Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Galilee 11-day trip

This is a very condensed version of my 11 day trip in Galilee. Every other day we went on full day field trips to places where Christ performed miracles. So here you have a small portion of Galilee!
Sea of Galilee sunset
Fireside on the beach with the President of the Tiberias (which includes Galilee) branch
Yardenit- The Jordan river in Galilee where many people get baptized every day.
Caeserea Philipi- one of my absolute favorite places. In the scriptures, it’s a play upon words when He says in Matthew 16:17-19 ‘Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ He was standing under the Mt. of Transfiguration, which was the place Christ was transfigured and the word Peter= ‘small rock’. Christ gave all the priesthood keys to Peter to be the head of the church and to share is with the world and to build the church upon Him.
Beth-Shean- A Roman city, Scythopolis.
Hazor archaeological site, in the water tunnel.. normal smiling pictures get old after a while.
Master's New Testament class devotional on the beach
Nimrod's castle- it looked exactly like the castle in LOTR 2, Chase and Spencer would have LOVED it!
Mt. of Beatiudes (Sermon on the Mount)
Boat used in Jesus' time on the Sea of Galilee
Boat ride on the Sea of Galilee (it actually wasn't posed.. haha)
ACL surgery twins

The girls.. having 60 girls and 19 boys (with a few engaged) are not the best odds.
In Qasrin, an Ancient Talmudic village. This was one of the houses they found.
Mason's loin cloth?
Fish Restaurant
(According to the sign)I guess we are losers... (found in Nazareth)
Synagogue in Nazareth

Meggido-Armageddon
Caesarea Maritima
Beach

Acre- rebuilt by the crusaders, this is the fighting area.
At Acre, some local boys were showing off with their cliff jumping skills..I was very impressed.
Hour long lectures take their toll on you..especially in 100 degree heat plus 100% humidity.
Archaeological site
Templar Funerary cemetery in Haifa, I found a possible relative!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

JORDAN

I give you... JORDAN! (sorry, my titles aren't very creative)..
This is the funerary tomb in Petra (you've probably seen it in the Indiana Jones movie), it was amazing to see it in real life. You have to walk a couple miles through a canyon/mountain to get to it, but it's well worth the walk. I couldn't believe how well it was preserved after all these years. (Oh and I'm not an angry person, it just went with the theme of the place)
This was a little Bedouin family that we got to know. The youngest little boy was tied to his mom's table so he wouldn't run off the mountain. It was so funny because I went to pick him up and didn't realize he was tied on.

hhiiii--yaaa! Yes I had to wear my knee brace to be able to hike up there, attractive, I know.
This little Bedouin girl, Tamam, became our best friend in Petra. She wants to be a doctor, specifically a surgeon, but first I needed to teach her some American hang clapping games
This is Dima, she took me to her little tent and decided to place flowers anywhere she could on my head. I wanted to take her home with me. Her mom made me some Tea and I felt so bad that I couldn't drink it. She didn't speak English so I tried to explain in broken ARabic that it was forbidden ('Haram').. I kept saying (while pointing to the sky) .."Allah says haram for me, tea is haram for me"


'look into the glass, now what do you see?'
Behind us is the Dead Sea, and Rach (the girl next to me) just got her mission call to Chicago North mission, Spanish speaking! We have even more of a bond than just our names now (because I'm from Chicago).
Jordan River, most likely the place where Christ was baptized. It was extremely hot, with the humidity it was even worse than Lake Powell heat..ahh..

Dead Sea scrolls in a museum
Citadel Mosque in Amman., the women had to wear these black robes.
Inside the mosque..
Jerash- an ancient Roman city in Amman.



Thursday, July 23, 2009

Bethlehem

Today we took a half day trip to Bethlehem. Because it's in the West Bank and the check points, we were only allowed to go there this one time. We went to Bethlehem University, had lunch at a restaurant called, 'The Tent', and went to Bethlehem square where they believe Christ was born.
Walking into the cave where Christians believe Christ was born.
Christians believe this is the spot where the manger was. I pictured it very differently, but it's been hundreds of years and many churches have been erected in the place they believe He was born.




Inside the church at Bethlehem University

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