We just got back from Israel on Monday night and it was by far the best trip of my life! I learned and experienced so many new things that changed me and helped me grow so much spiritually and emotionally. The things that I saw will definitely be with me for the rest of my life. We had some hard times and things got stressful but we all worked together and pulled together as a group and made it through.
Friday, March 14, 2008
We left this morning for Israel! At the airport we went through some of the toughest security that I've ever had to go through. They took Captain and DiMy and asked them questions about why we were going to Israel and what we were going to be doing there, etc. And then they pulled us each aside one at a time and asked us the same questions and then compared our answers. It was pretty intense! When we got to the airport in Israel we were met by possibly the most beautiful man I have ever seen in my life. It was hilarious to see all of the girls faces as soon as each of us saw him. When we were told that he was not going to be our tour guide but was instead just a rep from the travel agency, lets just say that we weren't happy! haha! Well, we got on the bus and met our real tour guide, Abner (pronounced Avner) and our bus driver Ghader and then made our way to our first stop. The first place we went was Caesarea Maritima. This is the place where Paul was imprisoned before going to Rome. This is also the place where the stone that has the name "Pontious Pilate" was found. This is the only proof that we have that Pilate was a real person other than his mention in the Bible. This is a seaside town so we were given time at the end to go down to the beach and hang out for a bit before heading to the hotel!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Today was awesome! We started our day with a nature hike up to the ancient city of Dan. It was absolutely gorgeous! We took time to sit down by the Dan Spring and talk about all of the different times in the Bible that the city of Dan is mentioned and we got time to just soak up everything! When we were sitting by the spring I kept thinking about Psalms 1--
"He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not whither. Whatever he does prospers."
Sitting by this spring that flows into the Jordan river really helped me to understand some of the imagery in the Psalms. It was so calm and peaceful and beautiful. It was a wonderful way to start the day. After lunch we got to go to the Jordan River (Jordan, I got to see the place you were named for!!!!)!! We stood at its banks and sang and prayed. It was so peaceful and I started trying to imagine all of the different things that had happened there. I looked to a part of the river and imagined the Israelites carrying the Ark of the Covenant across on dry land. I imagined Jesus walking down to the bank and talking to John and then being baptized. I then looked up to the sky and imagined the Heavens opening up and hearing God's voice coming down "This is my son. With him I am well pleased." I know that the water in the river is constantly moving and changing but while standing in it, I couldn't help but be humbled knowing that Jesus had been there.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
This morning a few of us got up early and walked down to the Sea of Galilee (our hotel was right by the beach) to watch the sunrise. It was gorgeous! I am so blessed to be able to see and experience all of these wonderful things. Once again, as I looked out over the water, I tried to picture all of the amazing things that had happened here. I pictured Jesus walking down the beach and calling Peter, Andrew, James, and John. I pictured a storm and boat out on the middle of the water with Jesus on it saying, "Peace. Be still!" and everything becoming as it had been. I pictured Jesus standing on the beach calling out to the disciples to throw their nets on the other side. And I also pictured Jesus stepping out on the water and walking on it and I imagined Peter's courage as he jumped out of the boat to meet him. It was once again incredibly humbling to be sitting in a spot where so many amazing events took place. I will definitely never sing "Theres a Sea of Galilee" or "Peter, James, and John in a sailboat" the same again! :) After breakfast we started our day by going to Nazareth and visiting the traditional place where the people of Nazareth took Jesus to throw him off the cliff. Next we went to the Church of Christ in Nazareth. It was awesome to get to worship with fellow Christians in the place where Jesus spent the majority of his life. While we sang in English they sang the songs in Arabic. It was really cool to hear the blending of these two languages singing for the same reason, to the same God. After spending time with the people for a little while after church and playing with the kids we walked down to the Church of the Annunciation. This is supposedly the place where the angel came to Mary. Outside there was some sort of celebration going on and none of us could figure out what was going on. Then I saw a little boy run past me carrying an olive leaf and it clicked! Palm Sunday! I was in NAZARETH on Palm Sunday!!!! At that point it all became a little too much for me to take in at one time. Everything was finally becoming real in my mind and I had to sit back and take a deep breath and think about what else God had in store for me the rest of the week. The next thing we did was go to the Jesus Boat Museum. This museum houses a boat that was found on the shore of the Sea of Galilee that dates back to the time of Jesus. It gave us a pretty good idea of what the boat that Jesus and the disciples used would have looked like. After this we went to Capernaum. We saw Peter's mother-in-laws house and we read about the story of the centurions servant, and where he healed the little girl and told the family that she wasn't dead she was just asleep. It was really cool to be in yet another place where Jesus performed so many of his miracles. Next we went to the Mount of Beatitudes. We hiked to a spot that could have possibly been similar to the place where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. Captain, Griff, and Wil all read the Sermon on the Mount while we sat and took everything in. It was awesome! The next thing we did was take a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. We sailed to the middle of the sea and sang and read different accounts of the Sea of Galilee. It was awesome!
Monday, March 17, 2008
St. Patricks Day!!!! The first thing that we did was visit Qumran. This is the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. We only got to see replicas of the scrolls but we'll get to see the real ones at the museum in Jerusalem. The next place we went to was Masada. Before we left for Israel Captain made us all watch the movie of Masada with Peter O'Toole. It was a ridiculous movie but in the end it helped me understand what Masada was all about. If you don't know the story of Masada, look it up. Its depressing but pretty interesting. We ended our day a the Dead Sea! Once getting to our hotel we got our bathing suits on and headed down to the beach. The Dead Sea is the lowest point of the earth and is made up of 33% salt... the ocean is only made up of 3%!!! Because it is so dense all you can do once in the water is float! Captain and DiMy brought us all some Dead Sea mud to put all over ourselves! It made for some pretty funny pictures! :)
I'll write about the Jordan part of our trip and Jerusalem later!!!!! I'll also make a post at the end that is just pictures so you can see everything!!!! Gotta go eat and plan free travel!! I love you all!!
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