Returning Home

Well, we are just returning home from a wonderful trip, and what an experience it was. I am still overwhelmed by everything that we saw and experienced on our pilgrimage. I am so glad that many of you kept up with us on this blog. I will continue to offer some reflections and may even have some of our travelers contribute their stories! Before we left, I shared a list of 10 things I was most looking forward to. So now I’d like to share my top 10 highlights of the journey as I experienced it for myself (not necessarily in order- there were so many great things!):

1) Viewing Jerusalem for the first time from the top of the Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed and wept over the city

2) Visiting the Garden Tomb and sharing in Holy Communion there

3) Singing Christmas praise songs with my fellow travelers at the Shepherds’ Field where the angels proclaimed Christ’s birth

4) The boat ride on the Sea of Galilee

5) Visiting the caves at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered

6) Viewing the Jezreel valley and mountains from the top of Megiddo and watching Scripture literally come to life as we saw where Jesus walked and spent most of his time

7) Walking along the shores of Galilee where Jesus taught and appeared to the disciples after his resurrection

8) Praying at the Western Wall and observing the people there

9) Sitting on the teaching steps where Jesus himself taught and walked into the Temple

10) Singing together as a group from the depths of the house of Caiaphas in the pit where Jesus may have been imprisoned while on trial

11) And ok…one more…riding a camel at Petra…of course!

On behalf of our traveling group, I would like to thank all of you for your prayers, support, and encouragement as we made our journey to the Holy Land. My prayer for each of you is that you might one day experience it for yourself. Nothing compares to seeing the Bible come to life and walking where Jesus walked. I look forward to sharing more of our trip with you in the upcoming months!

In Christ,

Jill

The Galilee

Dec. 12- The Sea of Galilee, Mt. of Beatitudes, Tabgha, Capernaum

Good morning! I’m blogging in the Paris airport at the moment after a 1:15 am flight from Amman. We have really long layovers in Paris and Atlanta before we finally arrive in Indy. Needless to say, we are all really tired, but hanging in there and ready to come home! Yesterday was a wonderful day of taking in the holy sites around the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus spent much of his time teaching and performing miracles. We started the morning with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done and it was so beautiful. We fed the seagulls, listened to music, and were all having a wonderful time. We talked about how a lot of the sites we had seen so far were “possible sites” of an occurrence, but there is no doubt about the Sea of Galilee. This was it and we were sailing on it! The Galilee is the only source of fresh water in Israel- now and in the time of Jesus. It is a life giving source to all in the area surrounded by beautiful mountains and fertile ground. It was easy to put everything into perspective and imagine Jesus walking this earth in this area healing, teaching, and performing miracles. So we sailed and enjoyed another beautiful sunny day in Israel.

When we reached the other side of the Sea of Galilee, we saw the “Jesus boat” or the “Ancient Boat”- a boat that was discovered in the sea that dates back to 2,000 years ago. We learned how it was preserved and how they pulled it out of the water and what it could have been used for.

The Mount of the Beatitudes was our next stop- a mountain near the Sea of Galilee believed to be a possible spot where Jesus gave the sermon on the mount and preached the famous beatitudes found in Matthew 5. We visited the church there and walked around for a bit. We all had a laugh at one of the stones with the inscription, “Blessed are the ‘poo’ in Spirit.” It seemed to us like someone wanted to have a little fun with that one!

After the Beatitudes, we visited Tabgha, the site where it is believed that Jesus taught on the shores of Galilee and where the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes took place. It was awesome to go down to the shore and put our hands in the water and imagine what it would have been like to be gathered there to hear Jesus teach. This spot is also believed to be where Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection and had a meal with them and asked Peter, “Do you love me?” three times in order to reverse Peter’s denial of him 3 times. There was a beautiful little church there with a large stone inside, believed to be the rock where Jesus may have gathered to prepare a meal with his disciples.

None of us where ready to leave this “beachy” spot, but our next stop was Capernaum, the “town of Jesus” where he spent a lot of his ministry. We saw the excavations of the town and Peter’s mother in law’s home, where Jesus and Peter spent much of their time and where scripture tells us several miracles occurred. Right across from the excavated home were the remains of a synagogue that dates back to the 4^th century and probably built upon the ruins of the 1^st century synagogue where Jesus would have preached, taught, and worshiped. The coolest thing in Capernaum (in my opinion) was the church built on top of the excavated house. It was a square shaped church with seats on 4 sides, and in the very middle of the church was a huge glass panel where you could look straight down and see the remains of Peter’s home, right over where archaeologists believe the altar or center of worship may have been in the house. Corey and I agreed that this was the most beautiful church out of all we had seen on the trip.

After Capernaum, we headed to a Kibbutz (a Jewish farming community) for lunch where we enjoyed a meal (an expensive one!) of St. Peter’s fish and other options.

THEN it was time to recross the border from Israel to Jordan, which we were all dreading. However, this time was not nearly as stressful as the previous crossing from Jordan to Israel. The whole process still took around an hour and a half to two hours, and was not fun, but at least it was more calm. We ventured through Amman traffic to get to our hotel where we would check in for a few hours- long enough to shower and sleep if we wished, and to have dinner. We left the hotel at 10:30 for the airport, and now here we are- tired and ready to come home, which we hopefully will be at 8:45 Tuesday night. Wow!

It’s been a wonderful trip, and in case you’re wondering, the tiring and stressful travel part of getting there is worth the experience of the Holy Land. I know that I will never read scripture in the same way again, knowing that I can now picture the land and know more about the context and more history of the Gospel readings.

I will post more of a reflection of the whole trip once we get back to reality. I’ll post some more pictures soon, too. Thanks for stopping by!

-Jill

Caesarea, Megiddo, Nazareth, Cana

Dec. 11

Hello, readers! Today was one of our longer days on the journey. We left Jerusalem bright and early this morning and made our way northeast to Caesarea, Megiddo, Nazareth, Cana, and finally to our hotel in Tiberias which looks over the beautiful Sea of Galilee. On our bus ride north, we noticed immediately the change in geography as we looked upon more greenery, mountains, and fertile ground everywhere. We arrived in Caesarea and took in the beauty of the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. We got off the bus to see the aqueduct built by Herod the Great and to enjoy some time by the sea.

It was so beautiful that no one wanted to leave! We also ventured to the ancient city of Caesarea which was the entry point into the country, the seat of government, where the Roman government leader (such as Pontius Pilate) lived and lead over the area, and also where Paul was imprisoned at one point in his ministry. We walked through the ancient ruins of the city and stood in the amphitheater which is still in tact and stilled used for events. We stood in the middle and sang some songs to hear how it sounded:



We then made our way to Megiddo, an ancient city mentioned several times in Scripture. The most famous for Christians is that it is mentioned in the book of Revelation as the city where the final battle of good and evil will take place. Megiddo is also known as "Armageddon" if that rings any bells. It was interesting to learn that there have been at least 25 layers of civilizations uncovered at Megiddo. The city is literally an ancient fortress used by many different peoples from different times, religions, and civilizations. There we got to see the archaeological discoveries, and we even climbed down a series of the craziest steps I have ever seen in order to see the water cistern and tunnel where water was sent into the city. We learned how strategic the location of Megiddo is and why so many people chose to inhabit it. If you ruled Megiddo, you ruled over the land! It was also amazing to be on top of Megiddo and look into the Jezreel valley where we could see Nazareth to our left, Mt. Tabor in the distance (also known as the Mt. of Transfiguration) and Mt. Carmel where Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal in the Hebrew scriptures. We also could see the Samaritan mountains in the distance. Scripture and history were literally coming to life all around us. Here is a view from the top of Megiddo:


Our entire Memorial group made it safely down the mountain via the water cistern steps and tunnel. I was really proud of everyone! It was quite a climb, most of it in the dark underground on the steepest set of stairs ever. Not everyone in our bigger group chose to do it, so it was quite the adventure!

We also had some silly fun of course....


After lunch we headed to Nazareth (home of Jesus)...which quite honestly was kind of a waste of time! I was disappointed. We got off the bus, saw the spring in town where some believe that Mary heard from the angel that she would bear Jesus (the annunciation) and then we went to the Church of the Annunciation...which was closed :( At least we got to see people putting up the town Christmas tree, but other than that....eh...

Then we went just down the road to Cana, the spot of the first miracle of Jesus in the Gospels, found in the Gospel of John- Jesus turns water to wine at a wedding. We pulled into Cana and this was the first thing we saw off the bus:



And then we found some "fun" souvenirs.... ;)


And we all got to try some "wedding wine" which tasted a little like sweet kosher wine. Then we visited the church which is built on top of some ruins of ancient Cana where 6 stone jars where discovered- maybe even the ones that Jesus used to perform the miracle, perhaps?! Who knows! We got to see one of the stone jars- much bigger than you might think, right? So that was cool to see and realize how miraculous it would have been to even move and fill one of those jars!


Our day ended with a beautiful drive to the Sea of Galilee where we are now in our hotel using their wi-fi internet for free, thanks to our bus captain and his wife. We have been doing most of our blogging in the Pettyjohns' hotel room (thank you!) and believe it or not, on the BUS, which had free wi-fi for us to use! We are devoted bloggers, right?! :)

Anyway, the Sea of Galilee and Tiberias where we are unfortunately only spending one night, is absolutely beautiful. Tomorrow we will spend our day on the Galilee with a boat ride and taking it all in. I'm really looking forward to it. Then, we will recross the border to Amman (yuck border crossing!) and our flight leaves Amman at 1:15 am. Yes, you read that right, 1:15 in the morning! We will arrive back in the USA at 8:45 on Tuesday night. Needless to say, we will be exhausted, so please pray for our sanity!

I won't be able to blog about our Galilee day until we are back in the USA, so please check back! I'll be updating about our over all experience and share about our journey back. I hope you've enjoyed reading so far and journeying with us. I hope that if you have never been to the Holy Land, that you will consider making the journey for yourself! Let me know if you're interested. Corey and I would love to do this again!

Thanks for your continued prayers and support for all of us!

-Jill

Garden Tomb, Pool of Bethesda, Via Dolorosa

Dec. 10- Garden Tomb, Pool of Bethesda, St. Anne Church, Via Dolorosa

We started our morning at the Garden Tomb, which was rather close to our hotel outside the city walls of Jerusalem. The Garden Tomb is one of the traditional places believed to be where Jesus was crucified on the hill of Golgotha (the place of the skull) and then buried in the tomb below in a garden where a burial tomb was carved out of the rock, and then, of course resurrected! We listened to a volunteer (a funny British man!) talk about the tomb. He showed us early pictures of Golgotha, which really did look like a skull. We then went down to the tomb where we got the chance to go inside and see what it looked like. There were 2 places for bodies to be buried. One had been carved out for feet and head, and the other had not been carved all of the way for feet and head, leading us to believe that one of the spots had been used for a body, and one had not. It was interesting to see. This is the one believed used for a body:

Our guide also pointed out a tree near the garden that was shaped exactly like a cross.

It was literally a breath taking moment when he pointed it out because we had all walked right under the tree since we were focusing on the tomb below, and then he had us turn around and look at the tree. Many of us gasped when we saw it since it was a pine tree and pine trees usually do not grow like that. Coincidence or not? J The tomb was in a beautiful quiet place, and it seemed more authentic than some of the other places we have gone for some reason. Of course, there is no way to know where Jesus died and was resurrected. As our guide reminded us, the important thing is that the tomb is empty: “He has risen!”

A few years ago at a Christian music festival in Atlanta, I bought a silver necklace of the empty tomb with the scripture John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life.” It is the only necklace I brought to wear on this trip. I was standing at the empty garden tomb looking at the necklace around my neck and I remembered when I bought it, how excited I was to one day see the actual tomb, and today was the day!

Our group then went to a nearby location and shared in Holy Communion together. Remember a few days ago when I had said that we were trying to merge 3 traditions (and probably more) into one communion experience? Well, it worked out pretty well. The Baptist pastor read the scripture from Corinthians about the Lord’s Supper, and then I followed that with some of the traditional United Methodist liturgy- words of institution and asking that the Holy Spirit be poured out upon these gifts of bread and wine, etc. I also took this opportunity to present the bread and cup and break the bread- something that the other traditions were not used to, but is important to the United Methodist tradition. I had some non UMs tell me afterwards that they thought that particular part was meaningful to them. Then we had the Pentecostal pastor say a word of prayer, followed by the Lord’s Prayer. We then passed around the olive wood cups (we got to keep them) of juice and the pieces of matzah (unleavened bread) and we all partook of the elements together. We closed our communion time with singing some hymns together. It all worked out well and was a good representation of all the groups there.

After the Garden Tomb, we went entered the Old City of Jerusalem to the Church of St. Anne (mother of Mary, mother of Jesus) and the Pool of Bethesda:

“Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie- the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time he asked, ‘Sir, do you want to get well?’ ‘Sir,’ he replied, ‘I have no one to help me get into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone always goes ahead of me.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once, the man was cured. He picked up his mat and walked.” (John 5:1-9).

Here, we spent some time walking around the excavations where the pools had been, as well as water channels that have been discovered. We also went into the church and say some songs, which we extra beautiful thanks to the wonderful acoustics of the church. My particular favorite was, “It is Well With My Soul.”

Finally, it was on to the Via Dolorosa (the Way of the Cross or Way of Suffering)- the road that Jesus walked and carried the cross to the place where he was crucified. I was looking forward to the Via Dolorosa the most, but for some reason, I wasn’t all that in tune with it like I thought I might be. It was still a wonderful experience to have, but the streets were so crowded, the vendors and shops were very distracting (probably the same way for Jesus, right?!), and it was hard to really tell what the stations were- luckily we had little books and our guide that was telling us, but it was just so hectic. I did find it very meaningful that Corey (husband!) read the Passion story (Mark 15) at the first two stations of the cross- the stone pavement and the place where Jesus began carrying the cross. Some of our group on the Via Dolorosa:

We stopped at the 4^th station for lunch, and then continued through the busy and narrow streets on the Via Dolorosa, which ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre- the other traditional site of the possible crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, built by the Emperor Constantine and his mother, Helena. It is believed that the church is built on top of Golgotha (not the same one mentioned earlier), and the tomb in the lower part of where the church is built.

Inside the church were many beautiful shrines and the final stations of the cross- Jesus’ death, Jesus being taken down from the cross, and the tomb- which had its own chapel within the church. There was a line to get in, but not many of us went in because it was a similar site to what we had seen earlier that day at the Garden Tomb. It was very crowded in the church- many people from all over the world were there to pay their homage to the holy site. It was interesting to see the different ways that people worshiped, prayed, or meditated. Some were bending down to kiss the spot/station marking the spot where Jesus died. There were many women kneeling down to touch the surface of the rock marking the spot where Jesus was laid after his death, some were lighting candles around the church. This is the stone believed to be where Jesus was laid after his death to be anointed and prepared for burial:

So in one day, we experienced the two traditional sites in the world where Jesus could have been crucified, buried, and resurrected. Which one is more “correct”? I personally preferred the Garden Tomb, but again, there is no way to really know. I think that sometimes as humans we want to have a tangible place to see and feel and experience, but in the end, we need to really celebrate the concepts and stories of our faith and not the places.

Another beautiful and sunny day in Jerusalem. Tomorrow we will say goodbye to the Holy City and head north to the Galilee for to see more places where Jesus walked, preached, taught, and healed. Til then...!!

-Jill

Western Wall, Teaching Steps etc.

December 9- Western Wall, Teaching Steps, Southern Wall Excavations, King David’s Tomb, House of Caiaphas

Today was a packed day! First thing this morning, we entered into the Old City of Jerusalem, the Jewish Quarter to visit the Western Wall. The Western Wall is the holiest place in the world for the Jewish faith. It is the remnant of the Temple with original Herodian stones that house the Ark of the Covenant, which was believed to be the very dwelling of God in the holy city. It was awesome to see people of the Jewish faith gathering there with their prayer shawls and prayer books in prayer. The men and women went to different sides to pray. When I walked up to the wall, I was fascinated by one young woman standing there. She was probably in her teens and she had her face buried in her prayer book or Torah (couldn’t tell exactly what it was) and she seemed so reverently in prayer and reflection. She is to my right in the picture:

I wondered what she was praying about and thinking about. I also noticed the amounts of small papers stuffed in the wall, which you can also see in the pictures. These are prayers that have been written by people from all over the world to place in the holy place. For me, it was a moment where I felt close to God, and also very conscious of my Jewish background. I thought about my mom back home and how I wished she could be experiencing the Wall with me. I wrote down some prayers of my own and put them in the wall. It was a wonderful experience. For me, I really enjoyed watching the people at the wall, wondering what their prayers were, wondering what this really meant to them. It was truly beautiful.

Following the Western Wall, we walked around and saw the excavations of the Southern Wall of the temple. We were all amazed by the size of the stones that were there as a result of excavations and destruction of the temple itself. Then it was on to the teaching steps, where there were original steps from the time of Jesus. We were told that these steps were most likely used by Jesus as he would have entered the temple to teach, worship, sacrifice, and where he would have perhaps overturned the tables of the money changers: “On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them he said, ‘Is it not written, my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?’ But you have made it a den of robbers.” (Mark 11:15-17) Here is our group on the teaching steps.

Then we went from the steps to the tomb of King David, which quite honestly wasn’t all that interesting, but we had to separate men and women again to see the tomb. Of course, the remains of King David are probably unknown. But it was cool to see it anyway.

From there we went to the Upper Room, the spot believed to be where Jesus and his disciples gathered for the Passover meal and where the Last Supper was celebrated and Holy Communion was instituted, and where Jesus washed the disciples’ feet (Gospel of John). Our group was lucky to have the whole room to ourselves for a good ten minutes or so. We listened to our guide tell the story of the Last Supper, which we all know so well. We then sang a few songs, one which included “We are standing on holy ground…and I know that there are angels all around. Let us praise Jesus now. We are standing in His presence on holy ground.”

Finally, we made our way to the House of Caiaphas, the high priest at the time of Jesus who played a key role in the trial of Jesus during his arrest and crucifixion. It was also the spot believed to be where Peter denied Jesus three times. At this house, we descended into a prison pit or dungeon believed to be the place (or a place like) where Jesus was held as a prisoner before his death. Once in the pit, we all stood and heard a reading from Psalm 88, which includes these verses: “You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves…I call to you, Lord, every day I spread out my hands to you…the darkness is my closest friend.” It was a holy moment for us all. We listened, we stood in the darkness in silence, and then sang together “Amazing Grace,” “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,” and a few more songs. Our voices rose from the pit of darkness, and we thanked God for what God has done for us, and then we ascended into the light.

I think we all came out a little more humble. It was a blessing.

We're Here! Sorry for late posting!!

Dec. 6, Petra

We have had quite an adventure so far in Jordan and Israel! I apologize for not being able to blog sooner, dear readers at home, but it turns out that internet access here is very expensive, and we are currently trying to fight with EO to see if we can get free internet access as tour hosts. Not much luck so far.

Anyway, we started out on Sunday morning for our long trip. We all got through security in Indy just fine…well, except for Pat, who almost got a felony for a “concealed weapon” in her carry-on luggage when they dug through her things and found a tiny knife that she had forgotten about… ;) But we made it! It was then off to Atlanta for a 5 hour layover, and then on to Paris, France. Our plane to Paris was HUGE! We of course got stuck in the very back of the plane next to the restrooms… so we had an interesting odor to deal with, but we got used to it after a while. We each enjoyed our wide selection of movies to choose from, which we watched on individual TV screens! After a very long flight, we arrived in Paris to wait for another 5 hours for our flight to Amman, Jordan. We were hoping to get a glimpse at least of the Eiffel Tower, and sure enough, at our gate…we saw it in the distance with binoculars. So it’s official…we saw it! Needless to say, we were all exhausted when we arrived in Amman. Our guide and bus met us and we all piled on our luggage (our group’s luggage all made it, but some bags from other groups were missing).

Our first adventure was Petra in Jordan. We drove for 3 hours south to Petra while our guide talked about the history of Jordan, pointed some things out to us, and talked about what we would see at Petra. When we arrived, we walked into Petra, which was about a mile to get there. We had the options of riding a horse into Petra, or a horse and carriage, or our own 2 feet, which we all chose (healthier and cheaper!) It was a beautiful sunny day, temperatures in the 60s, so we took our time as we saw beautiful rock formations where tombs could be seen, as well as the occasional rock carving. The funeral tombs were fascinating to a lot of us, and reminiscent of the tomb that Jesus was probably buried in. We went deeper into the city and were blown away by the natural beauty of the rocks and we continued to hear stories and information from our guide. He explained the water channel system to us, what life may have been like, how it is said that Moses met up with the Edomites in Petra, etc. We reached the treasury, the most beautiful part of Petra, and everyone was just amazed at how cool it was. We also had the chance to ride camels (which of course I did!).

We were also being bombarded with kids and young women who were trying to sell us postcards or jewelry, but none of us wanted to get caught up in that after hearing our guide explain that the children should be in school and we should not support their attempts at trying to make money to get out of school. We also wanted to just enjoy Petra for how it should be enjoyed.

Corey commented on how it was so neat to see and experience something so old. We were looking at thousands and thousands of years of history right before us. We also enjoyed seeing the different people, cultures, ways of dress, traditions. On the way to Petra, we passed many mosques, as well as shepherds herding their sheep. We also noticed the high security everywhere we went, which continued well into our days to follow (see other posts). After our day at Petra, we ventured back to our hotel, making lots of stops on the way for bathroom breaks and some souvenir shopping (as a side note, it has been frustrating to stop so much. I mean, I thought I had a tiny bladder, but you should see some of these people we are traveling with! I will say that our group members from Memorial have been great travelers- no whiners or tiny bladders in our group!)

-Jill

Dec. 7- Amman, Mt. Nebo Border Crossing, Qumran, Jericho

This was a very packed day. I had the privilege of starting the day with giving the morning devotion on the bus. Since we were heading to Mt. Nebo, I read Deuteronomy 34 where God shows Moses the Promised Land before his death. I never thought I would lead a devotion in the middle of Amman rush hour traffic! It was quite an experience. I closed my devotion with having us all sing together “Open the Eyes of My Heart,” which everyone really enjoyed. We started out with a driving tour of the city of Amman, Jordan. We got to see sites such as the royal palace, the citadel wall where Uriah (husband of Bathsheba) was killed, the wealthy neighborhoods, American embassy, a Roman amphitheater (where they still have events!), and inner city Amman. It was interesting to see the different parts of the city and to watch the people going about their everyday business. I personally enjoyed see some of the school children walking to school and seeing their interactions with one another, seeing the men standing outside their businesses starting the day, etc. I always wonder what it would be like to walk in their shoes, you know? I also thought it was interesting that some of the girls wore the head scarves, and some didn’t. We talked about how some do it for religious reasons, others for cultural reasons, and some do not wear them at all.

After Amman we drove up to Mt. Nebo, the place where Moses overlooked the Promised Land before his death. The drive up itself was awesome. We drove by the plains of Moab (Ruth was a Moabite) and we began to see the more fertile regions of Jordan and the very mountainous lands of the Jordan Valley. I think a lot of us were surprised at how mountainous everything was. Deanna in our group pointed out that she pictured more rolling hills than the huge mountains that surrounded us.

To stand at the place where it is believed that Moses viewed the Promised Land was amazing. To just picture that we might be seeing the same view that Moses saw! The surrounding mountains, the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, the mountains of Gilead, Jericho in the distance. Very cool. We also viewed some preserved mosaics from the church that was built on Mt. Nebo. After Mt. Nebo, we went to a local shop where we saw mosaics being hand made by women and learned about their trade. We spent some time in the shop and lots of us got some Jordanian souvenirs to take home.

Then came the “fun” part…crossing the border from Jordan to Israel…we crossed through a total of 4 high security check points to get into Israel. At the very last stop, we took everything off of our bus and waited in line to have our luggage scanned and passports checked (again). This took forever. We were all tired and hungry by this point, not having eaten lunch. It took us a total of 2 hours to get into Israel. None of us expected the stress of getting into Israel. Steve and I even got subjected to “further search” after being told our passports were going to be held until we had these further checks. I guess we look dangerous ;) After we FINALLY made it through to the other side, we met our Israeli guide and made our way through a few more check points to finally enter into the Holy Land. And just think, we will be doing this all again when we fly home at the end of our trip! Boo! Needless to say, they don’t play around. Seeing guys walking around with huge guns around themselves while we were standing there with our luggage would be unnerving for anyone.

When we were finally on our way, all of our stress and waiting seemed far off as we took in the wonder of the Promised Land and made our way to Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, which contain many writings of the Old Testament, including almost all of the Book of Isaiah. On the way, we took in beautiful views of the Dead Sea against the mountains where we had been standing on previously that day. Qumran was one of the favorite sites so far of our group. The caves were like nothing you have ever seen. I had pictured what the caves of Qumran might look like, but my pictures failed in comparison to what they actually looked like. And the views of the Dead Sea were breathtaking. We learned about the Essene community and saw the excavations of their city, the ritual baths, the watch tower, the sheep pins. One complaint I have is that we were rushed through Qumran, in part because I don’t think EO expected us to take so long getting across the border into Israel. I’m glad we got to see it, but would have liked to stay longer and explore more. Maybe next time… ;)

We then made our way to Jericho where we ate a very late lunch at a nice restaurant and enjoyed seeing the “oldest city in the world, 10,000 years!” We passed through a security check point to enter into the Palestinian area. Several in our group commented on how peaceful and hospitable Jericho was, and that we always see the worst portrayal in the media of areas like this. It’s unfortunate that our media does not give a more fair account of life here. I’m sure we will be having more moments like this while we are here. While in Jericho, we saw the Mount of Temptation and the beginning of the Judean desert. It is believed that the Mount of Temptation is where Jesus went after his baptism to be tempted for 40 days and ventured into the Judean desert. There is now a monastery on the mountain. It was really cool to put it all into perspective. It was also interesting to hear the Muslim call to evening prayer in Jericho. One awesome thing about coming into Israel from Jordan (NOT the check points) is that we got to kind of follow the route that the first Israelites took to enter the Promised Land. We started the day at Mt. Nebo, and ended it where the first Israelites came and defeated the walls of Jericho. Jesus spent time in Jericho- we saw a sycamore tree that could be as old as the one that little Zaccheaus climbed! This picture is a view of the Mount of Temptation from Jericho.

The last meaningful event was our drive to Jerusalem. It was cool to know that we were traveling on the same “road” that caravans and travelers took from all over the area to Jerusalem. People traveled for days and months to worship in Jerusalem, and now, we were on our way there. I couldn’t help but think of Psalm 122:

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together. That is where the tribes go u, the tribes of the Lord, to praise the name of the Lord according to the statute given to Israel. There the thrones for judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels. For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say Peace be within you. For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity.

So on we went to Jerusalem. I will probably never forget my first glimpse of the holy city. Even at night, the golden dome of the Dome of the Rock was a site to see within the old city. I can’t wait to see more tomorrow. We will venture to the Mount of Olives where we will have our first full view of Jerusalem, then onto Bethlehem and the Garden of Gethsemane. I can’t wait!

-Jill

Dec. 8- Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane, Bethlehem

Today was probably my personal favorite day so far. We went to the Mount of Olives first thing in the morning to view the city of Jerusalem. It was a breathtaking view. We talked about how Jesus may have stood and looked at the city from the Mount of Olives and as he prayed for Jerusalem, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” (Matthew 23:37) At the Mount of Olives, we visited a church there and took in the views. Another interesting thing was to see the massive grave yards that faced Jerusalem. The furthest up the hill was the Jewish cemetery. The Christian cemetery was down in the valley heading toward Jerusalem, and the Muslim cemetery was right up against the old walls of the city. I had never pictured the massive cemeteries surrounding the city, but it makes perfect sense to want to be buried facing the holiest city in the world.

Jewish Cemetery:

We headed down to the Garden of Gethsemane after that, where we saw olive trees that are at least 2000 years old and date back to the time of Christ. It was so cool to think that one of the olive trees we saw today could have been the very place where Jesus prayed to God before his death, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup to be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” It was amazing to put everything into perspective- the Mount of Olives, descending into the Garden of Gethsemane, and seeing the walls of Jerusalem right before us. Scripture really came to life today- the Gospel stories in particular.

From Gethsemane, we ventured to Bethlehem and crossed through the check point to get into the Palestinian area. I knew that this was going to happen, but it was strange to experience it after hearing about the conflicts on the news so many times, but it really didn’t seem like a big deal at all (probably because we were a bus load of American tourists!). To see the wall separating Israel and Palestine was a little sad. But the area as a whole seemed peaceful and the people of Bethlehem were welcoming and glad to see us. We spent some time in a shopping area where a lot of us enjoyed buying the olive wood carvings and browsing jewelry and other souvenirs. We then went to the Shepherd’s Field and a church on the same site where we saw a cave that might have been similar to where Jesus could have been born (according to the Gospel of Luke). We spent some time in the cave singing songs such as “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “Silent Night,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” etc. It was a nice moment to be in such a holy place and lift our voices to God. Some of us commented on how we imagined the Shepherds Field area to be more flat and grassy, so we were surprised to see the mountainous areas. It really puts things into perspective when you imagine what the scenery was like at the time. Some of our group singing:

Our next stop in Bethlehem was lunch, followed by the Church of the Nativity, where we were told we would probably have to wait awhile to get in, but we did not have a wait at all! Once inside, we were taken down to the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born, the Star of Bethlehem. It was awesome to kneel down and touch the star, knowing that this is one of the holiest sites in the world.

Of course, it’s hard to really know if that spot is anywhere close to the actual place of the birth, but it’s important to remember the concept of the whole thing. In my theological mindedness, one thing that was a little frustrating for me was that our guide kept mixing the two birth narratives to get us to see this one place of Jesus’ birth, when really, our gospels of Matthew and Luke are very different. Yes, Jesus ends of being born in Bethlehem in both gospels, but they are VERY different accounts. I would say that the Church of the Nativity is referring mostly to Luke’s gospel, where Jesus is born in a “manger” or perhaps a cave, and the shepherds were told by the angels to come and find the Savior and worship him. Where in Matthew’s Gospel, we have the wise men who come to find Jesus in a house, probably up to 2 years after his birth. In Matthew’s gospel, we also have the flight to Egypt, where in Luke, this is not mentioned. I suppose it’s difficult to keep everything straight, but I had hoped that our guide would do a little more to educate our group about the two very different accounts. Why not just stay with the Gospel of Luke when experiencing Shepherds Field, the cave, and the church of the Nativity? I’m just being picky here, but I think it’s important to understand the differences.

I guess the important thing to know is that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, no matter what Gospel you read, and we were there today in the heart of it all, during Advent season, too! What a powerful way to celebrate the Christmas season.

Other interesting things to note: the amount of “stuff” people try to get you to buy! These people swarm tourist buses like buzzards, and the moment you get out, they chase you down with bags, postcards, necklaces, scarves, etc. I’ve never seen anything like it! We even had to fight our way back into the bus at one point because they were blocking the entrance! It was an adventure to say the least.

After our Church of the Nativity experience, we ended up going to the Diamond Factory. And here is where I’m going to complain about our Educational Opportunities experience: we have spent more time shopping than we have at the Holy Sites! There have been times where we have felt rushed through a holy site, yet we take FOREVER at shopping places. I did not see any reason to spend 2 hours at the Diamond Factory today. We could have spent that time going to the Dead Sea (which is not on our itinerary but could have been added today), or we could have spent that extra time experiencing something else about the Holy Land, but instead, we spent 2 long hours in a diamond store. This has been a trend so far on our trip, and it is disappointing. I did not come to the Holy Land to shop. I have bought some nice souvenirs and have seen some nice things, but I have unfortunately felt rushed through some of the most interesting places in the entire world. Are all tourist groups like this? The next time that Corey and I do this (and yes, there will be a next time!), we might look into an organization that really sticks to experiencing the Holy Land and doesn’t stop at every tourist trap there just to kill time, when our time (and money!) is valuable and should be used for experiencing everything the Holy Land has to offer. Oh, and another complaint? We were told that tour hosts get free internet. That was incorrect information. A positive note: our guides and drivers have been wonderful for the most part, aside from wanting to stop at places that don’t really have much to do with a pilgrimage.

Another interesting moment today was sitting around the lunch table with the Southern Baptist pastor and the Pentecostal pastor (a woman from Oklahoma- you should hear her talk!) discussing how the three of us are going to officiate Holy Communion at the Garden Tomb in a few days. We all come from very different traditions. They looked at me like I was crazy when I mentioned “intinction” (the popular way in the UMC where we break bread from the common loaf and each person takes a piece and dips it into the chalice of grape juice so both elements are taken at the same time). Neither pastor had ever heard of this before. I was also an odd one out when I mentioned any kind of traditional communion liturgy. This discussion was causing a bit of tension, but also fruitful conversation. I almost suggested that we just all do communion with our own groups, but decided that probably wasn’t the best idea since we are here to be the Body of Christ and not have division. Good point. I’ll update you on what we decide to do in a few days..

Overall, a beautiful and wonderful day full of great Holy Land experiences. We will be in the old city of Jerusalem tomorrow. Now that we have seen the beautiful holy city from a distance and before us on the Mount of Olives, I cannot wait to be standing in the middle of it. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your continued prayers! We are all having a wonderful experience.

-Jill