The Garden Tomb

Just as a quick wrap up to our Israel trip, here's some pictures of our last day in Jerusalem.  We had a very special experience at the Garden Tomb, where we took the Lord's supper.  It was an awesome way to end such an incredible trip.  

We've made it home safely!  Thank you for all your prayers and for keeping up with us.  

the last days

Hey There!  Once again, we apologize for the delay of update, but we’ve been doing some pretty cool stuff.

Yesterday, we were able to tour Old Jerusalem, which included a tour of the Temple Institute and the Wailing Wall.  We even got to go into the Rabbinical Tunnels, which are located under the Temple Mount.  Our tour also included walking through the 14 stations of the Cross.  We ate lunch at a sweet little pizza joint and were able to fit a little bit of shopping in!  Very unique about this day was that we were able to go EXTREMELY close to the Eastern Gate of the temple mount.  This doesn't happen every day and I don't think other tour groups get to do this because it's located in the Muslim cemetery.  It was so neat and we were in awe of how close we got (there's a group picture below).  

Today, we toured all around the Dead Sea.  During our travels, we saw the vast desert, which is very different from the cities we’ve been staying in.  We went to Masada this morning, which is where the Jewish rebels stood their ground against the Roman army during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.  We rode a cable car to the top of the mountain and had a tour of their settlement—it was very neat.  From there we headed to eat lunch, tour a cave where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, and swim in the Dead Sea. 

Almost everyone swam in the Dead Sea and all enjoyed it!  Everyone was impressed with the inability to sink in the water and covered themselves in the mud.  Needless to say, everyone came out looking 10 years younger (at least that’s what you should tell your family member or friend when they come home J).  When we were about to leave the Dead Sea, our bus started having some trouble and we had to wait for a new one to come.  Everyone had a great attitude about it though and we had some good times together while waiting on the bus.  Right here is a perfect time to plug how AWESOME our bus driver, Mohammed, has been.  The driving over here is crazy and he maneuvers our big charter bus around like it’s a Toyota Corolla and makes full use of the horn (along with every other driver).  Mohammed gets us places and he gets us there fast and we’ve all loved him as our driver. 

Once our bus finally was fixed, we stopped on our way back to the hotel to take camel rides.  They were short and sweet but they were a lot of fun!

We have a late start to the morning tomorrow and a few more stops to make on our way to the airport.  Everyone has had a great time but we are ready to see our family and friends.  Hope you have enjoyed reading the blog—see you Sunday morning!

The Wailing Wall 

The Market of Jerusalem

Our tour guide, Makhoul

tuesday & wednesday

After moving to our new hotel, we learned that you have to pay for Wi-Fi here so we’ve compromised to blogging every other day—we know you understand. 

A quick recap of yesterday: 

We left Tiberias early in the morning and made our way to Beit-Shean—a 2,000 year old city archaeologists have been excavating since the 80s.  It was so neat to see almost an entire town uncovered and in it’s original state.  Everyone really enjoyed this stop.

 From there we headed to Jericho in the West Bank and saw the Mt. of Temptation.  A lot of the group enjoyed different types of fresh squeezed juice at this stop, including pomegranate juice.  This stop also brought us our first experience with street vendors.  Rod King is the king (no pun intended) of bargaining with these guys (Robin and Caitlin are weighted down with items from his bargaining)!  By the end of the day, he had vendors all over him and at his feet waiting for him to buy.  Needless to say, if you’re trying to sell something, he’s the guy to ask! 

We ate lunch there in Jericho and then headed to Bethlehem to see the Shepherd’s field and the Church of the Nativity—the site believed to be the spot of Jesus’ birth.  After that we went shopping and headed back to the hotel for dinner and hung out for the rest of the evening. 

Today:

We had yet another busy day today touring the city of Jerusalem.  Starting out at the Mt. of Olives, we got to see the Eastern Gate as we walked down the mountain.  Along the way down the mount, we saw the Jewish cemetery and the Garden of Gethsemane.  After a buffet lunch, we did some shopping and headed to the House of Caiphus to see where Jesus appeared before the high priest, held captive, and beaten.  This was also the spot where Peter denied Jesus three times.  We also got to see the Upper Room and the traditional burial site of King David, though in the Bible it says he is buried elsewhere. 

It’s been a really good day and we are all tired but ready to see more tomorrow.  Just wanted to throw out there that there is a lot of stirring news coming from the Middle East on TV, however, we are all very safe and we feel very safe.  There is no need to worry back home—promise! 

Check back Friday for another update :) 

beatitudes to baptism

We've just gotten back to our hotel on the Sea of Galilee after another day packed full of sight-seeing!  This morning, we started out on the Mt. of the Beatitudes and had a group reading of Matthew 5:1-14.  After that, we headed over to Caesarea Phillipi, where Peter declared Jesus as the Christ (Mark 8:29).  Also at Caesarea Phillipi is the beginning of the Jordan River and the Gate to Hades (a.k.a. the Temple of Pan).  After this, we dropped by the location of the Road to Damascus along the Syrian border and a lot of the group enjoyed some delicious apples there (seriously delicious apples!).  We also rode by the Golan Heights and then went to Capernaum (where Peter's mother-in-law's house is located) and then ate on the Sea of Galilee, where a lot of the group enjoyed St. Peter's fish (but those who didn't like the idea of eating a fish with a head ordered chicken).


This afternoon we enjoyed a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, saw where Jesus fed the 5,000, and most of the group was baptized in the Jordan River.  


It's been a good day and tonight we pack up from Tiberias and head to Jerusalem to stay tomorrow night.  We also have our first opportunity to shop tomorrow (in Bethlehem) so many in the group are excited about that.  Our tour guide, Mikhoul, has told us that the stores are cheaper in Jerusalem than the places we've been so far so we are trusting him!


Tonight, some of the group has gone out to walk on a boardwalk-type area in front of our hotel to get ice cream and hang out.  The weather has been great as it has not been too hot or too cold.  It's about time to head to bed around here as we get our wakeup call at 6 am tomorrow!  We're hoping to have internet connection in our next hotel but bear with us until we can know for sure :)


This morning on the Mt. of Beatitudes:

At Caesarea Phillipi: 

Capernaum:

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Lunch^^

On our boat ride this afternoon, the drivers flew an American flag for us and played the National Anthem, so naturally we had a moment to stand for our country!

The drivers were all artists so they joined in with their mandolin & violin while Pastor Don was leading us in singing some hymns (let's just say...they wanted some tips!)