Hidden Cities and Hiding Places . . .

Friday, we started the day with a visit to Beth Shan, the most magnificent archaeological site in Israel, located at the juncture of the Jezreel and Jordan valleys. It was a city of the Canaanites and where the Philistines displayed the headless bodies of King Saul, Jonathan, and two other sons of Saul. It was just in the last 18 years that excavation of this site has been done, and the only thing that was visible when they began was the top of a column that was sticking out of the ground. This is a massive excavated site, and it is estimated that only 10% of the city has been uncovered. There is so much of it, that you can easily imagine what life would have been like there. The population at its height was around 20,000. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in AD 749. The huge columns were found toppled over, just as they had fallen in the earthquake.
From there, we crossed into the West Bank and saw Mt. Nebo from a distance, where Moses had stood to see the Promised Land he would never enter and where God Himself buried Moses. We then visited En Gedi, a ruggedly beautiful oasis in the desert with many streams, waterfalls, and wildlife. This was the place where David hid from Saul: "You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance." (Psalm 32:7)
Because we spent a good portion of the day in the bus, Karen and Carole (our tour leaders) encouraged each of us to share our "To God Be the Glory" story of how God brought us to be on this trip. Some were lighthearted, others very moving, but all revealed the sovereignty of God in bringing each one to this place at this time.
Friday evening, we enjoyed a wonderful Shabbat dinner at our hotel. The foods are different here but delicious! We are having so much fun trying the exotic dishes as well as getting to know the others in our group.
Today is Saturday, the Sabbath in Israel, so not many sites are open. We went to Masada and spent about half the day there. Words fail me in trying to describe this place! It is a demonstration of Herod's indulgence with no regard for man or beast in building it (Herod himself never even visited it!), but it also is a monument to the Jews who chose to die at their own hands as free people rather than be slaughtered or enslaved by the Romans.
This afternoon, we floated in the Dead Sea, which is an experience in and of itself! It is very strange to see a huge body of water which is so beautful and yet so desolate. There are no docks or ports, no boats, no fishing piers, nothing that indicates life. Incredible!
In the morning, we will travel to Jerusalem. I can only imagine what it will be like to enter God's Holy City -- "But now I have chosen Jerusalem for My Name to be there . . . " (II Chronicles 6:6)

All around Galilee . . .

We completely circled the Sea of Galilee today. We started this morning from Tiberias, where we are staying, and headed north to Tabgha, the site of the feeding of the 5,000. We visited the Church of the First Feeding of the Multitudes which houses a rock that was believed to have marked the place where Jesus fed the 5,000. Afterwards, we traveled a short distance to the shoreline where the events of John 21 took place. This location is known as the Place of Peter's Primacy. Karen presented a wonderful lesson on reunion and recommitment and challenged us to consider how much we love Jesus --- more than "these"? "These" can be whatever we give importance in our lives above Jesus Christ. It was very convicting and thought-provoking!

We returned to the bus and traveled on to the Mount of Beatitudes for another teaching time. The Mount of Beatitudes is a mountainside that is an acoustically perfect natural amphitheater. We eagerly look forward to the teaching times each day.

Our next stop was Capernaum, a town where Jesus spent much of His time here on earth. We saw the ruins of the synagogue, the base of which dates back to Jesus' day and the excavated house where Simon Peter lived! They are 99.9% sure that this is Peter's house, as his name was written in the stone walls in several places and they also found fish hooks and other fishing instruments in and around it, all dating back to the 1st century. Can you believe we saw all of this before lunch??

Lunch today was a delicious fish meal on Galilee, and afterwards we rode in a boat out on the sea. That was one of the highlights of the trip so far! Our group sang as we rode along and had a special time of worship and prayer out in the middle of the Galilee. Awesome!! Our day trip concluded with a stop at the Jordan River on the south side of Galilee and a baptism of several people in our group. A pastor on our tour baptized about 6 people with our group. That was a special time, and then we returned to our hotel for dinner.

A Day in Galilee

After a bountiful breakfast at our wonderful hotel, we loaded up our bus and headed to a kibbutz which houses the Ancient Boat Museum. A fisherman's boat, determined to have been from the time of Jesus, was excavated from the bottom of the Sea of Galilee. The incredible story of how they found it, preserved it in moving it from its waterlogged state to now on display in the museum, was told in a movie that we watched. This is the only boat from that era that has ever been discovered. It is fascinating to think that it may have been one belonging to a disciple or perhaps even one in which Jesus rode!
We then headed to Cana, where we visited the site of Jesus' first miracle, turning the water to wine. Karen led a Bible teaching on Jewish wedding customs and their spiritual application to believers today. We left Cana and traveled to Nazareth, where we visited a replica of a typical village in Jesus' day. It is a working village, and we had a great guide who made several of Jesus' parables come alive as they were set in the times in which He lived.
By this time, we were ready for lunch! We stopped at a buffet-type restaurant and then headed on to Megiddo through the Valley of Jezreel. Megiddo is a tell (archaelogical site) with 20 levels of civilizations built on top of one another, the largest tell ever discovered in the world. We descended into a 2600 year old cistern (now that was scary!) and visited the excavation site where Solomon's horses were kept. Solomon had rebuilt Megiddo during his reign and made it one of his chariot cities. We then returned to our hotel in Tiberias (Scots Hotel) and after dinner enjoyed a multi-media presentation of the Galilee Experience.
Tomorrow holds the promise of more touring in Galilee, including visiting Capernaum and the site of the feeding of the 5000. It is incredible to think that we are walking where Jesus walked and seeing things that, in some ways, have changed very little since He was here on earth!

While you were sleeping . . .

. . . we were landing in Tel Aviv this morning at 7:30 in Israel. (That's 12:30 a.m. in Texas.) We shared the flight with about 600 other people, and we had excellent service. The toughest part was trying to sleep in our seats, and we didn't do a very good job with that. We saw the sun come up over the Mediterranean prior to landing -- a beautiful sight!
Once we landed, we immediately boarded our tour bus and drove through Tel Aviv, stopping in old Jaffa (Joppa). This is a beautiful seaport, and we stopped at the place that is believed to be the home of Simon the Tanner for a reading of Acts 10:1-23 before driving on to Caesarea for the rest of the story.
Caesarea is amazing in its beauty and the theaters that have been excavated there. Today, as we visited, the winds were high and the waves of the sea were crashing against the wall. We sat in the 2,000 year old excavated theatre which held around 2500 people and learned that this was very probably the site where Paul was brought before King Agrippa in Acts 25-26. When Jerusalem fell in A.D. 70, the Jews were dispersed throughout the world from this seaport. We are enjoying Karen's wonderful teaching and the helpful information shared by our Israeli guide, Haim.
After leaving Caesarea, we continued driving north to Mt. Carmel, the site of Elijah's face-off with the prophets of Baal, as described in I Kings 18. The weather was perfect for us to see for miles and miles. One can see much of the entire land of Israel from the top of Mt. Carmel. We have been amazed at how green everything is and how lush the vegetation!
Once we left Mt. Carmel, we drove on to Tiberias, where we will stay for the next 3 nights. It is awesome to round a bend in the road and see the Sea of Galilee ahead with the Golan Heights on the other side, pink in the setting sun! Tomorrow, we head to Cana, Nazareth Village, and another full day of seeing everything we can! For now, though, it's time to try to get some sleep and not let jet lag win the battle!

Getting closer . . .

Betsy,Mary Ann, Helen & I flew out of Shreveport with beautiful weather on Sunday. We got to Memphis and everything was going great until they announced a 2-hour delay for our flight to Newark, NJ. Newark and the NE were hit with hurricane-force winds, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands and causing all kinds of delays and cancellations at the airports in the NYC area. We sat dejectedly at the gate in Memphis thinking about our projected 1:00 a.m. arrival into Newark. However, things quickly turned around and our departure time was moved up until all of a sudden they announced we were ready to depart at 7:30! YEA!! Arrived safely in Newark, got a cab to the hotel, and now we are in the lobby of the hotel waiting for our tour group to gather. We will leave here at 10:00 a.m. for the airport and a 3-hour security check-in. We are flying El Al Airlines, the Israeli airline, probably the safest in the world but renown for their intense and complete security procedures. Flight today leaves at 2:30 p.m. EDT and will arrive in Tel Aviv at 6:55 a.m. Tuesday, Israeli time, about 11 hours flight time.

Will post as I can but hope you have a great day. Thanks for checking in!

getting acquainted & packed!

Betty, one of the 6 ladies going on the trip from Longview, invited the rest of us to her house Friday afternoon to get acquainted. The conversation quickly turned to packing and what we need to take. It is going to be a challenge to get everything in one suitcase and a carryon, but I think we can do it! We have a fun group, and I know we are going to make some wonderful friends when we join all the travelers in Newark. Now, better get back to packing . . .

checking off my "Bucket List" . . .

I can hardly believe that in 11 more days I will be leaving on a trip of a lifetime! I have always wanted to go to Israel, but it seemed like a far-off dream: other things seemed more pressing, the money was needed for other things, or it just wasn't the right time. But my friend, Karen, has gently encouraged me for several years to accompany her to Israel on one of her trips. Late last summer and early fall, God began to impress upon me that NOW is the time! Life will slip by if we aren't careful, and this trip at this time is His plan for me! My husband, Mark, was very supportive and encouraging in my desire to go, but he knew that he would be unable to make the trip. I needed a roommate!

After praying about the matter, God led me to ask my dear friend, Betsy, to go with me. She was excited about the prospect of making this journey, but she had several details that would need to fall into place for her to go. One by one, the details came together, and we mailed in our deposits!

There are 6 of us going from Longview, and we are all so excited! I am sure this will be a life-changing experience. Israel, you have been on my "bucket list" for many years, and Israel, here I come!