Have you ever wondered what goes into a traveling exhibit? I'm beginning to find out, and it's a lot like any other big project, really... only bigger.
Lots bigger.
Five ladies from our church descended on the "From Abraham to Jesus" exhibit a week ago today. And wouldn't you know it - after arising at the crack of dawn to beat the traffic, we arrived a half hour early at the block-big building in downtown Atlanta. Not a sign of where we were supposed to be, and not a responsible-looking soul about.
At last, after inspecting most of the mall-like building in early morning silence, I came upon a previously overlooked security guard, who directed us to a previously overlooked row of blank white doors in a blank white wall.
Inside was a huge empty space: 30,000 square feet in a single room. Dozens of refrigerator-sized wooden crates lay about the edges, while most of central space was dotted with the pale yellow stucco building blocks of the exhibit - square pillars and walls - and the sundry metal rods to put them together with.
And at the front of the room were four faces I'd first seen in Israel, one of which belonged toTisha, my traveling buddy's grandmother. Odd indeed to meet this group on this continent!
We signed in, and received rustly white paper bracelets that marked us as volunteers. Also in our category were a strong, silent man and his strong, silent daughter and two sweet and funny middle-aged Hispanic sisters. Already at work were the temp guys, with authentic Atlanta accents, and the Israeli set designers with authentic accents of their own.
Communication was interesting.
Honestly, it had a lot to do with the fact that this was the first volunteer day in the first city. Then there was the fact that there weren't enough plans to go around, and it wasn't an intuitive assembly process. And the fact that guys were trying to explain the job to girls. It was all Martian to us. And so, with the exception of the one fluent Martian speaker among us, we left the men to it. Would we want them underfoot while we were all in the kitchen?
Turning to the organizational side of things, we began manhandling more pillars and walls and poles into place for the busy builders. And looking about for something more to do.
Every once in a while, someone would take pity on us, and suggest a new task. Carrying cardboard to the back of the room. Moving metal connectors to this area. One Israeli's not so very articulate method of communication left me expanding my imagination in order to reconstruct his intended meaning - a skill honed in my days as an English-as-a-second-language teacher. Unused to such dilemmas, my nineteen-year-old sister was mystified. "I understand the words that he's saying," she said earnestly, "But I don't know what he wants me to do!" Fortunately, he knew what we wanted when we asked for a top to be removed from one the crates. Heading in the direction of a screwdriver, he assured us that he would get rid of the "ceiling."
When a tractor trailor backed up to the bay, we joined the line unloading box after box of Biblical food gift sets. While a fork lift handled the flats, my little sister squeezed in on top of the load, near the broiling hot ceiling, and handed down more loose boxes. When she emerged, red-faced, our foreman congratulated her on being the first to touch those boxes since they'd been packed into the shipping container in Israel.
Very slowly, the exhibit began to take shape. It started looking like a maze...and overhead, people started draping sail-like pieces of material to form the roof of the maze. All too soon, it was time to eat pizza, and then it was time to go, rubbing aching muscles as we went.
How I wished I'd known, when I was asking "Will there be any jobs that won't require heavy lifting?" that I should have asked, "Will there be any jobs that won't require heavy lifting - on Tuesday?" But never did so much get lifted by so few ladies - with so much laughter! And as my sister and I agreed afterwards, rarely have we had so much fun at a task. We decided it was due to having a worthy goal, and sharing it with hearty fellow workers. A great picture, I'm thinking, of the family - and church family - that I'm privileged to have as my traveling buddies.
September 17
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6 comments:
Elisabeth,
After helping set up the exhibit "From Abraham to Jesus", did you go through afterwards to see what the exhibit contained?
The exhibit is now in Columbus Ohio, and my family and I are considering going to see the exhibit. I was wondering what your thoughts were after going through the exhibit (I asume you did:-) Is the exhibit worth the time and money?
If this isn't the correct forum to ask questions, just let me know.
Thanks!
~Heather
Heather,
This is a great place to ask questions - and yes, I did go through the exhibit.
As a sort of traveling museum arranged to line up with the Bible stories, it's a good "appetizer" to the archaeological riches that are available in the Holy Land.
The advertised Dead Sea Scroll fragment is tiny, but the ossuary (bone box) belonging to Simon of Cyrene and the 3-D video presentation at the end were excellent!
The most meaningful part, I would say, is the fact that it ties the Bible stories into real material remains from the time they were written. Looking at something from Abraham's time: well, it helps me realize that he was a real live person!
The best part (according to my sister - I missed it) was the separate exhibit that was tucked into the back of the gift area...the one that shows very old Bibles and tells the story of how God's word got to us - including people who gave their lives to own Scriptures in their own language.
If you want more information, you can check out their website: http:www.fromabrahamtojesus.com
And you'll save a couple dollars if you buy tickets online.
Thank you for your input, Elisabeth!
We are going down Monday to the "From Abraham to Jesus" exhibit, taking a group of our friends along with us. I'm looking forward to seeing all the different artifacts.
I really enjoy the articles you post on YLCF. I have been visiting this site for several years now, and this is my first time posting a comment.
May God bless you as you seek to honor Him with your life.
~Heather
You're welcome, Heather! And I'd love to hear what you think.
After I wrote my reply to you, I got a chance to talk with a Christian businessman who is heavily involved in the exhibit. He says that amazing things are happening - lots of Christians, Jews, and Muslims getting a chance to see God's hand in history.
Elizabeth,
We all really enjoyed the exhibit! The narration throughout the exhibit on the headsets helped to pull everything together. I must say, I wouldn't have got as much out of the exhibit as I did if they wouldn't have had the history of the time period between Abraham to Jesus included on the headsets. If they would have had just dialog about the artifacts, I soon would have been trying to remember what time period they were talking about! It all flowed together very well, and although I did know some of the history facts, I also learned many new tidbits.
I can see where the volunteer work you were able to do, must have been a huge blessing! I heard that it took four days to set up in Columbus (maybe it takes that long everywhere).
One disappointing thing, the Dead Sea Scrolls weren't on exhibit; they had a copy of the scrolls, and the real ones were supposed to be arriving later this week. Oh well!
Thanks again for telling me more about the exhibit.
May God continue to use this exhibit to plant seeds into people’s hearts, and draw them to Himself, the Messiah, Savior of the world!
Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
~Heather
Thanks a lot, Heather! I really enjoy hearing other's impressions of the site. I had a happy Thanksgiving, and hope you did, too.
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