Hey all you Doug and Marilyn Cuthbert fans!! We have arrived safely in Jerusalem. Our flight to Istanbul was great and we slept much of it. PTL!!! We were tired. We flew to Tel Aviv and rented a car and drove to Jerusalem at 4:00 a.m. this morning. Of course that is 9:00 p.m. your time. It was easy driving to Jerusalem, finding JUC was a different story, but after a couple hours of wandering around the area where we were sure it was, and watching a gorgeous sunrise over a beautiful city, we finally found our son and Jerusalem University College! How delightful to be here with him. We napped a couple hours, ate breakfast, and now are off for our adventure! Thanks for praying for us and continue as we seek to enjoy and soak in all of our surroundings for the next week. Hugs!

-Marilyn

The long anticipated wait is almost over! Melissa flies in tomorrow evening and my parents fly in early Saturday.
I am so very excited for them to be here. I have been basically worthless since I got back from Jordan, just doing homework and thinking about how they’re almost here.
Thursday and Friday Melissa and I will enjoy some date time! Saturday-Tuesday we will be in the Galilee and Coast. Wednesday-Sunday we will be around Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the Dead Sea!

…now I just have to wait 30 hours for Melissa!

Is that Samson?

John, Brandon, and I in Jerash...good men.

I have a love affair with King Abdullah II

“]”]

Attempted Camel Kiss...any closer and I think my head would have been bit off

Karak Castle

Being Sacrificed by Bedouin Woman on an altar @ a high place in Petra

Here’s my plan: Do 3 final exams in 3 days then enjoy a week with my parents and Melissa! The sprint to the end has officially began!

Jordan was amazing. I loved the people, the sights (especially Jerash and Petra), the pictures of King Abdullah II all over the place haha, and most of all, getting to enjoy the fellowship of a lot of great people from JUC that I’m going to miss a lot. See you all soon!

My time in Jerusalem feels like it is almost over! Today I added up the number of days I have open that I might have time to explore around Jerusalem and the number was sad…4. This weekend we are taking a 4 day trip to Jordan, including seeing Petra! After that I will try to cram in as many final exams and other tests into 3 days before Melissa arrives on the 19th. My parents get here on the 21st and we will all tour around the Galilee and around Jerusalem till the 30th. After that, I have one week of more finals and a little time to soak in a little bit more of Israel, then I will be off for an 8 day trip to Egypt. December 13 I fly home! Wow, it is going to come to a close quickly! What a blessing this has been!

The pictures below are from a trip two weekend ago (this weekend I had a field study around Jerusalem and another for archaeology at Lachish) when 4 other guys and I rented a car and toured around northern Israel. We had quite a few amazing adventures. I got my camera back in Tel Aviv, then we went to Haifa where we saw the beautiful Bahai Gardens and other Bahai buildings. We then cooked on the windy beach, but when it stormed we moved into a drainage pipe to finish out the meal . It was pretty clean…for a drainage pipe that is. That night it rained like crazy and we got the true hostel experience in Akko, where the conditions were bad enough that we decided to put a tarp over everything we slept on. The rest of the time we were at the Canada Center (Noah is Canadian, who was on the trip) where we ice skated, bowled, swam, and went in a jacuzzi; had a stop at the Banias Waterfall; drove up to the top of Mt. Tabor; had lunch in Nazareth; and enjoyed the company that comes with a road trip!

The people here at JUC are amazing so it has been a joy to be here and to get to on trips like we go on.

I am realizing some of the fun things about this time of my life: I don’t think I’ll ever hitchhike, sleep in caves (oh yea! we slept in a cave over the Sea of Galilee one night), or cook in drainage pipes. I have a feeling these will be some of the biggest “adventures” I ever go on, but I really believe all of life can be a sweet adventure…maybe even “smarter” adventures then the ones I’ve went on. Though, I must note I’ve always been perfectly safe .

Hopefully I’ll blog one or two more times, but until then, thanks for reading and staying up with me, I can’t wait to catch up on all of your lives…and the offer still stands for all of you to fill me in over email on what’s going on with you.

In Christ,

Andrew

Northwest corner of Israel along the Meddie Sea

@ Nimrod's Castle. It was freezing!

Cooking in less than ideal conditions

The Crew @ Banias Falls

Cliffs of Arbel looking over north of Sea of Galilee

Amazing Sunset from JUC rooftop overlooking Modern Jerusalem

Princess and Prince!?

Bahai Gardens-Beautiful!

We took a four day school field study trip to the Galilee Region, my new favorite area of Israel. I did not have a camera, but it was kind of nice because I just had other people take pictures for me so I didn’t have to worry about it.  We visited a lot of places Jesus had been, so it nice to get some NT events in. The whole Galilee region is very beautiful, and we stayed on the Sea of Galilee in Ein Gev, which was incredibly relaxing and beautiful.

On top of the Cliffs of Arbel

Jordan River just north of the Sea of Galilee

Spring by city of Dan

Beer-Sheba at dusk

 

Map on top of Beersheba

Taking a squat on an ancient toilet

Theater in Beer-Sheba

Cactus in Hazor

Aqueducts by Caesarea

Caesarea Orange

 

 

Among perhaps more important things, the binding on my Bible broke a while ago, but my roommate John fixed it with some super glue. Later the night that it got fixed I was studying in the library with it and I would have to lean away every couple minutes and take some clean, fresh breaths because it was so intense. It did smell kind of nice though. Do not worry; I will try not to get addicted to super glue. Even if I did though, at least it is my Bible, so doesn’t that mean that I will be in God’s Word more?

Those are my deep words for you to ponder today.

Perhaps you are more interested in what I’ve been up to and thinking versus what I’ve smelled…perhaps.

I got my camera back this weekend for one thing! It was quite an amazing story, and I can now share some pictures from a while ago. The gist of my camera drama was this: A friend took pictures at the Dead Sea and I did not know he left the camera by my stuff, 2 weeks or so later I got an email from Ari H, who had found this very blog and my email address from this blog. Yea for this blog! After we emailed back and forth, I went and picked it up this weekend. It was fun! There were instructions for finding it inside Ari’s area in front of the house, and there it was- nestled inside the case for the gas tank, under the tank and in a plastic bag! Thanks Ari.

I will be updating on two more trips I have taken to the Galilee with pictures, but to break it up, below are some pics from the Negev study tour south of Jerusalem.

I have been practicing jumping off tall things and finger light saber war fighting, Hiawatha style! The first picture is of me in front of the likely place where David killed Goliath, and I am holding the notebook that the Zebells gave me…which I get a lot of compliments on for the artwork inside! The other pictures are over looking Maktesh Ramon- a big crater, Negev Desert land, and right before I left my camera by the Dead Sea.

I want to the city of Dan this weekend

It is a tel in northern Galilee, near the northern border of Israel.

It reminded me of Dan Stadt, so this post is dedicated to you Dan…man among lesser men.

This has happened to every person’s blog I have every happened to read.  At some point, they become “too busy” or just lose ambition for blogging. So once they do finally blog they have some choices: to write about everything that happened since they last wrote (never happens),to just jump back in and forget the preceding time, or bullet point style. I’m gonna go for bullet points so that you can get a feel for everything that has happened, and so that I don’t forget everything that has happened…because if you know me, you know my memory only lasts for a few days…hopefully I still remember you all when I get back! Just kidding J

-A couple weeks ago was the Jewish holiday of Succot. They built little tent houses outside commemorating the Israelite exodus from Egypt, they celebrated and were supposed to be happy for a week, and at the end of the time they celebrated the Torah.  I got to watch a group of Jews in Beersheba dance around the scrolls.  They were having a blast. It makes me wonder if Christians could benefit from elevating the status of our Holy Scriptures and if we could also have some fun celebrations…after all, celebrations are fun too J

-I was sick for a solid week, which meant I got to do lots of reading (Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis was my favorite), thinking, but not lots of adventuring.  I think my body was trying pretty hard to slow down for a little bit, so I just tried to enjoy it…well I enjoyed most of it, maybe not the headaches and diarrhea.

-Field Study to southern Israel…Beersheba, Ramon Crater (think Grand Canyon ish), Dead Sea, Masada, Ashkelon, and others I’ve already forgot.  I loved the Dead Sea except that I lost my camera there! Oh well, I’ll just take a lot of mental pictures from here on out. After all, Jesus did not have a picture when he was here…good argument huh?!

-Midterms=lots of studying and paper writing. I’m learning way more than back at home, but it is also more difficult to stay indoors and study when I have an even bigger drive to see everything that I can in Israel.

That is my quick synopsis of the last couple weeks; hopefully, there are more than just my parents and Melissa still reading at this point.

I just got back from a trip to Eilat, which is at the southern tip of Israel on the Red Sea. Me and 7 other people pool hopped, snorkeled with the fishies, hiked a little bit, and of course, slept on the beach.

I love water. Plain and simple. Everytime we get somewhere to swim (which it’s still warm enough with 80 degree + weather), I try to swim as long as possible, and I am in heaven on earth the whole time…Mediterranean Sea, floating in the Dead Sea, snorkeling in the Red Sea, laying in the water for hours in the Sea of Galilee, and jumping into numerous waterfalls. I think everyone of Jesus’ parables should have involved water J

This Sunday afternoon I am feeling a little bit of homesickness. On top of missing Melissa and my family, the Hiawatha Rally was this weekend, and right now I’m uploading some video Hodson 2 West made.  Needless to say, I’ve been thinking about probably everyone who is reading this, and right now I’m having a lot of faces flash in my eyes of people I really love and appreciate.

I’ll try to write more later about the spiritual and relational things going on in my life, as that is what really matters, but hopefully you get a feel for what I’ve been doing so when I get back you’ll know what I’ve been up to since I left…which leads me the most important part (if anyone is still reading): I would love love love to hear what’s been happening in everyone’s life. I write this blog only because I don’t have to write everyone individually, but one of the things I miss most about being hear is not being involved with all of you, so if you have a chance, drop me an email

andrew.cuthbert@student.indwes.edu and catch me up a little bit. You can also email if you are wondering more about anything and I’ll write more. 1 on 1 is better anyways

Shalom!

Andrew

After another amazing weekend packed with beautiful sights, crazy experiences, and good times of bonding, I find myself sitting in the “nap area” (which includes a sleep poem, cool breeze, and calming music) of my room at JUC recovering from sleeping on small basalt rocks for two days and thinking about how I will remember this time. Along with remembering this trip to the Golan Heights, I have remembered the past years by watching some videos and pictures: Spring Break ’09 with Lil Avvy, Nick, Amy, and an upcoming Elijah Ray; a wonderful summer at Hiawatha; golfing with Kyle ZimStallion and Melissa; and the Echo Ranch missions trip during high school. From family in NC and Michigan, to being in Alaska with Brandon, Bethany, Blake, Scottie, Jordan, and many more, to the many others that mean so much to me, I am overwhelmed by both blessings and purposes.

In Ephesians 3, Paul prays for what we all desire but have difficulty grasping. He prays that “according to the riches of his glory He may grant us to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in our inner being so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith- that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fullness of God.” I have had many incredible experiences that when I look back at pictures and videos that show what seems to be perfect times. I fail to show love that others deserve and to be in the moment though pictures may seem otherwise. The sweet thing is knowing that I have a chance to step into a little bit of Christ’s picture of love. That picture is worth looking at in detail. Thank God for His grace and love that is way beyond what we can conceptualize.

Anyways, as evidence of this weekends trip, no matter where I am at or what I am doing I’m usually thinking about something other than just how incredible the place I am at is. With almost the entire group from JUC we spent Saturday in the Golan Heights by 2 waterfalls and an ancient city. From Saturday to Monday, 7 of us guys stayed around and camped for the weekend. That night we found another waterfall and a pool above one of them to swim in. After sleeping (kind of) on rocks, we hiked to 3 other waterfalls. Each was incredibly beautiful, and each the last 2 we could jump off of rocks in to. The trail actually went down a ladder next to the second waterfall and through the deep water below; we had to swim with our packs above our heads.

That afternoon we hitch hiked, probably to fear of my parents, to the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, then to Tiberias. Because it was the eve of Yom Kippur, 3 guys were not able to get hitches all the way to Tiberias. On Yom Kippur the whole country literally shuts down (think Judgment Day and making sure they get there sins atoned for). We walked down the middle of the streets of Tiberias, a large city, and could yell and hear our echo. It was a ghost town.

To summarize quickly, we found some found that actually had flavor, slept next to the Sea, and awoke to the epitome of Psalm 19 in the sunrise. The whole day the 4 of us relaxed next to the Sea, swimming in the warm water, swatting flies as we sat next to the water, and enjoying the only day of the year that it is that calm. We made it back that night by 11pm after meeting the guys that had not made it the whole way.

‘Nuf said.

A story.

Once upon a time, 6 boys from Jerusalem University College, with a few days to burn, decided to take a fun trip across Israel.  They left on the Wednesday afternoon and took an hour and forty-five minute bus to Ashkelon, on the Mediterranean Sea.  After being denied a place to sleep and a place to eat, they finally found pizza and sand to sleep on.  As they laid down to go to sleep they decided to have one person stay up on hour long shifts to protect them from the Russian mafia that supposedly was prominent in the area.  That night, one boy, Andrew, slept very well and woke up early listening to the waves beat on the shores, to see the cliffs next to the shore as the sun rose, and to swim in the huge waves.  Though he got stung by a jellyfish, he was having a great time.

After visiting everything there was to visit in the ancient Philistine city, two of the boys left to catch a bus back to Jerusalem.  The other four, after eating another pizza and stocking up on supplies, started their hike across Israel.  They quickly decided to change their plans and hike the whole thing in one stretch in order to hopefully beat the heat.  So they left at 6p.m. on Thursday, and chose to take the most direct route-along a highway.  They hiked along this highway for 7 hours till they could hike no longer.  Who could have known what 7 hours would do to their feet?  Literally collapsing to the ground on a patch the size of a car in the woods, they fell quickly asleep. They could care less about there surroundings.

Though the face above is from later, it captures the spirit of the boys during this time.  They slept from 3 a.m. till 8 a.m. and crawled out of bed.  The night before they had all decided that this was the stupidest thing they had ever done, and one of them (Tim was his name) wisely chose to take a bus the rest of the way back to Jerusalem.  The other three got ready. Luckily, little boy Andrew had new shoes and his feet were healthy; however, the other two had blisters in between toes, on the ball of their feet, and on the back of the heals…the most disgusting blisters ever.  Nevertheless, they taped up and set off, assuming they’d get back by 6 p.m. at least.  By this time they had come to the national trail, but after going in a circle once and making slow progress in general, they realized the only way to make it back by nightfall was to hike the most direct route along the highway.

So for the rest of the day they hiked…and hiked…and well really just walked, because going along the highway is really walking, not hiking.  Along the way a police officer told them it was illegal to walk along the side of the road so they hiked up into the hills for a half hour and snuck back down…henceforth jumping off the highway and hiding in the bushes every time a police officer came by.  They tried to take a short cut once and got lost and had to hike Over a mountain instead of around it like the normal way would have taken them.  For at least three hours they hiked through the sewage trough on the side of the road for safety sake.  In the end, with explosive diarrhea and well over 50 rugged miles behind them, they made it back, with aching muscles and an ice bath ahead of them. A 28 hour hike for the record books.  The longest hike in the shortest time ever to be done by any students in the JUC history.

The moral of the story? Don’t walk on highways for long periods of time. Always have enough water, that matters most (which they did have). Positive determination can overpower stupid decisions (the idea was dumb but the determination to finish was too much).  Finally, they learned that they just got done doing the stupidest thing of their lives and they would never do it again. The End.

P.S. If you go from top far right to mid far left on this picture, you have looked at half the trip. Two days after the trip, we were at a place where we could see the landscape of what we walked. Reminder: this is only half.