Awareness

It was an enlightening morning for us. Husan, one of the staff at the International Guest House, took us on a tour of the center and shared with us some of his feelings and thoughts about the situation faced by the Palestinians as a result of the Israeli occupation and the shrinking of their territories. He answered our questions honestly and as objectively as he could. He stressed that awareness is the most important gift the International Center schools and programs can give the Palestinians that attend them. As he grew in awareness of the world and learned how he can make a contribution in it, his life became more meaningful.

Husan and Nativity alternative

He also took us on a tour of a cave that was found underneath the International Center and added a description of how a first century house would have been a cave such as we were in, with an area a step down or so where animals would have been kept and a feeding manger carved out, such as can be seen in this picture. We agreed that this was a much lovelier scene to take with us from Bethlehem of a possible birthplace for Christ compared with the one we saw on Sunday, overly commemorated and difficult to see.

As we prepared to leave for other tours, I caught some in the group in some cute scenes. You'll see below Sarah Wilson visiting with some women at the center in her usual curious and friendly way. And we thought Tom Salisbury was looking pretty spiffy in his cool hat.

Our morning tour moved to the Dar al Kalima Center, housing both a school for children ages 3 to 18, the Health and Wellness Center, and the developing college. The buildings were bright and cheery and house a very fine program for both Palestinian Christians and Muslims. They teach respect for all people, including their Jewish neighbors. For my teacher friends, one charming part of the school was the bell system, each time it rang it was a different nursery rhyme tune. Fun!

After a lunch of falafels, we headed for another climb up to another of King Herod the Great’s palaces, Herodian. It sits on a mound about 2400 feet high. About two years ago Herod’s tomb was found to be at this sight. We walked through an intricate tunnel path under the mound, also fun.

After this site, we enjoyed a bit of respite at the Shepherd’s Field, a park setting that includes a grotto and a Roman Catholic chapel, established to commemorate the shepherds in their field outside of Bethlehem on that “holy night.” It included these lovely wood carved shepherds. As these sites go, it was one of the loveliest we have seen.

We also stopped at the Separation Wall that has been going up between Israel and the Palestinian Territories. It is disappointing to see this daily insult thrust into the lives of the people of Bethlehem. We understand the fear of violence that prompted the wall but wish there were other ways to deal with the issues underlying these tensions.

Our evening meal was in a Bedouin tent and we again enjoyed the traditional salads and meats of this part of the world. We pack up tonight to prepare for our move into Jerusalem for the last two nights. The International Guest House here at Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem has been a wonderful place for all of us. We have enjoyed the warmth and hospitality of everyone we have met.

Sunday in Bethlehem

We visited with fellow worshippers at
Christmas Lutheran Church.

What a thrill we had this morning! We joined a church full of people from around the world, including another tour group from the United States and those attending a conference here in Bethlehem. The setting of Christmas Lutheran Church was a beautiful one. Dr. Mitri Raheb led us in worship, preaching in Arabic but offering us opportunity to pray and sing in English right along with them as they sang in Arabic. The service liturgy and several melodies were quite familiar to us. We had prepared two verses of Beautiful Savior as an anthem to offer if they wanted. Dr. Raheb said that would be fine and we sang after the Epistle reading. It was such a blessing to us to get to do that. We were grateful.

Our group and Pastor Mitri Raheb

Also participating in the worship service was the current Lutheran World Federation president, Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). Several of us had the chance to visit with him at the lovely coffee fellowship time ater the service. Since we were all in our Sunday best, we took our first official group picture after the service and were pleased Dr. Raheb could join us for that.

Don't forget to duck!

After a delicious lunch at the Christmas Lutheran Church Guesthouse where we are staying, we headed to Manger Square to see the Church of the Nativity. Three Christian groups have churches on this site, the Greek Orthodox, the Armenian Christians, and the Roman Catholic church. All who enter do so by this very small door, an unusual situation. The actual site is so decorated with lights and ornamentation, it does not seem at all like the rustic scene we envision of the stable in Bethlehem. But we know that Christ’s birth happened here, and that is thrill enough.

Our group is enjoying our time together, and we had our own Happy Hour before our evening meal, using the time to process what we are learning about the politics of this world. We have felt the warmth and hospitality of these Palestinian Christians, and we celebrate our common love of our Lord Jesus, as we did in worship with them this morning. We will pray for peace for them and their Israeli neighbors.

Masada, the Dead Sea, Qumran, and a Camel

We were happy to return to the valley from Bethlehem this morning, where we got a warm up of 15 to 20 degrees more that we awoke to, and without the brisk wind. Our day started at Masada, the site of the last resistance of Zealots to the Roman conquerors determined to subdue them. Our group listened attentively as our guide Naim recounted this history for us. There was a decision to die by suicide and at their own hands rather than succumb to the Romans, and only two women and a few of their children were sent down the mound to tell the story as the Romans were held off on the other side.

We rode by cable car to the top, walking around a large area, with ruins of many types of rooms and buildings, including a synagogue that faced east to Jerusalem, several strategic lookouts, rooms for food and water storage, baths, and walls with coves for doves later used as a columbarium. The black line you see in this picture delineates the part of the wall that was original and the part that has been re-created. Some of us walked down (and, of course, back up) the 100+ steps to King Herod’s palace, which this had been around the beginning of the first century. We understand he was carried down and up by slave, but we enjoyed the exercise.

We went from Masada to an oasis operated by a kibbutz that provided both lunch and an opportunity to wade or float in the Dead Sea. We did both and found the water temperature tolerable and the floating fun. With a salt content of 27%, we sought to avoid getting salt in our eyes. This was a fun adventure in our days of touring.

The next site was Qumran, where a shepherd boy discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. Naim has some archeological experiences and told us of the unfolding of this huge find. He has had opportunity to talk to the boy. It is believed that an Essene monastery was at this site and responsible for the scrolls found here.

As we left the valley to head back up to Bethlehem, some took the chance to ride a camel, as several were at the side of the road ready to be climbed up on. That was fun also. The ones who tried it did well and made it look like they were old pros at this skill. We might add that the camel was most cooperative and patient as well. Some shopping and a fine dinner ended our day. Tomorrow is church here at Christmas Lutheran Church. We await each new day with anticipation.

Some Pretty Old Stuff

Shopping street, with old city "tell" in back

On Friday our travels took us to a place few have heard of: Beit She'an. Just south of the Sea of Galilee, it is a large ruin of Byzantine structures built on Roman foundations. Fascinating remains of Roman baths, with steam pool, warm pool, and cold pool, using an intricate way of controlling water temperature in each setting, amazed us. Massages, skin cleansing, and even a lecture on philosophy could be had for no extra cost! Additional sites included a great shopping street, mosaics in the walks, a pagan temple, a neat theater, and a public latrine that seats 40 at a time (really). A climb to the top of a pile of dirt covering the most ancient part of the city provided great views. King Saul's dead body once went on display here courtesy of the Philistines.

We continued down the road on the Israeli side of the Jordan River, soon entering the West Bank area, formerly a part of Jordan, but now Israeli occupied.  The scenery got drier and the temperature hotter. The areas to our east are the "wilderness of Judea"and likely the scene of the Temptation of Jesus. The prosperous looking farms were usually Israeli settlements or kibbutzim, the poorer farms and housing, Palestinian Arab. We made it to Jericho for lunch and a look at walls and a watchtower foundation nearly 10,000 years old. Jericho is the oldest place of continual human habitation on earth.

St. George Greek Orthodox Monastary

Continuing on the road up (and we mean UP) to Jerusalem, we detoured to look down a deep wadi (dry canyon) to view an Orthodox monastery and hermitage clinging to the side of the rocks. In Jerusalem, we stopped on the Mt. of Olives to get the panoramic view of Jerusalem, but hustled back to the bus because of cold winds.

We are now at the beautiful and clean guest house at the International Center of Christmas Lutheran in Bethlehem, and await our travel tomorrow to the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth.

A Day by the Sea (of Galilee, that is)!

We awoke to lovely sunshine and the sound of the call to prayer blaring through loud speakers from the minaret near us. We enjoyed watching the children come to the school on the grounds where we are staying as we boarded our bus for the day.

The altar at the Church of the Multiplication

Driving east through a lush and productive valley, we came to our first stop, the Church of the Beatitudes, built in the area where perhaps Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. The Benedictine sisters both started and continue to serve in this compound on the Sea of Galilee. Driving further up along the west side of the Sea (actually more like a lake in size, being about 6 miles by 14 miles in size), stopped at the Church of the Multiplication set on the shore of Tabgha, commemorating the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. There is a large rock under the altar here where it is said perhaps Jesus set the boy's basket of food as he blessed it. We were able to touch our toes in the water here.

Peter's house, perhaps

On the north shore of the "lake", we visited the ancient synagogue in what used to be Capernaum. There are really two different synagogues here, one built on the other, with the first dating back to the 1st century. We know Jesus preached in the synagogue at Capernaum, so seeing these "old rocks" was meaningful. There is also a house that has been unearthed that was known to be a house of worship from the earliest time of Christianity. That has led some to believe this might have been Peter's home where Jesus healed his mother-in'law.

Our lunch was eaten right at the shores of the Sea of Galilee and included tilapia caught in the Sea. That was fun! After lunch we drove around the east side of the Sea, viewing the now famous Golan Heights to our immediate left as we headed south. Coming to the south side of the lake, we stopped to view the Jordan River at Yardenit, a site where many people come to be baptized or re-baptized these days. We saw several doing that. What was interesting to us is that it seemed to be self-baptisms, as we saw several dunking and crossing themselves three times.

Casting the net

Our drive continued through Tiberias and on to a kibbutz that operates a museum holding the remains of a boat found in the Sea of Galilee in 1986 and strongly believed to be from Jesus' day. It has been carefully preserved and on display, a great thing for us to see. We boarded a much more modern version of such a boat for a ride on the Sea of Galilee. Contrary to some of the rides Jesus and his disciples had on the Sea, ours was peaceful and serene in the lat afternoon sun - very pleasant. The fisherman who took us on the ride did a demonstration of casting a net into the Sea. He caught none on the one side, cast it on the other side, but caught none there either. I think we needed Jesus with us!

This second day of touring has been as long as the first, but less strenuous in terms of the type of walking required, a bit of a relief after the hikes of yesterday. We head out tomorrow morning from the Galilee area moving south.

Amazing (and Tiring) First Day

We have seen so much already. Mark and I started our day with a walk on the beach along the Mediterranean Sea. Our group was great about being at the bus ready to go at 8:00 a.m. We wasted no time. Our first stop was the Roman theater built at the time of Herod the Great. We also toured the excavations of his palace, a hippodrome, and other sets of "old rocks" as one of our group put it. Our guide Naim said all but the Roman theater has been unearthed since 1967, when he started coming there. He gave us a brief and helpful history lesson outlining the eras this area of Caesarea has seen, starting with the Bronze Age all the way to present day.

From there we went to this remarkable Roman aqueduct and touched our toes in the Mediterranean.

We saw lots of agriculture in the Valley of Jezreel on our way to Megiddo, thought to be a location of Solomon's horses, up to 150 of them. Some of the "old rocks" we saw there date back about 3000 years. We had quite a hike up, then down to the water source and up again. It was a challenging walk and we are proud to say the whole group tackled this successfully.

After lunch we drove up to Nazareth, with a view of Mt. Tabor in the distance, thought to be the site of the Transfiguration. In Nazareth we visited a recreated 1st century village, where Mark attempted to use a drill of that time. The joy-filled witness of our Romanian Jewish Christian guide was very uplifting.

Our last site was the magnificent Church of the Annunciation. Thanks to our guide's connections, we had a private tour of a lower level museum and a 1st century house they have uncovered on this site similar to those in which Mary and Joseph might have lived.

We were all glad to get to our lodging, St. Margaret's Guesthouse, an inn of quaint and cozy accommodations with an outstanding view of the city of Nazareth.

We're here!

Our first meal together at the Residence Beach Hotel.

After a five hour flight to Newark, a seven hour layover in the airport, and a nine+ hour flight from Newark to Tel Aviv, we have arrived! Everyone's luggage made it as well, always a relief. This lovely group showed great patience and care for each other as we maneuvered that unusual 24 hours together.


It was great to have our guide Naim be there to greet us as we left the baggage and security areas. Our bus is comfortable and with some room to spare, another plus.


On the drive from the airport to our hotel we saw signs for many familiar businesses - Toys r Us, Office Depot, Sprint, Nike, to name a few, along with several MacDonald's! We were in the middle of Tel Aviv's rush hour traffic on some sophisticated freeways. We are spending the night at Netanya on the Mediterranean Sea, which is just outside our windows. We look forward to waking up to that view in the morning. Oh, by the way, the weather prediction is for sunny skies and upper 60s/lower 70s tomorrow  Should be beautiful!


We are grateful that all has gone so well to this point and look forward to what lies before us!

Getting Ready

This blog will document our trip to the Holy Land. We leave Monday morning, February 21, and while most of our group will return on March 3, Miriam and I will continue with three days in Jerusalem and then a three-day trip in Jordan, including a visit to Petra. We are glad for you to follow our journey and make comments as you desire. We may not be able to post every day. Shalom!