Holy Lands Trip; Mt. Sinai, Egypt

Our time in Egypt began with an interesting start. We were detained at the border for a little while waiting for our Visas. We were amazed that the young man helping us at the Border shared his faith, as a Christian living amongst a majority of Muslims. The statistics are actually 90% Muslim and 10% Christian and other. Of the 84 million people in Egypt, we met one of the 10% right at the border. God is good to us.

"Mr. Willy", our guide, met us just outside the border with our driver Sameh and our police escort, whose name escapes me. As Americans traveling in Egypt, you are required by law to have an armed Police escort, this is due to the fact that our lives are perceived as valuable, and to keep us from being abducted and held for ransom...comforting isn't it! So, the 5 of us journeyed together half way across the Negev Desert to St. Catherine's Monastery, at the foot of Mt. Sinai. We stayed at the Monastery guest house for the night.

Shane and I did a Bible study and learned a lot about the area and the significance of where we were. Mt. Sinai is actually a mountain range, not a single peak. The traditional site of Moses mountain is Jebal Musa, a specific peak, which we could see clearly. Let me tell you, this is a BIG mountain! When we thought of Moses climbing this mountain we felt sorry for him!

The next morning, we walked a little way up the hill, but Shane doesn't do high altitudes, he can't breathe so well...so we stopped, took pictures and headed back to the monastery. Some people do climb to the summit where Moses received the 10 commandments....good for them:)

At the Monastery, we got to see the traditional site of the burning bush. Now... there is obviously no way to know if this is "THE" mountain or if that was "THE" bush, but I have to say, it was interesting to assume such, and imagine that we were standing, if not on the same ground, probably very nearby where Moses and the Israelites received their vision from God. The bush is massive, more like a tree than a bush. As so many others have done before us, we touched the bush and hoped that God would clearly reveal his mission for our lives as he once did for Moses.

To see pictures of our time at Mt. Sinai, click here.