On the bus, near Tel Aviv, Friday afternoon

‘I learned that we are united by our faith in the Messiah.’ ‘I learned that I can eat any kind of food and be okay.’ ‘I learned that Moses had the life of a prince and then had to wander in the desert for 40 years.’ ‘I learned how to find North and South based on the sun.’ On the trip home, we asked each of the youth to share something that they had learned during the past 2 days in the desert. ‘I learned that we are all people, that there is no difference between us, Arabs and Jews.’

Lunch time, Friday

We ate under the sparse shade of an acacia tree. The kids had prepared much of the meal. It seemed that they had become comfortable with one another. While most stuck close to their old friends, some were mixing and enjoying new acquaintances. Together they cut vegetables for salad, mixed spices in the lentils and potatoes, peeled the skins off roasted eggplants; and we all watched in shock as our guide took bread dough, flattened it and laid it right down under the fire, then covered it over with coals. We were going to eat that?

Riding Camels, Friday morning

We rode, two persons to a camel, across a rocky desert plain. The leaders tried to mix up the groups, having the young people ride with a partner who came from a different youth group. This was a long walk under the blazing sun, and brought new meaning to our Bible studies, where we learned that Moses and the Israelites spent 40 years wandering around like this.

Around the campfire, Thursday night

The evening went well. We managed to play a game in the darkness. Each young person was given the name of a certain animal and had to find their fellow animal by making that animals’ sound. We must have looked quite funny barking, buzzing, and mooing around the fire.

Worshipping together is always a challenge, yet we managed some simple songs in Arabic and Hebrew. After a Bible Study we asked if any of the youth wanted to share. They were still a bit shy, and so several leaders expressed how this trip was an unexpected blessing for themselves.

Most interesting was a long talk that ensued around the fire. Much of the group had gone to sleep, worn out from the day’s events. One young girl started asking questions about the political situation; she wanted answers. Some of the others were giving their opinions, and the conversation began to heat up. One of the leaders interjected, “As Christians we are told to forgive and love, and this is what we must do, even if it is difficult.” Another agreed that our real enemy is hatred, and emphasized that we must be different than the world that teaches us to hate. One of the young people shared, “When I feel angry at someone and feel hatred towards him, I try to remember to see God in him, to see that he is a creation of God.” We all recognized that we are taught to love each other, but agreed that at times we don’t know how to do so; amidst the daily realities and pressures it can be very difficult.

Rapelling off the side of Ramon Crator, Thursday afternoon

It was frightening to take the first steps off the cliff. Most of the youth tried it with enthusiasm.

In jeeps, Thursday

They all climbed out of the jeep, smiling; they called themselves the ‘Scorpians’. Apparently their jeep driver was exceptionally fun, and made going up the steep inclines and over large boulders extra exciting. The riders of the other jeeps were a bit jealous. We had divided the young people onto 6 jeeps in the morning, and many of them grumbled a bit because they couldn’t be with their friends. By the afternoon, in our jeeps we were singing, making up names for our group, and together holding on for dear life as we bumped and bounced through the desert hills.

At the Campsite, Early morning, Thursday

Some of us have been awake since 5 (some more willingly then others). For many of the young people, this was their first time in the desert on a trip like this. It’s too exciting to sleep. Groggy and dust-covered we stumbled out of the beduin tent for morning devotions.

From Jerusalem to the Negev, Wednesday evening

After dinner and introductions, we boarded the bus wearing name tags with our names written in at least two or three languages. Each person was assigned a partner, or ‘angel’ as we called them, to get to know and look after them for the entire trip. In the bus they sat together, learning 10 facts about each other, and also teaching and learning basic words in Arabic, Hebrew, and English. The language barrier is always difficult on these trips, as it is not easy to befriend people with whom you cannot communicate. There are other barriers, of shyness, of culture, of fear or hurt, that need to be overcome. The bus dropped us off in the middle of the wilderness. We hiked to our camp under a million stars, tripping and giggling along as the yellow moon rose behind us.