Thursday, May 31, 2012

The Holy Land - Day 4

 Day 4

On the Sea of Galilee

We rode on the King David



After the boat ride we went to lunch.  We had St. Peter's fish lunch.

We stopped alongside the rode where Pastor Tonye shared his testimony.  There are mine fields left from  wars past between Syria and Israel.

Zion, our bus driver, and Ronny, our tour guide.
Baptism in the Jordan River
D is next in line to be baptized.

Pastor Sam baptized me when I was almost 12, and Pastor Tonye was the pastor of my college group.  
The baptisms were recorded and available for purchase.  D's baptism was replayed so many times, so he got to watch it.

Up next, Day 5.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Holy Land - Day 3



Looking across the Sea of Galilee to Tiberias at sunset on our second day in Israel.


Day 3
 On the shores of the Sea of Galilee
this shot isn't too bad for been taken through the bus window


Jesus may have sat upon this shore eating with His disciples. 

 I don't know about the entire shore line of the Sea of Galilee, but every place we went there was not much sand.  However, there were millions of little bitty sea shells.  D picked up a handful and it made the shape of a heart.



Mt. of Beatitudes

D following along with Pastor Sam and Pastor Tonye.  Unfortunately, this awesome jacket got left in his hotel room at the Dead Sea.

Chapel built on the Mt. of Beatitudes with the support of Mussolini.

Capernaum
Synagogue

Synagogue

2000 year old representation of the Ark of the Covenant 

Turkish Baths in Tiberias
warm water
This isn't the greatest quality picture because I took it through the bus window, but I still like it.  It shows the culture.




The Jesus Boat
2000 year old boat found in the Sea of Galilee much like one Jesus would have used.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

A Visit to the Holy Land

What better place to spend the holiday season than in the Holy Land.

That was the opportunity we had in December, along with 25 or so other people from our church.  We flew out of Sacramento on December 11th, (except for the 12 people who left on the 8th for 4 days in London) missing most of the Christmas chaos, and arriving home just in time to spend Christmas Eve with family.

It was absolutely amazing!!  

I am still wading through the 3000+ pictures that were taken by my family, but I need to start sharing them.  At least give you a taste of what we experienced!

So without further ado, our mostly unedited photos from our AMAZING, highly recommended, want to go back, trip to Israel.

My boys had never been on a commercial jet before (in fact they had only ever flown once in their great-uncle's Cessna, and these 2 cried the entire time), and they were a little nervous about it.  Well, not LM.  He was very nervous about it.  So nervous, in fact, that he wanted to stay at Nana's, and not go with us.  But we prayed with him, had others pray for him, and introduced him to the pilot of out first flight, and by the time we took off he had his eyes glued to the window!

Day 1

Netanya
view of the Mediterranean Sea from the boys' room 


Caesarea Maritima

 Herod's Hippodrome
Presenting D as Ben Hur

looking down the median of the hippodrome

Pastor Sam teaching in the hippodrome

Herod's pool at his Promontory Palace - He had fresh water brought in for it.

the theater where Paul was tried before Festus (Acts 25)
LV 2nd from left in the roll of Festus
Others from our group re-enacting Paul's testimony before Festus and Felix.


aqueduct built by King Herod approximately 10 miles long with the height decreasing about 1 inch.mile in order to get fresh water into the city.
 Mt. Carmel
View of the Armageddon (Jezreal) Valley 
Many battles have taken place here, with the greatest battle yet to come.


Tiberias
The boys were so excited to see something they recognized!
 


Day 2

Mt. Arbel
These 2 were a little concerned about the height.
 At the base of this cliff is the sight of ancient Magdala, the town where Mary Magdalene was from.
view from Mt. Arbel
H and me

LV



Kfar Kedem - Galilee
Culture Day


LM grinding wheat

We all earned our donkey driver's license.


LV and Asa
This little girl's family works at Kfar Kedem.  She was 4 years old and walked right up to our donkeys after we rode and took them to her dad to brush and feed them for the next group.




Nazareth Village

tomb replica

from the olive press

Pastor Sam teaching in the replica of the synagogue

To be continued...