Palm Trees in Israel

About a year ago, Gregg and Robin convinced me to go on a trip to Israel with our church.  I signed up beacause their eagerness persuaded me and because I had never really been out of the country.  (And hey, you don't have to tell an ENFJ twice to go on a trip with 39 other people.)  But I didn't really have any expectations and wasn't sure what to expect.

In the weeks leading up to the trip, friends that had been to Israel jumped in excitement when I told them I was going.  They talked of the spiritual high.  Of the feeling you get when you step into the home of Jesus when He lived on earth and how that resonates with the fact that He has now made His home in our hearts.

But when the plane landed and we waddled (very sleepily) to the tour bus, I didn't feel holiness radiate out of my body.  I didn't hear angels singing and I didn't see any supernatural things happen.  Actually, it was raining and felt like a normal day--for the exception of the fact that I was overly exhausted and wondering how I was going to get through an entire day of touring (it was 9:30am in Israel, but 2:30am NJ time).  I didn't experience anything out of the ordinary.

But as we drove down the highway of this major city of Tel Aviv, I could not get over what I was seeing outside of the windows.

Palm trees.
There are palm trees in Israel?
Isn't it supposed to be one big desert?

"Robin, there are palm trees."
"Yeah, Lyss.  We're on the same latitude as Florida."

Palm trees...

We spent the day touring some amazing sites (maybe when I get home I'll post a more detailed account of where we went... maybe...) and when we reached the waterfront spot on the Sea of Galilee where our hotel was located, I couldn't believe my eyes.  Everywhere I looked there were green rolling mountains.  I felt like I was on the set of The Sound of Music.  And there were palm trees.  Lots and lots of palm trees.

And for our first four days of this trip, as we traveled in the region of Galilee, that was my consistent experience.  We visited many, many locations where Jesus stayed and taught and performed miracles and the scenery was nothing like I had pictured it.  For one, EVERY part clustered around the Sea of Galilee--definitely never pictured Peter's house on the waterfront, I could tell you that much.

My mind needed to be stripped of all it's preconceived imaginations of the set of biblical events and replaced with the reality of the beauty that was before me.

I suddenly realized that I will now read Scripture very differently and that it will greatly enhance my own relationship with Jesus because I understand more about His ministry and His culture.  Then I realized something even more striking to me.

This trip will greatly impact my ministry because I will now be able to teach the Bible so radically different to my students.

Friends, if you are Christian, you must make it a priority to visit Israel.  And even more so if you are in ministry because it will then trickle down into all of the people that you teach.  Pastors, InterVarsity Staff, YoungLife Staff, and the various other ministries that I know some of you are in that read this blog... visit the Holy Land.  Seriously.  Don't put it off.  Not because you'll have some super spiritual experience or come back on a Jesus high, but because it will make you a better disciple and better able to read and understand Scripture.

I plan to post a few more stories about some cool experiences that happened here in the next few days.  Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to post about all of the amazing places we visited and teachings we heard because there was just far too many on the itinerary.

But signing off I will say this...

I had little to no expectations of what I would experience here, but I think I've found my theme to this trip:  Jesus is reforming my previous thoughts and images of what these Bible stories were like (from everything like the town of Nazareth to the fish that was multiplied in the feeding of the 5,000).

Start saving my ministry friends.  It is so very important that we can accurately understand and teach what we read in Scripture.

[Oh and honestly... being on this trip is honestly just really FUN!  And Israel has some of the best coffee I've ever tasted.]