Jon Huckins

Just because we are back in Santa Cruz doesn’t mean we have stopped processing our time in Israel and Palestine. In fact, our time shattered and expanded our worldview is such a way that will force us to continue processing and wrestling through the experiences and stories for along time to come. Our time in Israel concluded with two especially insightful experiences in Samaria and in the West Bank cities of Bethany and Bethlehem.

Samaria has been off limits for most tourist in recent years due to extended unrest. Much of the unrest stems from a region that is isolated politically, religiously and socially from Israel and much of the surrounding region. The Samaritans history of being the “black sheep” goes back all the way to the 8th century B.C. when Assyria captured Israel’s Northern Kingdom and intermarried with some of the existing Samaritan population. Israel then viewed Samaritans as “half breeds,” which makes Jesus special attention towards them that much more revolutionary. After standing on Mt. Gerizim (where Samaritans believe God tested Abraham) we were welcomed with a huge smile by one of their current priests. He proceeded to share with us the story of the Samaritans and their role within the Biblical Story. It was fascinating as he spoke with conviction and respect of the varying religious beliefs represented. There are currently around 750 practicing Samaritans worldwide, which is a huge increase after numerous violent attempts to drive them to extinction. While they only hold the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) as authoritative, he assured us that they are on Facebook…brilliant!

Finally, Jan and I(and a few of our friends from Jerusalem Univ.) were invited to spend the day with our friends Milad and Minar in their home towns of Bethany and Bethlehem in the West Bank. They are Arab Palestinian Christians who have chosen to offer the hope of Jesus to their community under the weight of political, social and religious oppression. With the course being focused on the historical and geographical settings of the Bible, I came in expecting to be awed by sites that were/are central to the Biblical Story that I have studied for so long. While there were certainly times when that was the case, the times I was most in awe was in seeing the Biblical Story alive in the people today…It was in the hearts and lives of Milad and Minar that we most clearly experienced the Kingdom of God on earth. Whether in singing with 80+ Palestinian kids in the couple’s non-profit(focused on Peace and Reconciliation in Palestine), eating a huge home cooked meal at their parents home in Bethlehem, using their last portion of clean water after 12 days of Israeli withheld rations or watching Milad harassed at “the Wall” (which is twice as tall and exponentially longer than the Berlin Wall) while we waltzed on by, it was an experience that cut to the very fabric of our souls. It was living in the tension of hope and internal(at times external) tears that we stepped into a story that we can’t help but tell over and over and over. It is a story I will explore(and be sure to share) more thoroughly in an article that will be published next month on youthspecialties.com.

For now, we are so grateful to all of our new friends who remain in the Middle East and chose to adopted a posture of invitation so that we may be made more whole in our quest to be fully enlivened by the living Mission of God that stretches to all corners of Creation.

Shalom Haverim (companions)

Shalom from the Land Between!

Well, we have fallen hopelessly behind in our blogging, which would have been impossible to keep up at the pace of this course. The class has come to an end (seemed to go SO fast!), but we are able to stick around for a few days and take a few deep breaths before flying home and starting a whole new phase of our lives(more info on that upcoming). There are many conversations, experiences (been to and studied 50+ ancient/modern sites around the country) and cultural insights to share, but for now here are some snapshots from our trip to Galilee…the central location of Jesus’ life and teaching.

View from the front porch of our Kibbutz on the east shore of Galilee overlooking Tiberias (capital of Herod Atipas during Jesus adult life). A kibbutz is basically a communal farm. Many now have opened lodging areas for tourist/locals to vacation as a way to stimulate income. It was BY FAR our favorite place we stayed in Israel.

In Caesarea Maritima(“by the sea”) where Herod Agrippa died and where Paul was imprisoned. It is actually a beautiful resort area where we got to have Janny’s favorite Lemonana drink!

We drove to the very north part of Israel and were able to look into Lebanon and Syria. Israel is still technically “at war” with both. The green is Israel, the brown in distance is Lebanon.

Standing in front of the pagan altars in Caesarea Philippi. This was one of the theological highlights for me as I have studied the cultural/physical location a lot in the past. This is where Peter affirms Jesus as Messiah(Matt 16). Much affirmed what I had studied. The gods Pan and Nemesis were worshiped through the offering of sacrifices at this site. Nemesis is the god of the underworld and this site in the 1st century context would have been known as the gates of Hades (see Jesus’ reference in Matt. 16).

On the Mount of the Beatitudes in north Galilee where Jesus gave Sermon on the Mount. It was especially powerful as I was able to give the class devotional, while standing this hill overlooking the lake.

Janny taking a rest on the streets of Capernaum. Seeing Peter’s home, which would have served as one of the first home churches and picturing Jesus walking the streets(it is thought that he lived his adult life here) was incredible.

We got to take a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee!

There is MUCH more to share, but that will have to wait for Israel Diaries # 7!

Thanks for all that are following along with Janny and I on facebook and here on my blog. It has been great sharing the memories and experiences.

This has arguably been one of the most intense classes I have ever taken in any context. I just finished my second exam (only one more to go!) this afternoon after putting in around 50 hours of lecture/study/field study in the past 6 days. Janny (and the baby!) and I were able to rest yesterday back at our hotel in Jerusalem and tomorrow we shove off for a 4 day trip to Galilee. We are REALLY looking forward to this leg of the trip. We will visit 17 different significant locations, which are highlighted by Caesarea, Nazareth, Bethsaida, Sea of Galilee (apparently we will be staying right on the water) Capernaum and Sepphoris. Will be taking plenty of notes/pics to share.

Our time in the Negev was amazing. We stayed in youth hostel in Arad, about 20 minutes from the Dead Sea. Walking up the Roman Ramp to Masada was a stunning scene. Jewish Zealots held Masada until 73AD (3 years after Jerusalem had fallen) and the Romans built the ramp for 3 years in an effort to take the city.

Floating and “exfoliating” in the Dead Sea was Janny’s highlight of the whole trip to date. All the girls in the group followed her around like a mother hen as she covered herself (and yes, I might have followed suite:)) in the mineral rich Dead Sea mud and floated at the lowest place on earth.

Walking through the community and caves of Qumran could have been my highlight of the trip so far. Having studied the Dead Sea Scrolls and their significance, it was surreal to be sifting through the same caves that held these scrolls for almost 2000 years. Gosh, I could talk/share about these for hours, but I’ll stop there…

As I have mentioned a couple times, we are doing our best to develop our understanding of the tension that exists between Palestine and Israel. Standing on the roof of our hotel around 11pm, I had one of the most insightful and painful conversations of my life. One of our Palestinian friends who works at our hotel, also has a child on the way and lives with his wife on the other side of the Mt. of Olives in the West Bank. Not long ago it would only take him 10 minutes to get to work in Jerusalem, now (after multiple security check points) it takes him 45. His wife is only allowed outside of “the walls” twice a year for Christmas and Easter. In the afternoons, he works with local teenagers promoting reconciliation and peacemaking. Often speaking with tears streaming down his cheeks as we looked over Jerusalem, he shared his story(some are paraphrased):
“I don’t want to change your mind, I am only one man. I just want you to hear our story.”
“I am a Christian, I love Jesus, but I am treated like a terrorist.”
“I try not to be angry when I see Americans praying for their meal, while you forget the oppression of those of us right here. Thankfully I have the love of Jesus in my heart.”
“You can’t oppress a whole nation over the terrorist acts of a few.”
“The Berlin Wall was 3 meters high, this wall is 8 meters. Our oppression only builds hatred and terror.”
“I will never leave, but I don’t see how there will ever be peace.”
“Don’t feel sorry for me. With my wife and child, I am very happy.”