50 Years Building His Kingdom - Far Eastern Bible College

in Amman, Jordan. Our first stop was at a
Dead Sea resort, where many a pilgrim had
a floating time of cleansing - for their blemished
complexion, that was!
Next was Mount Nebo, where Moses
surveyed the Promised Land of the dramatic
Jordan Valley, Jericho and the Judean
hills beyond (Deut 34). Then it was the long
haul along the historic meandering and
mountainous King’s Highway to Petra in
the south.
the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, some
Jewish rebels held out in the Herodian
stronghold for three years. On the eve of
the Roman attack, the rebels, for fear of
Roman revenge, especially slavery, committed
mass suicide.
We drove north to Jericho, lying 250
metres below sea level and reputed to be
the oldest city in the world, dating back to
the 8 th millennium BC. At an excavation
“...we climbed the
Mount of Olives, ...
The summit
commands a
panoramic and
breathtaking view
of the walled city
of Jerusalem.”
The ruins and monuments of the Rose
City of Petra, considered a most significant
wonderland of the past, were used by
the Nabateans to defend themselves against
the Greek Emperor Antigonus in 312 BC.
Many of us, especially the writer who were
not game enough to trudge the rocky terrain
for two hours, either hired a horse or a
‘chariot’ half the distance. The chariot ride
literally shook us out of our joints and
breath! We were rewarded and stunned by
the magnificence of the rock formations
towering all around and above us. We could
not help but feel that we were in the midst
of God’s wondrous creation.
We crossed the Allenby Bridge into
Israel the next evening, and spent the night
at Sedom by the south western bank of the
Dead Sea.
A cable car lifted us up Masada, a
mountain fortress looming over the desolate
landscape on the edge of the Dead Sea.
Present-day Israeli soldiers take their oath
of allegiance here, reciting a warning and
a promise in the phrase: “Masada shall not
fall again”. Following the destruction of
site, the remains of the defensive city walls
from this period could still be seen.
The next day we climbed the Mount
of Olives, where Jesus taught His disciples,
where He was made prisoner, where He
wept for Jerusalem, and where He ascended
to heaven. The summit commands a panoramic
and breathtaking view of the walled
city of Jerusalem. On the way down we
stopped at the Garden of Gethsemane.
It was on the Mount of Olives that
the Lord allowed two similar incidents to
happen to two of our Korean brethren,
which became the subject of Pastor’s exhortation
at Baraka the very same evening.
They were pick-pocketed of a total of
US$800. The first incident happened despite
their being warned minutes before by
our tour guide to be specially alert against
thieves and robbers.
For the incident to occur twice had
to be a confirmation of the Lord’s will, that,
travelling and staying together as a small
community of fifty, we were members of
the same body (Rom 12, 1 Cor 12), and
that we should learn to “bear one anoth-
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