I met the whole team in Chicago and off to Israel we go. We finally land in Tel Aviv and then head to Jerusalem to spend the first three days there. On the first night another couple and myself decide to go walk and look at some sites. Its late, dark, and most shops are closing. We stop at a local YMCA that was close to 100 years old. It was cool. On our way back police and military are in a shoot out with someone down the street. Some locals tell us its probably a riot of some kind. That ended our little adventure that night real quick and back to the hotel we went.
We spent hours and miles of walking. Seeing the sites where Christ walked. Where He prayed. But the one that captured me the most in Jerusalem was the Southern steps of the Temple Mount. This is where He taught. After years of wars and destruction the original steps was still there. I sat there thinking to myself and then began to cry. This is the exact place where He stood and even though He wasn't there in flesh, He was teaching me that day. All the headaches it took to get there. All the pains I had in the past. It all was a lesson to just sit still. I couldn't move while I sat there. I was in awe of how simple a rock step could be a great lesson in life.
We traveled to many sites. Casearea, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, name it we saw it. I was having a great time. But honestly can say not the best time. Lots of travel and I was glad to see the sites from a history point of view, but I was still wondering what God wanted me to see. We had an opportunity to get baptized in the Jordan river. That was cool. It was kind of a refreshing moment to be able to do what Christ had done himself. We received a certificate of being baptized on that day, and still have it to this day.
We left and are headed to the Dead Sea. You can't sink in that water. No matter how much you try, you will float because of the salt percentage. Pretty cool. We traveled more days and saw many more sites then crossed over into Jordan and headed to Petra. Petra was the place where Indiana Jones was after the Holy Grail. It was neat to see all the sites and then we headed up to Amman to finish our last 4 days with some children in schools. Before we had left I had sponsored a boy through Mission of Mercy and I was excited to be able to meet and take him gifts.
The day came where I would get to meet him. I'm nervous. I don't know why, but I am. He comes with his teacher and I give him a huge hug. He's very shy, so I just sit back and let him warm up to me. As soon as I get out the small Hotwheel cars out to play with him, he warmed up real quick. He plays with them just like all boys do and had a blast. We had a chance to eat a dessert with them, and so we walked over to sit down. As we was walking over I felt a small hand grab mine. He was holding my hand as we walked. Inside I was tore up. I can remember feeling like he finally trusted me. He didn't understand english and I didn't understand Arabic. But it didn't matter, we both understood love. We ate the dessert and then we played some more. I loaded up all his toys in a back pack and got him ready to go back to his school. I went to put some other things up in the vans we was in. When I turned around he was gone. A teacher had taken him back without me saying goodbye. I hurt. I never got to say goodbye, but thats okay. We still write and talk in letters all the time.
We loaded the plane the next few days and headed home. It was in the middle of the night when our plane was over the Mediterranean Sea. We hit bad weather and our plane was getting rough. The overhead storage was popping open and stuff was falling all over the place. Not good. I think we are going to crash. Here I spent all this time following what God wanted me to do and we are going to crash. The good point about it is, I took a sleeping pill and it was beginning to hit me. They told us to lean forward just incase. There was a guy next to me who was sweating in buckets. I leaned my head against the seat in front of me and next thing I knew I was asleep. Asleep during an emergency. Finally the pilots got a hold of the plane and got us out of the storm. I can remember the guy next to me saying I had tremendous faith. And I said nope, just good sleeping pills. LOL!
When I got home I told Jen about the whole trip and we shared the pictures. We laughed and cried knowing what God had just put me through. I told her of the plane ride home. She said she was glad I waited to tell her then and not will coming home.
It was a few days later and I was going through some things I had gathered there in Israel/Jordan. I found the certificate that I got for being baptized. The whole time we was there I couldn't tell you what day was what. For once I didn't care what the dates even was. Just day to day. When I read the date on the certificate I was floored. October 21, 2007. WHAT!?! 22 years ago on that same date I was saved and baptized in 1985. It was the same date and everything. It wasn't planned by me, but God was showing me that He still remembered me through the small stuff. The whole trip was awesome, but I didn't understand what he wanted to show me. That was it. He was going to use that to show me that He still works, and from that date forward I have never doubted Him.
Once I returned and after all the walking my knee was getting worse again. The pains at night was keeping me from sleeping. I went back to the doctor and surgery was recommended. But this time it was going to be a total replacement. WHAT? Only old people need that. So in November I had a total replacement on my left knee. During the surgery I awoke many times to see the anathesiologist sitting next to me. I woke up once to hear them pounding the rods into my bones. I looked at him and jokingly said "Come in"..he laughed and said "you should be asleep" so he gave me more juice.
Rehab began and from then through most of 2008 while selling real estate on the side for money, God was preparing us for our next adventure.
2008
We began praying on what God would want us to do next. Mission of Mercy was offering a trip to Ethiopia. Africa? I didn't want to go to Africa. Everytime you meet a missionary its always Africa. But the more and more I prayed against it, the more God was preparing it.
So in August of 2008 Jen and I are off to Ethiopia. Our first overseas mission trip as a couple. When we arrived in Addis Ababa it was what I expected. Crowded. Homeless people every where. God's love and hope available, but not being shown. We had a huge task ahead of us. We were with a good group of people to help show love. To this day, most of them I still call friends and have served again with on trips. Thats funny about mission trips. The people that you go with end up being your closet friends and you only know them about a week.
Ethiopia was a great learning trip for Jen and I. Learned more about different cultures, sicknesses, and that death from sickness was real. AIDS victims, the ones I was afraid of, I found my kissing and hugging them. God took that from me real quick. Who cares. Show love to these kids the best way you can. We had an awesome opportunity to build a preschool at the Mercy Center. The type of construction being done was so scarey, but it worked. One night while eatting a lamb roast, there was a small girl about 2 who belonged to one of the cooks who made our meals. I sat at the end of the table. She approached me and with the best english she knew how, looked up at me and said "I love you". Now who in their right mind wouldn't cry. A girl who doesn't know me, who never met me till this trip, just walked up and said this. I was blown away. Not everyone around me heard her, but those who did, bawled like a baby. Our heart was broken and healed at the same time. We soon left Ethiopia after about a weeks worth of time. We have never been back, but a piece of our heart still remains there. I'll never forget that place and people. It was where it first began for Jen and I.
Once we returned we couldn't get it out of our minds. We felt like we was being called there. We shared with friends who to was on the trip. They prayed with us and encouraged to just be still and listen. God never opened that door. He had a better plan. What could be greater than that? We would start to see his new plan. A door is cracked and we start to peak in on what God is laying out in 2009.
...stay tuned for our trip back to Africa in 2009...the trip that tore our hearts for the sick and dying.
I want to say thank you for reading so far. Its been an encouragement to me to read your comments on FB. I wanted to write this not only so you would know, but so I could relive it to remember what got me here today. At anytime I encourage you to visit my pictures of the trips on FB. I have Israel, Jordan, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Dominican Republic, my new knee, our sponsored children, and the little girl in the pink jacket that said I love you in Ethiopia.
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