Sitting in the Airport

We are all in the airport in Israel. We have been delayed for our takeoff until 10am Israel time. Not sure if this will delay us at all.

Masada, Quamran, Dead Sea, and Jericho

We traveled to Masada today to have a worship service. We praised God on for the blessings of the trip and the ability this will give us to bring the message of God's grace through Christ.

Masada was a fortress built by King Herod and was the final hold of the zealots during the last revolt against Rome. It took the 10th legion 3 years to build a ramp up to the gates of Masada. The Zealots decided death was better than slavery and took the victory away from Rome. The location is now a strong cultural symbol for the Israeli people.

Quamran is the location where the Dead Sea scrolls were first found. The Essean community that lived there hid their writings prior to their destruction by Rome. The scrolls were found in the caves all along the cliffs around the area.

The Dead Sea is not very dead at all. We had several people head into the water to see if they could sink. Their skin was very soft and they smelled very special for the rest of the day.

Jericho is in Palestine and not far from the Dead Sea. We traveled there and had a small devotional. We saw the ruins of the city and the different levels of the cities that were attempted to be built on top and all have failed.

More tomorrow...

Blessings from Israel

Greetings from Jerusalem

We have completed our tour of the Galilee and have traveled up to Jerusalem.

On the way to Jerusalem we visited Caesarea by the sea. This is the largest full theater from ancient times still in use today. The largest theater from the time of Jesus was where we had our reading.

We then traveled up to Jerusalem and continued on into the Bethlehem. Bethlehem is very close to Jerusalem and did not take long to reach. We visited a very busy Church of the Nativity where Jesus was born. There were many people wanting to visit during Christmas.

We read the story of Jesus birth and sang silent night.

We then traveled back to Jerusalem and checked into the Olive Tree hotel.

Since we now have reliable internet we will be updating the information here more frequently.

Blessings from Israel

Sunrise on the Sea of Galilee