“Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth. Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King. Within her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress.”
Psalm 48:1-3
To locals, Jerusalem University College is known as “The American Institute on Mount Zion.” Maybe the name “Mount Zion” sounds familiar to a lot of us – it’s the name of one of the hills that makes up modern Jerusalem. However, in the Bible, it is a name often synonymous with the city of Jerusalem. The exact location of Mount Zion has changed over the years, but JUC is sitting on what locals would consider to be modern day Mount Zion. How cool is that???!!?
So I feel incredibly lucky to be here. I don’t think the reality of it has truly sunk in yet… but I know that I am SO blessed already. By random chance, I got placed in the “roof room” up on the balcony. Everyday, I climb up a series of winding stone stairs that make me feel like I’m in a castle to reach the balcony, then once I’m outside on the roof, I can reach for the handle of my bedroom door.
If that weren’t enough reason to be sure that God’s goodness has surely followed me here, I also hit the roommate jackpot!! Becca is a second-year MA student here, and she’s from Kalamazoo, MI! When she helped me carry my stuff up the many, many steps to our room, she told me that we actually have mutual friends on Facebook! Becca graduated from Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, which is only about 45 minutes from where I went to college. Those mutual friends are people who went to school with Becca that I worked at camp with at SpringHill. Small world – right?? We asked the director of Student Life if she did this on purpose, but she assured us that it was completely random! Okay God, I see you.
Even though I wasn’t actually in the classroom until yesterday, my first “class” was on Sunday. All first-semester students take a class called Physical Settings of the Bible. I often explain it to people as “the field trip class”, because a big part of it is traveling around the country to study the geography, topography, geology, and weather patterns of the different regions of Israel. Here at JUC, they believe that these aspects of the land are essential to fully understanding the Bible. So this class is all about studying the contextual details of the Bible that often get overlooked, and understanding the land that is the setting for the story that we love.
Above there is a picture of me in front of the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock. This is from my first Physical Settings class! We walked through the Old City for about five hours, learning about its layout, and the different ways that it has changed throughout history. The Old City walls contain many different holy sites, like the ones shown above, and ruins from different historical periods that have shaped the city. The modern-day Old City walls contain a land area larger than what Jerusalem was during the time of Jesus, and a lot of it has become very modernized, but there are spots within the walls that really do take you back in time. The mixture of different cultures, religions, world-views, and the sights and smells that come with them are equally fascinating and overwhelming.
The coolest part is, the Old City walls back right up to JUC’s campus. Both Zion and Jaffa gates are about a 5 minute walk from the gate of our school, so we can go pretty much any time we want! There is so much to do and see – I’m sure I’ll never get bored in my free time. The first-semester students even did a scavenger hunt there the other day as a part of our orientation!
The picture above was during that scavenger hunt (My team got second place!!), where we visited one of JUC’s favorite shopkeepers, Shabaan. He has known the President of JUC for decades, and loves the students here. We can rely on him for fair dollars-to-shekels money exchange, and quality souvenirs. Yesterday I walked down to his shop with two other students between lunch and class. Shabaan’s son Omar was there, and he pulled out some stools for us to sit on while we chatted for a bit. He even gave all of us some baklava (which might be my absolute favorite middle-eastern food)!
As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in the garden on JUC’s campus. There are olive, pomegranate, and fig trees, as well as grape vines and dates growing right here on campus. Here’s a little view from what I think is going to be a pretty regular homework spot for me:
So my classes today are Biblical Hebrew I and Text Studies in Rabbinic Literature for Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity. It’s safe to say I’m a bit intimidated. People here are really, really smart, and I’m realizing quickly that the academic side of things is not going to be easy! But that’s grad school – right? Besides, I’m learning Hebrew in a place where I can practice reading it on the signs everywhere I go, and learning about rabbinic literature from an actual Jewish Rabbi. I know this experience is something that I can’t get many other places! Wish me luck as I start diving in!
So I feel like I could go on and on, but I’m going to try to wrap up my thoughts here. I don’t think it has actually set in yet that I’m living in Jerusalem. Maybe in 2 or 3 weeks it will hit me, but right now a lot of it feels like a dream. The people are amazing, and I’m having so much fun getting to know them! But I’m sure a wave of homesickness will probably hit me at some point. The Lord is stretching me outside of my comfort zone for sure – Freshman year of college Hannah Marie never ever ever ever would have thought that she would someday move to another country by herself, but here I am! And the peace I have deep, deep in my soul is truly from the Lord. I’m confident that I’m exactly where I need to be. And even when it gets hard, His presence with me is absolutely undeniable. I echo the Psalmist’s words in Psalm 48: “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God!”
Prayer Requests:
- community building and growth in friendships
- a desire to keep stepping out of my comfort zone
- the favor of the Lord as I start learning Hebrew (hahaha)
- that I would keep seeking to know Him and love Him with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength
Shalom!!
Hannah Marie ❤
Hannah Marie at JUC 