MOVING FORWARD - pastor mike landry

It's becoming harder to get an internet connection with my trip to Egypt so I'm having to combine 2 days again of my journey to the Holy Lands with this blog entry. Sorry about the length.

We boarded our bus at 7am for Egypt on Saturday morning. There were 8 of us on a bus that seats 50. Not much room to spread out in. :)

Jerusalem was spitting snow flurries when we left, so we were looking forward to some warmer weather as we went south. However, we were in for a surprise.

We made it about an hour before we had to turn back because the rain had flooded our road and made it impossible to go further. We turned back and got to Jericho before we heard that the water had subsided enough to pass. So we turned around again having lost 2 hours and proceeded south. The temperature rose and was about 75 degrees when we hit the Egyptian border city, Taba, at 2pm.

Crossing the border was a breeze and after walking across the border with all our luggage in hand for about 200 yards we were greeted by a new tour guide and a new bus. This time our bus was smaller...only a 35 seater. Then it was off to south Sinai where St Catherine's monastery is located, as well as our hotel. The drive there was like touring the moon. Nothing but mountains of rock and desert everywhere you looked. Our guide informed us that groups were not allowed in the monastery on Sundays but that we were given special permission to see it since we were going to arrive too late Saturday evening.

St Catherine's monastery is up in the mountains and the temperature dropped rapidly as we ascended. By the time we got there it was dark and cold. We dropped our bags off and then ate at the hotel restaurant. We were then informed that a local Bedouin man had invited our group to join him in his tent for some hot tea before we went to bed. We went wondering what we would see and just exactly how much colder we could get. The tent at least blocked the wind and the Bedouin man told us we didn't have to take our shoes off because he could see we were very cold...he was barefooted. We all sat on cushions in a circle around a fire he had build in his tent that was ventilated through a hole in the top of his tent. He served us tea that he had made in the fire. When you're cold, anything hot tastes good and this sure did. He also distributed heavy camel skin blankets to cover us while we visited. It was a rare opportunity to learn first hand of the customs of the Bedouins that inhabit most of the desert area. What a treat!

We finally got into our rooms and got some sleep. When we woke up we were amazed at what we saw. The mountains had been covered with snow throughout the night and we were in the midst of a snow blizzard. And we thought Jerusalem had been cold! We got some great pictures and I did some skating on the concrete in front of the restaurant by accident - I'm just glad it was nimble me who did it - I can take the impact of a half gainer with a quarter twist better than the others in our group.

The snow subsided enough for us to proceed to the monastery where we saw the traditional locations of the Burning Bush, the well where Moses met his wife the shepherdess, the location where the golden calf had been made by Aaron when Moses was receiving the 10 commandments, and the plain where the million and a half Israelites had waited for Moses while he was on the mountain. This was so much better than any powerpoint presentation or youtube clip. We were all freezing on the outside but fired up on the inside reflecting on what happened here.

We then proceeded to Cairo and arrived here about 7pm. This was about 3 hours later than planned because of all the roads that had been washed out from the rains. A couple times we were driving through a foot or two of water. Along the way we travelled the route that the Israelites traveled as they crossed the Red Sea and went to Mt. Sinai. We stopped at where Moses threw a tree in the bitter water and it became drinkable. We stopped at MarahRephidim where the Amalekites attacked the Israelites and lost. This is the story about the Israelites winning as long as Moses held his hands and staff up in the air...with a little help from Aaron and Hur. We also passed close to the spot where God first provided manna. Our trip today was an amazing journey through the pages of Scripture (Exodus 15-19).

Let me stop here and highlight the main lesson that the Lord was teaching me as I saw all this and reviewed the Biblical text. The hardships faced by the Israelites in the Wilderness were planned by God as a test. It was God's desire that His people learn to trust Him before He took them to the Promised Land. A perfect example was in Exodus 15:22-26 (but it happened over and over again). Verse 25 said, "There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them." Another example was Exodus 16:4 when God was about to provide manna. He said, "I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whther they will walk in my law or not."

Nothing has changed. God still does the same thing today. We always look for the shortcuts and the path of least resistance. God wants us to learn to trust Him...and that always involves suffering and testing.

A couple of final notes - we drove right up to one of the loading ports of the Suez Canal. It was much larger than I would have expected. We then backed up and crossed the Suez Canal by tunneling under it.

Upon our arrival we were also reminded that Cairo is the 2nd largest city in the world with 22 million people. Now having driven through it I can believe it...I think they were all out on the road when we went through it. I also discovered that the white lines on the road here mean absolutely nothing. Most cars...and our bus...straddle the lanes looking for a way to get in front of the cars ahead. Usually what was intended to be a 3 lane road became more like 5 lanes with cars weaving constantly in and out. Oh, and don't forget the donkey pulled carts on the same road too. And I thought my driving was agressive. I'm not sure I could survive driving here...though it would be fun trying. :)

Well, I've got to go to bed. It's late and we leave to explore Cairo tomorrow at 7:00 sharp. A couple of ibuprofen to work on my sore shoulder (remember my half gainer with a quarter twist) and I'll be good to go. Not sure I'll have internet connection tomorrow so you may have to wait a couple days for the next entry on my adventures in the Holy Land.

See you later.