The Gift of the Nile

As promised, we also wanted to update you on our recent 8-day adventure to Egypt! This trip was tied to a class we had this fall, entitled “Ancient Egypt and the Biblical World.” As with most classes at JUC, this one included a field study, at the very end of the semester, of 8 days in Egypt. This field study was a true JUC field study, with at least 12-hour long days, a lot of travel, a lot to see, and minimal food and sleep. We’ve gotten relatively used to this pattern in our time here, so we came prepared with at least snacks.

We left for Egypt at 5:30am on Saturday, December 4th. Most of the first day was simply travel. After 5-6 hours of travel to the Eilat/Taba border, we had a moderately uneventful border crossing, and then hopped on an Egyptian bus for an additional 7 or so hours of travel, to Cairo, via the pilgrim route (straight across the Sinai), crossing under the Suez Canal along the way. We got into Cairo and to our rather nice hotel, in time for dinner around 9pm. The first thing we observed when we arrived in Cairo was the traffic – the lane markings are mere suggestions here. Looking ahead, it was absolutely impossible to make out a straight line in the traffic in front of us (and it was rush hour, so there was plenty of traffic to observe).

Sunday was focused on Old Kingdom remains (ca. 2613-2125 B.C.E.), as well as a bit of recent history, in Old Cairo. We saw our first pyramid, the Red Pyramid, which was the second pyramid built by Sneferu (the first king of Dynasty 4), and which was the first true pyramid. We also saw Sneferu’s first pyramid, which is appropriately named the “Bent Pyramid,” and which looked quite funny. Scholars think that the Red Pyramid was commissioned after the Bent Pyramid, and the structural flaws were corrected. We were able to go inside both the Red Pyramid, as well as Teti I’s pyramid (which now looks like a rubble heap). Both pyramids are accessed by way of a sloping shaft, which only stands about 4 feet high. This means that the visitor must go down the shaft stooped over, with bent knees. The shafts were each at least 30 feet long, descending into the belly of the pyramid. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but one of our fellow students did manage a picture, which we have posted in our album. All of the burials in ancient Egypt were on the West side of the Nile River, which was seen as the Land of the Dead (the land of the setting sun). These burials, to protect them from the annual flooding of the Nile, were set at a distance from the bank, out of reach of the flood plains. This plain even today has an incredibly distinct line, separating the green valley from the Sahara Desert beyond.

Not only did we see Old Kingdom remains on Sunday, but we also had a chance to see a bit of “Old Cairo,” its village life (which despite the large city of Cairo, is still alive and well and steeped in ancient methods of technology and transportation), and a few of its religious sites. As we traveled up and down the canals of the Nile that day, we were surprised to see how trashy the water was. The Nile up in the Delta is not well taken care of, and people seem to simply throw their trash in heaps along the banks of the canals (which they also fish) and then burn the trash. It was sadly a very dirty place, with trash piled up behind some of the bridges for 30-40 feet in some places. We also observed many vehicles loaded with produce, right next to mules and carts on the same highway (even some of the freeways), also pulling their own produce. Cairo is a very strange blend of ancient and modern. Many people live by mule-pulled carts and fishing with nets and using cars I have only seen in old movies, but just a few blocks away, we could find Western companies we haven’t seen since we left the states (like Radio Shack and Starbucks), and a modern flare that is difficult to find even in Israel. The city is huge with high-rise buildings, and people live in buildings with at least 20 floors, packed in close together, with no appropriate roof on top, allowing room for future construction, when needed. Even the roads are squeezed into the congestion, with multiple levels of roads right on top of each other, and the highest road running parallel to all of the roofs of the high-rises.

At the end of the day, we ended up at the train station, where we boarded a sleeper train going south to Aswan. The train took 14-15 hours to reach our destination, but with the frequent stops, it was hard to get an accurate picture of the distance we covered. When we lived in the States, it took us that long to get from California to Colorado, but we also didn’t stop nearly as often as this train did. Still, the distance from the north to the south of Egypt is quite a bit longer than it looks on a map, and it was helpful to travel the distance to experience it first-hand. Justin and I had never been on a sleeper train, much less the Orient Express, so it was an interesting journey, to say the least. We slept, but not very well. We’ve posted pics of our berth, in case any one is curious. :0)

We arrived in Aswan and began one of the funnest days of the trip. Aswan is very near the southern border of Egypt and Sudan, and because of this, there has always been a significant Nubian population, which gives Aswan more of an African than a Middle Eastern flair. Many of the homes are built of unfired mudbrick, without keen detail to alignment or level. They simply use the local building materials that are available, and since there is practically no rain here ever, it doesn’t harm their homes. Our tours that day consisted of several Greek (yes, Greek) temples, which copied ancient Egyptian architecture in many ways. It was our first experience with temples here, and we were absolutely astounded with the amount of detail that covered every single towering wall of each temple. Hieroglyphs and pictures told and retold stories on every wall, every column. In addition to the carving, these were all originally painted in rather gaudy colors, and some of the colors are still preserved on these buildings! It was absolutely breathtaking. To get to at least one of these temples, the Philae Temple, we had to get there by way of a boat on the Nile. Throughout the course of the day, we actually had 2 boat rides on the Nile, which is much cleaner and prettier down in the south.

Towards the end of the day, our boat tour took us to a camel ride – Justin’s and my first camel rides ever – and to a Nubian village at night. The Nile down here is rather peaceful, even though the many different currents pushed our boat this way and that. We sat on the roof and enjoyed the stars and the chilly breeze. Our camel ride was oh-so-much-fun, except for the fact that camels have narrower backs than horses, and it was a little difficult to stay comfortably on, especially when your guide wanted to run the poor animal downhill. We survived, though, and got halfway descent pictures as we attempted to capture the moment whilst hanging on for dear life on our respective animals. The Nubian Village (which was used to tourists such as ourselves) was upstream, and when we arrived in the evening, we sat in one of their houses, enjoying the atmosphere and music and dancing with the kids. The house also was the home to two small crocodiles, which they let us hold. All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our day in Aswan, being around the Nubian population, which was very friendly and had an African flare of warmth and passion.

On Tuesday, we had “Temple Day,” where we worked our way upstream, first seeing a few more Greek temples, and then after lunch, going to the grandeur of Karnak. Each temple we visited became more elaborate, and Karnak held so many of the famous reliefs and documents that Justin and I have studied over and over, especially during our time at JUC. We got to see with our very own eyes the city lists of King Shishak (who according to the Bible attacked King Rehoboam of Judah, and whose list includes the “Rehov” that we have dug at twice now) and Thutmose III (whose most famous battle was against a Canaanite coalition at Megiddo). We also got to see the Hittite Peace Treaty of Ramesses II and the Victory Reliefs of Merneptah, which include depictions of Shasu Bedouin (and whom Anson Rainey thinks may depict the “Israel” that is mentioned in the Merneptah Stele). In the evening, we went to see the Luxor Temple. It was breathtaking to see the temple at night, and it was a nice change, since after awhile, many of these temples start to resemble each other. The statues are so impressive, and one can still see the lane of the sphinxes that connected the Karnak Temple with the Luxor Temple (some of which are still being excavated). The size and grandeur of these temples is so hard to capture, and I appreciated that our guide mentioned that the gigantic columns were intentionally shaped to look like lotus flowers, to make the worshipper who comes to the temple feel very small. They were indeed some of the most imposing columns I’ve ever seen, and the fact that every one of them is absolutely covered with decorations and carvings makes them even more impressive.

On Wednesday, we headed to the West Bank of the Nile once again, this time across from Karnak and Luxor, to the Valley of the Kings. This Valley holds most of the tombs of the New Kingdom Pharaohs, who wanted to hide their burial locations to protect their treasures (which, despite their efforts, were looted soon after their burial). We weren’t allowed to even bring our cameras into the valley, much less into the tombs, so unfortunately, you will have to google images of these locations if you want to see them. Or, plan a trip to Egypt. :0) We got to go inside the Tombs of Ramesses III, Thutmose III (mentioned above) and Tutankhamun (King Tut). I thought the pyramids and temples were impressive; the tombs were even more so! Though they had been looted, the treasure of the tombs are today still preserved on the walls of the caves, which are still intricately detailed with drawings and texts, painted in vibrant color. Each one is so unique, and it is absolutely unbelievable to think of what exists underneath the desert rock. Visiting King Tut’s tomb was surreal, thinking about when Carter first discovered it and opened it. One of Tut’s anthropoid coffins was still inside the tomb, as well as the stone sarcophagus and his actual mummy. The other remains are either today in the Cairo Museum, which we will mention below, or they are scattered around the world, on exhibition.

As part of our class, each student had to prepare a research paper on some aspect of ancient Egypt and then present a portion of it at a site we visited on our field study. Justin’s paper was on magic, and he presented in the Valley of the Kings, just below the tomb of Thutmose III. Magic in ancient times was a mix of medicine and religion and everything in between, and thus it impacted every aspect of life, from everyday activities to burials. I (Mandy) also presented the same day, at Medinet Habu, the temple constructed by Ramesses III. The temple’s entrance is flanked by two granite statues of a lioness, named Sekhmet. My paper was concerned with classical Egyptian warrior deity iconography, and in this paper, I compared the representations of deities in Egypt to those which were contemporary in Palestine at that time. There are very distinct differences, which were especially apparent in the New Kingdom (of which Ramesses III was a part), when the Pharaohs concentrated on outside conquest, and subsequently adopted Syrian and Canaanite deities as part of their own pantheon.

In the evening, we again boarded the clickety-clacking sleeper train (this one much faster and a bit scarier than the first) and headed north, back to Cairo. We got into Cairo around 5am, only an hour delayed this time (we were three hours late on the train heading south). After a very brief rest at the hotel, we left around 7am for the traditional land of Goshen, where the Israelites were said to have lived during their captivity, and Tell el-Yehudiyeh, the “ruin of the Jews.” This tel was the first we had seen in Egypt, and it was a bit like seeing an old friend, since we are so used to tels in Israel. This tel is actually quite famous, since it was excavated by the one and only Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie, the Father of Egyptology, Syro-Palestinian Archaeology, and Pottery Typology. From the top of the tel, we had an interesting view of the Nile Delta region, full of fertile soil, green, and water, which stretched out before us in the foggyness of the morning. It was interesting to think about the Israelites, and the adjustments they must have had to go through… knowing only this region their whole lives, and then adapting to a Bedouin lifestyle first in the Sinai and then in Canaan. The contrast between the two regions is stark and provides perspective to their complaints.

After visiting Yehudiyeh, we headed to one of the most famous historical sites in the world: Giza, the Great Pyramids, and the Sphinx. We began our visit in the Solar Boat Museum, which is at the base of the Great Pyramid of Khufu. When the kings died, they were often carried from the east side of the Nile to the west side by way of a boat constructed solely for the event. This boat was then dismantled and buried along with the king. An entire boat (more than 4,000 years old) was actually excavated from this site, which had been dismantled, but which still had its beams and ropes preserved! After studying archaeology in Israel, it was simply mind-boggling to see this boat, knowing that it was so incredibly old. It is so hard to even comprehend the possibility of the boat surviving this long span of time, when we are used to a land where cloth and wood do not survive this long due to moisture.

The pyramids were impressive, but their size, I think, is difficult to fully comprehend. The triangular shape may be a bit deceptive, for even in person, they don’t seem as big as they really are. We were able to go into the smallest of the three pyramids, which contained a shaft very similar to the other two we entered, described above. After seeing the inside of the Valley of the Kings, it was interesting to once again see the inside of a pyramid, for they are more highly decorated on the outside than the inside, whereas the Valley of the Kings tombs were exactly the opposite.

Our last stop of the day was the Cairo Museum, where we had approximately 2 hours to see some of the most incredible finds the world has ever known… a full day’s visit could not have afforded us the amount of time needed for a sufficient visit. The museum is simply overflowing with important pieces, and I was once again overwhelmed with the notion that these pieces were simply pulled from the ground. Statues and stela we had only seen in pictures were there for us to see in person… we even got to see some of the Amarna letters that the Cairo Museum still possesses. We were able to see the mummies of such famous pharaohs as Thutmose III and Merneptah (mentioned above), Hatshepsut (one of the few female pharaohs), and Ramesses II (whom many link to the Pharaoh of the Exodus). It is simply unbelievable to still be able to see the bodies of these people who have left such significant and long-lasting impacts on history.

In addition to all of this, the museum boasts of many of the treasures of King Tutankhamun’s tomb. King Tut was buried in multiple layers of coffins and shrines, and the amount of elaborate detail and wealth that was put into this was all astounding. In addition to the mummy wraps, which would have been filled with amulets and spices, his body first had a solid gold faceplate… which is the main piece people know. The faceplate has to be one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen, with intricate details of small inlaid pieces of semi-precious stones, and a face fashioned that looks as real as the person himself. His body was then placed into three anthropoid coffins (coffins in the shape of a body), each one slightly larger than the last, and made respectively of solid gold, inlaid semi-precious stones and glass, and gilded wood. These coffins were then placed into a rectangle stone sarcophagus, which was then placed into a series of 4 wooden rectangle shrines, with the largest shrine being almost the size of the tomb itself. The “treasury” of the tomb was then filled with every kind of object one can think of, for the Egyptians believed that whatever you used in life had to be placed inside the tomb in order for it to appear for you in the afterlife. So, think for a moment of every possession you have that you use on a regular basis… every one of those would have had to been placed or replicated and placed in the tomb with you in order for you to have it in the afterlife. Not only this, but the tomb was worked on and filled throughout the owner’s lifetime. King Tutankhamun lived to be only about 18 years… if his tomb contained so many treasures, just think of, say, the tomb of Ramesses II, who reigned for more than 60 years and died an old man! His tomb, had it not been plundered in ancient times, would have held more treasure than multiple museums could hold.

On Friday, we said goodbye to Egypt proper and headed for a day in Sinai. After crossing the Suez Canal again, we drove south along the border of the Sinai on its western side, for an hour or two, where we stopped at a café (filled with men playing some kind of board game or watching a sport on television). From here, we boarded Land Cruisers for the wildest jeep rides of our lives… heading straight into the Sinai desert. It was an incredible experience! Once the vehicles left the main roads, we flew through the desert on the sand, stopping at a Bedouin home for tea. We ended up in the middle of nowhere, about an hour or so into the heart of the Sinai, where we got out of the vehicles and began to hike. We hiked to a place known today as Serabit el-Khadim, which boasted among other things of a turquoise mine used by the Egyptians in antiquity, a temple to the goddess Hathor, and the very first evidence of writing. Our climb back down the mountain was in the dark (a bit scary, for the way was steep with loose rocks), and then we boarded the vehicles for the wild ride back to civilization, stopping at another Bedouin camp along the way for dinner (or, rather, “lunch” at 6pm). Our bus continued on to St. Catherine’s, at the base of Mt. Sinai, and we arrived a little after 10pm. Justin and I skipped “dinner” and went straight to bed, setting our alarm for 1:50am.

Our group left for the long trek up Jebel Musa, the traditional site of Mt. Sinai, at 2:30am, to see the sunrise. It was very cold, but the way was a continual grade, so we got warm in a hurry. We also were hiking with the sustenance of a granola bar prior to leaving, so it felt very much like a pilgrim trek up the mountain. The stars were absolutely brilliant, and we could look up the mountain and trace the line of the trail by the flashlights of others who were going up ahead of us. After 2 hours of hiking, we came to the final leg of the hike: 700 stairs straight up to the top. This took the last hour, with constant turns, steep stairs, and the wind getting stronger and colder. By this time, everyone who was climbing the mountain had come together, and hundreds of us climbed the final stretch of the mountain slowly, in a single-file line.

At the top were vendors (of course…this is the Middle East) and a building (possibly an old monastery?) which everyone crowded around on various levels, all facing east towards the sunrise. We still got up there about 30 minutes before the sunrise, so we huddled together against the wind and the blowing sand, taking pictures and watching, unbelievably, a thunderhead in the distance, which displayed occasional flashes of lightning. The sunrise was absolutely breathtaking, and we also welcomed its new warmth to our frozen appendages. We were on the summit an additional 30 minutes or so, watching the sun come in and out of the clouds and highlighting the rocky slopes beneath us in ever-changing shadows. Our group huddled together and listened to Exodus 19 (the giving of the Law on Sinai to Moses) and Habakkuk 3 (displaying God’s greatness and power), in awe over where we stood.

The descent felt almost as long as the ascent, but we descended with happy hearts. We had successfully climbed Mt. Sinai, which so many only dream of doing. We were on our way back to the hotel to make our tummies happy and to get warm. And, after one of the most incredible trips of our lives, we were turning homeward.

Our reentry into Israel was an eventful experience, as one of the members of our group went back through the border crossing with a round, 5” diameter alabaster ball, which caused the Israeli security to do an emergency shut-down of the border crossing and send in the bomb squad. The weather that day was also incredible, with sand storms in the Sinai and in the Negev so tall that I’ve only seen their equal in movies. The winds also had stirred up the Red Sea in the Gulf of Eilat with waves so large that the water ran into the buildings of the border crossing. After so little sleep, we were just glad to get home, to our own beds and to food at normal meal times. :0)

Our trip to Egypt was one of the most incredible experiences of our lives. Even now, I can’t believe all we saw in those 8 days. It wasn’t an easy trip, and the locals, I have to admit, were not always friendly. It was surprising to us how different the culture was from Israel, though they are not that far apart. We enjoyed the company of the Nubians and the Bedouin of Sinai, and we learned so much about the history and geography of the land. It was an amazing and an exhausting journey, and we hope you have enjoyed our stories as much as we enjoyed living them.

Our field studies, at this point, are mostly done with JUC. In the spring, we have 1 final Archaeology class (Jerusalem in the 2nd Temple Period), and we will be auditing a second class which we will not be attending the field studies for. After that, our goal is simply to complete our theses and our work at JUC, so we can head homeward! We will also have four comprehensive exams that we will begin to work through in the Spring, so we invite your prayers for us to get through those. Please also continue to pray for our staff position and the work we do at JUC, as well as for the time we need to complete our theses.

Justin and I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas, and we pray that God will bless you all in the coming year. We love you, and our hearts look wistfully homeward as we begin the downhill portion of our journey in Israel.

Mandy & Justin

Fall Semester 2010

Hello Friends and Family! After a bit of a roller coaster semester for Justin and I, we are finally getting around to an update! On the one hand, our updates involve fewer field studies now and will therefore have a different flavor… on the other hand, we ended the semester with 8 days in Egypt. So, we will provide you with 2 updates: 1 for the semester in general, and another for Egypt.

As you know, we now hold a staff position at JUC, in addition to being students, and it is a constant challenge for us to balance between the two. In addition to being available for the students, we also hosted weekly and special events for them throughout the semester, which of course involve additional planning. We work in the position with two goals in mind: 1) to be authentic and caring with the students, and 2) to focus on quality over quantity with the events, giving our best to doing a few things really well instead of a lot of things not very well.

For our weekly events, we carried on the tradition of a weekly “cookie night,” which we held every Wednesday, and JUC holds a weekly “vespers service” on Friday nights after Shabbat Dinner. The cookie night has always been a raving success (I have no idea why :0), and this semester, I was particularly excited to see how many students came to help me cook, in addition to enjoying the eating time. It was a special time for me to get to know the students a little better, and we made cookies in the comfort of my own tomby home, using my wonderful toaster oven (which can make 2 dozen cookies at a time!) We also organized the weekly vespers services on Friday night, and Justin worked with the worship teams and with booking a few outside speakers. We also had a Night of Worship once a month, which I think worked really well.

Our special events for the semester included a hike in the Yehudiya Nature Reserve in the Golan, north of the Sea of Galilee; a first-ever JUC Coffeehouse; a Fall Party; a ladies’ tea; and Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The hike was an interesting breaking in, both to our positions and the students to the level of difficulty with the field studies. We had never been to this particular location, but we were told it was a very popular place to go for the fall “Student Activity Day.” The hike not only involved climbing down a cliff and swimming across a pool in order to continue, but it was basically through a steep gorge’s river bed, which consisted more of marked boulders we had to climb through for hours, rather than an actual trail. For me (Mandy), it was beyond my comfort level for a day hike. One of the students also fell about 10 feet and landed on her side on the rocks, but was miraculously not seriously hurt. We did end the day, though, in an emergency room, and I think for next year, Justin and I will plan a different location for the hike. Yehudiya is great for the adventure-seeker, but not ideal for our group.

Our coffeehouse, I think, may have been one of the biggest highlights of the semester! We held it in our student lounge, which looks like something from a Crusader Castle. Justin and I were the baristas, along with the invaluable assistance of one of our students, Betsy, who was a barista back home. We worked with 1 coffeepot for the coffee, a hotplate for special drinks and for scalded milk, a series of spices and toppings, and, oh yeah, one breaker switch for the entire room (which meant that we had to keep alternating what heat-producing items were being used). We even created a full menu for our “Kelley’s Coffee.” We had performances and arranged the room to look like a coffeehouse with small tables. It was a great success, and we will definitely do it again!

Our Fall Party was also a wonderful success! Justin and I love Fall, so it was easy for us to prepare for this event. We had a costume party for all of the students, and we were so surprised at the high level of creativity they all showed with their costumes! We don’t have many resources to buy costumes here, so the students had to get creative. See our pics for some of the results! Dr. Wright gave his annual tour of the Protestant Cemetery, which is adjacent to the school, and once the students returned, they came to our home for a “Movie in the Tomb.” Fall just isn’t complete without Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin. :0) The students ended the evening with a campus-wide game of Mafia (google this if you don’t know what it is…very popular with college students).

At the point in the semester when papers and homesickness are together at an all-time high, we ladies decided to have a girly tea at Diane Wright’s apartment. We made finger food, and all of the girls got dressed up for the event. It was a wonderful and relaxing afternoon, and we got to hear from Joyce Helyer, who was here this semester with her husband, Larry, who taught one of our classes. She and her husband came to JUC in the 1970’s as students and were here for a year. In lieu of this, she spoke to our girls concerning, “Seven Things I Wish I had Known as a JUC Student.” It was so good and so appropriate for this point in the semester.

At the end of the semester, several weeks ago, we celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas (early). Everyone pitched in to help with the cooking and cleaning for Thanksgiving, and Justin and I helped Paula and Dan, the lead dinner cooks, with making the turkeys. No pressure. :0) Everything turned out really well, though, and we had a food-filled evening with fun and games. The very next week was finals week, and on Friday, after finals were over, we had our last Shabbat dinner and then walked to St. Anne’s Cathedral in the Old City, to hear our very own JUC choir. Dan and Paula organized the choir, and Justin and I were absolutely amazed at how wonderful it turned out! The choir sounded so amazing, especially with the world-famous acoustics of St. Anne’s. We returned to the school afterwards for desserts and a slideshow and to celebrate the end of the semester.

In between events, Justin and I have also worked on our own studies, which we tried to reserve specific days for, and volunteering at Hebrew University, to continue to work with the Tel Rehov excavations, now in their lab. We really enjoy these days, because it reminds us of the main reason we are even here. We have currently been working on assembling pottery for their “plates” for the Rehov publications. It is a lot of digging through boxes of pottery and matching numbers to get the right piece, and we are loving being up to our elbows in it all.

The semester has been challenging for us in so many ways. Many of you who know us know that the position isn’t quite an ideal fit for us, but we have tried to tackle the tasks on hand with diligence and authenticity, to give as much as we can to it all, for the benefit of the school and the students. It gives us many, many high points, and many, many low points, and we plod ahead through it all, knowing that we are here for a reason.

Now that the semester is over, we are working to try to turn the campus around, to get ready for the short-term programs that will come in January. We will have over a hundred people on campus at that time, and our role will be more of a support role to whatever is needed, be that helping in the kitchen or cleaning bathrooms, not to mention trying in January to also prepare for the Spring Semester, which starts in February. Before that, though, Justin and I are excited that we will be going to England for 2 weeks after Christmas! Not long into the semester, we realized that we really needed a break from the Middle East. It has been a long, hard journey, and we have missed friends and family back home, not to mention western culture, which is simply a part of who we are. We couldn’t afford to go home, but we wrote to some family friends in London, to see if perhaps we could stay with them for a couple of weeks, to rest and get out of Israel. They have welcomed us with open arms, and we are so humbled and grateful for the opportunity to be able to get away.

So, for now, we are enjoying a quieter campus and getting caught up on a million little things (like the blog) which were sorely neglected over the semester. We welcome your continued prayers through our time here, to have endurance to finish. We also welcome your continued prayers for finances, especially the funds to go home for a month next summer. We originally were going to pay for the tickets through the funds we receive from Justin’s online class back home, but we recently found out that he will not be teaching this coming spring. We will still be going home for that time… that isn’t a question… but we need the resources to pay for the tickets. So, we appreciate your prayers for that provision.

We hope you enjoy all of the tidbits from our semester! Our next blog entry will be specifically for our Egypt field study, which we just got back from. It was an intense eight-day journey, which we can’t wait to share with you! So stay tuned… :0)

Justin & Mandy