Israel | Day 4 | Mount of Beatitudes | Capernaum | Beit She’an

We started the day off at the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).

We hiked up the hillside to the top and sat under a tree while Pastor Peter taught. It was neat to be able to sit in a similar place where Jesus taught and listen to a sermon there as well. The view was spectacular overlooking the Sea of Galilee.

Mount of Beatitudes

Beit Shean

Beit Shean

Tomato, Cheese and Oregano Sandwich!

Beit Shean

We kept seeing rainbows!

The Yogurt is my fave!

This coffee with grounds confused me, but it came with chocolate!

The hike up the hillside had tons of gorgeous scenery and I was constantly being told to keep up. I managed to get some pretty nice photography though and the one above, of the olives, is probably one of my favorites from the whole trip. On a side note, we were told we could eat the olives right off the tree. I, however, would not advise that because they taste TERRIBLE!!!

While near the Sea of Galilee, we went to Capernaum, the “Town of Nahum,” where Peter, John, James and Andrew resided. This location was the site of the greatest number of Jesus’ miracles and where he moved from Nazareth in Matthew 4:13-16. It was also in Capernaum that Jesus taught and cast out demons (Mark 1:21-29), Peter’s mother-in-law was healed (Mark 1:30-34) and Jairus’ daughter was healed (Mark 5:21-45). However, in Luke 10:12-15 Jesus also cursed the city.

This is the site of Peter’s home where Jesus lived for a period of time.

Our next destination was Biet She’an, which is a strategically placed city at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and the Jezreel Valley. 1 Samuel 31 states that after the Philistines defeated the Israelites at the nearby Mount Gilboa, they hung King Saul’s body on the walls of Beit She’an. Later the city was renamed Scythopolis, and became the capital of the Decapolis.

In the photo above, Peter was very proud of himself for finding a piece of rebar somehow and using it to point out landmarks as our tour guide talked about them.

I liked the tile! Also more proof I was here since I was behind the camera the majority of the time. You gotta shoot fast to keep up with Peter too!

Reflection of ruins in a pool of water.

Thanks for reading! I will be posting more from the trip shortly!

I am also selling prints and printed items of images from Israel, as well as Nicaragua and Belize. All proceeds will go towards mission trips to Grenada (follow link for more info) and Newburgh, New York this summer. Thanks!

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Israel | Day 3 | Sea of Galilee | Golan Heights

We woke up to the sunrise over the Sea of Galilee, in Tiberius, and it was GORGEOUS!! After much needed coffee and some breakfast, we went to the Jesus Boat Museum to see a boat dating from the time of Jesus. It was probably similar to one He would have used.

While at the Sea of Galilee we took a boat ride out onto the sea. Our pastor, Dr. Peter Wyns, gave a message about Jesus walking on the water (Matt. 14) and calming the storm (Matt. 4). Afterwards our boat captain lead us in worship including some of his own songs. It was such a moving experience being able to worship on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus himself taught.

Boat found in Sea of Galilee

Sunrise

On Boat on Sea

Sunrise Selfie 🙂

On the Sea of Galilee

After the Sea of Galilee we headed to the Hula Valley and the Tel Dan Reserve, which the Dan river flows through. The Dan River is one of the rivers that feeds the Jordan from the melting snow from Mount Hermon. Interestingly, only a small portion of Mount Hermon is within the borders of Israel (the rest is in Lebanon and Syria), but the majority of the water from the melting snow flows from its summit into Israel and to the Jordan River.

This is Abraham’s Gate, that dates back to the Bronze Age, and could have possibly been that gate that Abraham walked through when he went to rescue Lot after the people of Dan took him prisoner.

Next we ventured into the Golan Heights and ate lunch at a Druze restaurant. Their specialty was a grilled cheese crepe thing with a cheese called labneh, which is a sour tasting Lebanese cream cheese. The restaurant overlooked the Golan Heights and a volcanic lake called Ram Lake.

The video below is of our drive through the Golan Heights on our way to lunch.

The following stop was Mount Bental, a former military outpost, overlooking the Kunetra Valley or “Valley of Tears.” This mount has a spectacular view of the Golan, Mount Hermon and even Syria to the east.

The mountain covered in snow in the far distance is Mount Hermon.

The old Israeli bunkers were open for us to go down into, it was pretty cool!!

After a full day of adventuring around Israel, we ended at the Jordan River for baptisms. This was the very river, probably not the same location though, where Jesus was baptized by John and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove (Matt. 3:13-17)

Israel | Day 2

Our first full day in Israel was in Netanya on the Mediterranean Sea. We were so exhausted that our “short nap” ended up not leaving us enough time, or daylight, to explore. So this ensued our “being late” reputation for the trip….

We were told there was a beach that had rocks with holes. So clearly we had to go there and get some right?!? The next morning we got up early and made plans to walk to the beach and come back in time to leave. Nothing is ever as easy as it sounds though. We could see the Sea from our hotel, but the lady at the front desk said it was a “5 minute” walk to the beach. However someone else on our tour said it was about a half to three-quarter mile walk. It was NOT a “5 minute” walk, more like 15 minutes.

These cool rocks naturally have holes in them. I’m still not sure why, but I need to find out. In ancient times they were used as weights on nets for fishing.

We did eventually find the beach, which was awesome, but made it harder for us to leave in time to get back to the bus on time. Technically we made it back to the bus before we actually had to leave, but definitely later than we were supposed to be. We were literally speed walking/ running to try and get back in time.

Mediterranean Sea

The Yogurt was the best!!

After we were congratulated for not being left somewhere in Israel on our first day there, we went to Caesarea, the Roman port city where Peter  met with Cornelius after his vision of the sheet of unclean things descending from heaven, and gave his sermon the the Gentiles (Acts 10:24-28)

This is our tour guide Aharon, he is awesome!

The water was naturally this amazing blue color!

The left photo is the inside architecture of the city gate in Caesarea. The city gates were important for the protection of the city and was where legal events an contracts were made and performed. The design of city gates varied throughout the country, but all were engineered to provide security for the city.

These aqueducts are over 2,000 years old and they are still standing!!

This is Tel Meggido that overlooks the Jezebel Valley. We learned that a “tel” is a mount that has cities layered on top of each other. So whenever a tel was conquered, the conquering peoples leveled the city and literally built their city on top of it. Tel Meggido has 35 cities layered on top of each other. This is also referred to as Armageddon – “Har-Megiddo,” Hill of Meggido.

We walked down into a cistern in Tel Meggido. This used to be filled with water and was used as a back up supply of water in case of an invasion.

I love this photo of an olive tree. An interesting thing we learned about olive trees is that you can uproot them leave them out of the ground for long periods of time, replant them and they will continue to grow. Also, as an olive tree ages, it becomes hollow on the inside.

The almond tree is also an interesting tree in Israel. This tree is the first to bloom but it is the last to bear fruit.

I made friends with this Donkey in Bethlehem, he was intrigued by my camera.

In the replicated town of Bethlehem that we visited, there was a rebuild synagog. I did not know that a synagog was not only used for worship, but also for teaching/school and community gatherings.

Another view of the Jezebel Valley, so gorgeous!

Welcome to Israel!

Shalom from Israel! Our group from Antioch International Church in Fort Mill, SC, as well as a few of us from Sumter, SC and Florida,  made it to the Holy Land at about 7am on February 10th after 2 flights, 2 airlines and may hours of travel. The first destinations on our itinerary, besides a coffee shop to satisfy our extreme need for caffeine, was Joppa (Japho) and Mount Carmel.

Before we left on our adventure, Robyn and I thought an effective way to put our bodies on Israel time was to not sleep the night before…..I’m still not sure how effective that actually was, but that’s what we did. So here is to adventure and very little sleep!

Landing in Tel Aviv

They have pretty money!

This view of Tel Aviv was take from Joppa, the ancient Mediterranean seaport that Jonah set sail from on his way to Tarshish. Joppa is also the place where Peter lived for a short time and where we received the vision of unclean spirit descending in a sheet in Acts 10.

The Jezreel Valley from top Mount Carmel, it doesn’t do it justice. Mount Carmel is where Elijah had his standoff against Baal/Asherah in 1 Kings 18:17-46.

Group Leader 1 aka Peter Wyns, teaching us about the valley.

This “compass” showed the geographical locations of many places in Israel from Mount Carmel.