Wednesday, July 23

We were on the road by 8:00 a.m., but we missed a turn and ended up at the Egypt border. Yikes. We had to head back, but the mistake allowed us to notice a 'camel ranch' sign. We just wanted to go and see the camels, but we ended up joining a group that was going out for an hour long ride. It was a Bedouin ranch and they were so friendly and hospitable. Our guide's name was David.

Prior to leaving on our trip to Israel, some friends gave us a book called the "Survivor's Travel Guide." I read it on the flight over and it had some great tips. Some of the sections were rather humorous and one of them was "How to Survive a Run-Away Camel." While we were out on our jaunt, my cell phone started ringing. It's the only time it has rung on our entire trip and I didn't dare let go of the horn on the saddle to answer it for fear I would fall off the camel or that I would startle her and she would take off and I wouldn't remember those techniques I had read in the survival book. The phone went unanswered and I stayed safely on the camel.

When we got back from our ride we were treated to fresh hot mint tea and pita bread in one of the Bedouin tents. The guide, David, made the pita bread over the open fire while we all had opportunity to ask questions. It was very much like Native bannock. Another delightful experience.

We traveled home along the western border of Israel and Egypt. It's very hot, dry, and desolate. One of our travel activities became finding unique signs along the road. Check out the pictures to see some of them.

Our purpose in taking another route home was so we could travel between Mitzpeh and Shen. The passage in I Samuel 7 has always been special to us. When we were first leaving for ministry back in 1984 my Mom told us that her mother's (my grandmother's) favorite verse was I Sam. 7:12. "And Samuel took a stone and set it between Mitzpeh and Shen and named the place Ebenezer meaning thus far hath the Lord helped us." Mom handed us a stone from the driveway and said, "This can be a reminder that God has helped you this far too and He will not fail you now." It was our Ebenezer stone, our reminder that God is our helper.

It was our desire to pick up a stone from between Mitzpeh and Shen and bring it back to Mom. We picked up a few. We were startled at the geography when we got there. Mitzpeh is on a very high table area, with steep cliffs. Coming from Shen it must have been formidable.

One of the highlights along this section was seeing several gazelle on the side of the road - another native Israeli animal. Animals and birds seem to find David!

When we got back to Jerusalem we stopped at our friend's place to let her know that we had returned home safely. No trips through Hebron and no stone-throwing!