Day 10 -- Our final day

Our day began with a splash -- literally.

So far on this trip we have flown through the air on a plane; rode in the desert on a caravan of camels; been hauled over mountains and valleys on a bus; floated in a boat on the sea; and traveled off road in a column of jeeps. Many modes of transportation in such a short period of time. The only thing left to do was paddle in a raft on a river, so we launched out with enthusiasm.

The Jordan is not a big river in terms of width, depth nor length but it is as famous as any in the world. It is actually an unimpressive river in appearance but it holds special meaning for us as believers, for it was here that Jesus was first publicly announced as "The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." It was John the Baptist who baptized Jesus in this river as he began the three years of public ministry that would climax at the cross.

Our float was only 45 minutes long. Although it included a few strethches of very mild rapids (enough to spin some of the rafts a few times) it was mostly a placid, slow current which made it fun to enjoy the scenery and occasionaly race to pass the raft in front of you like Randy's raft did so skillfully. If it were not for the big head start of the first raft in the water, Randy's raft would have certainly passed them as well...really, he would have. I'm not kidding, it is true, it would have happened...


At the end of the float, we took some time to hold a baptism service. There were 7 in the group who were being baptized either for the very first time or for the first time as adults.

Others chose to be baptized (who had been previously baptized) simply as an expression of their love for the Lord and to experience being baptized in the same river as Jesus was. These were special times of rededication and identification with Jesus as Lord.

The testimonies that each person shared were a tremendous encouragement to everyone else. Baptism is an important part of our spiritual life because it is a powerful proclamation of Jesus' resurrection life in us and we are not ashamed to identify with Him in His life and death.

Our group had a range of people experiencing baptism from the ages of 13 to 76 and every decade in between. From generation to generation God is faithful.

Of special note is my baptism apparel...the most sacred clothing I possess.

Everyone participated in this special time as we prayed, sang, laughed and celebrated what Jesus has done in our hearts. This trip was a special time of fellowship and was on display in fullness in this morning of baptism.


After heading back to the hotel to shower and check out, we loaded up our suitcases for the last time and began to work our way to Tel Aviv with a few stops along the way. But first we grabbed some lunch - falafels of course.

A beautiful view was waiting for us at what is called by the locals as 'Mt. Precipice." This is the place in Nazareth where many feel that Jesus was brought to be thrown off by the angry mob and He walked through them safely because His time had not yet come. From this view you can look out at the valley of Megiddo...the infamous valley of Armageddon. It is a little windy up here, just ask Becky.

From our high point we could see Mt. Carmel, The Mts. of Samaria, the Valley of Megiddo and many other sites including Mt. Tabor seen here over the shoulders of Keith and Miriam. This was the mount made famous in the story of Deborah as recorded in the book of Judges.

The sun was just begining to hang lower in the sky as we took one last long visual drink of our surroundings, trying to savor each moment. The setting sun was emblematic of our waning moments together on this amazing adventure.

Before I sign off and completer our narrative, I want to acknowledge three contributing factors to why this was such a special trip:

1. The Lord's grace and blessing -- Everyone on the trip had a sense that God led them to come, that He had put the desire in their hearts to come on this trip and so we came with expectancy. Some on the team even experienced miraculous financial provision to do so. More than being just a good idea, this seemed to be a 'God thing' for most of our team.

2. The enthusiasm and great attitudes of the team. -- Everyone rolled with wrinkles in the schedule, enjoyed being together, fully participated in all aspects of the trip and looked out for one another with loving care and consideration.

3. Gilla our guide -- Gilla is the daughter of a holocaust survivor and emmigrated to Israel at a young age from Poland. Gilla's love for her nation and people is sincere and contagious. She teared up seeing our reaction as we arrived in Jerusalem(even though she has been leading teams for nearly 30 years) and she led our daily sojourns with fresh and unique perspectives on all that we saw. Thanks Gilla, we love you and will miss you and hope to see you again in the near future!

Our day finished with a wonderful banquet that gave us an opportunity to say 'thanks' to a few people, share a few final words and then off to the airport for the 28 hours of travel home that awaited.

If you are interested, there will be upcoming trips in the years ahead, so start saving/planning now :)

Day 9 -- Four Wheeling in the Golan Heights and shoe shopping?

Our morning begins on a Kibbutz located at the base of the Golan Heights. The Golan Heights is a strategic piece of land that Israel maintains control over. The Heights overlook the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee and abuts the southwestern border of Syria and is near the souththeastern border of Lebanon.

There is a lot of recent history and current contention regarding this piece of important real-estate. For us, we were going to learn a lot today, and have fun doing it.

We piled into 7 jeeps -- some were old and some were older, and then proceeded to work our way through an informative tour of the high tech agriculture phenom that is the Kibbutz. We were introduced to the way of life on the Kibbutz (community) and sampled some of the crops such as plums, sweet peas and cotton. Leaving the fertile fields, we crossed over the Jordan river and began a bouncy and steep climb up the Golan.

At the top of the Golan Heights we were given a history lesson by Gideon, one of the jeep drivers who has fought in 6 of Israel's wars. This grandfatherly character was an exceptional communicator as he stood on a decrepit bunker built by the Syrian Army and told the story of the Six Day War. You can read about it here at
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/67_War.html


After saying good-bye to our jeep drivers, we stopped at an outpost on the Syrian Border and looked at the U.N. base that sits right on the road to Damascus. You might remember this road from the book of Acts...it is on this road that Saul of Tarsus runs into the risen Christ and later becomes the Apostle Paul.

Here, an Israeli reservist tells us about his life and duties in the Army. Every Israeli serves a three year stint in the military upon graduation from High School and serves in the reserves for many years after. Please pray for our new friend Mordecai, he has lots of questions about the bible and was very interested in talking about matters of faith and even bible prophecy, which he asked us questions about.

Lunch included Falafel's and Schnitzel and then we continued to roam around the northern part of the country. Matthew 16 records the account of Jesus talking to His disciples in an area called Caesarea Philippi.

It was in Caesarea Philippi that the Romans built a temple to a god called 'Pan' (the dancing goat) next to a cave. There is an underground spring in this cave which becomes one of the three main headwaters of the Jordan River. The local pagans called this cave 'the gates of hell' because it purportedly was the access point to the river Styx in hell. "The Gates of Hell will not prevail against my Church" Jesus told Peter near this place. Here I am, holding back the gates of hell!

Genesis 14 records the story of Abraham coming to the city of Dan. The ancient city of Dan is a located today in a nature reserve that also includes a headwater of the Jordan -- the spring of Dan is the biggest spring in the middle east (1 billion gallons of water a year).

We stopped to hike the nature trails and enjoyed a part of the river where David might have penned the words of Psalm 42. In this picture, our guide Gilla is pointing out interesting geographical information, or maybe she is doing her best Sacajawea pose. Guides like to imitate other famous guides you know.

After passing by the remains of the altar that Jereboam built, as recorded in 1 Kings 12:32ff, the B-4 team came to an important archaelogical discovery. Here, Kim and Frank Ponds are standing in front of an ancient city gate made of mud bricks in what was once part of the city of Dan. This gate has been dubbed 'Abraham's Gate' due to the fact that Abraham, more than likely, saw this gate as he came to this city many years ago.

As the sun set beautifully in the cloudless middle eastern sky...as our minds hurt from learning so much that we sat quietly in our bus seats...as our bodies anticipated showers and a good meal at the hotel ahead...we heard the news that made the ladies roar "we are going shoe shopping." What???

It seems that a popular, and expensive, brand of shoes (Naot) are made right here in northern Israel and there is a store on the factory grounds that sells the shoes at a great savings. Discount shopping for these shoes while in Israel was on the wish list for several of the ladies on the team.

8 year old, Alex Soo, the youngest member of our team looked up at me with a pained expression and said "why are we here?" I simply put my hand on his shoulders and said "son, as a man, there are some things that you cannot understand, you just have to accept." We then walked out of the store and joined 149 other men, all standing around kicking at the dirt and fidgeting with their watches. Somewhere off in the distance, a coyote howled.

Day 8 -- The Galilee Region

On The Sea of Galilee -- Jesus walked on the water... slept through a storm... taught from a boat...cooked a meal on the beach... gave a famous sermon on a hill above...fed the multitudes nearby...cast out a legion of demons on the other side...called His first disciples on the shore...

You cannot read the early days of Jesus' earthly ministry without immersing yourself in the Galilee region. We spent a day immersed in it as well. We actually began our day with a boat ride across this beautiful lake.

It was a gorgeous day with calm waters and bright morning sun as we pulled away from shore. Immediately, the stereo on the boat began to play the Star Spangled Banner as one of the crew hoisted the stars and stripes. We quickly stood up, took off our hats, placed our right hands over our hearts and sang loudly together.

With the elections back home entering a hectic final weekend, our thoughts were prayerful towards our nation as we felt the privilege and accompanying responsibility as U.S. citizens. Being in Israel has reminded us of how important our friendship with this nation really is. Our prayers are that the next President of our country will maintain a strong commitment to solidarity with Israel as she seeks peaceful solutions to long standing conflicts all the while maintaining a strong defense of its borders. Never the aggressor but always the victor in each of its wars since 1948, God's providential care has been evident as she plays an important role in His eternal plan.

During the boat ride, we enjoyed the views, sang praise songs and I shared a short word from Luke 5:1-10 about Jesus teaching from Peter's boat and then leading him to a miraculous catch of fish with the accompanying call to become a 'fisher of men.' Souls, not fish, would be Peter's priority from here on out.

On the other side of the boat ride we took a look at a 2,000 year old boat that was unearthed from the mud a few years back. This carefully preserved boat would have been very similiar to the ones that we read about in the Bible.

After leaving the shores we headed up the mountain overlooking the lake to an area that many believe would have been where Jesus gave the famous discourse "The sermon on the mount." Dick Scott taught us how to memorize the Beatitudes in 5 minutes! Afterwards we grabbed some lunch and went to Capernaum where the Apostle Peter lived. We saw his house and a site where a Synagogue was built upon the original Synagogue where Jesus would have read and taught the scriptures.

In the ruins of this building was the "Moses Seat" in which Jesus referenced in Matthew 23:2. Here I am teaching from it...hey, who appointed me to sit on it? I hope that the words of Jesus in this passage do not refer to me.

Our day ended at the place dedicated to the memory of Peter's recomissioning as a leader in Christ's Church (John 21). Some got their feet wet, some searched for tiny shells, some skipped rocks and all contemplated what they had seen today.

A major part of these tours is enjoying the experience with many wonderful people who have become fast friends...here is a gallery of some from the team.

Day 7 -- The camel ride happens and north to Galilee

We packed and said 'good-bye' to Jerusalem and began our trip north to the Galilee region. But first, there was this matter of a camel ride to take care of.

The Judean hills in the background frame this picture of roomates and camelmates Jane (focusing on the camera) and JoAnn (focusing on the camel).


Camels, it has been said, are the only animals created by committee, a strange creature. Have you ever heard the noise a camel makes? It starts deep in the inner chambers and echoes out the mouth in a gurgling sputter.

Chuck and Gerry just made a bet with Ricardo and Brandon -- "First one to Capernaum and back wins three goats and five cakes of raisins."


When riding a camel, you have to lean back, lean forward and then lean back as the beast of burden shifts its weight from back to front and then to the back again. Here, Bev and Peggie show us how to do it while screaming and holding on for dear life.

Riding in Israel is quite the experience. You'll be riding along and our guide say's thing like "Samson was born on the other side of that hill" and "Saul gathered his army by that stand of Eucalyptus trees" etc. The bible just comes alive in this place.

The story of Gideon preparing his army is not the way most leaders would go about it. He began by whittling it down to 300 soldiers from 30,000. It happened at this very spring. Judges 6-7 records the story that Gilla is reading from.

Beit Shean is a city that is famous in the Bible, because it is here that the corpses of Saul and his three son's were hung from the city walls after their defeat and death in battle. Over the centuries, this key crossroads location became a major Roman city. An earthquake destroyed the city in 749 and left these recently unearthed ruins for us to explore.


Within the city was a 7,000 seat theatre...and where do the theatre goers "go " at intermission? Not a lot of privacy in those days, but very effective, if not ingenious, toilet seats eh? Trust me, this was the best picture for this family blog (I have other re-enactment shots that I'm willing to sell).

What a fun day that ended with us checking into our hotel on the shores of Lake Gennesaret or as it is also known, the Sea of Galilee. So, until tomorrow, dear reader, I must sign off now and thank you for reading the narrative of this great odyssey. Feedback is always welcome. So are baked goods that look and taste like Marionberry Pie.

Day 6 -- Our last Day in Jerusalem

 

Jerusalem has been our home base for the past six days. This amazing, ancietn/modern city, is dominated by reminders of its 3,000 year history at every turn. Walking the narrow streets of the old city, as Sharon and Carolyn are doing, is a reminder that we have been blessed to be here as we began our final day in this unusual city.










 Jerusalem is a city that Abraham saw by faith and that David built with passion. Jerusalem is a city that God has put His name on and that Jesus wept over. Jerusalem is a city that has the world's attention and that will be a flashpoint for a future world war. Jerusalem is a city that has had a tumultuous past but a will have a future glory. Jerusalem, a special place indeed.



 Our morning began at the 'Pool of Bethesda' where Jesus healed a lame man. John 5 tells the story of this miracle. On location is St. Annes Chapel where we took some time to sing songs of worship to our great God. A special treat was the beautiful singing of Psalm 126 in Hebrew by our guide Gilla, which showcased the uniqueness of this acoustical environment and the beauty of the Hebrew language in which the Psalm was written.

 Afterwards we headed to the location of the fortress Antonio where Jesus would have stood trial before Pontius Pilate. It was really intense to be in the exact area where Jesus would have been flogged and beaten as He bore the stripes on His back that were prophesied in Isaiah 53. Jesus would have walked, bleeding and suffering on the very stones that we were standing on.

 This brought us to our final stop for the day, the garden tomb. Although we do not know for sure if this was the exact tomb where Jesus had been placed, it is a good indication of what it would have looked like. The proof of the empty tomb is the fullness of Christ's resurrection life in our hearts. We celebrated this fact with communion together in front of an empty tomb!

Our host at the garden tomb told us that he had 36,000 people from 40 different nations visit in the month of March. This unique place has the sounds of thousands of redeemed voices singing the songs of praise to God...a foretaste of heaven.

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins... Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus...8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:1-9

Day 5 -- Masada, The Dead Sea and An Almost Camel Ride

See these bad boys? We almost got to ride them. But alas, it was not meant to be. Today we had a cool, windy and rainy day in Israel. Not what 50 pilgrims from Oregon expect when they go to the arid Middle East. Why not ride the camels in the rain? The camel people said that the camels get jumpy on wet ground, their hooves are not used to it.





Rather than risk a potentially dangerous situation, our 50 camel jockeys settled for walking to the tent of 'Father Abraham' (seen here with Pastor Dick and Dawn Scott) and eating on the floor of his tent while he told us about his journey from Ur to Canaan...Australian accent and all.

The highlight of our day was the trip to the fortress/palace of Masada. This is a very tragic and compelling part of the Israelite story complete with drama, intrigue, military might, resistance and a tragic ending of mass suicide. This was all captured in the 1981 epic movie called "Masada" -- what else would they call it?



On a high mountain top, overlooking the Dead Sea, Herod built a fortress retreat; a forty acre, self-sustaining place of protection complete with two palaces. This fortress is only 100 feet above sea level, but is very high due to the fact that it sits next to the lowest place on earth (the Dead Sea) which is 600 feet below Sea Level.

There is no record of Herod ever coming to this place, he had many other palaces and fortresses built as well and it is a testament to his paranoia, self-indulgence and ambition. The real story of this place centers around 1,000 men, women and children who fled here after the Romans sacked Jerusalem in 70 AD finding refuge for several years. Peter O'Toole, I mean Justus Flavius Silva, brought a legion of Roman soldiers and laid seige to Masada, eventually building a rampart to the top. Rather than being taken alive, the community committed mass suicide...preferring to die free than to live as slaves and in the idolatry of Rome. Until the 1970's, all Israeli soldiers were brought here to be sworn into military service and thus making the statement that never again would an Israeli be unable to defend him/herself against tyranny.

After stopping at En Geddi (an oasis surrounded by caves) where David hid from Saul and in Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, we went for a 'bob' in the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is about 35% salt and minerals and not one living thing is found there, not even micro-organisms.



It is a weird experience, and a smelly one. Your skin feels oily and the mud is desired all over the world so everyone got muddy and went for a bob.



Ezekiel 47 gives us a remarkable prophecy that one day, our God will heal these dead waters and they will teem with life both in the water and on its shores. Pretty amazing description of what God is about...bringing life out of death! Tomorrow, we go to the garden tomb...the ultimate victory of triumph over death.