1st Night

Well, I have spent my first day and evening in Jerusalem. It has been an amazing day. I got to meet many of the other 90 plus students that have come to spend a semester at JUC. Many of them are amazing in their own rights, but the most extraordinary event of the evening was trekking down to the west wall on a Sabbath Evening. There were so many people gathered together to sing and praise and pray to God.

It was an imposing event to be part of. As a group of us walked down through the crowds I really got the feeling of reverence, but it seemed to be directed at this section of old wall. There were people kissing it, touching their foreheads to it and doing all sort of things in their praises, but it all seemed sort of misplaced.

I also must say that this is going to be a challenging semester. You always here about how hilly it is around Jerusalem, but until you get here and have to walk up and down them all day, it give you a new perspective on just what the disciples and Jesus went through just to get from one place to another. The houses are tiered, the roads are tiered, and even the tiers are tiered because it is so hilly. I do not think I have had the pleasure to see any flat ground of significant size anywhere yet.

Well, from meeting my classmates, and meeting some of the professors and just the impact I have felt since I arrived just 8 hours ago, I am sure that this is going to be an experience like no other. I pray that God is looking after each and every one of you and blessing you in all you do in service to Him.

Jerusalem

I am here, it is hot, and I am ready for a long nap. To bad orientation starts at 6, and it is almost 5 now. It is in the 90's here and really dry, but there is a nice breeze to keep it tolerable in the shade. So after over 20 hours of traveling and some really wild driving by the bus driver from Tel aviv to Jerusalem I am alive and in one piece. And I must say that Jerusalem is not at all what I expected. From watching news coverage I expected alot of damage and rubble, but the building and house are beautiful and all a light brown limestone. It is very impressive. Seeing the Old City walls for the first time was ana amazing experience. I could not believe how solid and intact that they were. So farthe only that turned out as I expected it is the heat and the dryness. I am eagerly waiting to see what other surprises are awaiting my. God bless you all.

Switzerland

I am here waiting at the airport in Zurich. Here it is 8:30 am, but only 1:30 am back in Omaha. It has been a long number of flights and I am ready to be where I am heading. I hope everyone is doing well. I started my Journey down at Eppley this morning at 8 am Omaha time and will finally reach Jerusalem in about another 4-5 hours. It has been a pretty uneventful flight so far, other than getting to meet some interesting people. The mountains around the airport here are covered in a low mist this morning and it is fairly cool, only 9 C for those who don't know the conversion it gives you something to look up. Well when most of you wake up in the next 5-9 hour from now I hope you have an amazing day God Bless.

Less than a week

Ok, I am still not on my way to Israel yet, but the time is getting closer. I leave in less than a week, and I am getting very excited. I was out picking up the last few things I needed to finish packing. Everyday that goes by I am trying to spend more and more time with friends and family before I go and often wonder what I will feel after I am away from everyone for a month or so. This will be my first solo trip out of the country. My only other trip was in 2005 with a team of 5 people from my church to Brazil. So this is a little different. It has really been a test to make sure I got all my reservations, passport, visas, travel needs and paperwork together for the trip. There is a lot more involved than I would have thought from my traveling within the US. Well this coming thursday at 10:52 am I head out on my way to follow the footsteps of Jesus and Paul through the holy land and beyond. I pray that God will bless each and every one of you.

Also for any of you that have Skype my user name is Ericl.Townsend on there stop in and give me a call.

Beginings

Just wanted to give everyone a chance to keep up with my travels this fall through Israel, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, and Italy. I hope that I will be able to keep you all informed as to what I am doing and let you see where I am going regularly, but if it turns out differnt I want to appologize up front. I will be leaving the states on Thursday the 30 and set foot in Israel on Friday. I look forward to hearing from you all so email me anytime at ericl.townsend@gmail.com. Thank you for all your prayers and support.