The Commissional Corner: February Issue

Christy Cornelius is one of our MAGL students who resides and works at Sky Ranch Christian Camps. Christy spent the end of December and the beginning of January exploring the beautiful country of Israel with 24 other students from the Graduate School of Ministry. Without further ado, let's jump into Israel through the eyes of Christy:

Meet Christy Cornelius

"I recently had the opportunity to travel to Israel with other graduate students from DBU as part of a biblical hermeneutics class. While there, we learned so much about biblical sites and gained insight into the life and death of Jesus. Possibly the most transforming moment for me was where our tour guide believed the Mount of Beatitudes to be. From this place, you can see the whole Sea of Galilee.

In spending time there, Jesus would have always known where His disciples were when they were out on the sea, just as He always knows where we are when we go through the storms of life. If you have the opportunity to go on this trip, you should make it happen!

While in Israel, things that I had read in Scripture came to life. To be able to see places where Jesus spent time, and to walk where He walked, was powerful! We learned an incredible amount while we were in Israel, and I am finding that it continually adds richness to reading Scripture.

Just after we had been to a possible location of the Garden of Gethsemane, I was drawn to think about the pressure and stress Jesus was under, bearing it alone while the disciples were sleeping. Gethsemane literally means "oil press," and Jesus was the one who was "pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities." Standing in places like this caused me to more deeply consider what Jesus went through on His journey to the cross.

Israel was not only a serious trip, we had fun too! We got to float in the Dead Sea, ride a camel, and go on a boat ride in the Sea of Galilee. I ate more humus and falafel than I've ever had before, and I became good friends with other students on the trip. I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to go on this trip, and I would highly recommend it to any other MAGL student!"

We are extremely thankful that students like Christy get to experience such a powerful biblical country and build upon their faith. We also want to encourage any student who feels called to explore new places with Dallas Baptist University and receive class credit along the way to get in contact with our Global Studies Department at globalstudies@DBU.

Reiterating the words of Christy, "If you have the opportunity to go on this trip, you should make it happen!"