Today we visited Jericho, the oldest inhabited city in the world. We toured the Israeli national park site of Beit She’an. While there is no Biblical evidence that Jesus every came here, it is a fine example of a Roman and Byzantine city. It has wonderful stone work and a theatre that would seat 7000 when it was fully intact. An Earthquake in 765 AD destroyed most of the city.

Afterwards we travel up to Jerusalem through the Judean wilderness. We saw Bedouins that have lived as Abraham did for thousands of years with their sheep and goats. We emerged through a tunnel to the splendor of the “golden” city of Jerusalem. After viewing the city from Mount Scopus, we went to the Garden of Gethsemane church and then to the excavated house of Caiaphas, where probably Jesus was held the night before his crucifixion. We truly felt the power of the place as the lights were lowered and we felt the dark loneliness that Jesus must have felt there.

The beauty of the life and ministry and death and resurrection of Jesus is that we do not ever have to feel alone! Christ is with us today just as he was with his Disciples then. He loves us and cares for us. In fact He loved us so much, that he endured terrible things so that we can live.

Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice for us! Thank you Jesus for your love for us! Help us not only to believe but also to act upon that belief. Amen!

Lillian, Sandra, Bob, Allen and Kathy sitting on the 2000 year old toilets in Beit She'an.

Kathy was so overcome with the spirit (after her previous experience) that she danced a jig........

4654 year old brick in Jericho

Today we drove around the Sea of Galilee, seeing such beauty and wonderful diversity of life and crops. It seems that every type of fruit and vegetable is grown here! We rode a boat and stopped in the middle of the lake to hear the sounds of the lake. It was only disrupted once by jet skis. That made us Hartwellians feel “right at home.” The Sea of Galilee is so beautiful. Its waters are blue and a light haze hovered over the lake and the mountains that surround it. The Sea of Galilee is the lowest fresh body of water on earth, yet it is teaming with life within its waters and around its shores.

This is in complete and utter comparison with the lowest body of water on earth, the Dead Sea, which is just down the Jordon River. While distance is only one hour and forty five minutes by car, it is an entirely different ecological system. Its waters do not team with ANY life and its shores are covered with desert. The Dead Sea is dead simply because it only receives water and gives none away! Is that not like our lives and the lives of those around us? Those that always take and never give are not living in Christ, they are DEAD in Christ. We must give to receive, we must die to live, and we must offer ourselves, as Paul said, as LIVING sacrifices.

What truths we can learn from the land!!!!!

Lillian, Sandra, Bob and Kathy in front of the Sea of Galilee

Later today we will travel to Tabgha, where Jesus fed the 5000, Capharnaum, where Jesus healed the paralytic whose friends lowered him through the ceiling, and we shall sail on the Sea of Galilee. I am remembering Eric Chapman from our trip in November. I miss Eric, he and Tyler enjoyed their trip last year so much. We cried with them as they grieved Elaine and we still cry as we miss Eric. I am praying for Breanna, Tyler, Kay, and Lilliane at the church in Tabgha. Will you join me as we lift them up and all those that weep for loved ones missed.

Eric and Tyler Chapman in Chapel of the Multiplication (Tabgha).

Tyler and Eric Chapman on the Seas of Galilee.

Today we visited Cesaria, where Paul was imprisoned twice. We saw the ruins of Herod’s palace on the Mediterranean sea. Then we ventured to Megiddo, a city dating back to Canaanite times. There we saw the oldest Canaanite altar found to date in the Holy Land. After walking through a tunnel that Ahab had dug out of solid rock, we then visited Nazareth, the boyhood and young adult home of Jesus. Lastly, we visited Cana of Galilee, where Jesus preformed his first miracle, turning water to wine.

We marvel at the distances that Jesus walked and how rough the terrain is. Our savior did so much for all of us! He healed and taught in many of the villages we rode through today. We see Christian, Moslem, and Jew working side by side in many of these areas. We encounter big smiles and waves of joy. While there are reminders of sadness, the Canaanite altar, there are so many more stories and gestures of joy and peace. Christ does live today. He is alive in His land, but also in our land. Isn’t it great to be alive in Christ!

Our group at Cesaria

Well, our flight was uneventful (PTL) and we actually landed in Israel 45 minutes early. Many thanks to Don and Linda Portratz for giving us a lift!! I am looking out my window at this moment at a full moon over the Sea of Galilee. What a sight!

We will begin at 8 in the morning and start our journey. What a priviledge to be here, in the footsteps of Jesus, with Lillian and Kathy Wysong and Bob and Sandra Story. Mike, our guide, says hello to all our pilgrims from the November trip.

Other than the pushy Europeons trying to muscle Lillian out of the way from dinner, all is well. Check daily for updates and some tid-bits of informaiton. I will be praying for our eintire church here, I brought the new directory, and I will be placing our prayer list in the Western Wall for special prayers.

Have a blessed day in Hartwell!!