Saturday, March 7

Wow! What a day. This morning we set our faces toward Jerusalem. One last meal at the sumptious 5-star Scots Hotel. We should be proud of this Presbyterian prescence here in Tiberius.

We boarded our buses and left the Sea of Galilee on this gorgeous morning. Not a cloud. A nice breeze. It is about 80 degrees here today. Our first stop was the ancient (and I mean really ancient) Megiddo. Megiddo has 15 layers of civilization on it. It is an archeologist's dream. There have been settlements and then awesome fortifications (castles and such) since thousands and thousands of years before Jesus was even born! We were basically inside the ruins of castles upon castles.

Back on the bus and over the Ceasarea Maritima on the coast of the Meditteranean. This was port city built by the Greeks during the time of Jesus. The apostle Paul was in prison there. They built a huge aquaduct from miles and miles away at Mount Carmel (remember the prophet Elijah fighting the prophets of Ba'al up there??---we had a rotation Sunday School class on the story before Christmas this year) This city sits on the Meditteranean Sea which is BEAUTIFUL. Very much like the Caribbean - aqua blue water. I picked up lots of sea glass and some stones and maybe some pieces of ancient pottery.

We left there to come to Jerusalem where we are now. We got here in time to walk down to the Western Wall at the end of Sabbath for the Jewish people. It was like a HUGE family reunion worship service. Lots of prayer, lots of small and large gathering all at the western most point of the Jerusalem temple which was destroyed. The wall is the foundation wall of the temple. The people of Jerusalem and people all over the world write prayers on scraps of paper and put them in the cracks of the wall. I can't even explain how moving it was to see. I tried to use take a video which I may or may not figure how to upload. But, not tonight.....for it is late and it has been a VERY long day.

Peace to Jerusalem and peace to all, Pastor Laurie

Friday, March 6th

So, business first. I had technical difficulties tonight. This blog page kept coming up in Hebrew, which I had in seminary, but cannot read or write at all fluently. And...even if I could, it would not be helpful for you in following my journey. If for some reason, I stop posting, it is due to technical difficulties such as this.

Today was our free day. I went with Pastor Beverly, Pastor Tiffany and Pastor John on a long long hike down from the Arbel Cliff, through the Valley of the Doves and on down to modern day Magdala where we had lunch. It was a beautiful day and wonderful hike and awesome company. We saw castle ruins, lots of caves (where interestingly enough cows seem to live/hang out in----VERY STINKY), a newborn calf who could barely stay up on his legs and a big cow in the middle of the path who did not want to move to let us stay on the path. I've included a number of pictures from the walk including one of me and Pastor Beverly in the "cow patty cave"--notice how HUGE the cave is and how small we are!!

The Valley of the Doves is a huge valley that is right in the middle of the path that everyone thinks Jesus would have walked to get from his hometown of Nazareth down to the Sea of Galilee. We all felt pretty certain, we were in the footsteps of Jesus today.

Pastor Joy and I led the worship service tonight. We leave for the city of Jerusalem tomorrow, so it was service of movement and transition and remembering the places we have been this week.

I now should be packing, because it is late at night here. Wanted to get a quick post in.

Peace from Tiberius one last time,

Pastor Laurie

Thursday, March 5th

Today was an interesting day. We went up toward the border countries of Syria and Lebanon. On the way up we stoppped at a beautiful waterfall. It was a steep and muddy (and very stinky) walk to get to the waterfall. But....boy, was it worth it. Beautiful. It really was spectacular and reminded me that such beauty has to come from God. We got all wet and were teasing each other that we had been baptized once again. I am posting a picture of me and my roommate Pastor Tiffany in front of the waterfall. I am also including a picture of the three Presbyterian Pastors in our group (myself, Pastor Joy and Pastor Alfredo)

Next, we boarded the bus again and went up to the Golan Heights. The Golan Heights are an area that was not part of Israel just a little while ago. It is called an "occupied territory" because Israel occupies it right now, but it is not officially considered Israel. There were lots of Israeli army bases and soldiers in the area. There were also signs everywhere that warned you not to go off the road because there were mines planted in the ground. Mines are explosives that can hurt or even kill you if you step on them.

To see the soldiers and fences and the signs was disturbing to me. It reminded me that we are traveling in a place that people have fought over for many, many years....way back before Jesus' time and all the way until today. This little piece of land (about the size of New Jersey) is a pathway betweeen Africa to the south and China and India to the north. It has always been thought of as valuable, so countries fight over it. Add to that the fact that the Jewish people, Christians and Muslims all have their religious roots here. Why do we have to fight? Isn't there a way to share this special place.

So.....beyond all that we saw some marvelous things today. We saw a castle that is named after a mythological warrior named Nimrod, we saw where the Greek temples of Pan and Zeus were that were built in the first century. I put a picture of what it used to look like (now it just looks like the side of a mountain sort of dug out. I saw a pregnant donkey beside the road. I saw my first sheep in Israel. And we ate at the town of Magdala where Mary Magdalene was from.

I came back from all that and ran 4 miles at a little gym, so I am pooped out.

And now...it is dinnertime.

Wednesday, March 4th

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

The sun came out today. After our spectacular breakfast, we went to see a boat before we got on a boat.

The boat we saw was a boat from the first century that was just found in the mud at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee a few years ago. The lake level in the Sea of Galilee (which remember is not a sea at all, but a lake) is going down. One day, a fisherman saw something sticking up out of the mud in the bottom of the lake. It was this very, very old boat that is very old, perhaps from the time when Jesus walked the land here (and remember he walked on the water of the Sea of Galilee, as well). I have included a picture of the boat. It was pretty large and could hold several people and a bunch of fish!

We then got on the boat and sailed around the Sea of Galilee. That is when the sun came out. Alleluia! We stopped and read the bible passage about Jesus walking on the water. The disciple Peter sees him and says, “I want to come out there, also.” So Jesus says, “come on out”. Peter is OK walking on the water for a little bit, but then sees the waves and gets nervous and starts sinking. Jesus takes his hand and pulls him out and says, “Peter, you need to have faith.” I have included a picture of myself and one of my professors on the boat. His name is Dr. Horton and he taught me New Testament Bible from way back when I was in college at Wake Forest University.

At the end of the boat ride we stopped at a kibbutz. A kibbutz is a place where people live in community and work together, usually as farmers. The children are all raised together and go to school together. It would be like if the children of the church also all lived in the same neighborhood went to the same school, the parents worked all together and put their money together and ate their meals together. I have included a picture of me on the playground of the kibbutz.

After lunch at the kibbutz, we got on our big bus and went to a spot on the Jordan River. The Jordan River is the river where Jesus was baptized by his cousin, John. I went in the water. It was brown and muddy and pretty cold. It reminded me of rivers in Florida. My friend Joy and I poured water on each other’s heads and gave each other a blessing. I also blessed a pastor named Beverly and a pastor named Alfredo. A very special thing is that my roommate, Tiffany is pregnant. I took water from the Jordan and held it on her belly and blessed the baby who is not even born yet! I have included a picture of me in the river Jordan.

Shalom Ya’ll (I bought a small sign that says that), Pastor Laurie

Tuesday, March 3

Another rainy day in Tiberius. We were supposed to go on a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee and then go see the river Jordan. But, because it was raining, we did not do that.

Instead we went to Sephhoris, which was a Greek city that archaeologists have found. They have been digging under the earth and have found a whole city! Houses, markets, streets, an amphitheatre and even marks in the road where chariots rode.

After Sephhoris, we visited Nazareth. You will remember that Nazareth is Jesus’ hometown. He was born in Bethlehem, but Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth. We visited two churches. Both churches claim they are at the location where the angel Gabriel came and told young Mary that she was going to have a baby and it would be God’s child.

The second church we visited was built around a cave that some say Mary and her family lived in. But….a bunch of churches have been built on top of it and been destroyed and built on top of and then destroyed and on and on and on. The church that is there now is beautiful. All on the outside courtyard and inside the church are pictures of baby Jesus and his mother Mary from all different countries. I’ll download a few.

I also have downloaded a picture of the orange juice machine and a picture of a candy store.

Peace, Pastor Laurie

Monday, March 2nd

Today was a day of three churches. It is a rainy day and we cannot see across the Sea of Galilee today.

The first church is on the traditional Mount of the Beatitudes. (read Matthew 14:13 and on) A church that Catholic nuns run sits on the site where pilgrims through the years have come to pray and worship and to see.

In the church there is lots of marble (stone), If you touch the marble, it is very cold and smooth. The church is shaped in an octagon. There were mosaics made of lots of tile on the floors.

Next, we visited a church at the shore of the Sea of Galilee. This second church is called the church at Tabgha. It is known for a mosaic of loaves and fishes,. (read John 21:1-19). There are springs here that made the water warm, so lots of fishes are in this area. It was a very plain church with wood beams on the ceiling. It is made of stone. There is a small goldfish pond in the courtyard before you enter the church. And….there were swallows flying and flitting all around and making little chirping sounds.

The last church we visited is know as “the Primacy of Peter” church. Peter was Jesus’ disciple who Jesus said, “You are Peter, the rock, and on this rock, I will build my church”

Here, I gathered tiny shells to give to the children in Sunday school. (you have to be there the Sunday I get back to get a shell from the Sea of Galilee). I made sure they did not have snails or other animals in them.

I am putting a picture of each of the churches on today’s entry. I also posted a picture of me on the Sea of Galilee where I picked up the shells.

For my niece, McKenna….I will get a picture of the orange juice machine and post it (maybe tomorrow) The oranges fall down from a big bin and go into a squeezer that busts them through their peel and squirts the juice into your cup. It is very cool.

Sunday, March 1

Today I woke up very happy that I had slept all night long! The sun was shining and when I opened the curtains to our hotel room, I could see the Sea of Galilee. (note about the Sea of Galilee….it is actually a large lake and you can see all around it). I had expected it to be bigger, but am not disappointed.

Our breakfast was srumpdeliscious. This hotel knows about food. I have posted a couple of pictures of breakfast and will try to post a video of the orange juice maker that automatically squeezes oranges while you wait. I was most impressed with the honeycomb (the kind bees make) that was hanging on a rack. You take your spoon and pull it off and eat it!

We got on our big bus and went to a cliff on the side of a hill called Arbel Cliff. From this cliff, you can see all around the Sea of Galillee. One place you can see is called the land of Gennesaret. If you look up Matthew 14:34 in the bible, you will see that after Jesus fed the five thousand men plus women and children, he and the disciples crossed to sea to the land of Gannesaret.

This is the end of the rainy season in Israel. Soon it will stop raining and everything will dry up because there is no water. But…right now things are green and also, muddy. There are all different colors of wildflowers growing out of the sides of rocks. We have seen mango trees, banana trees and olive trees. I will try and include a picture of me on the Arbel Cliff with an olive tree.

On the side of the hills you can see caves. Through the years, different people have hidden in caves such as these. In the bible a number of people including David and Elijah hid in and lived in caves.

We left Arbel Cliff and went in our bus to the ancient city of Capernaum. Capernaum was where Jesus began his ministry. He left his home of Nazareth and went to Capernaum. There he taught in the synagogue and performed miracles of healing. He became very famous during the time he was in Capernaum. (See Matthew 4:13, 11:23; Mark 1:21; Luke 7:1; 10; 15 and John 6:59). Capernaum is right on the Sea of Galilee and some of disciples (including Peter) are thought to be from Capernaum.

We visited the place that people think is Peter’s house. There is a church on top of it now, but there is a glass floor and you can see through to where archeologists have dug down to what they think is Peter’s house. (Remember Peter lived over 2000 years ago, when Jesus did, so the original house would not still be there).

Next to Peter’s house are the ancient synagogue ruins. This is probably where Jesus taught with people gathered around him. There are cats walking around the ruins. Lots of places are fenced off so people can’t walk around, but the cats just walk around all over!

We went to a Lebanese restaurant and had fish. Which was fine, except that the fish was cooked with the head still on (eyes and everything)?

Back at our hotel, the missing suitcases got to us. Hurray!!