within the small region and brought new life to Scriptures passages such as the Good Samaritan (probably 110 degrees in the valley in which Jericho sits after descending huge, steep, bone dry mountains coming from Jerusalem I was actually freaking out a bit. You should have seen this road–narrow and crazy windy and the driver was acceloratng in and breaking out. I was sitting in the very back diving over to the other side when i felt like i was hanging over the cliff and going to plummet to the thousands of miles below. Fun memory!

Here’s some other fun events or observations from my week:

• Seeing the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, arguably the place of Solomon’s temple, now under control of the Muslim’s

• Praying at the Western (Wailing wall) looking forward to redemption and restoration.

• Walking through Hezekiah’s aqueduct. (This was definitely a highlight for me and so much fun. There were points where i was bent at the waist or up to my knees in water in a passage way not much wider than me. Phenomenal adventure in what would have been pitch black without flashlights!)

• Stopping on the desert mountains outside of Jericho and seeing the kibbutz communities–beautiful even in barrenness.

• Being in the Old City for a special light spectacular!

• Getting lost in the Old City with a bunch of friends on our second night!

• Sitting on the rooftop of the school with friends and getting some great pictures at sunset!
  

  Jumping off the ledge of the roof onto the rooftop for a fun silhouette pic!

• Going to the Garden of Gethsemane yesterday morning and sitting in the church next door with people from many nations as James, one of the guys in our group, was allowed to play some hymns on the organ.

• Going to Bethleham and seeing it today as a run-down town on the side of the hills, plastered with English store signs, catering to tourism.

• Seeing ruins of Herod’s residence and his huge network of cisterns built into one of the hills.

• Sitting at a cafe called Aroma for 3 hours this morning finally getting a reprieve with my first cup of coffee since I left and a yummy croissant. This is definitely my favorite cafe in the world–overlooking the city. It’ll be my new place and I’ll definitely post a picture at some point!

Thank you all again for all of your love, prayers and notes of encouragement! I’d like to give a special shout-out to my dad since it’s Father’s Day. Thank you again dad, for continually releasing me into the Lord’s hands! I love you!