our israel trip

Our Israel TripMay 22nd – June 4th, 2009

Our trip started on Friday, May 22nd. We left St. Louis at 11:15am and arrived in Tel Aviv at 4:30pm the next day (they are 8 hours ahead of us), where we were welcomed to Israel with roses.

Day 1 & 2 – May 22nd & 23rd

Then we traveled 1 ½ hours to Nazareth where we would be staying for the first half of our trip. Our first stop was at this Falafel stand for dinner. It was an interesting experience. Not too bad, but not too good. To the left: our Tour guides, Doyle Roth and Shain Shaheen with Tel (our niece’s bear who travels with us) in front of our favorite Falafel stand.

Scott and Tel in front of the first Olive Tree we saw in Nazareth.

On our first night in Nazareth, the air conditioner in our room was broken, but the weather was so cool that we decided to just sleep with the windows open. It was quite nice until 4:00am when the Muslim Call to Prayer Tower (known as a Minaret) went off. It is an awful droning noise that goes on for about 5 minutes. After that, a rooster started crowing non-stop. Needless to say, we had to get up and close the window. (By the way, it took 4 nights to finally get our AC fixed – but no complaining in Israel!)

Our first stop was Hazor, a tel that dates back 2000 years before Christ. Joshua 11:1-15; Judges 4:2-17; 1 Kings 9:15; 2 Kings 15:29

Day 3 - Sunday, May 24th

Still at Hazor. This was our first stop, so I think I overdid it on the pictures. This is really only a few of the pics I took.

Dan, the largest spring in Israel

- Dan was one of the places that the people sacrificed their children to false gods. Scott saw the error of his ways and repented before he went through with the sacrifice of Tel.

- Picture to the lower left is of an actual city wall that surrounded the city of Dan.

Still at Dan. It was a really beautiful place with great scenery and a lot of history.

Winnie the Pooh’s Tree right in the middle of Dan. Don’t ask me, but I had to take a picture.

DanGenesis14:11

Joshua 19:47-48

Judges 18:27-31

1 Kings 12:25-33; 15:20

Caesarea Philippi (or known as the Gates of Hell).This is where people would sacrifice their children to the gods of the Underworld, and if the god accepted their offering, they would supposedly have fertile crops.

This is where Jesus asked Peter, “who do you say I am?” and continued on to say, “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

Matt. 16:13-20

The water from here feeds the Jordan River

At Caesarea Philippi, we went on an hour and ½ hike to a pretty cool waterfall. (This is not it…)

Upper right: this was a weed that was taller than Scott

Bottom left: this was some kind of funky web that was covering everything. Very creepy!

Just a little bit of the beautiful scenery.

Here is the waterfall – Banias Stream, named after the god “Pan.” They cannot pronounce P’s right, so they sound like B’s. (So, pizza sounds like bizza.) So, it went from Panias, to Banias.

If you can believe it, we did all three of these places BEFORE lunch! We didn’t end up eating until about 3:30pm. I had a local dish for lunch, but I don’t remember what it was called. It was kind-of like a quesadilla made with cream cheese and the local spice called Zaa’tar. It took a little getting used to.

After that is was on to church. In Israel, the Jewish people consider Saturday the Sabbath, therefore their work week is Sunday to Thursday. So, Christians who want to have church on Sunday have to hold their services in the evening, after people get off of work.

The service is normally done in Arabic, but since we were there, they translated the entire service into English as well.

At the end of the service, they said they had snacks and drinks for us “in the back.” But in the back was really in the street outside the church. This is all of us hanging out in the street. To the right is the pastor and his wife.

And the night was still not over (this is still our first day out!)…at about 8:00pm, we headed off to dinner at the Golden Corral. Oops, I mean, Golden Coral. It was our first nice restaurant experience, and where we bought our new placemats!

Day 4 – Monday, May 25th

We started today by literally going to the top of Nazareth and then walking the local’s stairs down the middle of the city. Along the way we saw the following…

…the church of “Mensa Christi” which means the Table of Christ. It is thought that Christ ate many of his meals here when he would come to Nazareth.

…the streets of Nazareth

…the synagogue in Nazareth, where Jesus actually taught. Luke 4:14-30; Matthew 4:13; Matthew 13:53-58. We stopped and sat down here for a while and sang a few songs of praise.

…the Sisters of Nazareth Convent (one of my favorite places)

Here, during excavations, they found a first century water cistern. The picture in the upper left is at the top of the cistern. They would have had a bucket attached to a rope that they would drop down and fill up. See how the granite rock has groves from where the rope rubbed against it over and over again. The bottom right picture is taken from the bottom of the cistern.

They also found a first century home that is thought to be the home of Joseph.

And a first century grave, again, thought to be Joseph’s. There is the large round stone used to cover the entrance to the tomb, and inside there are multiple rooms. The first room was used to prepare the body, and the back rooms were used to lay the bodies. They would often bury multiple people within one tomb.

The courtyard at the Sisters of Nazareth Convent

Tel and the sister who gave us our tour.

We also saw the markets in Nazareth, where they sold raw meat and olives right next to the clothes. Makes you hungry, doesn’t it???

…and Mary’s well church. This is the well that once fed water to the entire city. Mary (Jesus’ mom) actually got water here. However, they did some renovating to the church and somehow disturbed the water flow. Now it is just a tiny trickle.

Good look, eh? You are not able to go into any of the churches without have your shoulders and knees covered. So, anyone who was in shorts would have to put on a wrap to cover their knees.

Today for lunch, they wanted to have Falafels for the THIRD day in a row! I just couldn’t do it again, so Scott and I and another couple went for pizza for lunch. It ended up taking longer than what we thought, so the rest of the group left us to go on to the last stop of the day, and we had to catch up. But since there were only 4 of us, compared to the 45 people in the other group, we ended up getting to the church at the same time as them despite the fact that we left at least ten minutes after they did.

Our last stop of the day was the Church of the Annunciation. This is where the angel was said to have appeared to Mary and Joseph to let them know she was with Child and would give birth to our Savior. Inside the church was an actual first century excavation.

Cool stained glass windows inside the church

Countries around the world donated art to be displayed within the church. Here are a few.

But I saved the best for last…the one from the United States!

Mount Precipice –

This was the mount were the leaders of Nazareth took Jesus to throw him off the edge of a cliff after they asked, “How can this be? Isn’t this Joseph’s son?

Luke 4:16-30

We stopped and read some scripture and sang a few songs here.

Scott and Paul also were about to throw Tel off the cliff for no good reason, but I convinced them to stop.

This is the Jezreel Valley. Mark Twain came here and looked at this valley and said that nothing could survive in the Jezreel Valley, but ever since the Jews have returned to Israel, the Valley has flourished and has now become the bread basket for all of Israel.

This is also the Valley where the Battle of Armageddon will occur.

The view from the top of Mt. Precipice.

After that, we had some free time. Scott went back to the room to go to sleep and left me to go shopping by myself. Thankfully, there were a few other ladies that wanted to go too, so…we headed back to the markets. We found a cool little spice shop where we got some of the local spice, Zaa’tar. Then I found a cool manger scene made out of Olive Wood and hand carved there in Nazareth. It was originally $165, but I was able to get him to give it to me for $85, plus throw in two of those wraps for free (they normally cost $5 each).

After I bought the manger scene, the sales guy, who happened to be an old man, asked me if he “could call me in the evening.” I of course said, “Only if you take another $25 off the cost!” HA HA!

Today we went along the Sea of Galilee where we visited the Mt. of Beatitudes, the Church of Multiplication, St. Peter’s Primacy, Capernaum, Korazin, Bethsaida, took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, and finally stopped at Kursi.

Day 5 – Tuesday, May 26th

Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus gave His sermon about Beatitudes

– Matthew 5

Here we had some quiet time to sit and read the scriptures.

“God blesses the poor in spirit for the kingdom of heaven is given to them.

God blesses those who mourn for they will be comforted.

God blesses those who are gentle and lowly for the whole earth will belong to them.

God blesses those who are hungry and thirsty for justice for they will receive it in full.

God blesses those who are merciful for they will be shown mercy.

God blesses those whose hearts are pure for they will see God.

God blesses those who work for peace for they will be called the children of God.

God blesses those who are persecuted because they live for God, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. “

Matt. 5:3-10

It really was a beautiful and tranquil place, but since it was a church, Tel and I had to cover our knees.

Church of Multiplication, where Jesus multiplied the fish to feed the 4,000 people. Matthew 14:29-39

Top: an old Olive Press (You know, bears have an incredible sense of smell so Tel could smell the olive juice that had soaked deep down into the press, so he just couldn’t stay away!)

Bottom: a birds nest up in the rafters of the church. Their mom just happened to fly in with food right while we were standing there. Although there weren’t 4,000 baby birds, it was still cool to see some feeding going on at the Church of Multiplication.

P.S. This is a millstone. Matthew 18:6 – But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

St. Peter’s Primacy, where Peter and the disciples caught a “boat load” of fish at Jesus’ command after he had resurrected. John 21:1-14

This is also where Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him.John 21:15-19

He also gave the disciples the great commission here, to go out and spread the gospel to all the world. Acts 1:6-8

The Sea of Galilee from St. Peter’s Primacy

These are the ruins of the city of Capernaum, which is a city that was cursed by Jesus for their unbelief. They uncovered a synagogue here, as well as a home that they think is where Peter actually lived.

Peter’s house. Whether or not this was his house, this is a town where Jesus would have walked and spent time. This is where Jesus healed the Roman Officer’s servant, the woman with the issue of blood, and many others.Matthew 8:5-13, 9:1-8; 9:20-26, 9:27-35

Upper left: the actual original synagogue.

Lower left: a reconstructed synagogue.

Even though this was not technically a church, they still required you to cover your knees and shoulders, but of course, I had forgotten my wrap ALL the way back on the bus. I had to run back to the bus just to get my wrap. It was at least a half mile both ways. I thought I was going to die!

But I did have a chance to sit down and relax for a minute while we read the scriptures and sang a few songs. Tel was soooo excited about being here that he messed himself! : )

Then there was this cat that was following me around. I would stop to take a picture and he would just lay down on top of my foot.

Here is another old olive press.

This was a home in the city of Korazin, another city that Jesus cursed. These arches were inside this tiny home.

Korazin (con’t)

Our first view of the Jordan River

Bethsaida

This is yet another city cursed by Jesus for their unbelief. This city dates back to King David. He married a woman from here.

Peter and Philip were both from Bethsaida. John 1: 44

“What horror awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have sat in deep repentance long ago, clothed in sackcloth and throwing ashes on their heads to show remorse. Yes, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you. And you, people of Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to the place of the dead.

Luke 10:13-15

Pictures from our boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.

I apologize for the bad hair, but the wind was blowing pretty hard!

Tel was a big hit with the crew. They even let him steer the boat!

He was a big hit with our tour guides too!

Lot’s of dancing going on onboard!

Matthew 8:23-27 – Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee

Matthew 14:22-33 – Jesus walked on water

Gadarenes (or Kursi). A few of us hiked up to another point at Kursi. This is where Gadarenes (or Kursi). A few of us hiked up to another point at Kursi. This is where Jesus cast the demons into the pigs and then they jumped off the side of the cliff. Jesus cast the demons into the pigs and then they jumped off the side of the cliff.

Matthew 8:28-34Matthew 8:28-34

This was just a cool sand press thing that wrote sayings into the sand when you turned it.

Day 6 – Wednesday, May 27th

Today we went to Mt. Carmel, Caesarea by the Sea (one of my favorite places), Mediggo, and the Valley of Jezreel.

Mount Carmel – where Elijah called down fire from Heaven. 1 Kings 18:40

Bottom Right: Tel Qassis – where the priests of Baal were thought to be slaughtered. 1 Kings 18:40

The white building on the top of the Mt. Carmel is where we went.

Don’t they look oddly similar???

The view from the top of Mount Carmel

Caesarea by the Sea(another one of my favorite places!)

In 21BC, Herod the Great rebuilt an earlier Phoenician city called Strato’s Tower into one of the grandest cities in Israel. He designed a massive harbor, with inner and outer barriers, using materials that would allow the concrete to harden under water. It took twelve years to construct, and Herod renamed the harbor Caesarea, to honor the Roman Caesar Augustus.

The lack of fresh water at Herod’s new city required a lengthy aqueduct, to bring water from springs at the base of Mt. Carmel, nearly 10 miles away. A hippodrome that once held 20,000 spectators for chariot races and a magnificent amphitheater that seated 3,500 remains standing today. According to Josephus, this amphitheater is where King Herod Agrippa died as recorded in Acts 12.

Once is was completed, Caesarea took on great importance as it became the heart of Roman rule in the land. It is from here that Pontus Pilate ruled during the time of Christ. It was also the home of a Roman centurion named Cornelius, whose prayers were answered when Philip brought him the good news of Jesus Christ. It is also the port Paul often used during his travels.

This is the amphitheatre. It is still used today. That is me on the stage singing. Without any microphones, they could still hear us all the way at the back of the theatre.

The remains of Herod’s palace. We actually found pieces of marble in the sand that are remnants of the marble used in his palace. The picture in the top right corner is the remains of his swimming pool.

The family hanging out in Herod’s palace.

Tel met a friend!

The

Hippodrome

Scott and Tel were here

The

Mediterranean

Sea

The Aqueducts

Here, Shain’s family met us with a picnic lunch. We sat at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea under the ancient Aqueducts eating Falafels.

Megiddo – looking out over the Jezreel ValleyUpper left: the round circle in the middle was a

“high place” where people would sacrifice their children to false gods.

The water system at Megiddo. They dug way down and then built a tunnel over to their water source. Once the tunnel was built, they completely covered it from the other side so that their enemies outside the city would not be able to find their water source.

After all that, we were on our own for dinner again. We headed out with our new friends Jared and Rhonda and Paul and Dawn. We shared dinner and dessert, then we went to the market for some shopping. On our way back to the hotel, a car drove by that had it’s music turned way up. So much so, that we could hear the lyrics. It was an Israeli song that had been translated into English. Something got lost in translation – to say the least! The lyrics were explicit, but the words were those a 4 year old would use. I am going to include the lyrics here, but I am warning you…these are Rated R!!!

ADULT SUPERVISION REQUIRED…

Never mind…I just can’t do it! You will have to contact me directly if you want to know them!

This is Tony’s, our favorite This is Tony’s, our favorite restaurant in Nazareth. It restaurant in Nazareth. It was the only place we could was the only place we could find American food, like find American food, like pizza and chicken strips!pizza and chicken strips!

And THIS was my favorite dessert!!! It’s called Qnafah And THIS was my favorite dessert!!! It’s called Qnafah (pronounced Knaffe). Whatever it is, it is DELICIOUS!!!(pronounced Knaffe). Whatever it is, it is DELICIOUS!!!

Day 7 – Thursday, May 28th

Today we visited Cana, Bet Shean, Mount Gilboa (Herod’s Spring), Mount Tabor, and then we went to a “Shaving Party.” My camera battery was almost dead, because like an idiot, I accidentally left the charged battery in the hotel room, so I don’t have nearly as many pictures from today. That is, until the Shaving Party.

The church at Cana. This is where Jesus did His first miracle when he turned water into wine. John 2:1-12

This is Mount Gilboa (Herod’s Spring). This is where Gideon took This is Mount Gilboa (Herod’s Spring). This is where Gideon took his men to select who would go to battle. Only those who cupped his men to select who would go to battle. Only those who cupped the water in their hand would be selected, only 300 in total, yet the water in their hand would be selected, only 300 in total, yet God still gave them the victory. Judges 7:1-8God still gave them the victory. Judges 7:1-8

Bet Shean – this is where Saul was killed

A few of us hiked up to the top of the hill where we had this amazing view of Bet Shean. Up here there was an Egyptian house that was the home of the governor of Egypt. The house was actually built out of bricks made from clay and straw. I sat on bricks exactly like the ones that the Israelites were forced to make when enslaved in Egypt.

Another cool amphitheater.

We stopped for lunch at a cool Israeli restaurant, where Scott and I had a double cheeseburger. It was yummy! There was also a grocery store there where we got some Israeli candy for Rob and Savannah.

Mount Tabor

This is where the transfigur-ation occurred.

Matthew 17:1-13

The Shaving Party In case you are wondering what a Shaving Party

is…let me explain. Shain’s son was getting married this weekend, and an Israeli custom is to have a big party before hand where they would shave the groom. Before the party started, we helped to put together 300 party favors. But after that, we proceeded to eat and dance for 3 hours!

Let the eating begin! These are just the “salads.”

And now for the dancing! You don’t realize what you are getting into when you start dancing to Israeli music…the songs NEVER end!!!

Come on…everybody’s doing it!

The bride and groom, Amanda and Jiryus.

(How did Tel get in there??)

More eating, and more dancing!

And now for the main course…

This is a fish that can only be found in the Sea of Galilee. Tel was excited to start eating until he got a closer look!

But he didn’t want to offend anyone, so he cleared his plate.

After dinner, Tel took a hit off the Hookah bong…don’t worry, it’s just tobacco.

Here is a little bit of the actual shaving that took place. (Sorry, it was dark, so I couldn’t get good pictures.)

Day 8 – Friday, May 29th

Today we went to the Sea of Galilee, Yardinet, had a picnic, and then went to decorate the church for the wedding.

My homemade panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee from on top of the Golden Heights.

These are what we lovingly refer to as “Wilos.” Doyle (our Pastor and tour guide) saw a sign that said “Caution: Wilo Animals.” So, he thought that was their name. Later he saw the same sign, but it had the rest of the “d” showing. The sign was really just warning about Wild Animals. But it was too late, the name stuck.

This is the border between Israel and Syria. The land in the front is Israel, and towards the back is Syria.

The road down from on top of the Golden Heights. Check out that hairpin turn. The road down from on top of the Golden Heights. Check out that hairpin turn. That was just one of many. The bus actually scratch one of the concrete That was just one of many. The bus actually scratch one of the concrete

barriers on one of them. Scary!!!barriers on one of them. Scary!!!

Yardenit is a place on the Jordan River where baptisms are done. Although this was not the exact spot that Jesus was baptized, it was in the same general area.

I got re-baptized here. I had already been baptized, and there was really no need to be baptized again, except to simply experience something very similar to what Christ Himself would have experienced!

The bus ride on our way to the Sea of Galilee. We went swimming there, but I didn’t get any pictures because as far as I know, you are not supposed to bring your camera into the water.

However, Scott was a party pooper and decided that he wasn’t going to go swimming. So, instead, he sat on a rock in the shade. When he was climbing down from the rock, he brushed his leg against what he thought was a weed, but it was really barbed wire – and he sliced his leg. Poor baby! We had to clean out the cut with hand sanitizer!

After that, we had a picnic of hamburger pitas and watermelon. Later that night, we went to decorate the church for the wedding. Here is the view of Nazareth from the church. We spent 2 hours putting up decorations, just for them to decide that they didn’t like the color of it, and decided to take it all down. So, basically, we did nothing for 2 hours!

OK, this was one of my favorite stops! ICE CREAM!!! There were 7 of us OK, this was one of my favorite stops! ICE CREAM!!! There were 7 of us who went for ice cream, and we could either get 1 ice cream each for 15 who went for ice cream, and we could either get 1 ice cream each for 15

shekels, or we could get this “trough” of ice cream for 65 shekels. shekels, or we could get this “trough” of ice cream for 65 shekels.

It was such a It was such a hard decision, hard decision,

but we went but we went for the trough! for the trough!

It was 20 It was 20 scoops of ice scoops of ice

cream, and we cream, and we could pick could pick whatever whatever

flavors we flavors we wanted. My wanted. My favorite was favorite was

coconut!coconut!

Day 9 – Saturday, May 30th

This is our LAST day in Nazareth. Tomorrow we will leave for Jerusalem. Today we went to Nazareth Village, which is a replica of what a town would have looked like at the time of Christ, and then to Amanda and Jiryus’ wedding.

Pictures to the left are of a door typical of what would have been used in a palace. Christ may have used a door like this to illustrate the wide and narrow gate He refers to in Matthew 7:13-14.

The picture to the right is a double edged sword like the one referred to in Hebrews 4:12.

Tel tried his hand (or paw) at shepherding.

Upper left: a 400 year old Olive Tree

Upper Right: one part of an Olive Press

Lower pictures: I know it is hard to tell, but this is an grape press. They would stand in one section and step on the grapes and then the juice would flow out into another section.

The other part of the Olive Press. What it took two “strong” men to push, Tel could push one handed!

A typical stableA typical stable

This woman actually made her own yarn and then used the yarn to weave scarves and blankets.

This was a scarf that she had made that I was thinking about buying until I found out that it would cost $105!!! YIKES!

I will make my own yarn and scarf for that price!

Tel reading the scrolls in the synagogue.

A house with an upper room. This would have been a rich man’s house, typical of the type where Jesus would have had the Last Supper. This is the actual upper room.

This is the type of lamp they would have used at the time of Christ. We got to take a couple of these home with us.

The view of Nazareth from our hotel room.

The Wedding…

The reception…They have a thing for carrying the bride and groom around on chairs. The picture in the lower right is what they do kind-of like our “dollar dance.”

Let me tell you just a little about the food at the reception…Dinner starts with “salad” again, which is not really salad at

all, but more like plates, and plates (and plates) of appetizers such as salsa and pitas, mushrooms, fried pita, tomatoes and cheese, etc. Then they served beef kabobs, which is what we thought was the main dish. Then they brought another serving of kabobs. We thought these were lamb, which we loved, only to find out later that they were really cow tongue! Oh well, they were still good! Then yet another round of chicken kabobs. At this point, we were STUFFED. Then the MAIN COURSE came! It was pork, potatoes and cole slaw. I couldn’t even eat it! I just cut up the meat and moved the food all around on my plate so that it would look like I ate part of it!

When we were talking to one of the servers, he told us that this was the SMALL menu!! Are you kiddin’ me???

Oh, and to top it all off, there was still cake!!!

Day 10 – Sunday, May 31st

We did not get home from the wedding reception until 2:00am! Then we had to turn around and get up at 5:30am to leave for Jerusalem and several stops along the way. It was an EXHAUSTING day! We went to Masada, En Gedi, David’s Falls, Qumron, the Dead Sea, and Jericho.

This is Masada. The Jewish Zealots lived at the top of this mountain, but the Roman’s wanted it, bad! I’ll tell you more later.

The view of the Dead Sea from Masada.

They first tried slinging huge boulders at the city walls, and even threw other Jews at the city wall, but were unable to break through the walls. So they eventually built a ramp up the side of the mountain, and were then able to break through.However, the Zealot’s

had decided that they would rather die than be captured by the Roman’s and enslaved, so when the Roman’s broke through the wall, they found all the Zealot’s dead. They had killed themselves.

Bath house

A first century bath house. These pillars are under the floor. They would build fires under the floor and the steam would rise up, creating a steam house.

1st century paintings

These are original paintings. They have not been restored. Because they were inside the buildings and there is virtually no rain here, there was much less erosion than normal. Everything below the black line is original, above the black line was restored.

The remnant’s of Herod’s palace.

En Gedi – this is where David hid from Saul, and also where he cut off Saul’s hair when he could have killed him. I Samuel 23:19-24

The hike up to David’s Fall, pretty stuff!

David’s Fall – this is probably where

he was talking about in Psalms 42 & 43.

Qumron – there was really not much to see here, so I didn’t take a lot of pictures. But, this is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

The Dead Sea Before After

“Floating” in the Dead Sea. I was in a LOT of pain. Salt in freshly shaven underarms is NOT a good feeling!!

MeScott

Jericho – this was the oasis that Moses would have first seen when he viewed the Promised Land from Mount Nebo. This area is controlled by the Palestinians, and they don’t really like Christians all that much, so we were not allowed to wear any type of Christian logos here. Also, we had a run in with a local merchant here.

We found a Cardinal’s fan in the streets of Jericho! How weird is that???

We also saw some kids and their goats walking down the street. Again…weird!

Our first view of Jerusalem…

Day 11 – Monday, June 1st

Today we are in Jerusalem. David writes about Jerusalem in Psalm 122, where we are urged to pray for the peace of Israel.

We start our time here by going to the Mount of Olives and stopped at the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Pool of Bethesda. Then we walked into Old Jerusalem where we walked along the Via Dolorosa, visited the Church of the Holy Sepluchre and the Wailing Wall. Then we walked up Mount Zion to St. Peter in Gallicantu.

The Chapel of the Ascension, at the Top of the Mount of Olives. This is where, go figure, Jesus ascended into Heaven. Acts 1:9-11

They had the Lord’s Prayer posted in about 300 different languages. That was neat. It took us a while to find the English version, but here it is. Take note that we actually say “Umen,” not “Amen!”

I can’t remember the name of this place, but it is where Jesus taught the disciples the Lord’s Prayer. Luke 11:2-4.

This is the view of Jerusalem from a cool overlook.

You can also see the city gate surrounding Jerusalem.

You can see the Dome of the Rock which is where the Holy of Holies used to sit.

In addition, you can see this graveyard. This is a Muslim graveyard. It is believed that Jesus will return in the area, in front of this entrance to Jerusalem, so they put this graveyard in front of the city to keep Christ from being able to return from here. They are sooo crafty!

The Garden of Gethsemane – this was one of my favorite places. This is where Jesus went to pray right before he was betrayed by Judas and arrested.

Matthew 26:36-46

We were able to go into a private part of the Garden where we spent some time in prayer and took communion.

This is one of the gates in the wall This is one of the gates in the wall around Jerusalem. This is the around Jerusalem. This is the Stephen’s Gate or the Lion’s Gate. Stephen’s Gate or the Lion’s Gate. See the lions carved into the wall?See the lions carved into the wall?

Pool of Bethesda, this was the birthplace of the Virgin Mary. Also, sick and crippled people would come to this pool to be healed from their illness because it was said to have mystical powers when it was stirred. This is where Jesus healed the lame man in John 5:1-15.

You can’t hardly see it in this picture, but there are carvings in this stone. They You can’t hardly see it in this picture, but there are carvings in this stone. They are “King’s games.” This is where the soldiers would sit and play games. This is are “King’s games.” This is where the soldiers would sit and play games. This is thought to be where Jesus would have been beaten before He was crucified.thought to be where Jesus would have been beaten before He was crucified.

The streets of Jerusalem

More of the streets of Jerusalem. These are some of the sites that we saw as we walked the Via Dolorosa, which is the path that Jesus walked carrying the cross on His way to be crucified.

Church of the Holy Sepluchre – this is one of the two places thought to be where Jesus was buried. Lower left picture is where they think His body would have been prepared for burial.

This was the supposed tomb. It was really small, so I couldn’t get a good picture. Only 4 people were allowed in at once. P.S. I think the other place is the real tomb. Pictures of that to come.

Tel at the exact “Center of the Earth.” Jewish people believe that Israel is the center of the Earth, and Jerusalem is in the center of Israel, and this spot marks the exact center of Jerusalem. Therefore, this is the center of the earth.

A bird POOPED on him!!! Why not? Everybody else does! Ha! Ha!

The Wailing Wall…this is a sacred place to the Jews because this is as The Wailing Wall…this is a sacred place to the Jews because this is as close as they can get to the Holy of Holies since the Muslims built the Dome close as they can get to the Holy of Holies since the Muslims built the Dome of the Rock there. They come here to pray. It is so sacred to them that they of the Rock there. They come here to pray. It is so sacred to them that they walk away from the wall backwards, because they believe that you never walk away from the wall backwards, because they believe that you never turn your back on a holy place.turn your back on a holy place.

We walked up Mount Zion

This is Caiaphas’ house. This is where Jesus was taken after he was betrayed by Judas. It was here that Peter denied Christ 3 times before the rooster crowed.

Matthew 26:57-75

This is the dungeon under Caiaphas’ house that is thought to be where Jesus was held the night of His arrest.

This is the road that led from David’s city into Jerusalem. This is the street that Jesus walked on, probably many times, but certainly after He was arrested.

Not the best picture, I know, but this is me standing on stairs that Jesus, Himself, walked on! Pretty incredible stuff!

P.S. They made us wear these silly hats so that we wouldn’t get lost in Jerusalem (it was pretty crowded).

Above is another one of the city gates (can’t remember which one). To the right is the wall of Jerusalem that was rebuilt. This is the wall that would have existed at the time of Christ. You can see how wide the wall was.

That concludes Day 8, but I want to let you all know that we did that WITH NO FOOD!! We never stopped for lunch today. And, we didn’t know that we would be away from the bus all day, so we didn’t even bring our snacks with us. Needless to say, we were STARVING by the time dinner finally rolled around! In Jerusalem, dinner was included with our hotel stay, so we ate there every night – so no fun stories about the food or local restaurants.

Day 12 – Tuesday, June 2nd

Today we went back to the Wailing Wall for a tour, then we went up to the Temple Mount, then down to David’s City, then further down through Hezekiah’s Tunnel.

Tour of the Wailing Wall – this is the only picture I took, but this is the actual wall that Herod rebuilt surrounding the Temple. It was an amazing thing. You could tell the stones that were added by Herod because they have what looks like a frame carved around the edge. This ONE stone goes all the way from here to where Scott is standing. ONE STONE!!

Dome of the Rock – this is on the top of the Temple Mount (Mount Dome of the Rock – this is on the top of the Temple Mount (Mount Moriah, the highest point in Jerusalem). This is where the Temple Moriah, the highest point in Jerusalem). This is where the Temple

actually stood. It houses a rock that is thought to have been the altar actually stood. It houses a rock that is thought to have been the altar where the Ark of the Covenant once sat.where the Ark of the Covenant once sat.

These are actual stones that fell from the temple walls when the Roman’s destroyed the temple.

The view from on top of the city walls

The Southern Steps right off the Temple Mount. Jesus would The Southern Steps right off the Temple Mount. Jesus would have spent a lot of time here teaching. This is where the have spent a lot of time here teaching. This is where the Pentecost happened, when the Holy Spirit descended on the Pentecost happened, when the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples and they taught the gospel and over 3,000 people disciples and they taught the gospel and over 3,000 people accepted Christ as their Savior and were baptized. Acts 2accepted Christ as their Savior and were baptized. Acts 2

Guess where we are now…yep, the City of David

The Jebusites originally lived in the City of David, and he conquered them by going through their water system. And they kept that same water system for quite some time. But Hezekiah decided that he did not want to have to go get the water anymore, so he had a tunnel made. The tunnel, leading from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam, was designed to act as an aqueduct to provide Jerusalem with water. The curving tunnel is over 1,500 feet long, and by using a 0.6% gradient altitude difference between each end, conveyed water along its length from the spring to the pool.According to an inscription found within it, the tunnel was excavated by two teams, one starting at each end of the tunnel and then meeting in the middle.

Us inside of Hezekiah’s tunnel. Tel had to stay in the backpack cuz the water was too deep for him in some places. Scott and I pulled up our shorts, but you can see from the person in front of me how high the water got in places. You can’t tell from the pictures, but it was so dark inside the tunnel that without flashlights, it would have been pitch black.

So, you know how I said that two sets of people dug the tunnel and met in the middle, well…I think the first group were really short men, and the second group were really tall. Because the first half of the tunnel you had to duck most of the way to get through, but the second half had really high ceilings, as you can see here.

This is the end of the Tunnel. Tel could finally get out of the backpack!

Day 13 – Wednesday, June 3rd

This is our last day in Israel! So, we are going to make the most of it. Today we are going into Bethany, Bethlehem, the Church of the Nativity, Hadrien’s Temple, and the Garden Tomb.

Bethany is where Mary and Martha lived and where Lazarus was buried before Jesus rose him from the dead. John 11:1-44

The Church of the Nativity – this is place where Jesus was born. You can see in this picture that the door to the church was much bigger, but enemies kept coming in to the church on horses to destroy it, so they made the door smaller so they couldn’t get in as easily.

Lower left: this is the place Jesus was born. Upper right: this is where they laid Jesus in the manger.

Our church group got kicked out of here! The priest started yelling at our pastor because we were blocking the stairs, and literally forced us to leave. I could barely get these two pictures before being pushed out.

Bethlehem is where Rachel died (Genesis 35:16-19), Naomi was from Bethlehem and she and Ruth returned there (the book of Ruth), David grew up in Bethlehem and was anointed as King (1 Samuel 16:1-13), and of course, Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1) . These pictures are where they found the bones of the babies that Herod had killed after Jesus was born (Matthew 2:13-18).

We actually ate lunch today (yeah!) at a place called Shepherd’s Valley Village. It was a cool place under a tent that looked out over Bethlehem.

Here, Tel tried out a delicious Israeli drink that tasted like Mint Lemonade. It was GOOD! He also had some Diet Coke. Cool can, eh?

The top of this mountain is our next stop. It is Herodia, where Herod built yet another palace for himself. This will be the third that we have seen. They actually found Herod’s bones here. Not a lot of people from our group actually got to see this place, because you had to hike most of the way up, so only a few of us made the trek.

The view from the top of Herodia. Top left: you can see the Dead Sea in the background. Top right: a pool in lower Herodia. Bottom right: ongoing excavations.

So, Scott got pooped on So, Scott got pooped on by a bird, and I almost by a bird, and I almost ate a bug. This little guy ate a bug. This little guy was in my mouth. He was in my mouth. He tasted like lead.tasted like lead.

Upper left: another amphitheater. Pictures to the right: A bath house.

Yep, that’s me…lifting one of the boulders the Roman’s used to destroy Herod’s palace.

And this is Scott, one up-ing me!

This is the wall separating the Palestinian territory from Israeli territory. As you This is the wall separating the Palestinian territory from Israeli territory. As you can see from the sign, Israeli citizen’s are not welcome and vise versa. On our can see from the sign, Israeli citizen’s are not welcome and vise versa. On our way back into Jerusalem, we had to get off the bus and go through a secure way back into Jerusalem, we had to get off the bus and go through a secure checkpoint where we had to show our passports.checkpoint where we had to show our passports.

Our last stop of the day was Golgotha and the Garden tomb. This is the other site that many believe is where Jesus was crucified and buried. This place was used as a rock quarry during the time of Herod, and is known to also have been a place where stonings would have occurred. When the Roman’s changed their preferred method of killing to crucifixion, it is thought that they would have done them in the same place. And, as you can see, it does kind-of look like a skull, therefore, it could be why it was called the Hill of the Skull.

In addition, there was a garden nearby with a tomb in it. The layout of the tomb falls in line with Scripture, in that Mary and the disciples would have been able to see that Jesus was gone without actually entering the tomb.1 shows the door, and 5 shows where Jesus would have been laid. His head would have been closest to the arrow. You can look in the door and see straight in to where Jesus would have been. Also, you can see the ledge outside the tomb that would have been used to hold a large stone in front of the entrance.

We stopped here to take Communion and remember what Jesus did for us. It is only through His death and resurrection that we who believe in Him have new life.

Romans 10:9-10, “…if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

And that is it…our trip to Israel comes to an And that is it…our trip to Israel comes to an end, but it will live on in our memories, and end, but it will live on in our memories, and in these pictures, forever!in these pictures, forever!