All This And A Cruise Too!

Day 4. What could be better than singing praise songs in a boat on the Sea of Galilee? This is the way today began. We were all blessed by the singing of Daniel Carmel, a Messianic Jew who operates a cruise boat on the sea (find Daniel on the internet at http://www.seaofgalileeworshipboats.com/). He has rewritten several of our favorites into Hebrew and sang them for us while showing us how to fish on the sea.  Then we stopped to see the remains of a 2000-year-old boat from the time of Jesus found in the mud during a drought in the late 1980s.

Later we stopped by the Mount of Beatitudes and then on to Capernaum to check in with Peter's mother-in-law and visit the synagogue. At the end of the day we went to the baptismal site on the Jordan River where Pastors Tom and Rick immersed some of our group in baptism or rededication.

Between Lebanon and Syria

Day 3. Today we visited the Tel Dan Archaeological Site and Nature Reserve. (What is a tel? Tel is the Hebrew word for "mound of ruins" and is descriptive of ancient sites that have been destroyed and rebuilt time and again by various conquerors through the centuries and ultimately formed a mound.) This must be one of the oldest cities around as one of the city gates found by archaeologists may have been in place when Abraham rescued Lot some 3800 years ago (Genesis 14:1-16). It is also one of the two places where Jeroboam placed golden calves in order to keep his rebellious kingdom shortly following the death of Solomon in 930 BC (1 Kings 12:25-33).


After Tel Dan, we visited a place today known as Banias, but in the time of Jesus was known as Caesarea Philippi. This is the spot where Peter made his great confession that Jesus is "The Christ, the Son of the living God." But being in Banias brings a whole new context to the story. You see, Caesarea Philippi was the center of worship of the Greek god Pan and at this site is a cave that was considered to be the only entrance to the underworld – in Greek a place known as Hades. Read the story in Matthew 13:16-19 and consider the living God defending the Church and the world against the gates of Hades here at the entrance to Hades itself.

Who Wants To Go To The Theater?

Day 2. Today was a much better weather day than yesterday. We started off in the city of Netanya on the Mediterranean Sea with a large, all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. Then aboard our bus for the first full day of touring in Israel. Our first stop was in Caesarea, a port city built by Herod the Great in the first century BC. The theater here seats 3500. Although the theater isn't mentioned in Scripture, Caesarea is – a lot. It was the home of Cornelius, the first gentile convert to Christianity (Acts 10); the place where Paul was on trial before Felix, Festus and Agrippa (Acts 24-26), and the port from which Paul left for Rome. This is also the place where Herod Antipas was struck down for making himself out to be as God (Acts 12:20-23).

We also visited Mount Carmel and saw the place where Elijah defeated the 400 prophets of Baal and the 450 prophets of Asherah in a contest to determine whether Baal or the God of the Israelites was the true God. Read about it yourself in 1 Kings 18.

Then off to Armageddon. We visited Tel Megiddo, the crossroads of the ancient world and saw firsthand an archaeological site which has uncovered thousands of years of history. The waterworks of this city make the trip worthwhile, but there are far more lessons to learn from the site.

Finally we ended the day at Nazareth, stopping th see the place the Jewish synagogue leaders wanted to cast Jesus off the mountain for his teaching in Mark 4.

We Finally Made It!!!

We finally made it to Israel.  Our first day has been a light touring day following a day of marginal problems.  Check-in at Continental was a zoo.  Three groups of over 25 and no automated way to take credit payments almost kept us from getting the bags checked in.  Then, one ticket was already used, but they let us board in KC and promised a fix by the time we reached Newark.  That didn't happen, but we have been assured it's fixed now.  Then, somewhere over western Europe, one of our group was informed by El Al that her bag was not aboard the plane.  But, we found it on the baggage carousel when we arrived.  God has taken care of us so far.

As you can see by the photo, we had rain today.  Here we are huddleded in a doorway in Joppa.  The city is beautiful (even in the rain) and sits on the Mediterranean Sea.  It was a light touring day since we went straight from the airport to the bus.

More later.

Phones in Israel

I have ordered 2 phones. I don’t yet have the local Shawnee number to dial, but I do have a long-distance international direct-dial number for each phone. If your family calls one of these numbers they will incur whatever those charges are, but they can reach you in an emergency.

Dial one of the following numbers, all digits exactly as shown. Nothing more, nothing less.

011-972-52-604-2537

011-972-52-566-8759

When I get the local phone number, I’ll send that out, too.

Last Minute Questions

1. Is Eline proficient in English? She's British.


2. Is this a big tourist season? This is the low season, but right now tourism is at an all-time high. There are a lot of tourists in Israel right now.

3. What is the exchange rate? Last week 1 NIS = $0.38

4. Phone? I got 2 phones with local numbers. I don't have the numbers yet, but I should have them before we go. Calls to the US will be $0.38/minute. Calls from the US will be a one-time $10.00 charge pre number from which the call is dialed and $0.15/minute to Israel. Incoming is free. Thus overall, the cheap way to connect will be to text to the US and have someone call back, although that isn't necessary. I got the phones for our use.

5. I have one aircard for my computer.

6.There should be hairdryers in the hotel rooms.

7. The tap water is drinkable. Bottled water is available for purchase.

8. The water in the Jordan river is pretty cold right now. If you choose to be immersed in the Jordan, there is a $10 fee. This is not included.

9. ALL tips are included in the price we paid. As the tour leader I have been provided the fund for the tips for bellmen, kitchen help, guides,drivers, etc. The love offering is above and beyond the included tips. Again, this is suggested at approximately $35 per tour participant to be divided between the driver and guide. I'll collect this and distribute this during our farewell dinner.

10. The driver and guide do not always work together.

11. We can arrange a number of activities for the free day. These should be scheduled through our guide and driver.

12. There are stores such as Walmart of CVS. Over the counter meds must be purchased at a pharmacy.

13. If you want credit for your miles, provide your frequent flier number when you check in at the airport.

14. Questions on what you can carry on the plane, visit www.tsa.gov.