Makay’s Story:
2020—society in panic mode. Shuttered schools, churches, and businesses. And a catastrophic lack of toilet paper. But amid the chaos of political upheaval and church divisions over vaccines and face coverings, God took what seemed like the frayed threads of chaos to create a remarkable masterpiece in my life.
While international travel virtually ground to a halt, I diligently prepared to move overseas. At the beginning of 2020, I had applied to a master’s program at a university in Jerusalem, the culmination of a dream whose seeds were planted during my adolescent years. During those formative years, I grew in relational intimacy with God as the Scriptures captivated my heart and mind. As I grew older, I longed to know the Bible not only in a devotional sense, but also in its ancient historical and cultural contexts.
After I applied to the university, I spent weeks in prayer and anticipation as I waited for an answer. I was thrilled to learn I was not only accepted into the program, but I was also awarded a full-tuition scholarship. My gratitude and excitement were soon tempered by uncertainty. As months passed, university classes around the world went exclusively virtual. Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv shut down. As bans on tourist visas took effect in Israel, I wondered if I would receive a student visa and have time to book flights before fall classes began.
Miraculously, the consulate granted my husband and me visas, and the airport opened just in time for us to fly into Tel Aviv before the start of the fall semester. In my naivete, I believed the lockdowns had finally passed. But three weeks after we arrived, the country shut down for the third time, consuming most of our three-month stay.
Upon arriving in Jerusalem, we navigated to our bare, 350-square-feet apartment and immediately entered a two-week quarantine. By the second week, the isolation weighed heavily on us. We had uprooted ourselves from a comfortable, familiar culture and said goodbye to our families and close friends. Now we lived in strict isolation on foreign terrain. As we heard life going on all around us—friends laughing, shouts of construction workers—we longed for relational connection.
During that difficult time, I began reading Paul’s letter to the Philippians, a letter Paul wrote from prison. Sometimes, I felt imprisoned—first by quarantine, then by a lockdown and virtual-only classes. But Paul’s words, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reoriented my spiritual vision. Instead of feeling trapped by the walls of our small apartment, I could see myself as a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20). I could trust God to faithfully provide for my needs (4:19).
On our first day out of quarantine, God astounded us with his provision. Upon exploring Jerusalem’s Old City, we encountered two church volunteers who became good friends throughout our time there. While every church nearby offered only virtual services, these friends welcomed us to gather with their church staff to worship on Sunday evenings (except for the Sundays during lockdown). In a city of primarily Jews and Muslims, we were part of a Christian minority, and those evenings of small-group worship felt like an oasis in the desert as we all relished Jesus, our Living Water.
After two months passed, I realized my program at the university did not align with my goals. While I had gained many valuable academic insights related to the history and culture of the Bible, I also wanted to study the Bible in a spiritually formative context. As I searched for a better fit, I discovered Dallas Theological Seminary, and we arranged to move back home a month later. As the plane took off, tears blurred my vision. Though our three-month stay had been an especially challenging season, I had simultaneously fallen in love with Israel and sensed God’s faithful hand leading us back to the US.
Moving to another country under such unique circumstances forced me to depend on God in new ways. Whether I find myself in foreign, familiar or even hostile desert terrain, I know God will always be my immovable refuge and provider. Though I never took a class in person in Israel, God profoundly transformed me there. He showed me Jesus is my home.
What to Read Next …
God Is Already There … God’s Presence in International Travel
Pursuer of My Soul … COVID-19 Pandemic
Wrestling with God, The God of Second Chances and Divine Lunch Meeting … Women Attending Seminary, Women Teaching Bible
