Echo loves Jerusalem

Coming to Jerusalem from Jordan, it has felt very much like home for some of us! In Israel we are able to dress like true "westerners" which is comfortable for us with the heat. A lot of us have love the diversity of the city, which reminds us more of home. It is interesting to see Muslims, Jews and Christians all walking around the city, most of whom are easily identified by the type of clothing they wear.

Being in Israel, the trip as has shifted gears to what we call "touring with a purpose". We are all going around to amazing sites, walking some of the very steps Jesus did, but also asking God to give is divine appointments so that we can be Jesus' hands and feet in his home town!

Our first night here, the night life was "hopping" and we ran into this amazing Korean group worshiping Jesus with all their hearts!

Today we hiked up the Mount of Olives and got to stand where it is prophesied Jesus will return. The hike up reminded some of us of the challenge of the Petra hike. One group got lost coming back down the mountain by some how going up hill TWICE.

Below is a picture of us standing on the Mount of Olives. All of old Jerusalem in the background.

We got to see the Garden of Gethsemane at the bottom of the mountain; what a powerful experience! The guys stopped to take a picture.

Many of us have fallen in love with Jerusalem, some in "like", but everyone is enjoying the experience!

The girls the first night we were here. After we got the best pizza in Jerusalem!

Today was a special day. Jim's shirt brought out the blue is our eyes :)

O Jerusalem

We have been in Jerusalem now for two days, but it seems like so much longer! Our hotel is right outside the "old city" gates. The view of the walled city is breathtaking. It is still hard to believe that Jesus actually walked these streets. So far we have seen the Stations of the Cross along the Via Delarosa, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Tower of David and the Mount of Olives. We also visited an international church last night. Pictures to come!

Petra

On Thursday the team headed out to Petra and on our way there we saw a beautiful sunset in the desert. We stopped to take the picture above. That night we stayed at CANDLElight hotel... on top of the hill. (get it?... "hid it under a bussle- NO!") First thing Friday morning we headed out to hike around Petra, to beat the crowds and the scorching heat. Each hotel room received a wake up call at 5:20 in the morning. Some hotel rooms had the treat of receiving more than one. The extra calls seemed to have fake arabic accents and said some strange things though ;)

Petra was breathtaking and amazing. The team had fun climbing the ancient ruins and some of us road up the mountain on donkeys. Jim Melf did the perfect Shrek impersonation and David Romseburg did a wonderful Donkey impersonation for everyone to enjoy.

Jen and Julie hanging for dear life and somehow it was caught on film!! (don't worry momma Pickar and momma Karr it was staged)

The Melf bros got a little tired from the heat and hiking at Petra so they took a short power nap on the ancient ruins.

After a long morning of hiking that at the end felt like death for some of us, we headed back to Amman to pack to leave for Israel. On the way back we got to see some awesome Jordanian sights exhibit A below. :)

A little team fun

The team took Hobbs (Calvin's toy tiger) hostage and gave a list of demands if we ever wanted to see him again. Calvin's caring parents, however, executed a sting operation to retrieve him.

A Site to See

We had some free time on Wednesday afternoon and were able to get out and about to see some sites in Amman.

The Lookout from the Citadel

David and Joe playing on the ancient ruins...don't worry, this was (mostly) safe and (altogether) legal. :-)

Jen and Julie falling...ah, er, jumping rather.

Our first team picture in front of the Roman Ampitheather

Another team pic after a nice meal at Wild Jordan.

Summer Sizzle comes to an end

Throughout the week we taught the kids about Moses's calling to lead the Israelites out of Egypt; we talked about the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, and the bronze serpent. The kids loved the skits and each day we were able to bring application about how it relates to what God has done for us.

Moses and his staff

Joann is helping with crafts. This is a water bottle filled with water and red glitter. It signifies how God turned the water to blood. When the kids shook the water bottle it turned red! They loved this one!

We taught the kids "Father Abraham". Our team had just as much fun as they did!

A group picture with all the leaders/helpers and all the kids.

A group picture of our team and our Iraqi counterparts. We developed a really great bond with them. Each day after Summer Sizzle we had lunch with them. On Thursday we had "Pita-Butter and Jelly" (PB&J on Pita bread). The Iraqis didn't love it. So on Friday they made us an Iraqi meal. It was delicious!

Summer Sizzle

We had a great time at summer sizzle yesterday. There were 31 kids in attendance. Praise God! That is less than half of what we had two years ago, but given the situation mentioned in yesterday's blog, we are overjoyed at the turn out. We hope to see attendance increase more and more each day.

Here David is narrating a skit explaining the call of Moses. Jim Melf is Moses.

The kids loved the skit!

We got to sing songs with the children and teach them hand motions.

The kids loved playing group games facilitated by our teams. Its amazing how competitive they are in this culture...even the adults are willing to cheat to win!

In the evening we did home visits. These visits tend to be the highlight of the trip for many of us. Last night my team visited an Iraqi family who has been in Jordan for about 4 months. The mother spoke perfect English. She was a high school English teacher in Iraq and said she learned her american accent from watching movies. Julie was really able to connect with her about her favorite TV show ER. The family had four girls, the youngest was about four months old (same age as Calvin). The father (an engineer) had been threatened while at work which is what led them to seek refuge in Jordan. He still has nightmares. The girls had no sense of joy or innocence. They seemed somber and scared. In fact, when their father told them some Americans were coming to visit they assumed we were troops. When they saw us though, they thought we were from the movies. It was extremely hot in their home, which was concrete with no furniture. Calvin was sweating. I can't imagine raising a baby there. My heart was filled with compassion for them. We were able to drop off some food and pray a blessing over them when we left. We invited the girls to Summer Sizzle. Please pray for this family and all of the others. Their story is not original. There are hundreds of thousands of refugees living in Jordan. Pray that God would use these hard times in their life for his glory.