Saturday, October 31

First, let me say - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAUTIFUL BRIDE CHARLOTTE! She is more beautiful than the day I met her! We sang happy birthday to you at Bethlehem today!

This is actually from yesterday, but what a great group shot by Jodi Prosser!



This is a pic of the kibbutz hotel where we are staying, Ramat Rachel.



Fountain at Shepherd's Field



In the cave at Shepherd's Field





Inside the Church of the Nativity - the star marks the traditional site of Christ's birth



The Church of the Nativity





Gladys, me, and our Palestinian guide Ibrahim in Bethlehem (we had to switch guides and drivers for the morning while we were in Palestinian Authority territory)



The Israeli Knesset (Parliament)



Inside the Israeli Museum - one of the Jars that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in



The Shrine of the Book, where we saw several of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including the Isaiah and Habakkuk scrolls!



The Model of First Century Jerusalem at the Israel Museum - absolutely amazing to see



Ein Karem, traditional site of the Birthplace of John the Baptizer



Blogger's having some difficulties tonight - have to post the rest tomorrow. To be continued!

Friday, October 30

Today we continued our journey - pics below!

We began at the southern excavations of the Temple Mount



Some of us went down into the Western Wall tunnels (a.k.a. the rabbinical tunnels) - you can see the foundation stones from the time of the Second Temple. A tight squeeze - amazing to see. We saw the spot believed to be the closest one can come to where the Holy of Holies used to be on the Temple Mount.



The Western (wailing) Wall



Many of us got to pray at the wall - here's one of me praying there.



Many orthodox Jews were there this morning praying.



Gladys teaching at the steps by the Hulda Gates



The Hulda Gates, perhaps named for the prophetess Hulda from 2 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 34



The Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum



The Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem (no pictures allowed inside the museum - the Hall of Names was immensely moving to me)



Teddy Kolleck Stadium in Jerusalem



Statue of King David near David's Tomb and the Upper Room (the traditional site for both - likely that neither are actually "the" places - though we found it interesting that the Upper Room is above David's Tomb)



The Upper Room



The dungeon below Caiphas' house where Jesus was taken and beaten after his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane



The Pit below Caiphas' house into which Jesus was likely lowered



Gladys teaching at the church of St. Peter Gallicantu (remembering Peter's denial and the rooster crowing)

Thursday, October 29

Today was a busy day - our first in Jerusalem! Here's a shot of our first daytime view of the Temple Mount - notice the Eastern (Golden) Gate to the right in this picture.



The church Dominus Flavit



Gladys teaching at Dominus Flavit (no pics of me teaching as I'm, well, teaching and not taking pics at that time) :)



The Garden of Gethsemane, the most powerful experience of the day



Inside the Garden church - traditionally this is the rock where Jesus prayed



The Garden of Gethsemane - we spent some time in quiet prayer and meditation here



The Lion Gate into the Old City of Jerusalem



Our guide Irit uses a purple umbrella so we can see her in a crowd; occasionally she gives it to one of the taller guys to hold up high. Here we see John Grindle!



The excavations of the Pool of Bethesda (where Jesus healed a man lame for 38 years in John 5)



John and Loria leading us in singing inside the church at the Bethesda site



The Old City



Restaurant where we stopped for lunch in the Arab Quarter - excellent falafel and pizza!



Market in the Arab Quarter



The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (traditional Catholic site of the crucifixion of Jesus)



Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre



The wide wall - an excavated wall of Jerusalem dating to the 8th century BC, the time of Isaiah



We visited the Temple Institute today, but no photography allowed at all - sorry!

Street sign in the Jewish Quarter

Wednesday, October 28

Today was a packed day of learning and seeing - here's the recap!

This morning I got up before sunrise and snapped some pictures from our final morning around the Sea of Galilee.



This ancient mosque was across from the Sea of Galilee, just in front of our hotel.



We started our day today with Tel Megiddo, where 25 civiliations have built cities on top of one another. We saw this model that illustrates how the site is read to know what belonged to each civilization.



At Tel Megiddo, we saw the site of the pagan worship that took place there; this is from the sacred area. Notice the round pagan altar.



John Grindle led us in singing at the top of Tel Megiddo. Notice the Valley of Jezreel behind him (the location of the last battle, the battle of Armageddon, in Revelation 16:16).



At the ruins of Solomon's stables at Megiddo



Descending into the water system at Megiddo



The underground water tunnel at Megiddo



Next we went to Mount Carmel, where Elijah faced off with the prophets of Ba'al and God displayed His power in a mighty way (1 Kings 18). Here's a statue of Elijah commemorating the Scriptural event.



A better view of the Valley of Jezreel from the top of the church at Mount Carmel.



Then on to Caesarea; here is the Roman aqueduct built by two legions of soldiers to get water from the Mediterrean to Caesarea.



We saw the Crusader castle at Caesarea





Caesarea pics





Tablet mentioning Pontius Pilate as procurator of Judea, found at Caesarea



Excavated theater at Caesarea



Gladys teaching at the theater



Group pic at Caesarea theater!



One final note from Barbara Green: "To Noah - happy birthday! Nanny loves you! Gina and Susie, I love you too!"