May 9

May 9

We decided not to stay in El Quseir.  It was a good eye-opener but also a little too humdrum.  The nice beaches are far out of town, the historical sites are unimpressive, and it’s really quite difficult to find a good restaurant.  Let’s just say El Quseir doesn’t have much of a draw for tourists, though I’m glad we dropped by.  We took a taxi to Safaga an hour north up the coast and waited at an empty run-down bus station for about an hour for our bus to arrive to take us to Luxor along the Nile.  In the meantime we bought some snacks including an imitation crazily chemical-infused apple flavored ‘Coca-Cola’ and I braved one of the most disgusting bathrooms ever (I couldn’t handle the stall so I peed on a wall where a urinal had once been – I don’t think it made a difference – yuck!)

We caught the bus to Luxor – about 4 hour drive.  The bus was pretty full so Leah and I ended up sitting in different separate seats.  I was oblivious to what was happening (my headphones were in), but two lusty delinquents were making eyes at Leah for a couple hours before she finally motioned for me to come over.  She explained to me the situation, my intrinsic defender-protector instincts kicked in, I gave the guys the stink eye, held up my hand, pointed proudly to my nifty two-dollar wedding ring, and crossed my arms toughly victoriously when they finally backed down.  Thank you Egyptian guys for helping me realize you blessed I am to have such a beautiful wife.  “You are very lucky man,” is something I’ve heard dozens of times now since out time in Egypt began.

We arrived in Luxor.  A promo-agent out scouring for tourists joined us in our bus-taxi, led us to the hotel he works for, showed us a room, and told us about our complimentary buffet breakfast.  We found ourselves cornered again.  The room is a little bit more expensive ($20 per night) than we hoped to pay in Luxor but we were tired and unwilling to search for anything else.  We both agreed then and there we’re calling our Egypt trip our second-honeymoon, so I guess it doesn’t matter too much if we spend a little extra.

We walked outside to try to find some food for dinner (it was late already) and got hassled right away.  Welcome to Egypt!  (We’re still slowly realizing how to smartly avoid unrelenting hasslers – sometimes you get hassled to the point of near-insanity.)  A horse and buggy driver clip-clopped alongside us as we walked and an aggressive guy in a track-suit nearly demanded that we temporarily employ him as our tour guide.  We jumped on the carriage reluctantly to escape the agitated, aggressive track-suit guy and asked if our driver could take us to a restaurant for dinner.  We had a nice, relatively cheap dinner, clip-clopped back to our hotel, paid the guy, and exhaustedly dropped into bed.

May 8

May 8

Took a taxi to Sharm El Shiek on the tip of the Sinai Pininsula.  Hopped on a quick flight over to Hurghada on the north Red Sea coast.  Took a personal car-taxi to our first official ‘nowhere’ location – El Quseir, a small historical port town about one and a half hour drive south of Hurghada.  We checked in to our hotel – Hotel El Quseir, a dark, literally empty house-hotel.  Yes, we were the only guests.  In fact, many hotels in Egypt are vacant, shopkeepers and vedors and businesspeople across the country are suffering from a severe lack of tourism.  We’ve been realizing that ever since the 2011 Egyptian revolution (part of the larger Arab Spring), tourism in Egypt has been at an all-time low and the streets are nearly emptied of all foreigners.  This makes it an interesting but incredibly difficult time to visit the country.  For instance, Egypt has long been known for its pushy and unrelenting vendors of all sorts but now immediately subsequent to last years’ uprising the people are even more desperate and the hasslers are likewise even more aggressive.  We experienced this shortly after checking in to Hotel El Quseir.  We dropped our bags and moseyed down the street.  A man approached us and asked us to do him a favor by signing his guest book in his shop.  He told us we weren’t obligated to buy anything.  We agreed.  He offered us pop and went on and on about Egyptian hospitality.  And yes, he showed us his product (perfume) and pressured us (via big time guilt trip) to purchase some.  He had us cornered.  We reluctantly bought two small bottles of his ‘home-made’ perfume (Leah doesn’t even like perfume) and quickly left as cordially as we could.  We felt cheated but wanted to be friendly anyways. 

We looked out over garbage strewn streets and dilapidated half-finished buildings, saw children clothed in dirtied tattered garments, and Leah couldn’t have said it better – “welcome to Africa.”  We fully understood – we are no longer in the safe, relatively developed backpackers haven of Dahab.  T.I.A. – this is Africa.  We went to a beach close by and played with a bunch of kids in the water for at least an hour.  I swung them around and threw them in the air and chased them.  We made them laugh.  They called me ‘monkey.’  We imitated them and joked around.  Later we went out for dinner.  After our meal we shared a complimentary tea with the owner of the restaurant.  It was a difficult day but ultimately a perfectly characteristic initiation back in to Africa.

May 7 (Leah's)

May 7

            Today we did little next to nothing (besides being sick). We had our continental breakfast (banana pancakes J) and I went back to bed. I felt a better than the night before, but I still had an upset stomach, and I was super tired and exhausted. We didn’t leave the room until afternoon, and then it was only to go to the supermarket to get Schwepps apple drink to settle our stomachs and some more Marie biscuits. That was all we had for “lunch”.

            In the later afternoon we just hung around the hotel area. We went out for some food later after sunset. I had fried egg and rice. A meager man’s meal. We then went to get another “best milkshake in Dahab” at “Same Same but Different”. We were a little hesitation, not sure if that is was caused the Ronald Reagan before, but we tired another one. Pineapple this time. It was okay. Sadly, my stomach started to do summersaults again. So maybe it was the milkshake? Or maybe it was just food in general?

            We listened to our ipod while sitting on the cushions on the deck of the restaurant that sits over the water. Tonight there was a nice breeze. I almost wish we could sleep there, no mosquitoes, and cooler than our room. We did go back to our room. I went to bed at 9pm. My stomach was unsettled again. I took a gravol. I hope I feel better in the morning!

The Journey Between: Part 2: Decieved (Israel)

**** I am sorry this is a bit late- I forgot to post it. But it is still meaningful so please take a moment to read it***

The Journey Between: Deceived.

As I sit here in the beauty and serenity of the Garden Tomb where Jesus rose from the dead, my heart is broken and burdened by all the lost and deceived souls here in the land of Israel. Here in Jerusalem three major religions and many other faiths come to a head. There is a feeling of spiritual heaviness in this city. The weight of lost souls weighs heavy on a person who is aware and believes in Jesus Christ. Coming to this place my spirit is burdened and yet awakened to the reality how lost and deceived so any people are. Among the Jewish people there is such severe and extreme deception and blindness. They, God’s chosen people, have been so blinded that they fail to see the savior that came to save and rescue them! They believe that Jesus wasn’t the Messiah, and they are still waiting (in vain) for “their” Messiah to come. 

What I have come to learn since being in Israel is that the Jew’s really do not like Christians. The Rabbis even teach against Christianity. They blame Christians for many of the atrocities that have happened to them. There is a great divide between the Jewish people and Christians when it comes to faith and belief in the Bible. The Jews focus primarily on the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible – especially the law of Moses), but they also accept the Old Testament as spiritually authoritative.  On the other hand, they believe that the New Testament is full of deception and is only for Christians, and that basically it is a bad book and not from God. I was not aware of the extent of their blindness until people started to share with me how things really are in the Jewish faith.

I read a book that was at one of our host family’s house, and it was testimonies about Jewish people coming to faith in God. It was amazing to see how many people had come to faith and to realize that Jesus is the Messiah by reading the New Testament, and seeing the fulfillment of scriptures through Jesus Christ. There are many passages in the Old Testament that point to Jesus as the Savior, the Messiah and even as God. But Jews have been told other explanations of these verses and they have even been taught that the person they point too hasn’t come yet, that they are still to be fulfilled.

How heartbreaking it is know that these people, the ones God chose specially as His own people, are so lost. They have the scriptures (part at least) yet they fail to see the Truth in them- they fail to see Jesus in them! They are so mislead. What is called the Holy Land is more like the Deceived Land. People all over claim to be religious but are so far from the truth and the reason for our hope and salvation.

Jews cling to their religiosity to get them into heaven and to a right standing with God. They think that by following all the rules of the Torah (which are many) that they will gain acceptance by God. Basically they are modern day Pharisees who fail to see that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and The life- the Messiah who died for our sins and rose again.

One saddening place we went to was the Wailing Wall. It is in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. It is the only last remaining part of the Temple. They believe that this is a connection to God. Since God came to dwell in the Temple in the Bible times, they hold this wall and area as a very sacred place. People come to pray, to worship, and bring their requests to God. It is actually quite an oppressive place for Christians. Especially to see people who think they know the truth but are so far from it. We know that God isn’t in a place, but that He is everywhere.

Another thing that Jews believe regarding the Temple is that until the new Temple is built they no longer have to offer sacrifices. Sacrifices were a big part of Biblical Jewish faith, they offered sacrifices to God as a way to have their sins forgiven. Since the Temple has been destroyed (for 1000’s of years) they no longer have a place to offer sacrifices- so how do they ignore that huge part of their history and scriptures? Well I have come to learn that they believe that they have to wait for a new Temple to be built and then they can offer sacrifices again and until this happens they live a good moral life, fasting and praying will somehow make them right with God. This is so sad to me. As believers we know that Jesus came to be the ultimate sacrifice, to bear our sins on the cross that we might have life, and life eternal in Him. But Jewish people do not believe this. They do not believe that Jesus came to die for our sins, that the shedding of His blood signified the final sacrifice. They ignore His dying as our sacrifice and instead wait (and wail and pray) for their new temple to be built.

Of all the passages in the Old Testament that speak of Jesus (Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah and more), it is hard to understand how the Jewish people cannot accept Jesus as their Savior. In a sense, they are like modern day Pharisees. The Pharisees in Jesus’ time had Jesus the Messiah right in front of them, yet they were so hardened and blinded that they could not believe or accept Him as Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior, the Messiah! The Jews today have the scriptures (part of them) and the death and resurrection of Christ as their proof, but they still deny that He was the Messiah. For years now, they have been waiting for “their” Messiah to come. One who will come in splendor, in great and mighty power to save them. What they are waiting for and expecting is a lie -  Jesus already came. He came in a humble, submissive manner, unlike what the Jews believe “their” savior will come as.

I sit here, looking at the Garden Tomb where they believe Jesus was laid and rose again and I am burdened for all the lost souls here in this land who have all the history, all the remains, all the places to visit that speak of Jesus’ coming, dying, and rising, yet they still write it off and deny it.

How can we as believers reach these people? How can we show them the light, the way, the truth, and the life that is found in our savior Jesus Christ? How can we reach a people who claim to already have the truth? How do we open the eyes of those who are so blinded that they cannot see their own deceit?

It comes by prayer. It comes through persistence. It comes from boldness. It comes from declaring the Word of the Lord. It comes from preaching the Gospel. It comes from the Power of the Holy Spirit revealing the power of the Cross to people. It comes from believers praying for the salvation of lost souls. It comes from living a life that is a testimony to the death and resurrection of our Savior. It comes from the Word of God as it goes forth and opens people’s hearts and eyes to the truth. It comes from sharing the life giving Words of Jesus to the lost.

So what can we do?

We can come before the Throne of God, pleading for these people. We can pray in utmost sincerity for the salvation of the Jews. We can pray that as they read the scriptures that God will reveal Himself to them in a mighty and powerful way. We can pray for those who are ministering in this land, that they would be a light in the darkness. That the believers here would have strength and boldness to fight the battle here, as there is one raging. We can pray for God’s Holy Spirit to pour out on this land and reach this land and once again make it a Holy place.

Please partner with me and spend some time praying for the land of Israel. That God’s power and name would be made famous here. That blind eyes would see; that hardened hearts would be softened, and that lost souls would find life in Jesus Christ!

May 6

May 6

We went to a snorkeling/diving spot called Blue Hole.  It’s a deep hole right off shore surrounded by coral reef.  For diving, it’s actually one of the most dangerous designated spots in the world.  We stuck to snorkeling at the surface (completely safe).  Again, we saw a spectacular variety of colorful fish.

We met two Canadian guys who accompanied us to Blue Hole – a funny, fidgety elderly gentleman who described himself as a ‘dirty old man’ and a young good-humored university student.  Later we met them coincidentally at a restaurant on the water.  We had a good talk.  I’ve been praying for more and more divine appointments and God’s certainly been answering my prayers.  It seems like with every traveler and backpacker we run in to God refuses to allow us to part company before we have some kind of deep spiritual conversation.  It’s great!  In this way we’ve been able to witness to quite a few transient ‘seekers.’  It’s SUCH a privilege to be used by God.  I really can’t get over it.  That the eternal all-powerful God of the universe would choose to reveal Himself through us is far beyond me.  Amazing.   

May 5

May 5

We went snorkeling at an amazing spot just up the way – only about a 15 min walk from our hostel.  The reefs really are exactly like underwater cities.  They’ve got their own skyscrapers, their own apartment buildings, their own supermarkets.  What’s more, these metropolises are home to a great variety of incredibly diverse marine life.  We saw fish of every color, shape and size – big ones, small ones and every one displaying a marvelous array of vibrant colors.  I’ll never get over how spectacular our God is.  While gawking at the reef I couldn’t help but marvel at the lengths our God will go to just to simply miraculously display His radiant glory in creation.  It compels me to want to make His name famous.  How can they say there is no God?

…  We enjoyed a delicious thick banana shake at a restaurant right on the water.

May 4 (Leah's)

 

We woke to our first morning in Egypt. I was so tired. I felt like it was 5am when we woke up at 10am. I had such a hard time getting out of bed. I didn’t sleep too well. I tried to have a shower to wake me up; it didn’t work. We enjoyed our complimentary breakfast. There was a selection to choose from. I got banana crepes, toast, egg, fruit and tea! I was so tired I went back to bed after breakfast. I stayed in bed until 1:30pm; I still had a really hard time getting up.            

            We got lunch at a cheap pita sandwich shop. I got a “healthy falafel salad” sandwich and Spencer got shaksouma (egg) pita. We got Spencer a pair of swim trunks, as he left his in Canada by mistake.

            We walked down along the sea. We found a place to hangout on the beach. It was really nice. We rented snorkels and goggles for $1.75 each. We jumped in the sea and swam out just about 10meters where there were lots of cool fish to see. We saw zebra fish, blue and yellow fish, black, brown, clear and green fish! It was fun. We didn’t stay for too long, as I was tired.

            We walked back to the town area. I showered off at the hotel and then we went for some dinner. I got a $3.00 meal (rice, ¼ piece chicken, 2 bowls of different soups, cucumber and tomato salad, 2 pieces of pita, and a hummus like spread)! I had to share with Spencer (and the two cats that were lingering around our table anxious for a few droppings). We walked down the road so Spencer could get some “sweets”. He got some baklava type desserts. We were astonished at the prices (they do it by weight). So they guy gave him a “local price” which was still a bit much, then the other guy who gives the change gave us another “discount”. I think they do that so you “like” them and come back!

            We are going to finish the evening with watermelon, baklava and a movie in our room!