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Sept, 21, 2009: Dr. Paul Wright,
It’s a new academic year at JUC, and the halls,
classrooms, and sites are alive with full expectation. Our
semester enrollment totals 71 this fall, with 40 graduate
students (22 pursuing the MA degree) and 31 undergraduates.
Associated schools sending students to JUC this semester include
Asbury College, Cedarville University, Columbia Bible College (BC),
Columbia International University, Eastern University, Geneva
College, Gordon College, Indiana Wesleyan University, Multnomah
Bible College, Northwestern College, Philadelphia Biblical
University, Taylor University and Wheaton College. I hope that
you can tell from the new pictures posted that everyone is having
great learning experiences, both on and off-campus. As every
semester, many are serving in volunteer placements throughout the
area. Some are helping in the Jerusalem School in Beit Jala
(alongside some former JUC students who returned to teach there
full-time), others are with the Domari Gypsy center, STEP
International (teaching English in Ramallah), Princess Basma School
on the Mount of Olives (working in hydrotherapy and group therapy
with Moms and their physically and mentally handicapped children)
and with Salim Munayer’s reconciliation ministry Musalaha. It’s all
hands-on learning of the highest level.
On July 12 we co-hosted in our gardens (along
with St. George’s Cathedral) a special event in honor of Charles
Lambert, an archaeologist who excavated the prehistoric Natufian
Caves on Mt. Carmel. Charles Lambert died in 1935, early in a very
promising career as museum assistant and head of the numismatics
section of the British Mandate Department of Antiquities of
Palestine. As an Anglican, was buried in the Protestant Cemetery on
Mt. Zion, adjacent to our campus. Though not trained as an
archaeologist, Mr. Lambert’s work in the caves—it was of unusually
high quality for the day—laid the basis for current excavations
there by Professor Mina Weinstein-Evron, head of the Zinman
Institute of Archaeology at Haifa University. The event
coincided with not only the 74th anniversary of Mr.
Lambert’s passing but the publication of Professor Weinstein-Evron’s
most recent book, Archaeology in the Archives: Unveiling the
Natufian Culture of Mount Carmel (Brill, 2009) , a signed copy
of which she graciously donated to the JUC library. The memorial
service and reception were very well attended by numerous
archaeologists and interested people, including the current British
ambassador to Israel, Mr. Tom Phillips, and the former British
ambassador (now the British Foreign Secretary’s Special
Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan), Sir Sherard
Cowper-Coles.
On September 11, we were happy to participate
in Open Doors, an annual celebration of historic and
interesting properties in Jerusalem. We welcomed over 100 persons
from throughout Israel for tours and hospitality on campus.
Hey, here’s a first for us. Last week three JUC
students, John Geating (Philadelphia Biblical University), Andrew
Cuthbert (Indiana Wesleyan University) and Stephen Downey (Wheaton
College) walked from Ashkelon to Jerusalem, a distance of 45
miles. It took them 28 hours (five of which were a collapsed sleep
at 3am under some trees somewhere), much of it uphill (“let us go up
to Jerusalem!”) and all of it living the ways that those guys from
Bible times actually got around. Afterward John Geating wrote a poem
(the whole thing was his idea. He asked me if it was a good one, and
I said “Sure. Why not?”) I guess it was a lot more arduous than it
first seemed, but everyone is proud smiles now:
Life flashed before
their eyes
Not once quickly, as before death
But slowly over and over
Like snoring or an uncomfortable pew
The pain rose up
from their toes,
Through twisted muscles and blistered skin
Peaked in the knowledge of self-affliction
And as the miles grew long,
The kilometer
conversions even longer
A sense of shame and pride curiously crept in
Knowing that starting was their worst decision
But finishing…. was just enough, A better
one
--John Geating, after the fact
Happy New Year! Its Rosh haShannah,
the Jewish New Year and the beginning of the fall High Holydays. And
this Rosh haShannah, much to our surprise and delight, it
rained. A lot. Even in Jericho. (in mid-September! Well
before Succoth). Maybe in this “land of hills and valleys that
drinks water from the rain of heaven” (Deut 11:11) the rains this
winter will be plentiful and the drought of six years and counting
will finally be broken.
This fall, our breakfast and lunch cooks are
volunteers from the States. We welcome Joshua and Bethany Crigger,
who come to us for the semester from Colorado. Everyone is enjoying
their tasty meals! If you would like to be considered for a
volunteer position at JUC, please drop me an email (paulwright@juc.edu).
The work is hard, but rewarding, and we are a friendly place.
We have already welcomed our first
short-term group for the academic year, a group of 25, mostly
pastors and seminarians serving the United Methodist Church, led by
Chappell and Julie Temple of Lakewood UMC in Houston, Texas.
The instructor was Jack Beck, who will be with us for our
upcoming Pastor-Parishioner program as well. And what a wonderful
experience they had! Putting Bible to map to land to speech to a
reality that simply makes it all come alive. Thank you to all!
Cyndi Parker is in the US this fall,
working hard on a revision of our Historical Geography Notebook and
visiting associated schools. She will also help represent JUC at the
Evangelical Theological Society meetings in New Orleans in November.
If you would like her to contact you for a first-hand account on
what JUC can do for you or your students, please let me know.
With blessings, and thanks,
Dr. Paul Wright
Director, JUC |
