We're at the gate in Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. What an experience this trip has been! Friendships, new understandings of God's word, and a brand new appreciation for the chaos that basketball players abroad face on a day-to-day basis. This last day in the Holy Land was very special; beginning with a fireside communion service on the shore of the Galilee (bright and early at 6:30), we then grabbed a quick breakfast, packed up and started our last day exploring the northern region of Israel and what God did through Jesus there. We visited Capernaum, where Jesus spent many of his days in the Gennesaret region (it is also the hometown of Simon Peter), then we went from there to Beth She'an, which was a pagan city in Jesus' day: with an extravagant main street full of hundreds of shops, and temples in which Romans worshipped their idols. Beth She'an was a city of sin and one of the ten cities that comprised the Decapolis. Jesus would have passed by it every time he made the trek from northern Israel to Jerusalem (and vice-versa); and its wide streets and gates may have been what Jesus was referring to when He said, "Wide is the gate that leads to destruction...".
The last place we visited was Susita (also known as Hippos; "horse" in Greek) which was also one of the cities of the Decapolis and served as home to the 12th Roman Legion. The "mascot" of this particular legion was the wild boar; and many historians believe that this was the place where Jesus cast the demons named Legion out of the man who could not be contained by chains. Interestingly, Jesus sent the demons out of the man and into a herd of pigs (the pagan animal of sacrifice) and they ran to their death into the Sea of Galilee (which was the abyss to Jews of the day). This demonstrated Jesus' power over Satan and his minions. When this man was healed, Jesus told him to go and tell the people of the region about his miraculous healing; later on Jesus would feed the 4,000 in this place (which means that the people of the area took heed of the man's words and were interested in learning from Jesus). This is significant because normally Jesus told people to go away without telling people about what had been done for them. Later, Susita becomes the center of Christianity in the region and the home of the Bishop who wrote the Nicene Creed. Like the man whose demons were cast out, we may never know how wide our influence may reach but this story encourages us that God has a plan for our lives. It was, again, a day of incredible learning for us.
We ended our stay in Israel with a feast with the whole crew at a great restaurant on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. The service, food, and fellowship were outstanding; it was a splendid way to go out. It is absolutely ludicrous to think that we met each other only 15 days ago; yet we are as close as brothers and sisters now, it seems. All of us were deeply blessed by the teaching of our teacher, rabbi John. He's not an actual rabbi, per say, but he passed our test :) In all seriousness he was patient, humble, and a fantastic leader. Each one of us will take something special away from this trip, but all of us will certainly return home with a greater love and appreciation for the text.
Signing off from Tel Aviv
Colin Campbell--AIA Israel Team 2008