Sam Rengo, a volunteer based in Hanga, Tanzania, was in Israel from mid-March until the end of April. He let us know that groups were starting to pick back up at Beit Noah, the retreat center there. Since there was more work than one person could keep up with (normally there are 6 volunteers) I was given the green light to go back for a month. The day after my family left for the US, I was on a plane back to Israel.
Travels
Travel opportunities were not as abundant this time around, since we were turning around huge groups of guests every couple days. I was thrilled to see people using the spaces I had gotten ready earlier this year, and it was fun interacting with guests. The monks and workers were always quick to point out that without the BVC volunteers they wouldn’t have been able to open Beit Noah up this year. Even with a busy schedule at Beit Noah, we still found some time to get away.
The first trip we went on was a day trip to the Mediterranean Coast. I got to see Acco again and we did the Knight’s Hall tour. After the tour we walked around the city before bussing down to Haifa. This was my first time in Haifa and it was very pretty. We found a nice beach and spent almost two hours there. It was cold and windy, but we still made it in the sea.
Our second trip was with Father Mathias, one of the German monks living at Tabgha. We drove to Mount Tabor for the 100th anniversary of the church there. It is run by Franciscan monks and dedicated to the transfiguration of Jesus. The view from the top of the mountain was incredible and after the service we got to eat a delicious meal with over 100 monks and sisters. Another very unique event to add to an already long list from the year.
For our last trip we went to Caesarea Maritima with our site director Paul. He is training to become a tour guide and gave us the full experience. He knew everything there was to know about the ancient city built by King Herod. There was a museum that we walked through before checking out the old amphitheater, race track, and palace. Even with the man-made harbor mostly washed away, it’s still a very impressive sight and must have been spectacular in it’s prime.
Jesus Trail Wins Again
When I returned to Israel, one of the first things I expressed to Sam was my interest in returning to the Jesus Trail. I wasn’t happy that it had beaten me as badly as it did last time I was here. I also thought that there was a way to raise some extra money for Alfajiri by doing a big chunk of it in one day. A couple weeks later, I sent out the 1 mile per donation challenge and owed 34 miles. Sam and I got up to watch a dominant performance by the Timberwolves in their series vs the Suns and then got a ride to Cana from Brother Paul around 5:30AM.
After making sure Brother Paul knew how to get back to Tabgha, Sam and I started up the trail. Within a mile we had to stand down a very large and mean-looking dog along the trail. Two miles later and we were lost for the first time. With lots of backtracking and breaking trail we made it 19 miles to the Horns of Hattin. We had a great view and thought that we were home free from there. By mile 23 we were trapped in the horse pasture of a Jewish commune with no idea where to go. We caught the owner’s attention and got led to the nearest road. At this point we were ready to throw in the towel on the Jesus Trail, so we called Brother Paul up and asked for a ride back home.
After lunch and a couple hours of resting, we went back out to log the last 11 miles. By now it was almost 100 degrees and humid. I jogged about 2 miles before switching strategies to a run-walk split. Sam stuck with me even though he was still feeling pretty good. After 9 more painful miles I ended the run right at the pool in Beit Noah and spent a good 30 minutes floating before we went up to supper. After supper I went straight to bed.
Time with Brother Paul
Brother Paul, the founder of the BVC, arrived in Israel to spend a little over a week with Sam and I. He had been travelling through Asia, looking for suitable BVC sites in the future. Sam and I were both looking forward to the time together. Paul’s arrival was not without it’s challenges. First his flight was cancelled due to Operation True Promise, Iran’s 300-drone strike on Israel. Then, on his rebooked flight he got stuck during his layover in Dubai due to the flooding there.
After finally arriving, we got an extremely important delivery from him. The real reason that we wanted Brother Paul in Israel so badly was that he carried 8 standard American Corn Hole beanbags with him. The bags here had gone through the ringer and were no longer able to be used. We celebrated by playing beanbags for about 3 hours on that first day. The next week was filled with work, cribbage, beanbags, and goodbyes. Then Sam, Brother Paul, and I headed to Tel Aviv. We had an extra day and a half to spend there before taking flights to Tanzania, the US, and Kenya, respectively.
Our first meal in Tel Aviv was at Mike’s Place. It felt like we walked straight into a small-town bar from Minnesota. US license plates decorated one wall and there was an American flag in the other corner. The food was incredible and we decided to get another meal there before our time in Tel Aviv was up. Sam and I went on a great run along the coast and followed it up with some pullups and beach volleyball with two locals. The three of us also spent a lot of time just sitting outside on the beach. A very relaxing end to our time in Israel together.
I left Israel with full awareness of the fact that this incredible 9-month BVC experience was almost over. I planned to be extremely intentional with my remaining days in Nairobi. Now that I have less than a week left, I can look back and say that I succeeded in that goal. More on that in the next and final post on my BVC experience.
Thanks for reading!