Mount Moses

Culver-Stockton College developed a new curriculum last year which enables students to study abroad for three weeks at the end of each semester. Students take 9-15 credit hours during a 12-week term followed by one three-credit hour course during a three-week term each semester. With this new "EXP at C-SC" curriculum, I was able to travel to Egypt during my 3-week course this past December. I not only had incredible study and travel experiences, but encountered astonishing religious experience as well.

After our cruise down the Nile River to the cities of Cairo, Luxor, Edfu, Esna, Kom Ombo, and Aswan, the class took a charter bus to the Sinai Peninsula. It took us seven hours to travel from Cairo to Sinai by bus. We stopped at the Red Sea and saw where scholars hypothesize that Moses parted the Red Sea and saw a tree as old as Moses! We arrived at our hotel in Sinai around 9 p.m. and ate supper at our hotel. After supper, it was off to bed because it would be an early rise the next morning to climb Mt. Moses in the Sinai Mountain Range biblically referred to as Mt. Sinai.

I woke up just after midnight to put on as many layers of clothing as possible knowing that it was around 20º F at the base of Mount Moses (a minor detail our professors had left out when telling us how to pack for the trip) and would take approximately three hours to get to the peak. We could choose to ride a camel to the peak of the mountain, but I wanted to experience what Moses experienced before receiving the Ten Commandments at the peak, so I decided to hike. Like Moses, I put on my NorthFace jacket, my scarf, my NikeShox, and grabbed my iPod, flashlight, and inhaler. We left the hotel by 1 a.m. and enjoyed a warm ten-minute bus ride to the base of Mount Moses.

Once getting off the bus, hawkers bombarded our group, selling us gloves, scarves, and hats. I did not realize that Mount Moses would be so commercial and had left all of my money at the hotel, so I was not able to buy gloves, something that I knew I would regret later. Surprisingly, we were not the only crazy tourists wanting to take a three hour hike at 1 a.m.; hundreds of people were at the base of the mountain waiting to hike up as well. The chaos of the tourists and hawkers threatened to ruin my spiritual groove, but never the less, I was ready to start the climb.

I put my iPod on some workout music and turned my flashlight on. It was pitch black outside; there were no moon and no lights on the trail. It was cloudy and one could barely see the stars peeking out. The trail was covered with large rocks and camel poop, so I was constantly watching my step trying to prevent myself from falling or stepping in feces.

Despite the rough trail, I could not help but feel the presence of God surrounding me. As I progressed up the mountain, the beautiful mountain scenery unfolded, and the stars in the sky became breathtaking. I could not be any happier or more at peace during this intense three-hour pilgrimmage. I was sweating and panting heavily, but was completely in a state of inner peace and love. I felt God so close to me on that mountain as if He took over my inner self. I changed my workout music to Josh Groban, and climbed the remaining hour-and-a-half to the peak with a peace and love-filled attitude.

We finally reached the top, over 7,400 feet high, a few minutes before 6 a.m. We watched the sunrise from the peak, a sight that I will never forget. The beautiful reds and oranges from the sun peaked over the lower mountain tops and filled the valleys with colors. I could see small rivers below and the crescent of the moon above. The clouds dissipated and the stars began to fade as the sun peeked over the mountain tops in the distance. The mountainsides below were bright red and orange from the sulfur and iron imbedded in the rocks, filling in with color and life which I could not see during the hike up because of the darkness. An incredible transformation was taking place before my very eyes, and I could not help but think about Moses while there. Did he ever watch the sunrise from here? Why did he climb to this place? How long did it take him? Did he feel this same sense of inner peace that I felt while here? Having climbed this mountain, I felt I know why God chose this spot to speak to Moses. I felt surrounded by the overwhelming presence of God, closer to Heaven than I had ever felt before.

I had expected to be amazed at the beauty of this mountain before ever arriving, but I had not expected to feel such strong emotions while there. It was around 10º F at the top of the mountain! My fingers and toes were icicles, and I was uncontrollably shaking from the cold. Although I felt like I could go into hypothermia, I felt completely at peace with God's blanket of love surrounding me.

God speaks to people at different times of their lives when they least expect it; I just happened to be at the top of Mount Moses when I felt the power of God encompass me. What an amazing experience!