Last day in Israel

We are at the airport, ready to fly to London for the night. I have a real sadness having to leave this special place...we just touched the surface and there is so much more to learn and experience here. We spent the morning on a tour of the City of David outside the old city walls. The guide took us to a rooftop view and showed us how the hills surround Jerusalem. He asked if we knew of this spoken in the Bible and I said Psalm 125 (thanks Kelly!) and he agreed. We walked under the street level in a drainage tunnel (under what was the Pilgrims Walk up to the Temple).

We will plan on attending Ray Vander lann’s talk in NC in September and I think that will help us to complete this journey that we took.

Capernaum

We completed the Jesus Trail, which totaled about 50 miles with some extra routes!!. The last day Saturday) it hit 111 degrees! Thankfully we had much cooler weather for most of the days. We never found a modern town of Capernaum. Most of the coastline in this area have been preserved by one church or another with shrines or chapels built over top of the suspected locations for events like the sermon on the mount, loaves and fishes miracle, and Peter’s house where Jesus healed Peter’s wife. All well meaning preservation efforts but, in my opinion, these fancy chapels and alters distract from the original setting making it hard to take in the experience. The lake was beautiful and serene, however, and hard to leave.

We drove back to Jerusalem, south through the Jordan River Valley with a Hebrew taxi driver named Gadi. He was a wonderful tour guide as well, stopping at the traditional baptism site and for a quick picture of a camel. This was a change from the suggested bus ride, which we would’ve had to wait until Sabbath was over to catch. The taxi ride was an answer to prayer and Gadi kindly gave up his day off.

Our WiFi connections have been super slow and only allowing us to pick one picture! We will update with more when we get back to faster connections!

Arbel to the Sea

Well, our “cool” weather finally broke and the last two days were up into the mid-nineties. Even though it was hot, they were the most scenic. We left the comforts of the Kibbutz Lavi and hiked up to the Horns of Hattin, an ancient volcanic caldera and high point, which has a layered history going back to the 14th century BC. Most significantly, it was the location of the defeat of the Crusaders by the army of Saladin. We ended the day hiking through a valley and up to a Moshav (Hebrew collective farm which also has cabins for rent) at the entrance to Arbel NP.

Today, we took in the brilliant overlooks at the top of the Arbel cliffs and got some amazing views of the Sea of Galilee. On our way down we met a group of 60 from various states led by Ray Vanderlaan, an amazing tour leader Amy knew from her readings. It was fun to talk with them as they hiked by. After 8 very hot miles through fruit orchards and a banana plantation, we made it to the “sea”.  We cooled off with a swim, had another delicious meal at the hostel we are staying at, and then headed back out to the water for  the highlight of the trip. I baptized both Jackson and Asa in the waters of the Sea of Galillee. God provided a gorgeous, calm evening (and very private) and we have been so blessed by Him this whole trip. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us!  38 miles as of tonight and Amy’s foot is hanging in there.

Cana to Kibbutz Lavi

The Galilee, as the locals call it,  is made up of rolling hills and valleys covered with low, arid bushes and plants (most of which have thorns) and “forests” with unique varieties of somewhat familiar trees. Our weather continues to be “cool” in low to mid 80’s, passing showers and welcomed cloud cover. Our trail took us past a military installation, patches of prickly pear cacti, a McDonalds (that was empty as it’s still Ramadan-great time of talking with a local), and a Roman road in rough shape. The belief is that this particular Roman road almost certainly bore Jesus’ steps given its east to west orientation between Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee.

Tonight our lodging is a hotel (complete with a pool and hair dryer!) run by a Jewish Kibbutz (communal living center that is the largest producer of synagogue furniture).

By the way, for those at Watauga who heard me talking...UPS brought Jackson’s hat at 5:47pm and we left for PA at 6:10pm :)

On the trail to Cana

After a climb up and out of Nazareth, which included 450 stairs, we headed into the Galilee fields and forests. We walked through grazing cattle and past olive groves and greenhouses until we got to Zippori National Park. This was the village of Sephoris in Biblical times (probably Mary’s hometown and a place where Joseph and Jesus spent time building) and included amazing Roman roads, mosaics, an amphitheater as well as a Crusader fort. Wow! Amazing, we had cloud cover and a few sprinkles today which all the locals were talking about! Very unusual. It kept the temperatures in the low 80’s...thank you, Lord!

After 11 miles, we ended the day in Cana, the town where Jesus performed his first miracle - turning water into wine at a wedding feast.  The guest house we are staying in is next door to the Catholic Church that celebrates this miracle. Our hosts were married in this church 50 years ago! They are the sweetest folks and amazing hosts.

Nazareth Day 2

We joined a tour of Nazareth that our hostel coordinates first thing every morning.  It’s not a typical tour. Mona, our guide, took us to various shops in the Old City to talk with the owners about their stories. Many are new stores that have just opened in the last few years to bring life back to this section of town. But we also met a third generation owner of a spice mill and a second generation carpenter.  Unfortunately, many people now buy their furniture at big stores (sounds familiar) so he now makes the one thing you can’t buy at IKEA...coffins for the Christian funerals. We also stopped at the oldest coffee shop in Israel! Jerry and Jackson had Arabic coffee and I had an amazing cinnamon and walnut drink. Will definitely try to repeat it at home :)

Later, we went to Nazareth Village...a recreated first century village from the time of Christ. The land that they built on had not been farmed for 140 years and whenn they dug, they uncovered an original wine press and watchtowers. Our guide was able to bring scripture to life as he described life then and how Jesus used what people knew to give parables of faith. It was fascinating and I had a few tears.

Lastly, a woman from the Jesus Trail tour came to talk to us about our hike. She was with us for an hour going over the route, where to refill water, etc. It was exciting! Not sure how I’ll be able to sleep tonight!! We leave in the morning.

The town of Nazareth is 65% Muslim and 35% Christian. We had everything from welcoming, friendly greetings to cold, stone face stares. You can ask us about our overall experience and feelings when we have more time. Such complicated history...a significant quote from our guide today was “Nazareth is still not responding to Christ”.

Sorry this is so long! But it’s also serving as a reminder of how we filled our days when we return home. Hope everyone is good...especially Sugar Dog (who we mention daily).

Nazareth

We had a great day today...travelled by shuttle to Nazareth (took about 3hours with stops to drop off people in Tel Aviv and a kibbutz) and checked into our inn (a 200 year old Ottoman mansion). We observed/learned some things today...wait staff do not bring your check until you tell them you’re ready, most of the city is closed today for the Christian sabbath, saw no pet dogs, just stray cats (and thin ones at that)! We explored the Basilica of the Annunciation Church, and a Christian wedding (being said in Hebrew!) was in progress. The neat part about the Church was the mosaics made around the world depicting Mary and Jesus. It was moving to hear a Polish group sing in front of the mosaic from Poland. We have met people from around the world. The lower level had grottoes from the time of the Crusades.
We can only send a few pictures on the blog before it gets overwhelmed going from a Google platform to an Apple platform.

Arrival in Israel

We arrived in Jerusalem after a taxi ride from the Tel Aviv airport. Quite a temperature change from London! Jerusalem truly is a city on a hill. It’s Sabbath, so we were able to take a walk from our hostel to the Old City, sometimes in the middle of the street because no buses or trolleys were running and the stores were all closed. It was the highlight of my day and many families were out. The Old City, however, was bustling with people and shopping at the markets. At dusk, we joined others praying at  the Western Wall.

A Day in England

After a refreshing 4 hour sleep on the overnight flight, we rented a car and drove over 200 miles. Jerry navigated the left hand rules and what seemed like 50 round-about without (too much) incident! We did a quick visit to Wimbledon, Windsor Castle and then out into the county to see Stonehenge.

The journey begins

We’ve done some reading over the last year, and now we’re ready to go! But first a visit with family and some super cute great-nephews and niece.

We made it through the NYC traffic and are ready to get on our jumbo jet.