The Jerusalem Experiment

With virtually every life-changing endeavor there are pieces of plans that inevitably morph into new plans, new opportunities to gain a wider perspective. The Jerusalem Experiment is turning into such an endeavor.

The past few days have brought with them a bit of a transformation of this project. If you’ve had a chance to view the Jerusalem Experiment Prospectus, you would have noticed that the first three weeks of my time in Israel were to be spent in a Greek immersion program. My hope was that through studying Greek two things would happen: first, that I would come closer to the heart of Christ as manifest in the Scriptures. I am a firm believer that studying the original languages of the Bible are a means through which we are able to worship in new ways. Second, I had hoped that the particular Greek immersion program I planned to participate in would enable me to travel to some of the more recognizable Biblical sites throughout the Holy Land.

With that said, I am no longer planning to participate in the Greek immersion program. There are two reasons for this decision:

First, I struggled to find enough points of connection between the Greek program and what is at the heart of The Jerusalem Experiment to justify raising support for program. I deeply desire to utilize the resources so many have already generously provided for the sole purpose of illuminating God’s word and drawing the Western church into a deeper understanding of God’s unfailing love, and the alternative (which I’ll explain below) seems better suited for this purpose.

Second, enrolling in the Greek immersion program added significant costs to the project. By changing my plans, I am cutting roughly $2,000 from the cost of the project.

Instead of enrolling in the Greek program, I’ll now spend the first month of my time in Israel living with the Sabba family about 10 minutes from Jerusalem University College (where I’ll be spending the final 3 1/2 months of my time in Israel). It’s a rather long story how all of this came about, but needless to say, God’s was doin’ His thing. I had the amazing experience of speaking with Ryad (my host) on the phone yesterday afternoon. After about five minutes of getting-to-know-yous, Ryad informed me, “I will be your brother in Jerusalem, don’t worry.” So now, after 28 years, I finally have a brother!

The first month of my time in Israel will be completely spend exploring, learning the culture, visiting the ancient sites where fire fell, crosses were nailed, tombs were emptied, and water was walked upon like a sea of glass. I’ll be taking it all in, allowing what I anticipate to be a profound encounter with God to, Lord willing, breathe new life into the American church.

In other news…I purchased my ticket yesterday. I’ll be officially departing on December 26th and will return May 17th.

As always, I sincerely appreciate your prayers, encouragement, and financial support!