To the Land of Israel... (Part 1)

Psalm 48:12-14 - Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, consider well her ramparts, view her citadels, that you may tell of them to the next generation. For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.

Day 1: Tel Aviv, Caesarea Maritima, Nazareth
We left Greece Sunday morning and arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel, at noon. Our first stop after the airport was ancient town of Caesarea Maritima along the Mediterranean Sea.
Our guide for the first few days was named Yossi. He was in the Israeli military, and also a talented flutist. In the evening, we travelled to Nazareth to see the Church of the Annunciation - the supposed location where the angel told the virgin Mary that she would bear a son named Jesus. Nazareth used to be a very small city with a population of less than 100, but now, it is a big Muslim city. Afterward, we had a worship service at the Nazareth Church of Christ. The pastor there shared his testimony and told us how bad persecution of Christians is in Nazareth. I had no idea.

Day 2: Bethsaida, Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Mount of Beatitudes

After visiting the nearby ancient Biblical site of Bethsaida, we boarded a boat and sailed on the Sea of Galilee.So many Bible stories occurred on the Sea of Galilee: Jesus called brothers Simon Peter and Andrew to be his disciples while they were fishing on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus walked on water here. Jesus calmed the storm here.

We even got to cast a net out into the sea to try to catch some fish. We didn't catch any though, so we decided to throw our net on the other side, just like Jesus suggested to the disciples in the Bible. Still, no fish, but it was fun anyway.

Touching the Sea of the Galilee

Visited Capernaum, then hiked on Mount Precipice We reached the Mount of the Beatitudes near sunset.

It was a beautiful evening. The boys took turns reading Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount, that Jesus spoke to the crowds here. Below is a pic of Kristina White and me on that mountain.

Day 3: Dan, Caesarea Philippi, Nimrod's Castle, Jordan River

First, we visited the ancient Biblical sites of Dan and Caesarea Philippi.

Then went to the top of a mountain to Nimrod's Castle. It was named after Nimrod in the Bible(Genesis 10:9 - "Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD"), but in reality, it was just a cool, very complex, ancient castle that we got to explore. One of my favorite parts of this trip was the float trip down the Jordan River. Tasha Sallee, my raft partner, and I skillfully maneuvered our way downstream - so fun!

At the end of the float trip, we had to give up our rafts and paddles, but we didn't want to get out of the water. The boys would gang up on us girls and "baptize" (dunk) us under water.

It was neat to be where Jesus was baptized (Matthew 3:13 - Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.) and where Naman, the leper, dipped 7 times to be healed (2 Kings 5).

Below is a picture of the place we stayed for 3 nights. It's called a "kibbutz," which is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The kibbutz is a form of communal living that combines socialism and Zionism. It is mainly a tourist place now, but still runs somewhat like a kibbutz. There were several sets of apartments for the guests all over the green estate.