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May 26, 2008: Dr. Paul Wright,
We have said goodbye to our spring semester
students and, in a quick turnaround, welcomed the first six of our
14 busloads of summer students. Never a quiet (or dull!) moment on
Mt. Zion. It’s been a full house throughout. In fact, during May we
are housing 120 people on campus, filling every bunk top and bottom
and putting in a few extra besides. Associated schools sending
students for our summer programs include Wheaton College, Gordon
College, Bethel College (IN), Northwestern College, Fresno Pacific
University, Simpson College, Columbia International University,
Western Seminary, Denver Seminary, Columbia Bible
College, and the Assemblies of God
Theological Seminary. We welcome as well Dr. Herb Jacobsen,
Chairman of the JUC board of directors, who is bringing a group from
his church in eastern Pennsylvania.
The roll call of instructors for this summer’s
programs is a veritable hall of fame of JUC alumni and friends:
Dr. Carl and Mary Rasmussen, Drs. Elaine and Perry Phillips, Steve
and Mona Lancaster, Dr. Bob Mullins, Dr. Carl Laney, Dr. Brian
Schultz and Dr. Jack Beck, as well as resident JUC faculty
Cyndi Parker and Dr. Paul Wright. Each represents part of a
“great cloud of witnesses” who have benefited personally from JUC’s
study programs and who are dedicated to introducing others to the
lands and peoples of the Bible on site, in the best living context
for study of the Bible.
Seven graduate students completed the
requirements for the JUC MA degree this spring and now proudly join
the ranks of our Master of Arts alumni: Marlene Gowan, Hayley
Wilton, Ben Post, Stacie (Swan) Post and Tom Meyer in the
Biblical History and Geography track, and Kendra Denlinger
and Dale Temple in the Middle Eastern Cultures and Religions
track. We offer each of you our congratulations and know that God
will continue to bless your journey as you take your next steps with
Him.
Semester students participated in several
volunteer ministries this spring. Several spent afternoons at the
Domari gypsy center helping with after-school clubs and in the
center’s administrative office. Others were teaching assistants at
the American School in Beit Jala. One worked with Rami Fellemon, JUC
MA graduate and director of the Jerusalem Evangelistic Outreach. In
every case cross-cultural learning has been enhanced and lives—both
the giver and the receiver—blessed.
Its become a spring tradition at JUC for
members of the Cultural Backgrounds of the Bible class to
host a Last Supper triclinium meal for the student body. This time
attendance was so large that we held the meal in the auditorium,
decorated as an ancient reception hall. Everyone “reclined at table”
and enjoyed food prepared and served in the style of banquets in the
first century AD. A few guys even dressed the part. Footwashing,
blessings, eating with only flatbread as a utensil—if the lights
were low enough it was almost possible to imagine the scene. After
meal discussions centered on events related to Jesus’ Last Supper
meal and conversations around his table. In terms of methodology our
efforts fell into the category of “reasonable speculation,” but
everyone left with new possibilities for understanding Jesus’
teachings, and a good time was had by all.
For decades instructors at JUC have been using
a booklet of geological maps for student marking which we call our
“syllabus maps.” Now Jim Monson and Steve Lancaster have just
released Geobasics, a full-color update of these maps. We
look forward to integrating this exciting new tool into our
curriculum. You can see the book at
www.bibback.com.
At its annual spring meeting in April, JUC’s
board of directors voiced its pleasure with the progress that has
been made at the school over the last several years (I believe the
word “miraculous” was even used). The data indicates full programs
in classroom and in the field, full dorm rooms, increased
scholarship opportunities, and finances well on the way to providing
a level of institutional security never before seen at JUC. More
will be said later, but plans are in the works to do some
much-needed capital improvements on campus, including washroom,
laundry and kitchen remodeling and the like.
On the human level, a large part of the success
of Jerusalem University College goes to our faithful family of
supporters and friends. Your support is known, appreciated, and
acknowledged. Keeping the light burning on Mt. Zion is an impossible
task when attempted alone. God’s grace is paramount, but your help
is also much needed. As always, we welcome gifts to scholarship
funds, specific projects or our general operating fund.
Politically, Israel remains as crazy as
ever—talk abounds of incursions into Gaza, ruffled feathers on the
Syrian and Lebanese borders, and corruption in the Prime Minister’s
office. Challenges in securing visas are as difficult as ever. Did I
mention that in March a large sink-hole opened up in the Protestant
cemetery behind campus, swallowing German graves from the first
World War? A simple fix for that problem is impossible, as
embassies, commissions, governments, churches and other interested
parties—with legal standing and otherwise—all get a say in the
matter. Its just one more small, crazy, insoluble incident in a
country much the same. Yet at the same time visitors to the land are
reaching an all-time high, with projections of millions more on the
way. And in the middle of our sometimes helter-skelter endeavors to
keep the light shining on Mt. Zion, God’s grace continues to abound.
Let’s not forget that though we and others may plow and plant, it is
God who gives the increase. And the Bible is clear that even in
drought years—and Israel will always see plenty of those—“His eyes
always remain on the land” (Deut 11:12) and His plans are fulfilled.
To the extent that the JUC family, supporters and friends, in Israel
and abroad, have the privilege of participating in His work, we are
grateful. |
