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In case you didn't already know, we arrived back home safely last night at about 8:15 p.m. Only one lost piece of luggage along the way. Everybody's glad to to be back - a nice comfortable bed, a pillow with no lumps, a potty that we know and love - all things we have looked forward to. Thanks for praying for our group. Shalom and out! The Rabbi.

From the Garden to the Grave

Day 4 – Jerusalem – Our tour is coming to a close. We started today at the Israeli museum and saw a model of Jerusalem from Jesus’ day and the Dead Sea Scrolls. We then went to the Mt. of Olives to see a panoramic view of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is amazing to see. Some of us then walked down to the Garden of Gethsemane via the Palm Sunday road (everyone else road the bus). We visited Dominus Flevit which marks the place where Jesus wept when he saw the city and then on to the Church of the Nations which is over the spot where Jesus prayed just before his arrest. There are olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane that are over 2000 years old – so they were there during the time of Jesus’ arrest. We then walked through Old Jerusalem to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (the traditional site for the crucifixion and tomb of Jesus. After lunch and shopping we went to the Garden Tomb for a communion and worship time. We now have to pack! We leave for the airport at 1:30 AM so we will be extra tired when we arrive at RDU. We are looking forward to seeing everyone – but it has been a treasure to be in the place where Jesus walked. Thank you to all of you for praying for us and following our journey. We are so thankful to have had this chance to be here.

Pictures: 1) Overlooking Jerusalem from Mt. of Olives 2) Walking down Palm Sunday Road 3) Church of the Holy Sepulchre 4) Damascus Gate into Old City Jerusalem 5) Garden Tomb – Virginia and Edna got to see the empty tomb!! 6) Lord’s Supper Celebration at the Garden Tomb

New Return Itinerary

Lufthansa 691 Tel Aviv to Frankfurt 4/25 5:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Lufthansa 426 Frankfurt to Philadelphia 4/25 1:50 p.m. - 4:35 p.m.
US Air 3103 Philly to RDU 4/25 6:20 p.m. - 8:03 p.m.

Masada...Dead Sea... Jericho

Day 3 – Jerusalem – We left the city for the day today to take in sites in the surrounding countryside. We stopped for a quick look at the Wadi Kelt – the setting for the parable of the Good Samaritan. Our morning was spent at Masada. This fortress was built by Herod and is famous as the last stand against Rome by the Jews in 73 AD. We rode a cable car to the top of the mountain. We then visited Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Sixteen of us then took a dip in the Dead Sea. We were able to do the “Dead Sea float” and rub the healing mud on our skin! There is really no way to describe how the water feels. Our last stop of the day was in Jericho – we saw a sycamore tree much like the one Zaccheus would have climbed, viewed the city walls that Joshua led the Israelites against, and saw the site thought to be the place where Jesus fasted for 40 days and then was tempted by Satan. It was a full day again! We head back into Old Jerusalem tomorrow for our last day. At dinner tonight everyone seemed to be much better!! We expect everyone to be able to go with us tomorrow.
Pictures: 1) Wadi Kelt 2) Masada 3) Baths at Masada 4) Dead Sea float 5) How Graydon spent his time while Judy was sick at the hotel 6) Dead Sea 7) Jericho

To Greta from Mary B.

(If possible, please pick up Fi-Fi Saturday morning. Thanks!)

Walking Where Jesus Walked

Day 2 from Jerusalem: We began our day with a tour of the Church of the Nativity. It is in Manger Square if you have seen the pictures on the news at Christmas. We toured the church and then had to wait to be able to go down to the site believed to be where Jesus was born. Our group sang “O Come All Ye Faithful” standing in the grotto. Then it was into town for lunch and shopping in an olive wood shop. This afternoon we went to the Old City of Jerusalem. We walked through the market district in the Christian Quarter and made our way to the Western Wall or Wailing Wall as we know it. We were able to pray at this site – the most holy site for Jews. We then took the Rabbinical Tunnel Tour. We walked all along the outside wall of the temple mount – underneath the ground. It was amazing to see the excavations and to walk underneath the city. The tour ended at Antonio Fortress – the site where Jesus was condemned to die and was given the cross to carry. The actual arch He went through is still there – we began the walk that He took to Calvary. We did several sites today and will complete His walk on Friday. We also saw the pool of Bethesda and then sang in the Church dedicated to Sainte Anne – Mary’s mother. The acoustics were great and we finished the day with praise. Another group from Louisiana was also in there and we sang together. Our guide is an Israeli Christian and makes the Word come to life for us. We have really enjoyed our time with him. Thursday we will visit Jericho, the Dead Sea, Masada, and Qumran.
Pictures: 1) Our group outside the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem 2) St. Jerome’s room in the church – he stayed here 20 years translating the Bible from Hebrew to Latin so everyone could read it (the Vulgate) 3) In front of the Wailing Wall – Old City Jerusalem 4) Overlooking the pool of Bethesda 5) Singing inside Sainte Anne’s Church 6) Church of the Agony and Garden of Gethsemane (we will visit on Friday)

Happy Birthday Marianne Palmer from your Mom and Dad and the rest of the Holy Land Adventurers!

Up To Jerusalem

Greetings from the Holy City of Jerusalem!  We arrived at 6:30 pm – a much better time than our last journey.  We are at the Crowne Plaza and have enjoyed an excellent dinner – the buffet has so many choices!   We left Tiberias this morning with our first stop in Nazareth and the church built over the traditional site of Mary’s house.  This spot is thought to be where the angel Gabriel announced to her that she would be the mother of Jesus.  We were able to experience some of the town also.  Then it was on to Megiddo – a site of 21-25 cities built on top of each other.  There are major excavations to view and an incredible well and tunnel we got to climb through.  The highlight of this site is that it overlooks Armageddon – the site of the final battle mentioned in Rev 16.  Next it was Mt. Carmel where Elijah defeated the gods of Baal (1 Kings 18).  We then went on to Caesarea –another site of incredible ruins.  We saw the aqueduct that brought fresh water to the city and were able to put our feet in the Mediterranean.  Then it was on to Jerusalem.  We are excited that tomorrow we will go to Bethlehem and Old City Jerusalem.   Thank you for your prayers.  It appears that most are on the road to recovery, but please keep praying for us!

Pictures:  1) At Megiddo   2) Overlooking Armageddon    3) Mt. Carmel  4) At the Mediterranean Sea in Caesarea  5) Our pastors on the ancient toilets at the Hippodrome in Caesarea   6)  Al & Jean sang to us at the amphitheater in Caesarea

Petra and Tiberias

Greetings from Israel! We are very thankful to be in Tiberias for the 2nd night. What a beautiful country we have seen. We left our hotel early yesterday morning to visit Petra – amazing! It would take 3 days to even begin to see it all. Some road carts in (0ver a mile down), some walked, some road horses, and some stayed in the hotel (3) trying to recover from the bug going through our group. We then left and traveled through Jordan visiting Mt. Nebo, the sight where Moses saw the Promised Land but was not allowed to enter. We then continued on to Tiberias, arriving at 10 last night. It was a full day. We began our day today with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. WONDERFUL! It was a time of worship, viewing the very place Jesus spent so much time, and seeing the surrounding countryside to put so many Biblical scenes in perspective. We then went to the location of the Sermon on the Mount and took turns reading the very words Jesus spoke (the scenery picture is taken from the mount). Our day included a special St. Peter’s fish lunch – served with the head on! This afternoon we visited the ruins of Capernaum, the site of the feeding of the 5000 and concluded the day with a baptismal service in the Jordan. Tonight begins a special day of remembrance in Israel to honor the victims of the Holocaust. Tomorrow we head to Jerusalem! Please continue to pray for the health of our group – 3 stayed behind today also.

Wilderness Wanderings

Sorry to have missed yesterday. Not good availability. We traveled most of the day working our way from Cairo down to The Sinai –basically traveling the path that the Israelites took when they left the Land of Goshen and fled Egypt. We went to the traditional sites that Exodus 15-17 details: The springs at Marah, the Wilderness of Sin where they first received manna, and the site where Israel defeated Amelek. Now let me tell you – when Scripture refers to “wilderness” it is talking dry, barren, rocky, deserted land. I have a whole new appreciation for what the people of God experienced.

This morning began at 1:00 a.m. for 28 of us who braved the earliness of the hour to tackle an ascent of Mount Sinai – the site where it is believed that Moses received the 10 Commandments. Probably the hardest hike I have I have ever taken. 6+ straight hours of hiking. The first 4 uphill. You will see some pictures below of what we saw when we got to the top. We made it to the top around 5:00 a.m. – just in time to watch the sun rise. Unbelievable!

We spent most of the rest of the day (from 10:00 a.m. on) on the bus driving to Petra, Jordan. Got in tonight about 8:30 – a long day but a good day. A few folks are experiencing some ill effects so pray that God will guard our bodies as we head to Israel tomorrow.

Our Day In Cairo

Our first full day in the Middle East. On the bus by 8:00 a.m. Spent a few hours at the Egyptian Museum which houses thousands of artifacts that are thousands of years old… mummies, pharaoh statues, King Tut stuff etc. Then to Giza for a look at the pyramids and some camel riding for those not faint of heart. We saw the 3 largest pyramids in the world as well as The Sphinx. Then a little bit of shopping. Back at the hotel by 6:15 p.m. Nice to have a bit of a relaxing evening before a long drive day tomorrow as we head under the Suez Canal through the Sinai to Saint Catherines. Don’t know if web access will be available tomorrow night or not.

We are in Cairo!

So... you will notice from the pictures below that we finally made it out of the RDU airport and after MANY hours of travel we arrived in Cairo mid afternoon Wednesday. We had enough time to take a sail on the Nile River and then check into our hotel. We are staying near the Great Pyramids. Traffic is crazy here. But we are glad to have food in our bellies and a place where we can lay our heads after missing a night of sleep. Full day tomorrow. So far everyone is healthy and excited to get this adventure in full throttle. More tomorrow night.

Posted below are some slides of our adventure in the Triangle as we wait to fly out tomorrow. We now fly from here to Philadelphia then on to Cairo. We will miss our day in Athens as a result of all the chaos but alas we did get to stay in a Holiday Inn. The next post will hopefully be from Egypt if we've got internet access. Shalom!

Okay, so today did not turn out the way that we expected. We arrived at RDU at 8:15 to find that we were not in the US Air system. Because of a computer glitch with Olympic Airlines our trip has been pushed back one day. We now fly out of RDU on 3 separate flights Tuesday morning and will arrive in NYC to meet our Olympic flight to Athens. The airline has arranged for us to stay tonight at the Holiday Inn at the airport and will provide shuttle transportation in the morning. We will still have all of the planned adventures - just extended by one day. We now arrive back to RDU on SATURDAY, April 25. The group has been great today and learned to exercise one of the basic rules of travel - BE FLEXIBLE!