Galilee, Golan, Jerusalem...Oh, My?

Well, it's been a few days...where to start...

A BUNCH has happened since last Wednesday so we should probably set aside some time to really go into it. I don't have anything better to do right now and neither do you. Feel free to skim and skip, though. This might get long. So...

We didn't end up going to Tel Arad last Thursday. I should have known that plans would change because they do just about every day. Instead, we got up that morning and went down to see Eldon and he decided that we all would go pick up his computer because he figured out what was wrong with it and didn't want to pay a shop. He also wanted to do an outreach while we were in a Muslim neighborhood up there. So we all piled in the van and once again headed North. Actually, first we stopped by the mall and bought a GRIP (a lot) of candy bars (we'll get there). THEN we headed north.

We managed to get his computer back then we drove to a nearby Muslim neighborhood. First we got falafels at a little, open-air restaurant, then Eldon filled us in on how we would go about things. We ended up going door to door to the businesses and giving the employees candy bars and telling them that we wanted to share God's love in a practical way. It was a really cool experience and the only bummer was that Kyle and I don't understand Arabic so Eldon had to translate for us. Most of the people seemed very appreciative. There was one guy who Eldon talked to for a while because first the guy couldn't figure out why we were doing it. He thought we were trying to convert him (we weren't) and then him and Eldon started discussing how the Quran and the New Testament can be used together. It was cool sitting and watching them talk even though I didn't know what the heck they were saying until Eldon filled us in afterwards. So the whole thing went pretty quickly because we ran out of candy after about 45 minutes but all-in-all, it was a great experience and we didn't even get any rocks thrown at us. :D

After that we came back home and worked out with Eldon for a while. Then we all showered and went out for our "Thanksgiving dinner". My cheeseburger was glorious and I washed it down with a Goldstar, which happens to be my favorite Israeli beer. Eldon and Lydia came with us, too, so we ended up having three Americans and a Ukrainian (or whatever they call people from the Ukraine). Other than my family being 7,000 miles away, it was great!

I didn't get to do the teaching I had prepared on the second chapter of Jonah the next morning because no one showed up for Bible study. Instead Eldon taught us some boxing moves and then sent us off on a road trip. It was decided that since there was still a lot of the country I hadn't seen, we would take the weekend off do some traveling. It was actually my first road trip outside of America. I love road trips.

The goal was to check out some of the specific spots where a lot of the different stories in the Bible actually took place. So, we got some food and some gas and headed North (again) towards the Sea of Galilee. The first day was mostly driving. We went through Nazareth which is now the largest Arab city in Israel and then through Tiberias which is one of the four holy cities in Judaism (I don't know why). When we got to the Galilee it was dark and rainy. Actually, it rained most of the day just about everywhere we went but it was especially rough driving through the middle of those two major cities in the middle of a deluge and trying to figure out which way to go. Once we found the Sea, we just looked for and found a park where we could stop and sleep in the van. It wasn't that late but we tried to sleep so we could get up early the next morning and head out. Where we stayed was right around the area where Jesus calmed the storm.

We got up the next morning and actually got to see the Galilee for the first time. It's a beautiful lake. Something like 25 kilometers long and 50-something kilometers around. Pretty big. We thought we had managed to park and sleep for free (if what we did could be called "sleeping"...it's tough in a van), but some guy came around that morning and made us pay. I don't speak Hebrew.

We went North (we do that a lot) and went through Migdal (where Mary Magdalene was from) then we stopped and saw what has been named "the Jesus Boat". It's a first century fishing boat that was discovered 20 years ago buried in the mud when the Galilee was especially low. Apparently the mud preserved it all from rotting away so it was dug up and is now displayed in a museum on the shore. Very touristy. Lots of Americans.

The people there were friendly and gave us a map with some more popular sights on it and they recommended we head even further North (surprise) to the Golan Heights.

We kept going along the edge of the Sea and stopped at a couple neat churches at which I took about a gajillion pictures each. We also stopped at Capernaum (think Sermon on the Mount) and saw what's left of a synagogue where Jesus taught and Peter's house where Jesus stayed which was later turned into a church, destroyed, excavated, and then another church was built on top of it (lots of pictures).

We then crossed the Jordan River and went North (I know, I know) up into the Golan Heights area. This is where a lot of the fighting took place during the Lebanon war. A lot of the land up there is now unusable because so much of it is minefields. Everywhere we went up there, there were signs on all the fences along the road that said "Caution: Mines". Needless to say, we didn't stray off the road much. Although we did stop and take some pictures of a tank that was just sitting on the side of the road. That was pretty cool.

Finally we found this lookout place called Coffee Anon, or something, which was up on top of a hill and you could see Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon out in the distance. It was amazing. And the coffee and egg sandwiches were good, too. More Americans. More pictures. It's actually built around what was a military base/lookout during one (or all) of the wars and you can go down in the bunker and see all the stuff.

Guess where we went next. Yep. NORTH! I think we spent too long at the coffee place because next we went to Nimrod's Castle but we got there right when it was closing. It would have been cool to get to see the inside but we at least got some pictures of the outside.

Now our only plan for the rest of the day was to make it back to the Galilee and find another place to sleep before it got too dark. We found a public beach this time that we probably wouldn't have to pay for and parked there for a while before realizing that we were hungry and didn't have any food. Or water for that matter. So, we got back out of there and found a gas station and got some food then went back. We started watching a movie on my computer (really roughin' it) and then came back and finished the movie after helping the drunk guy get unstuck from the sand. Kyle has more grace than I because I was all for letting the guy stay stuck and figure it out in the morning when he was sober. Maybe I just don't like enabling drunk guys to drive. Oh, well.

Okay, good job hanging in there so far. We're almost done. Forgive me if I start leaving out details for the sake of getting this thing done.

The next morning we got up and headed for Jerusalem. It's a good place to end a road trip of the country. We got there. We parked. We reserved some beds at the same hostel I stayed at last time I was in Jerusalem.

This was all yesterday...Sunday. So last night after getting in and finding some beds, we took a walk along the outside walls of the city (not free) and then went and splashed through Hezekiah's tunnel (even less free). Remind me and I'll show you pictures and tell you every detail of our day in Jerusalem because it's worth hearing about. I'm just getting tired of writing right now. For the sake of length, just know that, other than those couple things, we ate, walked, shopped, haggled, ate more, made new friends at the hostel, drank tea, and went to bed.

This morning we tried to go to the Temple Mount but they wouldn't let me in with my laptop. It could have been a bomb, I guess. Our final sight was the Garden Tomb. One of a couple places where it is believed Jesus may have been buried and rose. It was another beautiful place and very appropriate for our last stop. I'll show you pictures and tell you about it because the beauty is in the details, as with most things. Don't settle for merely a couple sentences summarizing each thing I've seen this month. It would be a shame and I'll have nothing but time when I get back. Just put some coffee or tea in my belly and we can go on for hours.

I'm back in Arad now. I have a couple more plans this week and then I'm leaving Israel. On Thursday I fly to London to meet up with a friend so we can see Europe together for a couple weeks. Then back to Washington. I don't know how much I'll update while I'm in Europe because I won't actually have a home, but we'll see what happens.

I love you all! Thank you so much for all the prayers and financial support. You are truly a blessing. Talk to you soon!

.Timothy