Team Middle East’s final wrap up from leaders, Rose and Eva:
We’re headed home at the end of a long, long day. Though visiting the Dead Sea was not part of our original trip plan, there was a free afternoon between church and our flight that became available for us to take one last big excursion out. This addition to the schedule not only required coordination, but an uncertain amount of energy. Against a relaxed afternoon at the apartment or a little exploring of downtown, traveling to the Dead Sea sounded the most depleting before a big day of travel. Despite these risks, Rose, Kayla, Alina, Eliza, and myself tenuously agreed to take on the adventure while the rest of the group had a familiar meal and saw some local sites after church.
It takes about an hour to get to this side of the Dead Sea and in many ways it was like taking a trip to Lake Tahoe; the drive was beautiful, the lake is famous and not overrated, and it helps to have some insider info for the best experience. We found ourselves at a Holiday Inn unlike any other. Our driver negotiated our way into the best buffet lunch we could have imagined, then we were escorted to the changing rooms and then found our way past the multiple pools down to the access-point-beach-type-thing for the Dead Sea.
Amazing is an understatement. We were delighted by our buoyancy, we were enamored by the hazy desert beauty around us, we were smitten with the amount of luxury 20 JD got us at the Holiday Inn. Though the joy abounded, we all really missed our friends and wished they were there with us.
The camaraderie on this trip has truly been a highlight. Pretty much everyone arrived two weeks ago barely knowing one another. It had been a significant concern of mine that we missed the full group bonding experience through the semester, but as usual, my worries were blown away by the goodness of God.
Our friendship with one another is just one of the ways that my expectations were proven inadequately humble. I witnessed students not only open up to, but embrace a culture that none of them originally signed on to visit. I witnessed them expand their own talents as they hosted summer camp in spite of their own exhaustion. I witnessed their encouragement for each other and their enthusiasm for trying new things and meeting new people. For some, it was the first or second time out of the US, but all behaved like seasoned travelers, asking great questions, recording their own reflections with diligence, and caring for others with various tonics and medicines (I personally benefited from each of their savvy packing).
So, visiting the Dead Sea was the perfect way to wrap up this life changing trip in my opinion. It perfectly captured for me all that I have gained in traveling with these students.
Thank you for your generosity in prayer. It was evident everyday that we are cared for by our gracious God. Please continue to pray for the library, its small but mighty staff, and the many lives that they touch through their willingness to serve. Pray for their health, the health of their families, and for a restful season of Eid al-Adha. Continue to pray for the students as they process their experiences. If you can, meet with them, I know they would love to tell you every detail!
Much love, Eva.
Hi everyone,
Marhaba! مرحبا
Rose here. We are finally back in the USA (with all of our luggage) after 36ish hours of travel, and I am above all things so deeply grateful for this group and opportunity. Our group did the lion’s share of hustling through airports, and everyone had a fantastic attitude! Go team!
One of the most rewarding things about this trip on the whole has been seeing each student grow in massive ways over the two weeks we were together 24/7. Each student brought a separate and beautiful presence to the group, and I’m grateful for each one. The politics of this region are extremely complex, and talking through the complexities with the students was a highlight of the trip for me. Cultural differences in this region of the world can come across very harshly to a group of almost all women, and the treatment of women was very difficult for many of us Westerners; approximately 97% of the country is Muslim with approximately 1.8% of the population Christian. This means people have a different way of interacting with each other. Every student on this trip behaved with consideration and kindness to everyone they met, and I was proud to see them take initiative both while working in the library and outside of it. Every day of this trip brought new joys to me, and the biggest low many of us had was leaving. Returning home from this place was difficult as I felt as though everything I had set out to do was unfinished, and the new connections were hard to leave; I know many of the team cannot wait to return.
I love the vibrancy and electricity of the atmosphere in the Middle East; seeing the students absorb this and engage with the culture in their own ways was very rewarding to me. I love how many of the world’s largest religions and different people groups with incredibly rich heritage can all interact with each other in one small space—it makes for the most wildly alive place I have yet to visit, and sharing my passion, experience, and understanding for this region with our group was amazing. The phrase “Middle East” can sometimes come with an unfortunate unspoken stigma that conveys terrorism and violence, and I am looking forward to seeing these students return to their own social contexts with a new understanding of what life looks like in this city as a Christian and a new voice to advocate for our Middle Eastern neighbors. If you can, please sit down with them and ask to hear their experience! I’m also happy to speak with anyone about it.
At this NGO, there is a careful balance of grand hospitality amid stringent limitations: this seems to be the way of the Middle Eastern people in this country. Kindness amid political and religious landmines, discussing topics of faith while maintaining strict adherence to the laws against evangelism, offers of showers and washing machines amid unforgiving water conservation, invitations to stay at homes that may or may not be able to host us. Balance is everything. The people who inhabit this country are very hospitable, and this NGO is a direct reflection of that amidst the community. There is seemingly an infinite number of connections they could make to other resource sharing institutions in the region and around the world, and this all takes time and trust. This area of the world is very relationship centric, and those working in this NGO are seeking to build long-term relationships to support and grow this community in a nation filled with many people who have lived lives of hardship, poverty, and sometimes the atrocities of war. In this NGO in this city, there are more opportunities than there are people able to execute, and this fuels my (and some students’) desire to return. I know I will be back here (inshaAllah).
Excitedly awaiting my return,
Ma’ salama! مع السلامة
Rose
