We've Been to the Desert.....

We headed out this morning and headed up the Masada on a cable car. It amazes me that they would want to build and live and haul food and supplies up on that mountain. We also saw the area, or possible area the Israelites took to enter into the holy land. on our way up to Jerusalem we went through Be'er Sheva. We are now in Jerusalem and will be staying here the remainder of the time, venturing out during the day and back to the same hotel at nights so our last packing will be to head home. Internet time now is very expensive so I probably will not be uploading any more photos. We all will have a lot to share when we get home. I will try to make quick posts at the end of each day to let you know where we have been. All are healthy and getting in plenty of walking and learning so much!

Friday & Saturday photos

https://picasaweb.google.com/grammy4him/IsraelMar3?authuser=0&feat=directlink

adding to a difficult post....

...the last post didn't want to finish right, so we continue with a new one...

jones, ballards and jeffers,   we're at the lowest spot on earth, the dead sea. tommarrow on to jerusalem via masada. we'll show plentey of pictures later. love to all.

Saturday

Jackie here...Today we said goodbye to the Sea of Galilee and headed south through the Jordan valley with the country of Jordan always in view on our left.  Our first stop was Beth Shem, an ancient Roman city.  A man was singing in the amphitheatre and brought tears to our eyes.  We stopped at Qumran and saw the digs  where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  Then as we drove along the western shore of the Dead Sea we stopped at En Gedi and saw the caves where David hid from Saul. Words do not do justice to the range of emotions we all feel in a day, walking on this ancient soil and seeing Scripture come alive.

Hey...Sue here...this is absolutely unbelievable.  I will never read the bible in the same way...having a clearer picture of places that are being talked about...touching ancient walls where saints (and ain'ts) have touched...walking on cobblestone paths that were tread on by people we read about...it's been totally unreal.  So eye -opening.  Wonderful!

  

jones,ballards and jeffers,     we made it from the north end of israel to the south. we are at the dead sea

We Saw Snow!

After another huge breakfast, we loaded into our bus and headed north to the region of Dan and toured the Hermon Reserve.  We had a mixed bag of weather.  We covered with rain gear, with off and on showers in the morning and driving through snow up in the highest points.  We were definately making memories today.  As we drove through the Golan Heights, we visited Caesarea Philippi near the sight of the Transfiguration.  Ruthie shared her knowledge of the modern strategic and political significance of this area.  As we come back to our cozy hotel and huge supper spread, we turn on the news and realize that life is intirely different today for those who were litteraly a stones throw from where we were today.  We will have a lot of stories to share when we get back, and have enjoyed meeting people from all walks of life.  Is is really hard to describe an experience like this.  Photos just don't describe what we see with our eyes, and we are blessed to have Don and Wanda make scripture come to life as we walk on the very cobblestones our biblical forefathers walked on.    It makes a person better understand what Israel has gone through and continues with and why the USA should stand solidly behind them.
Tomorrow we pack the bus and leave the beautiful Sea of Galilee and head south down the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea and Masada.  I did not have time to upload photos tonight, but hope to have longer than one hour of internet at the remaining hotels.  This one makes it difficult, when my tablet is difficult to copy and paste as well.  We are all grateful that all have taktn in every event. Ruthie says we are real troopers! good night and more for tomorrow, Lord willing.

Wed Album

https://picasaweb.google.com/grammy4him/22912Israel?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Wednesday, Feb. 29 Album

I am having a frustrating time copying and pasting the links to albums.  I made this album public.  I am hoping you can use the previous album link and can view the other album, too, from there.  When I get a new internet link, it only lasts an hour, then it stops.  We had a wonderful day.  We took a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee, saw a boat the was dug up and preserved, from the time of Jesus.  We also went to Capernaum and walked down the "streets" of the hometown of Simon, James & Andrew. We stood on the Mt. of Beatitudes and Don gave a lesson as we looked out across the valley on to the Sea of Galilee...we will never look at scripture the same for the rest of our lives.  There are no words to explain how it moves you to actually walk these paths and touch the very walls that the Apostles and Jesus Himself walked and rested His hands upon....and we are not finished.  We are amazed how close these cities and mountains are to each other.  It is like going to Ashland, then Memphis then Yutan, then Mead.... All for today..time to rest and get ready for another day...