Jerusalem

Hi everybody! We've had a busy day in Jerusalem today seeing the Temple Mount, the Old City of David, and walking all through the Old City of Jerusalem. Gordon Franz is our guide. He is an archaeologist from The Association for Biblical Research. He added lots of meaning to the scriptures with his insights. Seeing the sites where Jesus and others spoke the words that are recorded in The Word adds so much to one's(my) understanding. Gordon is very gifted in what he does.

Let me share about the rest of our group(from left to right):
-Joyce is a librarian from Seattle, Washington.
-Elise is a graduate student in ancient history from Australia
-Gordon
-T.J. I wrote about last night. I didn't mention that he has his Dr. and teaches Hebrew as well as O.T. at Southern Seminary.(Thomas, you'll be interested in hearing his story!)
-Jim is from the Bay Area in California. He teaches 8th grade math and travels extensively on his summer vacations. He's been to many places on various mission trips and will be in Turkey and Egyt after our dig is over.
-Michael I wrote about last night
-Brendon is from Chattanooga and is a Bible student at Bryan College. He wants to study abroad after getting his undergrad and get a doctorate in N.T. studies.



These folks have plenty of grey matter. I'm doing my best to keep up! I stumbled across some neat trinkets today and will be giving some away at Homecoming 2006. I bet we have a child who would love to have a 2000 year old coin--a widow's mite. As you can see even over here my family and friends are never far from my thoughts. A couple of personal notes to save the time for email:
-Dianne, they even have statues of the king over here. I laughed out loud when I saw him next to the motel we stayed at the first night.
-Erin, I had a schwarma for lunch today. It brought back some bad memories from Ecuador, but I was able to laugh about that too.
-Jackie, please email me Bill Payne's internet address!(U can't get away from me asking for favors even when I'm 6000 miles away!)
-Laura, be working on your Spanish! AR&PNF...!
-Meg, I saw some of your best friends on the Temple Mount and at our hotel tonight.
-Everyone please tell our shut-ins that I'm thinking about and praying for them while I'm here.

Night all!