12/27/15. Recap of SA and SU travel to Israel
A long travel day, losing 8 hours as we travel to Israel.
Time to read, and think and anything else to ke p your mom needs occupied and not thinking are we there yet? Nope you aren’t. It’s a good route on Delta they JFK but the elapsed times from our house to the airport in Tel Aviv is 22 hrs.
A long grueling trip that is simply to be endured and then you are there and the trials of the trip quickly fade.
Now I remember the old days, it took 36 hours to get to Israel. And not too many years before that it was and 8 day trip on a fast boat. So we are blessed.
We saw Dr. Danny Akin SEBTS president at the luggage carousel. He comes to Israel often and brings his students. He said after Israel he will go to Prague to visit some of their 2+2 students. I love seeing p pile traveling to Israel.
Dr Parker drove into Jerusalem and he made it to the Dan without GPS nor did he make a wrong turn. Dead reckoning. He also did a good job of safe driving.
Gilla met us at our he hotel SU night and had coffee with us.
The drive in not Jerusalem was a mixed bag for me. I remember the nights in the 80’s and 90’s when coming up to Jerusalem was on a crowded dark road. Now the road is modernized, wider and lights everywhere.
Israel is 1/5 the size of LA and has 6million plus population and a lot of drivers that need desperately to take drivers Ed.
Ps 147:5 How great is our God. His power is absolute. 6 The Lord supports the humble brings the wicked down into the dust. 11 The Lord’s delight is in those who fear Him, those who put their hope in His unfailing love.
Just a few of God’s 7,000 plus promises in His Word.
Blessings from Jerusalem.
Israel -Monday -12/28/15
Beautiful, cool, sunny day in Jerusalem. Jim Parker, Mel and I parked at the Mamilla Mall and went straightway to see our money changer. We had mint tea and conversation, changed our dollars to shekels at a good rate, Turkish coffee and much more conversation. His son Omar came by and we spent time with him. After about two hours we walked to the Holy Sepulcher.
Not many folks around. The Doorman, Wajeeh Nuseibeh, recognized Mel and we visited with him. Jim Parker and I went in to the Tomb and stood in a very short line to visit the tomb. The grandeur of the Holy Sepulcher is foreign to our idea of Church but has and is meaningful to Christendom around the world. I try to be mindful of that and always visit with that in mind. It is the place recognized across the millenniums as the place of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus. We lingered in prayer for a half hour and then walked to the Jewish Quarter to visit with Moshe and Dov Kempenski at Shorashim. We had talked with Dov earlier in the morning when he came by Aroma in the Mamilla. We were having coffee and Dov saw us and we talked a bit. Now we were at their shop and enjoyed the fellowship with both of them.
Carol and Gilla our guide and friend in Israel went to lunch near our hotel. Carol enjoys every opportunity she has to visit with Gilla.
What a wonderfully beautiful day.
It was after 3pm and we had spent the day in the Old City. Talking with friends over coffees or mint tea. Now it was time to head back to the hotel. Jet lag was catching up with all three of us.
We finished our our day with Bible Study in the birth narrative in Luke. We met in my room. Jim Parker led the study. He is a great student of the Word and an outstanding teacher. It was an enriching experience.
Dinner and off to bed. Another great day. As Mike Moskau often said “Every day is a good day.” This truly was a good day.
Psalm 147:1 Praise the Lord for it is good to sing praises to our God.
We are certainly praising the Lord as we prepare for our Pilgrimage group to arrive on Wednesday afternoon. Praying that all will go smoothly and well, safe flight and all in the group are healthy.
Please pray for Donna Parker’s family. Her sister’s husband died. She will have to miss the Israel trip as she ministers to her family in their time of grief.
Bless you today.
TRIPS
Sometimes epic journeys involve some very mundane days. Monday was one of those days. Dr Parker left early to work at Gezer with his colleagues.
I did several things in the morning and then about noon went to rest for a half hour and then go to the Old City. I woke up at 3:30pm. Evidently I was much tireder than I thought. Monday was a quiet, peaceful day.
Dr Parker led in Bible study-Luke 1 the story of John the Baptist birth.
Dr Warren and George Rieger arrived in time for dinner.
TUESDAY
Difficulties. 5 of our pilgrims flights missed their connections and our ground folks were scrambling to get them here and connected with our group. Most of the folks will arrive this afternoon so it’s a waiting day. No glamour just waiting. Reading, conversation and waiting.
Jim Parker, George Rieger, Bill Warren and Carol took the van on ahead to Mashabei Sadeh our overnight and we will join them about 8pm for dinner and a quick Bible Study.
Still waiting. Blessings.
JOY
Deut. 7 voices God’s love for Israel
Ps 87 declares God’s love for Jerusalem more than any place in Israel
Ezek 16:60 everlasting covenant
Study God’s Word -physically
Let the Lord speak to us
Like Mary we will. treasure everything we see and hear in our hearts
Translate the Word of God from black &white to full color-we will unpack all that happens here when we go home over the next year. We will read our Bible and see where we’ve been.
JOY. PSALM 147
What gives the Lord joy?
He created everything
It’s good to praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord
Sing His praises
Voice His praises
It’s good to praise the Lord
He builds
He takes care of the outsider
The poor, the widow, the orphan
Praise the Lord for His watch care
He heals
The broken-hearted
Giving them help in their time of need
Praise the Lord for His healing
He knows all things-all things
The number of stars and their names
The number of hairs on your head
Praise the Lord for His knowledge
He is all powerful
Abundant strength
All knowing -Infinite understanding
Praise the Lord
Sing praises to the Lord
He gives us rain
He makes the grass grow
Praise the Lord
He gives food to the animals
He clothes the flowers
He knows our needs
Praise the Lord
He favors those who fear Him
He rejoices in our praise
He gives us 7,000 plus promises
Praise the Lord
What gives the Lord joy?
Our praises gives Him joy
Our worship gives Him joy
Praise the Lord, Worship Him
Clay Corvin
Jerusalem, Israel Dec. 29, 2015
ISRAEL DEC 31, 2015. TH
Departed Mashabei Sadeh at 7:45am and headed north. Our first stop would be Tel Beersheva. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all lived here. The Well of the Oath (also seven) located near modern day Beersheva a thriving city of the Negev Region of Israel. We visited the archaeological site, saw a replica of the Horned Altar, the water system, the ancient well, saw a herd of Camels in the distance and discussed the Biblical history.
Next stop would be at Masada in the lowest point on Earth 1,372 ft below sea level The Dead Sea. Amazing. Oxygen is very rich here. Masada was an enriching experience. Seeing Herod’s Fortress and walking through it, hearing the story of the Roman invasion and the suicide of 993 Jews (refused to be slaves) and the the resolve of the modern state of Israel “NEVER AGAIN.”
Quick drive up the Dead Sea to Qumran, then up to Bethabara (house of the ford, place of the crossing.) This location is shown on the Madaba map. It is the place where John was Baptizing and where Jesus was baptized. Additionally it is the place where Israel crossed on dry ground (waters parted-Israelites couldn’t swim(joke)) into the Promised Land (Joshua 3).
We backtracked a little Kalia Beach on the Dead Sea for folks to take a dip then sprinted north up the Jordan Valley to Aroma Espresso Bar at the Junction then checked into Maagan for five nights, Bible Study until 9:45pm and crashed.
ISRAEL JAN 1, 2016 -Friday
Intermittent rain all day. We visited Biblical Kursi where Jesus confronted the Demoniac and threw the demons into the pigs, stopped at the Jordan River at the old tank bridge and then went to Nof Ginosar and sailed on the Sea of Galilee. It was rainy but not heavy waves. After the trip in the boat on the Sea of Galilee we visited the Ancient Boat from the time of Jesus at Nof Ginosar and then had lunch at a restaurant in Migdal (the town of Mary Magdalene-Mary of Migdala). After a short drive to Tabgha (Primacy of Peter) where we had our devotional on the beach, we visited Capernaum the town of Jesus.
We have devotionals at each site.
It was only a short drive up the hill to Chorazin (1 of the 3 cities Jesus cursed) and then across the hill and down to the Mount of the Beatitudes where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount In Matthew 5-7.
Two days of non-stop intense Biblical teaching. At the end of the day we made a stop at Tamar Backfar and picked up dates, tea, dried fruit, chocolate, nuts and other goodies to distract us as we discussed high level stuff at night and to fend off hunger during the day as we traveled the land the Lord loves. Bible Study, dinner and to bed.
ISRAEL JAN 2,2016 -SATURDAY
ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL day in the Galilee. Every day is a good day. This was the long sprint day as we would travel from the Southern end of the Sea of Galilee to the Lebanon Border at Rosh Hanikra.
We exited the Sea of Galilee via Porya on hwy 767 to hwy 65 to hwy 79west. That took us to Sepphoris, know as Zippori about 4 miles from Nazareth. This is an ancient Roman City that ruled this region of the Galilee. The Jews of Sepphoris had been integrated into Roman society. Beautiful mosaics, excellent Cardo and decumanus streets, and in a luxurious Roman villa at the top of the site a mosaic with the Mona Lisa of the Galilee. Stunning. It was a rather long walk to the villa but well worth it.
Mt Carmel at the site where Elijah challenged, defeated and slew the prophets at Muhraqa was next and then off to lunch at the Druze village. Really a good, rewarding day so far.
After lunch we drove north to Akko. We got off the bus at the light house and walked around to the port including a stop for pictures at the caravansary. Then from the port we continued thru the Suk to the Coppersmith Shop and loaded the bus. About 30 minutes later we were on the border with Lebanon. The sign on the border said Beirut 120km and Jerusalem 205km. We took lots of pictures while at Rosh Hanikra loaded the bus and hit fast forward to Maagan. We got back just in time to begin the Bible Study at 6:15pm, dinner and off to bed. Another enriched, blessed and joyous day. The Lord says he loves this land and while I’m going to continue to live and rejoice in the USA I too love Israel, the land of the Bible!
ISRAEL JAN 3, 2016 -SUNDAY
We’ve had rain all week but amazingly time after time we had enough time in between downpours to visit sites. The worst rains have generally been when we were traveling from site to site or having a devotional on the bus or having lunch. The touring so far has been superb. I think I’ve worn my raincoat non-stop and more than any other trip to the Holy Land. Great trip! Maybe the best ever so far and today proved to be just as good! One thing for sure none of us has gotten a sunburn.
During the ride today I’ve thought about the young people on our trip. Old folks do that. I’m so proud of all their devotionals, interactions and their input into our Bible Studies. Christendom in America and the world is going to have good future Christian leaders. Praise the Lord. They will face much harder challenges than we have faced and will have to deal with a much different USA than we grew up in. Come Lord Jesus.
Well, we did tour today even though it’s taken me so long to get to it.
Our First site was Beit Shean, House of Peace. It is an important city at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and the Jezeel Valley. Indications are that there was a city here in the sixth millennia BC. It was an important Egyptian city, Philistine city, Israelite city, Greek city, Roman city, Byzantine city, Arab city, Ottoman city and today an important city in Israel. The archaeological site in Beit Shean today is developed in the Roman period. It’s a big site to walk thru, beautifully restored and in excellent condition. We lingered at the site and hated to leave. Several said if we had the time it would be a good place to sit in the amphitheater and meditate.
Nonetheless leave we must and our next stop was at Beit Alpha just a short drive west from Beit Shean.
This is a sixth century synagogue and the mosaic central to the structure gives us an indication of the syncretism that sweeps through the land.
Ein Harod Springs where Gideon was instructed by the Lord was our next stop.
Finally we got to Megiddo and its 26 levels of occupation. We had lunch then we toured the site. Discussions and teaching after lunch and an excellent walk on the site.
We finished our visit about 2:30 and headed to Nazareth. Nazareth traffic is a zoo. What is most important to us is its relationship with Jesus. We took the Nazareth road to the Precipice and had a wonderful view of the city, no traffic problem and the traditional location of where the people wanted to throw Jesus off the cliff. Great visit.
Now we turn towards Maagan. The last stop of the day was at Tamar Backfar-dried fruit, nuts, teas and other goodies.
Bible study. Dinner. Bed. Another outstanding day.
We begin thinking about Jerusalem. We will be there Tuesday
PSALMS OF ASCENT- PSALM 120-134
LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE (Psalm 120)
by CLAY on 09/09/2012
O God heal my lying lips, my heart is hard, I protect myself Failure never my fault,
it’s him or her, my upbringing Never would I admit, mean spiritedness, selfish
devotion to sin It’s always someone else, never me, can’t you see how I’m wronged?
Lying tongue be quiet, God speaks, it is your fault Where you walk, who you are with,
selfishness is a false foundation Addiction is a convenient way to disavow
responsibility, it must be something else You live in a world bent on disaster, you
cause you pain, bend your knee in Jesus name
Woe is me, can I get an amen, don’t you know my hard story? Judgment comes
without my plea, God knows the truth, my heart is hard and cold Jesus can set you
free, He loves you and me, claim Christ’s gift-a warm heart that’s free O Lord I need
you, you are the only way to be free, Come Lord Jesus and deliver me
Bless you on your journey!
ISRAEL JAN 4, 2016. Monday
Early morning departure (7:45am) so we can make an Aroma Espresso Bar stop then on to the north.
First stop at the Abraham Gate and the Jeroboam Gate at Dan. We are on a tight schedule to get everything in today so we didn’t have time to do the nature walk at Dan.
Caesarea Philippi is our next site and it didn’t take long to drive there. Wow. Great visit. As we think about Jesus comments here we can see how this place would be a big draw for people. This is the center of worship for the Worship of Pan. It was an evil place.
Masade, a Druze Village on the Golan was where we would have lunch. Options were falafel, schnitzel or labneh with hyssop. We got there about 11:20am and were on our way to meet our Jeep Tour in the Golan by 12:05.
Ilan Shulman is the owner of Golan Tours. We met him and 7 of his associates at Merom Golan for a 2 hr tour thru the out back of the Golan. We went off roading, off off roading and really off roading across the Golan near Ben Tal and on the border. We visited a front line bunker and Ilan shared his views of the current situation. We had tea and cookies. It was cold, the ground slippery and we had a great time.
We left Merom Golan about 2:35pm and on a dead run across country we went to Gamla. Gamla is the Masada of the north except 5,000 people committed suicide by jumping off the cliffs rather than be slaves. It is the Grand Canyon of Northern Israel. Amazing.
We got back to Maagan at 4:35 and had Bible Study at 5:15, dinner at 6:30 and to our rooms to pack, sleep and head to Jerusalem in the morning.
SRAEL JAN 5, 2016-Tuesday
This is a long driving day. After breakfast, loading the bus, leaving Maagan, quick stop at Aroma, we were on the way to Jerusalem.
Our first stop was at Caesarea by the Sea. The weather was beautiful-crisp, huge waves on the Mediterranean and a strong wind blowing. We visited the Crusader Fortress, the port where Paul left for Rome and I picked up an espresso at the Harbor. Then on to the Byzantine City and the Hippodrome, Herod’s house 17,000 m2 (I don’t really grasp how big that is but it is huge) and the amphitheater. Our group sang with a Korean group in the amphitheater. Amazing.
We left Caesarea and had lunch at Or Akiva-most of the group at McDonalds or Pizza Hut-me at Aroma!
Now we were on the way to Bethlehem. One stop at Latrun (bathrooms) where I couldn’t pass SI for an Espresso. Excellent!
Bethlehem was superb because we didn’t have a huge line and basically we were in and out in one hour. The Church of the Nativity always impacts me in a deep and significant way. Not unlike in Jesus day there aren’t many people paying attention to their relationship with Jesus. Most of the Christians have left Bethlehem and more are leaving each day. One day soon there will only be an edifice there as a testimony to the birth of Christ. Pray for peace in Jerusalem and a Christian witness in the Holy Land. Come Lord Jesus.
We will be in Jerusalem the next three days. We will see you soon.
WHERE ARE YOU?
God Gen 3:9 Then the Lord God called to the man and said to him him”where are you”
Seeking-physically
Emotionally
Spiritually
Confronting
Sin
Impatience
Selfish
Reconciling
Beloved
Valuable
Others
WHERE ARE YOU?
Where are you
Yes physically
Surrendered – self-controlled
Hale – not so hardy
Give yourself to Jesus
Let go – let God
Eat right – exercise right
Be who God calls you to be
Let go of the ghosts
They can’t hurt you anymore
Give up your wrong things
Adopt God’s things
Hold yourself accountable
Quietly sit before God
Let Him have His way with you
Know that the Lord is good
Every thought He has for you
Is a thought for good
Jesus loves you
Not your job, money, skills-you
Sin is your biggest problem
You are covered up with it
Everyone- All – without exception
Jesus forgives sin – your sin
We love one another – forgiving
As Jesus forgives us
Impatience is a killer
It says we are more important
It denies we love
Am I more important than God?
Servanthood, service, 2nd place
Everyone is important
Give-an attitude of gratitude
Equips us to be usable
Useful to the Father
Give-what you have
Give-all you can
The Lord will take care of you
The Lord is at work reconciling you
You are beloved
An eternal love
An Unbreakable love
The Lord will not let go of you
Your name is etched in His hand
Remember you represent Jesus
You are His hands and feet
Do no one ill
Do the next right thing
Keep up on confessing your sin
Jesus already knows-you know
He loves you
Love the ones you’re with
Clay Corvin
1/7/16
On the Road to the Herodian
ISRAEL JAN 6, 2016-Wednesday
Jerusalem all day. 15,000 step day-I have short steps! Some others had 12,500 steps. Many!
We circled the city in the bus. Jaffa Gate, New Gate, Damascus Gate, Lions Gate and got off the bus for the day at the Dung Gate.
We headed for the Temple Mount. Very tight security and it took us about 20minutes to clear. No Bibles. No touching for even husband and wife. No praying. Okay it is a Holy Site but when the kids playing soccer and playing tag it diminishes the Holiness in my mind but so many things don’t make sense.
We walked the Temple Mount seeing the Dome of the Rock, Al Aksa Mosque, the Golden Gate, and much conversation about the Temple.
Our appointment for the Kotel Tunnel was for 9:40 so we had to hustle from the Temple Mount out the Chain Gate back to the Western Wall and the Kotel Tunnel.
Five of us walked around to Bethesda and waited on the group to complete the Kotel.
Our group arrived at Bethesda. We sang in the Church of Saint Anne and had our devotional at The Pool of Bethesda. Excellent.
Then on to the Via Dolorosa and our stop at the Lithostratos-the pavement where the soldiers taunted and beat Jesus. Again a great devotional.
We moved on along the Via Dolorosa and interrupted our trip to the Holy Sepulcher to meet an appointment with Moshe at Shorashim. Very good time as Moshe shared the Jewish understanding of their faith and how it differs from ours. Moshe does a good job and doesn’t duck any questions. It certainly helps us to understand our differences but also doesn’t change the way we view our faith. Thanks to Moshe as he seeks to bring understanding to the marketplace. In our faith we are focused on Jesus, saved by His shed blood and eternally adopted into the family of God.
Lunch break in the Jewish Quarter.
A visit to the Holy Sepulcher and return to the hotel, and off to bed.
ISRAEL JAN 7, 2016 -Thursday
Excellent day although we changed the afternoon up.
We visited the Mount of Olives first thing.
But first breakfast. The Dan Panorama, just one of the Dan chain hotels here in Israel, has a superb, extensive, comprehensive breakfast. And it is excellent.
They have a raw bar with 4-6 cheeses, packaged yogurt, about 10 vegetables, 3-5 kinds of smoked fish, orange & grapefruit juice and fresh fruits. The hit bar has 3-5 items including eggs scrambled, boiled and often a poached egg dish with cooked veggies and a chocolate muffin with chocolate sauce poured over it. Also an eggs to order chef with made to order waffles.
Then there is a bar with 5 kinds of croissants, an apple Danish, and several other stuffed pastries, 5% fresh yogurt with 7-10 different things to add to it-walnuts, muesli, granola, and other things, plus honey dripped from the hive rasher.
They also have a bread bar with 5-10 types of bread, butter, jams and jellies. The restaurant is Kosher. It is very very good.
I would suggest you try the Dan Panorama when in Jerusalem and any of the other Dans in Israel. We love it.
After we completed our pictures, devotionals and teaching on the Mount of Olives we walked down the Mount of Olives to Dominus Flevit, and on down the hill to the Garden of Gethsemane where we had the devotional for Dominus Flevit and the Harden of Gethsemane. We running tight on out time for entrance to the Garden of Gethsemane so we had just stepped into Dominus Flevit and continued down to our appointment in the garden of Gethsemane.
The Church of All Nations was just across the street and that was our next visit. Amazing ancient Olive Trees and a significant edifice.
We loaded the bus and traveled around the Old City where we would again visit the Western Wall and visit the Southern Steps of the Temple Mount.
Our lunch break was in the Jewish Quarter just up the steps from the Western Wall. Good lunch and a short walk over to Mt Zion where we got back on the bus and drove to the Herodion. We climbed up, down and thru the place that Herod built. I think several folks really enjoyed the exercise and others of us were just grateful we could do it.
Haas Promenade, the Southern Overlook of the Old City of Jerusalem was our stop on the way to the Garden Tomb. It is just in front of the Hill of Evil Counsel which thru history has been the location of Israel’s enemies and detractors. Antiochus Epiphanies IV lived here.
We weren’t here long as we had a 4pm appointment at the Garden Tomb. We were about 20 minutes early to the Garden Tomb and headed back to the hotel about 5:15pm. We completed our Bible Study, had dinner, Neil and Gilla joined us and then off to pack and to bed.
Another beautiful day in Jerusalem, the Holy City God loves.
ISRAEL JAN 8, 2016-Friday and Sat HOME.
Last touring day. Sad. Ready to go home but just hate to leave. Many other thoughts when we woke up at 6am. Busily packed up and triple checked the room. Down to breakfast, quickly to the room to get everything down and load the bus and off we go.
First stop is Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. Hard. Tragedy. Evil incarnate. Dear God how can human beings be that evil and yet they were. It reminds me of the statement that all it takes for evil to rule is for the righteous to stay quiet. Lord Lord forgive us for the times we’ve witnessed evil and stayed quiet.
Today we are pressed for time to get everything in but away we go to stop number 2 at the Israeli Museum. We visited the Jerusalem Model, quick lunch, and then the Shrine of the Book. A few skipped lunch and literally ran to see a small part of the Museum. On the bus at 12:30pm.
The Upper Room always speaks to me. Here Jesus said farewell to his Disciples. I’m reminded that most of them were still young men, many not even 20 even after walking with Jesus 3 years. I understand why it seems so chaotic and that they just don’t get it. But they remembered his Words. It changed their life. As we do the Lord’s Supper we reenact this very scene in our churches. We had a site devotional and went out singing.
Loaded the bus and down to Saint Peter in Gallicantu where Peter denied the Lord 3 times.
Love is a critical element in our life. As Jesus forgave Peter His love helped Peter get over himself and come to the realization that the real battle to change the world is in our heart. We lead cold lives disdaining all but those we like or those who. n help us. Christ calls us to love the unlovely and our brothers and sisters. Quite frankly these two sites, the Upper Room and St Peter in Gallicantu move me to introspection and confession. LORD SOFTEN MY HEART TOWARDS OTHERS. LORD HARDEN MY HEART AGAINST EVIL ESPECIALLY THE EVIL IN ME!
Well I’m not trying to preach in my itinerary- just report the facts as I see them. Praise the Lord.
(I’m writing this as we are one hour into our flight home. Eleven hours to go to JFK. Our flight path goes across Turkey just south of Istanbul, over Sofia, Munich, brussels, London, Ireland and the North Atlantic. It seems we are flying a little north of the pat we came in.)
Now as we leave St Peter in Gallicantu we set a course to the Airport with three more stops before we checked in for our flight home.
The Elah Valley where David slew Goliath was first. The air was thick with dust from the desert. It was so thick it looked cloudy and you couldn’t see very far. Gilla our expert Israeli guide detailed the fight. Two site devotionals dealt with David and Goliath and Saul and David and the aftermath of the rescue of Israel from the Philistines. Amazing story. Amazing history. Great location. Today it has a rich green cover because it is rainy season. Beautiful. The Elah Valley has such a rich history. Israel and the Philistines meet here in battle many times. I’m so grateful we have this story preserved for us today and the fact that now when you read that story you will be able in your mind’s eye to see the physical setting as you read and think about David and Goliath.
Our second stop was at Latrun for bathrooms. I think all of us were needy.
I walked into SI’s Espresso Bar and the young lady that is the day manager recognized me as we stop here two or three times (third stop this trip) each trip. Anyway she was there the other day when we came thru and she asked if we were heading home. Yep. We are. Sad/glad but we are. Told her Jim Parker who she knew by name and several others of us would be back around May 18. Her response was “we miss you!” How nice. The espresso was good too.
Now we are off to dinner in Jaffa at “the Old Man & the Sea”. The meal was good. Oh and as we drove from the Elah Valley the rain began. Boy did it rain.
We arrived at the airport at 7:45pm, unloaded the bus, waited in line, cleared security, checked luggage and all the other stuff related to coming home and was seated at the gate waiting for the time to go by 8:45pm. That was quick.
Well we visited 16 National Park sites and 34 other sites for a total of 50 different sites in Israel. This will give our trip participants a broad understanding of Israel and a fantastic color palette to read the Word of God with. The 34 sites don’t include our walking thru the Suk in Acco and Jerusalem with their sights and sounds nor do they include the rich perspective we got at the Dead Sea, Jordan Valley, the Golan, the Hula Valley, riding the Via Maris, driving across the Jezreel Valley, seeing the Mediterranean at the Lebanon Border and quite a few more. We also saw all the Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem and Gehena. The vistas of the overlooks are a base of visual imagery that will equip you to develop your relationships with the land during the time the Bible was written. It is a rough terrain to walk everywhere so I think you will understand that the people were rugged and fit.
Our guide Gilla Treibich is a key part of our team to make these trips work program wise and time wise. She is constantly helping us develop the daily itinerary to maximize time, deal with weather and traffic on the highway and the sites and to make sure that our pilgrimages are as safe as possible.
Our driver Ezra Toby was spectacular. Excellent. Always helping us to get from site to site as efficiently and safely as possible. He was very kind to all of us.
We were blessed by Toby and Gilla.
What a great group. They were on and off the bus as efficiently as a group of 51 could get on and off a bus. Excellent. Wonderful group of people.
The Dan Panorama was superb. A great way to end a pilgrimage.
Maagan is so beautiful and I always sleep so well there.
Our Dec 15-Jan 16 Pilgrimage was a success anyway one can measure it. So proud to travel Israel with this Godly group of folks.
BY the way, Adam and Kelly handled all of the on the ground logistics for our travel to and from, keeping up with where everyone was and making sure we were where we should be. Mel and Paul got us through the sites and cities and also out of them and back to the bus timely and effectively.
I’ve never had a group that moved together so well. Thank you. God bless you.
Our Bible teachers were superb. The site devotionals were excellent and the daily devotionals were enlightening and good.
Our music was really really good. Thanks to Jonathan.
NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM. SHALOM.
