Wow! What an experience! This has been such a fantastic and spirit-filled event thus far. I had no idea what I was getting into. Certainly, this is the land of God! Just a few items to share with you: first, this series of blog posts is to highlight some of my many experiences while here in Israel; second, I’ll try to keep my blog posts as short as possible whenever I post so that you get a sense of how things have progressed (even though this one is a little long to compress 3 days), and finally, I’m limited in my writing, somewhat, and, part of the reason why I’ve taken so long to post since arriving here in Israel on Wednesday, is because in Hebrew all sentences go from right to left and all the headings in this blog set-up are in Hebrew characters! Should have done a refresher and brushed up on my Hebrew before this trip. J
Day 1 – Wednesday, February 15th
Sixty (60) individuals, including Ontario Conference leaders, some support staff, and pastors are on this trip. We left Toronto Pearson International Airport on Tuesday, February 14th at 1:10pm EST and arrived on Wednesday, February 15th at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel at 6:58 am on Wednesday morning. We didn’t go directly to the hotel. The tour guide took us on a trip. Tel Aviv is the second largest city in Israel and is the capital of the same. On the western coast of Israel, it is the city where the Jewish Council first sat to vote to make modern Israel a state. Apparently, Tel Aviv did not exist during the time of Christ. However, it is connected to several towns, one of which is Jaffa, which is the same town as ancient Joppa, recorded in Jonah and the Book of Acts (10). Another name for it is Haffa. We had the opportunity to visit Joppa and actually went down, literally, to that town and visited the ports. We also passed what looked like the place where Simon, the Tanner, might have lived. We stayed that night at the Grand Beach Hotel.
Day 2 – Thursday, February 16th
Up early on Thursday morning to leave by 8:30am, we followed the theme for the tour, In His Steps, by focusing on some themes for the day during devotion: trust, confidence, courage and perseverance. The readings came from Psalms 1 and Psalm 121. On Thursday we drove along the coastal road to the Crusader port city of Caesarea, which was then, the Roman capital of ancient Israel. This is 45 km north of Tel Aviv, south of Haifa (not to be confused with Haffa). We even passed Samaria on the way there. Caesarea was named after the Caesars. Herod, the Great, who was then the Roman king of Judea, built that city. We saw the many pillars, which mark your entrance into the city. We, also, saw Herod’s super dome and theaters. We even saw a 3D movie on the development and the many eras in which Caesarea existed. We sang “How Great Thou Art” in one of Herod’s amphitheaters, built for fighting and punishment, and as we sang, some of the other tourists joined in. Caesarea is noted for Peter’s preaching there (Acts 10:34-43); Paul’s preaching there (Acts 9:26; 18:22; 21:8), and Paul and his imprisonment and appeal to Caesar there (Acts 23:23-33; 25).
We also went to Haifa and visited the golden domed Bahai Temple and were supposed to visit the Persian Gardens, but couldn’t because it was closed. Disappointing. We also visited Mt. Carmel and the site persevered by the Carmelites for visitors to get a sense of how high the mountain was and the importance of that time in Israel’s history. We read from 1 Kings 18 the story, which made this place, and the prophet Elijah, most famous. Much more could be said regarding Day 2, but we bunked down for the night at Kibbutz Maagan Holiday Village Hotel.
Day 3 – Friday, February 17th
Up early again today. The leaders speared no detail regarding worship. We left hotel en route to one end of the Sea of Galilee (or the Sea of Ganeserett, or as some locals call it, the Lake of Kinneret) to another side. To get there we had to catch a boat ride from Tiberias, heading north on the Sea of Galilee towards Capernaum where Jesus did most of his ministry. Tiberias was created to be Israel’s major city to replace Jerusalem following one of their wars (have to gain a better understanding on this). On that boat ride, the theme for the day came into focus: “Commitment and Submission”. We read Matthew 8 and Matthew 14:22-35, all passages related to Jesus and the disciples on the waters of the Sea of Galilee where their faith would be tested. Of course, we sang “Mighty to Save”, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”, “Majesty”, and “Master the Tempest is Raging”. Our faith needed to be strengthened today. Although the Sea of Galilee is 13 miles by 7 miles, it took us more than an hour to get to the next town. The rain fell, the winds blew, and the waves were so rough that, several attempts by the captain to dock the boat proved unsuccessful. He finally took another course of action, minutes later, and was successful this time. The tour guide expressed to us that he’s never had that kind of inspirational experience with any other group as he did with us.
During today’s events, we drove through Magdala, home of Mary Magdalene. We went to Mount of Beatitudes. This is the mount where Jesus preached his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). He had to have preached quite loudly based on the how the mount is situated relative to where the people were standing. We went also to a place called Tabgha to visit the traditional site of the place where it is said Jesus fed the 5000 plus (Mark 6:27-44). It’s estimated that he must have fed at least 20,000 persons that day! Though the posted sign at that site said “Quiet”, we sang “Hallelujah, Hallelujah”. We visited Capernaum, the center of Jesus’ ministry. There we saw remains of an ancient synagogue and the site where it is believed Peter’s home was located, upon which is a church dedicated to that site. We finished our excursion at a baptismal site on the Jordan River. There people from various faith groups across the world baptized those who came with them. Much more to be said about that, but we bunked down for the night at the same hotel in Day 2. Before turning, part of our Sabbath worship centered on how the day unfolded and what lessons were learned from the various visits to water sites…
So there you go… Three days packed into one blog post. I pray that the little I have been able to share with you encourages you and strengthens your faith in your walk with Christ. I wish you God’s awesome favour this weekend. More to come!
Blessings,
Pastor John
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