A Visit, a Church and Ariel

The first day of rain since April!
Celebration in Israel as the rains have come.
But it is cold!
Going from 33 degrees, sun, dry and desert to 20 degrees, very windy and raining was quite a shock.

Today we had an amazing unexpected blessing. Our tour driver who is an Arab, Israeli, Christian, invited our group to his home for tea. Apparently he has not done this before, but he has been wanting to have our tour guide to his home for many years. What we saw today was Middle Eastern hospitality.
In the middle of the city of Canna (spelling) The place where the wedding feast was held in Scripture...Boulos has 5 hectares of land with fruit tress of all kinds. That would be like saying he had 5 hectares of land right on Younge Street in Toronto!

Anna-Lee said she wanted to meet people. Well, she met lots of Israeli's today! So sweet.

Picking sweet lemons in Boulos' backyard.

One of Boulos' fig trees. He had us sample quite a variety..

 

This is one of Boulos' sons. He showed Granny a book written by his Great Grandfather who had come over from Macedonia. 1073 pages of his experience. It was this "fahter of my grandfather" who purchased this land that is now Boulos'.

Nazareth
Can anything good come from Nazareth is the question asked in Scripture. Well, yes. Jesus grew up there! 
We briefly went to the only Christian presence in Nazareth now. A Catholic church called Church of the Annunciation.
As it was a Sunday, service was going on with pipe organ, choir, and of course in Hebrew.
Anna-Lee found this part interesting.

Quite a beautiful sound.

Remember the Scripture where Jesus incites the elders and they want to push him off a cliff?

It is very high. Sorry for the reflection and rain drops. We had just exited a tunnel and then boom, there ti was.

History is everywhere in Israel and such a small part of it has been excavated.

Along the road we see ancient tombs. Nearby there would  have been a town.

We saw quite a bit of Arab sections of towns today. Some had signs up giving statements like God is one - he has no partner," or like "Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus - they are all the same." When we were walking to our restaurant, some that were selling out on the sidewalk would shout to us "Allah, Allah, Allah."

Tonight, at this very Jewish hotel in Ariel, we got a private tour of a life size replica 1:1 scale, of the temple. 

The Holy of Holies

  Well, that's about it for tonight. Tomorrow we load up again and head to our bus. But that should be for the last time before we head home. 

We have a lovely bus to ride around in.

The North - Dan, Syria and Lebanon

War.
Today was emotional. Tears ran down my face as we watched a 20 minute movie with real footage and interviews from the Yom Kippur war of 1973.
And then looked over the valley into Syria, saw the UN presence, the military on watch,..

Many soldiers came in where we ate lunch. I thought this one was particularly poignant.You can take photos of the military if they are off duty.

The Syrian border. The white buildings are the UN.

 

These signs are everywhere - land mines, stay out. Israel cleared where the road would be, but it's too expensive to clear it all, and who would walk here anyway...

I haven't talked much about the food here in Israel. Today we went to a Druze village, sat down to a meal and were served. Food just kept coming. I even tried falafel, hummus, and pita with goat cheese.
Still not my favorite, but I ate half a falafel, and  two bites of pita with hummus. Goat cheese I can handle. They also served grilled meat. 

Living waters in a very dry land

No rain since April here in Israel. So far we have been basically breathing in dirt.
And yet here, the waters flow. 
David, our tour guide, compared three different types of water here in Israel. 
Living water, bitter water (filled with salt and causing death) and finally the "disappointing water." Water that runs in the spring during the rains but by the time the rains stop the stream has dried up.

I have learned so much today there is no way to write a simple blog about it.
One thing that is quite clear though is how Jesus used his locations to emphasize His teachings. 
For example, He taught about living water near the above stream.

Over and over, it was pointed out to us how important it is to know the geographical locations to get fuller understanding of His messages.

 Tel Dan
The tribe of Dan in the north. Interestingly, they did evil from the beginning. They were suppose to settle somewhere else, and yet wanted easier land. They got it, but no good came forth.
This is outside the gate which still remains, on King Ahab's seat. The big bowl looking thing is where one of the four poles would go for a canopy over the king.

The gate made of mud brick which remains today because it was buried. This site has very little excavation done yet.

This is a model of what the site wold have looked like. Abraham would have walked through this gate on his way from Ur of the Chaldeans. Talk about walking on ancient ground.

I always like to add some nature into the day. We saw fig trees with fruit, olive trees and a surprise to me - there are lots of eucalyptus trees! They are not native, but they are everywhere and very tall.

A few people here have been purchasing eucalyptus lozenges for our coughs, colds, sore throats.

On the way back to our kibbutz, we passed a spot where all three countries meet - Israel, Syria, and Lebanon.
We also went down a very high mountain. A very high steep mountain. Think Tour de France in a mountain stage with switch backs near the edge.

This does not come close to showing the depth perception.

And speaking of mountains, we saw Mount Hermon today. The tallest in Israel. The top was in the clouds though.
And guess what? They have a ski resort here in the north of Israel!

From Anna-Lee
I learned a lot today. 
The most powerful thing today was a movie we watched. It was about the Yom Kippur war. It all came to life as you saw the bombs and tanks fighting the Syrians who invaded Israel in the north right where we were near the Valley of Tears. 
There were so many more Syrian tanks than Israeli, but Israel won! It took three days for more Israeli help to come so they fought night and day with no food or water.
It was done by the head tank team for Israel. In the movie three of the soldiers who were in it tell about how horrific it really was. 
Then we went to the border of Israel and Syria, we stood on a lookout looking at Israels enemies right in the eye! (Mom's edit: no we did not see any enemy to look them really in the eyes)

I love looking at animals and today we saw lots, I saw more lizards today. One came right up and ran right by me. It was to fast to be able to get a photo. 

I am super tired and have been coughing all day. The coughing makes me tired, and it is hard to fall asleep when you need to cough to be able to breath!
Anna-Lee.. 
 Our clocks go back one hour tonight - a week before Canada.

View this morning from our front door. We are in small cottages on a kibbutz.

Sea of Galilee

From Anna-Lee
Hello all our blog followers,
Today we had a very chaotic day. We did most of our shopping and we also did lots of touristy sights, which means lots of people. 
Today we went to the Mount of Beatitudes and discussing the sermon on the mount!! We also went on a boat ride on the sea of Galilee. It was very peaceful and quiet. Then we went to see the Galilee boat, the boat that they found in the bottom of the sea! It was amazing to see that type of boat. The type of boat that Jesus would have used. Then we went to the Decapolis to see where Jesus rebuked the demon and put them into pigs then He sent the pigs off a cliff into the sea! 
I now have some animals to add to the list. 
#1. A lizard, I don`t know what type but there were lots of lizards today.
#2. Peacocks. We saw 2 of them in our hotel area. 
#3. Conies.  they are little ground hog like things.with no tails.

This is the coney. We saw four of them. They are mentioned in the Bible.

Thank you all for you your prayers,
Anna-Lee

This was at the Mount of Beatitudes. It is a designated holy site, so we had to make sure our shoulders and knees were covered.

This is the boat we rode on across the sea of Galilee.

This is the back of the Galilee boat that they found. It is amazing how well it is saved!

From Linda
Today there was so much Scripture and teaching and it was so amazing. The kind of teaching that makes you rethink and go 'Wow I never thought of that!" All in a very good way.

And sometimes I would also think of things that pertained to yesterday or the day before. 
Things like I now understand just a tiny bit better Jesus being sent out into the wilderness after His baptism, and can imagine where it was, how hot it was how thirsty and hungry and eager to just go home He must have been. The temptations He overcame just became more significant for me.

Things like discussing Hebrew Parallelism with the Beatitudes and the Jairus' daughter and the woman with the issue of blood who started out an unclean outcast and ended up a "daughter." Wow.

Scripture is opening up to me in new ways because of the teaching and just being here, and seeing how they build their units of houses - insulas.
Then discussing the Scripture "in My Father's house there are many rooms and I go to prepare a place for you.  That\s paraphrased. Anyway, what does it mean when you are right here looking at the housing. It become obvious as we look down at the home, that He is saying you are going to be one of  my family.

Things like seeing the old Galilean boat, and talking about the Scripture about the storm on the Sea when Jesus was asleep. They woke Him up saying - "wake up, we're going to die, don't you care? 
Well, it also says Jesus was in the stern. I never asked myself why that mattered, but that is where the steering mechanism is. So, they were not asking Him wake up and calm the storm. They were with very understandable irritation saying wake up and get steering the boat. The waves are making us go sideways and we are going to capsize and die!
 Jesus rebuked them saying "you of little faith" not because they should have known He was God, but because they said "Don't You care?"
Have we ever asked God that? 
I have.

The Sea of Galilee, which can quickly blow in a storm due to its location in the Rift Valley.

So much. So rich. A good day.

Ein Gedi, Qumran, and the Sea of Galilee

From Anna-Lee
Hello,
Today was probably the most powerful day yet. Today we saw lots of soldiers with guns and some fighter planes went over. It made me feel like I was in a place that was so different than Canada! I hope that nothing needs to be cancelled because of the fighting, but no worries, if we were in danger Shoresh would keep us safe let alone God!!
Today we went to Ein Gedi, that is the oasis that David hid from Saul when Saul was angry at him. I learned that when David was hiding in a cave Saul walked in and Saul of course could not see (if you walk into the dark after being in the sun you cant see) so David being the "good" person he was did not kill Saul he only cut off the corner of his robe and was hit by his conscience! Because the tassels on the end of his robe has an expensive ribbon that tells that Saul is king and David cut that off. 
Then I went on a trail going up to the high waterfall, it was truly amazing seeing that in the middle of the desert you can get so much water.
Then we went to Qumran which is past the border into Palestinian Occupied Territory. We had to pass a check point, two Israeli soldiers came onto the bus - one had a gun and they just walked through the bus. There in Qumran we heard a bit about the Dead Sea Scrolls and how they were found. It really is quite interesting. 
That is mostly it. 
Now I will talk about the animals that I saw today and also on our whole trip-
#1- The camel, for obvious reasons we saw camels. But not just for riding we also saw them in the wild. You would never think about this but they are so camouflaged into the desert!! 
#2- We saw Ibex, this we saw at Ein Gedi. They are super sure footed and can climb a 90 degree cliff up the side of a mountain!
#3- When I went on the walk I saw an adorable baby mongoose. It was just sitting on a rock sun bathing!! 

We have also seen quite a few bugs and birds that I don`t know the name of.   
Oh! I almost forgot about telling you about our hotel. We are at a kibbutz and it is quite nice. It is right on the Sea of Galilee, I even got to swim in the Sea of Galilee!! It was very warm (even warmer than the pool) and it was also quite mucky on the bottom but the mud did not stick to your feat like Canada mud!! I was quite surprised with that. 
Here is my fun fact of the day-
Hebrews read backwards!! There periods and that are always at the beginning!! 
 

The ibex. It is posing!!

A distance view of the ibex

This is the baby mongoose! Cute eh?

This is an action shot of the mongoose! He had enough of us!

This is a small waterfall

Another waterfall

This is about a quarter of the waterfall

The bottom quarter

This photo is taken by a friend, I am in front o the waterfall

I am very high up and look more stairs ahead!

This is the exact place where the dead sea scrolls were

You can sort of see the fighter planes in the distance, But believe me they sounded close!

A distance shot of the cave where the dead sea scrolls where found

Me walking in the sea of Galilee

Not much to add to Anna-Lee's account of the day today! All I can say is that David must have been in very good shape! it was so hot at Ein Gedi oasis, and rocky and high cliffs!

It was a harder day for me today. I only had 3 hours sleep the night before (still off kilter with time I guess, and also Anna-Lee has a cough.)

I was also put up close and personal with my vision disability. Well, I am every moment, but today a bit more.Whether it be crowds or steps, or dark, or just newness (not knowing where the soap is, or the light switch for example), it just makes for a challenging time.  Anna-Lee has been so amazing at guiding me. Today she got some time on her own though as I could not do the upper level of Ein Gedi, nor could I manage through stores and restaurants and even washrooms by myself.
Having to "admit" my disability really does result in the inability to partake in certain things was probably my biggest focus today.
Not sure I made any headway though.
I do have to say however that our tour leader Alan Gilman is compassionate and sensitive and made it easier to take a deep breath and let it go.  And then I called home and cried with my husband. I can't tell you how refreshing it was to have him pray audibly over the phone for me and Anna-Lee.

The Jordan River - the country of Jordan is right there on the other side.

Date palm orchard

Bedouins, Camels and the Dead Sea

Hello everyone,

I am Anna-Lee ;)!!
Today we went to the Negev desert. There we went to the Bedouin tents and learned about their religion, their houses, and their food. We even got to taste their tea and most people tasted their coffee. My mom said that the coffee had quite a strong taste to it, and the tea was very sweet. Also when we were there we went on a camel ride. It was very interesting and pretty uncomfortable! I felt pretty sorry for the camel, I can't imagine lifting 2 people up and walking for 20 minutes with them on my back over hills and valleys and most of all the rocks are so slippery!!
Well saying all of that I will now talk about the Dead Sea. It was not exactly what I thought it would be, it was salty and all but it was also very shallow. I walked up to my knees and tried to float but I actually had to push myself down a bit, to say the least.  I have scrapes and gouges all over my hands and toes from the shards of salt on the bottom of the sea even though I wore flip flops :(!!!! That was not what I thought it would be like.
I am looking forward to tomorrow so I hope that I will be pleasantly surprised!

Granny at the Bedouin Village

The Ancient city of Ahab

This is a bus stop in an Israeli town (S'dot) near Gaza city. All their bus stops are also bomb shelters.

Looking over Gaza city from the above Israeli town. This is the town that fired missiles at them for years.

This struck Linda - a house with two missiles plus a basket ball net. The mentality of these people to keep going, to never leave their homes, hope for their children...

Drinki

Our guide David Miller, teaching.

We actually did see wild camels.

And even Granny rode.

He will protect us from the noonday sun has some realy meaning now.

Riding without stirrups was quite unusual

The Negev  - hot

A view from the Negev of the Dead Sea. Think Cabot trail - height, winding hair pin turns, cliffs. Then replace all the trees and vegetation with desert.

Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth - thus no gravity for any water to flow out.

A real Bedouin who explained to us the past and the present ways of life. He has three wives and 15 boys and 8 girls.

Yes Valerie, I am here.

The view from our Dead Sea hotel. Anna-Lee enjoyed the pool more than the Dead Sea.

This picture should have been up with the others, but it's late and my mouse is not working! So, it will stay here for now. It is an up close photo of the missile.

This picture is for Grandma. There are a lot of feral cats around the Israeli hotels. Very sweet.

Bobbing in the Dead Sea. You can't actually swim. Linda stood up in the sea and bobbed up to her waist!

Linda's perspective: I think the photos said most of our day, but here is a question. How did Moses NOT complain in the desert? This is not normal. It is so hot and so desolate. I cannot imagine wandering it for days with no water. The fact that he did not complain is amazing to me. I will never read that Scripture in Exodus again with any judgment against the Israelites. I would have complained. I think our team lasted about 10 minutes before we began to "comment."