I’m deciding that it’s better to get little blurbs out instead of trying to summarize my whole journal and nevr actually getting to finish anything!  That means it’s up to YOU to look up the things that interest you, at least until David, Becky and Grace get back- then you can ask them all about it!  Remember, Google is your friend!

Natalia looking over at the Roman Siege Ramp

Masada means “fortress” it’s a high cliff city whose inhabitants chose death by their own swords rather than having their families abused and enslaved by the Romans.

Grace and Me on the wall at Masada

En Gedi is a canyon carved out of the cliffs near the dead sea.  “En” means spring and “Gedi” means goat.  Unlike the Dead Sea life is all around us, ibex, rock badgers, birds, trees and more sing the happy songs of animated creation.  

This would have been the place that David has a chance to kill Saul but does not, instead only taking a piece of his garment.  There’s also references to this land in Song of Solomon and in 2 Chronicles where Jehoshaphat defeats Moab and Ammon by faith and worship (chapter 20)

 We’ve done so much lately that there’s not nearly enough time to write it all here so forgive me for summarizing:

David shows an amazing waterfall with a great story, ask him when he gets back!

We visited Caesarea Philippi when Jesus asks Peter who he is and Peter answers “You are the Son of the Living God.”   

City gate near Tel Dan that dates back to Genesis

We went up on Golan Heights where we could see the borders of Lebanon and Syria and get a history lesson, run through bunkers and learn about the faithfulness of God in the past, right now and prophecies.
We visited Tel Dan- although more than half of our group wen the wrong way on the hike and we got a bit lost!  A “Tel” is a mound where a city is built on the ruins of another and so forth. 

Beit Shean had a Tel that is 17 cities deep.  The city itself dates back to the time of Saul. We climbed to the top for a magnificent panorama of old and new.   After Beit Shean we stopped at Gideon’s Springs where Gideon reduced his army to 300 by observing how they drank the water. 

Grace on the Tel at Bet Shean

We headed for the Dead Sea, stopping by Qumran on the way- this is the site where the dead sea scrolls were found.  Finally we arrived at our hotel at the Dead Sea.  Floating in the Dead Sea is a rally funny feeling. 

Me on the Dead Sea at sunrise

You can’t sink even if you try.  If you lay flat the whole top of your body buoys out.  One little tip, don’t get that stuff in your eyes!  It burns like crazy, even with a fraction of a drop!

Sandrey and Sammie, June 2003

My cousins have been a huge part of my life for the last seven years  (see Learning Humility).  Yesterday I drove them to the airport.  In seven short years since they arrived, they gained citizenship, established themselves and saved for a 2 month trip back to their birth-country.  Their bags bursting at the seams (no really, Setuli – candy, toys a few backpacks and lots of photo for family overseas (I’m sure there were more gifts I missed as they packed but they can all be written in as love, kindness and generosity).  They had to trade clothes, gear and gifts to get all the bags under the airline limits.  I am immensely proud of those Palmas- returning to Bangladesh will present many challenges for them but given their character it will also produce many blessings.

Standing in the airport also reminded me that my last night in the states is Monday (Happy Birthday Hannah!).  Haha- then our community will have the fewest Palmas since 1980….so be nice to my parents!  At some point I’d like to go to Bangladesh too.  Having a loving family that you know about but have never met is kind of like having presents that you haven’t yet unwrapped.

Update: The kids just called from Bangladesh! They arrived safely about an hour ago. Apparently there’s a Starbucks in Kuala Lumpur, Setuli says the Tapei airport is the coolest thing ever.

There were two events in my life that taught me a lot about servanthood and humility.

The first was when I was in high school, my Grandma Gladys moved in with us.  She had Parkinson’s among other things and was wheelchair bound.  She loved ice cream.  Really.  Taking care of Grandma involved the whole family but for the most park I was captain of the transport crew…which means that if Grandma was switching chairs or going somewhere in the car it was my job to lift her to move her and to take the wheelchair everywhere.  I learned to drop whatever I was doing and go into action joyfully regardless of the interruption.  The last thing anyone wants (well most of us) is to be a burden to someone else so I learned to act out of joy instead of duty.

The second event was in 2002 when my aunt, uncle and 3 cousins moved over from Bangladesh.  My dad had been trying to bring them here for 14 years (yay for doing things the legal way, cheers to needing serious reforms) and finally we had a date that they would arrive.  They moved into our rental house across the street from ours.  Two bedrooms for a Read the rest of this entry »

Wow it’s amazing how time passes.  A lot has happened since I went overseas in 2000.  I’ve worked in Mexico several times.  I started volunteering at the youth center.  Learned to play a bass, keys and a guitar; Started a young adults bible study;  Finished my BS in Microbiology, minor in chemistry; Took my MCAT & applied to a few medical schools (didn’t get in anywhere).  I became a deacon for my local church and then became the chairman (which I’m pretty sure is a totally unofficial title).  Then, in July 2007, they hired me for a year as a worship leader/youth intern.  Since then I’ve played over a hundred fifty worship sets- 300 including practices with nary a sick day (I think) what a blessing!  I think I’ve been fairly heavily involved there for 7 years now.

I had planned an Africa trip way back before I even worked at the church but I moved it until after my internship was finished.  THEN someone offered to send me to tour Israel which I accepted gladly!  Wow.  So I booked airfare from here to Tel-Aviv then straight to Johannesburg, South Africa.  Here I am, tugging at my roots, planning a journey to the other side of the planet.

If you’re looking at the post date on this article and thinking “Wordpress didn’t even exist in 2000″ (most of you aren’t, and that’s ok) it’s because I decided to start this story way back during my first visit to Africa. I didn’t know anything about Djibouti at the time because it was an unplanned refueling stop for our ship. Originally we had planned to dock in Aden, but just over a month earlier terrorists blew up a U.S. Navy ship there so our itinerary changed. Djibouti, a mostly muslim nation was apparently in civil war at the time. Even now unemployment ranges from 59% (urban) to 84% (rural). Here’s as entry from my journal:

December 3rd, 2000

The flies are awful. Djibouti is a country with widespread poverty. For $5 I took a taxi into downtown and started walking through the market (dirt road). First the food market- All kinds of fruits and vegetables, mostly past ripe. There were guards with big sticks in their belts, I didn’t see any guns. I walked past a lady who was carrying some lettuce when one of these uniformed men walked up and viciously grabbed the lettuce, yelled something at her, threw it on the ground and stomped on it. Surreal.

I wasn't sure about pulling out my camera so I just quickly snapped this one from my side as I walked

All the people here wear brightly colored and contrasty clothes but the streets are filled with garbage. Down one street there was a whole line of shoe salesmen. As I walked down it a man spit a huge lugi on the ground. There’s a lot of people with bare feet here.

I walked out of the market on a main road (a paved one). The sidewalks here are covered in dirt spit and trash. In some places where the retaining wall is high people (apparently, I only saw the result, not the action) lean against the walk and defecate. Little piles every meter or so, fairly fresh. My mouth puffed up like a blowfish. I walked quickly. It became apparent that this was out of necessity rather than depravity as I noticed that people lived on the street around each corner.

Four blocks away things got a lot cleaner. Just as my grandpa and I agreed that we’d probably not find a telephone we turned a corner and saw a large sign “Internet and Telephone”. We went into a relatively clean building. I wrote a quick email and then waited with Christina from France who works on the ship while my Grandpa finished up. We got locked in, bars over windows and doors while a military transport went by. They say this is normal and safe.

The unemployment really showed as we headed for a taxi. The streets were lined with people against the walls trying to stay in the shade. There was one overhang where six people slept, covered by rag blankets. A few feet away there was one on a bench, tightly wrapped head to tow, dead. Wow. Kind of leaves you speechless.

No matter who wins the elections I’m thankful to live in the US.

Funny how it’ll be election time when I leave this year too. After my return to the states early 2001 I decided that I really liked God’s ideas about justice.

Sources: CIA World Factbook: Djibouti 2008