| my ears had heard, but now my eyes have seen... it was an experience of a lifetime to set foot on the holy land seven years ago...tracing Jesus' footsteps, visiting the places mentioned in the bible...nazareth, bethany, bethphage, caperneum, shiloh, sea of gailee, mount of olives, mount moriah (location of the temple/mosque), mount carmel, mount gerazim, mount ebal, garden of gethsemane, golgotha, megiddo, caesarea philippi...to name a few. that trip brought scripture a bit more to life. i had wanted to visit that part of the world again...to join the egypt/sinai study tour. after waiting for two years, God finally opened the door and made my dream come true. this trip, completely different than the last, gave me a slight taste of the Israelites' 40 years of wandering in the desert and a glimpse of God's magnificent glory and abundant grace as displayed on and below mount sinai. the word i would use to describe the past 10 days is "stretching". first of all, it was physically demanding, with very little sleep, irregular mealtimes, virtually no bathroom breaks (no "standard" toilets anyways), we had a tight packed itinerary which included three hikes, two of which under the scorching noonday sun and the other happened overnight (2-8am). then, there was the educational/academic component, such as memorizing hard-to-pronounce names of places, grasping the geography of the sinai peninsula, and knowing the 42 stations the Israelites stopped at before entering into the land of Canaan. it all culminated in our 10 minute 100 question test on the last night, which, sad to say, i did rather poorly on. last but not least, there was the spiritual stretch. it was very humbling to see the striking resemblance between the Israelites and myself...the way we rebel against God, trust in our own ways, easily forget God's goodness, set up "idols", complain/grumble/murmur endlessly, and be distracted by the world, wanting to turn back (to egypt). after riding a camel (whom i named cameo) for 3 hrs and arriving at wilderness of sinai, where we first beheld the majesty of mount sinai, i learned that to meet with God, to be in His presence, is indeed most precious of all, more so than any material provisions He blesses us with. in that moment, my thirst, exhaustion, and any other bodily discomfort was outweighed by the scene of mount sinai before my eyes, a representation of God's desire to reveal Himself to His people. i thought about one of this year's WCCC's lesson as well as a passage in jeremiah "then, you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and i will listen to you. you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. i will be found by you, declares the Lord" (29:12-13). there's much more to share...but, to show my appreciation for reading thus far, i shall post some pics instead. 
a view of cairo from the plane 
one of three pyramids (they call them the "father", "son", and "grandson") 
i touched it! it's real! 
trying to do the egyptian dance 
the camel clan 
the sphinx 
fresh baked pita bread for lunch  went sailing on the nile river 
the brother wearing blue stripes is Christian Chen, our lecturer. 
one of my favorite shots that was only day one. more to come! |
