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I’m finally back in Nazareth for a little while after a busy summer in and out of the area working with various groups.

While I was gone, an article about the Jesus Trail went out through the Associated Press, which resulted in extensive coverage announcing the creation of the trail, including articles in CNN, MSN, and Yahoo. We’ve been getting a lot of attention via emails and others working with tourism since, and anticipate many people coming to hiking in the spring of 2009. We’ve also completed a printable databook with the help of our volunteers Nate and Matt which provides turn by turn directions and maps, including all facilities and points of interest along the route. More information on all of this is available at http://jesustrail.com. Make sure to check out the video and multimedia presentations made by AP.

I’ll let the photo albums tell the story of the past three months, showing the most recent first. Click on the thumbnails or titles to view the entire album of photos.

Nazareth Youth Venture 2008
I co-led a three week service learning trip with Hinke Loewen-Rudgers for young adults through MMN, splitting our time between Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

Check out the groups blog with journals and photos at http://nazarethyouthventure.wordpress.com/

Turkey

My time in Turkey was spent scouting a section of the St. Paul Trail for use with an EMU Cross cultural in Turkey and the Greek Islands for May 2009 with Linford Stutzman. My sister and brother-in-law, Jesse and Maria Rodriguez, joined Linford and I for some sailing and hiking, and then the three of us traveled together in Turkey for another week.

View the route of our hike below:

View Larger Map

Morocco

I assisted in leading a three week trip through Franconia Conference to Spain and Morocco, focusing most of my work on a week’s hike on the Camino Fisterra portion of the Camino Santiago in northwest Spain.

Below is the route of the Camino Fisterra hike:

View Larger Map

Spain

Barcelona

Sheldon and I traveled to Barcelona together and enjoyed a few days visiting the city’s sites, especially the Gaudi architecture. We were also able to connect with a friend living in Barcelona that I had met in Jerusalem with my parents in the spring, and she was happy to show us around the city.

London
Connecting with Sheldon Good at the Mennonite Centre, we spent a few days exploring the city and hanging out with folks at the center, including Sharon Kniss, a friend from EMU.

Since these trips have all finished, I’ve spent some time with Michael Blunk and Evan Parks who are with the EPIC Pedal Project, documenting stories of people they meet in Israel and Palestine as they travel through by bicycle. Check out there websites at http://epicpedal.org and http://epicpedal.blogspot.com/

And now I’m back in Nazareth, settling into a new room at the Fauzi Azar Inn and catching up on various projects from the summer. I’m trying to work more at learning Arabic these days and am looking forward to staying in one place for a little while and resting up.

Here’s what’s new for me:

May

A Canadian Mennonite young adult group called “Yella” was staying in Nazareth at the Fauzi for a week and hiked a few days of the Jesus Trail. They were a great group and you can read more about their experience on their blog: http://yella2008.blogspot.com/

We have two new volunteers with the Jesus Trail: Matt Cooper from Orlando, Florida and Nate Herr, a recent graduate from Goshen College. They will both be in Nazareth for about two months, creating a printable data book for hikers that will provide detailed directions and maps as well as practical information. We’ve spent a lot of the last two weeks hiking the route together.

View a couple of photos from one of our scouting trips here: http://dplandis.com/photos/main.php/v/may_2008/jesus_trail_with_nathaniel_and_matthew/

We will be hosting a TV crew from the Associated Press for the next two days who are filming a story about the Jesus Trail. AP is also doing an article with multimedia slide show which will be out in the next few weeks.

If you speak German, check out this new article and radio broadcast about the Jesus Trail here: http://jesustrail.com/press/wandern-auf-den-spuren-jesu-jesus-pfad-von-nazareth-nach-kafarnaum

In early May, I also had the privilege of meeting with the people behind the development of other long-distance hiking trails in the region, including Kate Clow who has developed the St. Paul Trail, Lycian Way, and routes in the Kachkar region of Turkey as well Joshua Weiss from the Abraham Path initiative. These interactions have been very helpful in learning more about collaborative trail development and promotion.

On Tuesday, I fly out for London, where I will travel with Sheldon Good and visit the Mennonite Centre, and then make our way through Barcelona to meet the Franconia Conference group in Madrid the following week.

June+
For the next month or so, I will be on the road throughout different parts of Europe and the Mediterranean:
- Spain and Morocco with Franconia Conference. I will be helping to lead this group, guiding for a week on the Camino Santiago, and we will be looking at themes of pilgrimage and the interaction of historic and contemporary Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities in the region as an educational leadership development experience. Check out http://verano.via-global.org
- Turkey, joining Linford Stutzman and Jesse and Maria Rodriguez (my sister and brother-in-law) and scouting out a new section of the St. Paul trail for use with an EMU cross cultural in May 2009

I will be traveling without my computer, so if you don’t hear from me in a little while, I will get back to you when I can. I will return to Israel in early July.

Seminary Course Gives Context for Service Workers in Israel by Laura Lehman Amstutz - http://www.emu.edu/seminary/features/jesusmovement

Tomorrow evening I’ll head to the airport to fly back to Philadelphia. I’ll be in the area for a few weeks catching up with friends and family, doing some speaking in various churches and hanging out at EMU’s graduation where Maria will receive her Master’s degree.

There is currently a coffeehouse hangout time being planned at Main St. Java in Souderton, Pa on the evening of Monday, April 21st, so I hope to see some of you there. More details to follow soon…

Also, I’ll be at Franconia Mennonite Church and Philadelphia Praise Center on Sunday morning, April 20, and at Deep Run East Mennonite Church on Saturday, April 18 at 7pm.

The last few weeks have been kept busy with my parents visiting for three weeks and spending time with the EMU group while they were in Nazareth. I also recently wrapped up some of the research that I have been doing in relation to the Jesus Trail, and sharing this with the EMU as a part of their final course on the early movement of the church.

The Jesus Trail continues to receive press attention, including a radio spot on Moody Radio’s Prime Time America Show and an article in the Catholic News Service. Yesterday, Maoz and I spent the day hiking with a photographer and journalist from the Associated Press who will be writing a story that will come out in a few weeks.

Be sure to check out some photos from the past few months.
View photos from March
View photos from April

I’m looking forward to seeing many of you soon!

Collection of albums from the last week of my parents trip and from EMU staying at the Fauzi Azar Inn.

photos: Petra and Amman

photos: Animals of the Desert

photos: Easter in Jerusalem

photos: Mennos in Haifa

photos: Kindergarten Purim Parade