If the subject of this email or the title above doesn't say it all, it looks like I'm finally headed to Israel tomorrow! It's always a strange thing, traveling. By the second and third trip you begin to feel less of the hype that you felt when you first went abroad. You're excited, no doubt, but until you've left, the place you're going to is nothing more than an abstract idea, a place you've only heard about in movies or the news or read about in books. Having grown up Christian, this trip is significantly different from any other I've been on. My life has been permeated by my faith in God, the God of the Bible; the man Jesus Christ who lived on this earth and died for our sins; and the story of God's people. The Bible has always been something I've only been able to imagine. Sure, I've seen pictures, read books, and studied the Bible, but it's an entirely different thing to be in the place where the biblical narrative took place. The Bible coming to life is one of many things I am excited for. I'm trying my best not to have any expectations, whether socially, experientially, or otherwise, about this trip. I want to be open to whatever may happen while I'm there.
I'll do my best to keep you all updated over the next six weeks while I'm there. During the first two weeks I will be on a study tour with 15 (or so) others, traveling all over Israel and visiting sites pertinent to the Bible (i.e. the Dead Sea and Jerusalem). After the study tour I will be on a four-week archaeological dig in northern Israel (Galilee area). If you'd like to know more about the site I'll be at, check out their website at http://www.abel-beth-maacah.org/. There's more than enough information to be found there, including past discoveries and the significance of this site. We will have a total of 65 people participating in the dig this season, whether for two weeks, three weeks, or the entire four. With that much help, we're going to be able to excavate much more of the site than we'd be able to otherwise!
Along with email updates, which I will try to keep brief--let me know if you'd like to be added to that list!--I will be updating this blog, which I have had for a couple years now and have used for life and other trip updates (for example, all blog posts from my time in South Africa can be found here). I'll also be updating Facebook, Instagram, and other things along the way, so if you happen to be following me on any other social media, stay tuned for updates there as well!
Again, I thank you all for your prayers and financial support as I've been on this journey. At Christmastime I didn't think I was going to be able to go to Israel due to finances. In January, the night before the application was due, I felt the conviction that God can provide and we shouldn't let finances be an excuse to not take opportunities that God has given us a heart for. Between February and April I was able to fundraise all needed funds, which also included my mission trip to Mexico in March and choir tour in South Korea last month. I am humbled to be given this opportunity and do not take it for granted. My only hope is that God uses me as He wills on this trip and that it would mold me into the man I need to be for God's Kingdom. So, I take back what I said before--I do have one expectation, and that's it.
Well, this is it! The next time you hear from me I'll finally be in the Holy Land. Until then, many blessings!
Gary
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