Making a trip, a pilgrimage, a vacation to Israel has always been a desire of mine. Usually I zip home from a trip and write a ten page review, but this one I have savored. I have looked and relooked at pictures. I have read and reread my journal and literature I received on the trip. I started in Genesis using a Bible atlas and am reading through the Bible. I’m curious. Have I been there? I know what this place looks like. It’s not just a picture in my imagination. Israel is a tiny country. You can drive north to south in eight hours and east to west in under two. It’s a series of mountains and valleys.
I loved the group I went with. They were from a church in North Little Rock. It is pastored by a former Young Life leader Wendell and I volunteered under in the seventies, Craig Loibner. Craig and his wife, Julie; sixteen church members; my son, Cy; my sister, Jo; and two of her friends from Hot Springs made up our group. We had just the right mix of people to make it spunky and fun!
We barely escaped the blizzard that hit middle Arkansas January 10th. Our flight left Little Rock at 6:30 a.m. January 11th, a Tuesday. The temperature was hovering at 32 degrees. We were able to get off the ground in Arkansas and again in Newark which was expecting an ice storm. We arrived in Tel Aviv at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday January 12th to sunny sixty degree weather. Our bus and tour guide met us at the airport. From Tel Aviv we drove to Caesarea on the Mediterranean. It was so exciting to see the Mediterranean Ocean and to explore ruins I have heard about all my life. Caesarea was the Roman capitol of Palestine and Herod the Great’s creation. He built extensive harbors and an aqueduct system. Cornelius lived here and so did the evangelist, Phillip and his four daughters. There is a completely restored Herodian theater with an ancient inscription naming Pontius Pilate the Roman prefect of Judea. The apostle Paul was sent here by Christian brothers when his life was endangered. He left for missionary journeys and later was imprisoned here for two years before being taken to Rome. We left Caesarea and drove to Tiberius on the Sea of Galilee. Try as I might to stay awake I slept most of the drive. I would awaken for moments to interesting countryside, but could not stay awake very long.
Jo and I were roommates. This was a wonderful trip to share with a sister and a son! We all made good friends. Our first hotel was the Royal Plaza in Tiberius. Each morning and evening we would eat at our hotel. They served buffets. Very good food. Lunch was wherever we were and a couple of days we just snacked. Falafels and hummus. Yum yum. Thursday morning January 13th we walked the Valley of Doves to a spring where Jesus and his disciples would have passed and probably drunk from on journeys to and from Capernaum. A mountain beside the trail was also a point of discussion. There are caves everywhere in Israel. During 66 AD there was a Jewish uprising against Rome. Many of the rebels fled north to this area and to the mountain caves. The Romans were not deterred. They pitched camp on top of the mountain and captured the rebels. They would bind them in large baskets and roll them off the mountain to their deaths. Men, women and children were killed.
After the hike we drove to the Kibbutz Ginosar museum housing a two thousand year old boat discovered in the 80’s by two brothers. The lake (sea) had receded and they discovered it in the newly exposed mud.
They had a nice gift shop and a really good sales woman. She made believers out of us toward their cosmetic products. I am still using my mud and I love the facial and eye serum we bought. I have a friend going over there in the summer and I already told her I have a few things I want her to buy for me while she’s there~!
We took a Sea of Galilee boat ride. Once on the water they raised an American flag in addition to the Israeli one and played our national anthem. They cut the engine at one point and we sang a hymn and prayed, then they put on some praise music and we enjoyed the view. The Sea of Galilee is surrounded by mountains. When we got to the other side (sounds biblical) we went up to the Mount of Beatitudes. There is a church, monastery, and kibbutz. From there we went to Tabgha where Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes and the chapel of the Primacy where Peter received his commission to feed my sheep. Every famous place seemed to have a church built on top of it. Cy and I walked on the water, well we walked in the water. For lunch we ate St. Peter’s fish and fries! From there we went to the Jordan River and several people from our group were baptized.
The bus took us back to the mount of beatitudes where we hiked down to the sea on another path that Jesus would have walked. There was an expansive view of the lake and surrounding mountainsides. We walked past several large thorn bushes. Bananas are grown on the slopes.
Friday we hiked the valley waters of Mount Hermon. We saw the site of the altar to the golden calf at Bethel, the excavation of an ancient Canaanite city, drove through the Golan Heights and walked through the ruins of Bethsaida and Caesarea Philippi. That evening at dinner a group near us were celebrating Shabbat. It was interesting to watch them.
As we headed up the mountains to Jerusalem. You have to go up from any direction to get to Jerusalem. They started playing Jerusalem Jerusalem on the bus speakers.
Lift up your gates and sing;
Hosanna in the highest,
Hosanna to your King…
I thought this is too corny, then suddenly the city of Jerusalem came into view. I got this big lump in my throat. I remembered Ruth Ann Price sang this song at daddy’s funeral. When my voice would let me I joined in singing and so did most people who knew the song on the bus.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
Sing for the night is o'er;
Hosanna in the highest,
Hosanna for ever more.
Hosanna in the highest,
Hosanna for ever more.
We were staying in a beautiful hotel called the Olive Tree. Loved the name!
Sunday we went to the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane and the wailing wall before lunch. We drove to Bethlehem where we ate lunch, shopped in a shop that was run by Christians. Our bus driver gave us a talk that the Christians in Bethlehem are under persecution in many ways. http://www.hudson-ny.org/501/the-beleaguered-christians-in-bethlehem. Jo and I did our best to give them some financial aid. In fact we sowed American dollars wherever there was shopping to the chagrin of our bus leader who was trying to keep us on a schedule.
Monday we drove south to the Dead Sea area. We toured Masada (remember Peter O’Toole played Titus in the movie?), Qumran (where they found the Dead Sea scrolls), and swam in the Dead Sea. Right next to the place where we turned in to go swim was an Ahava cosmetic production facility. We covered ourselves as best we could (I had not taken a swimsuit) in our clothes. A few people brought swimsuits. We were told to. I wished I had done so. Anyway, tons of benefits from soaking in that water and putting on that mud. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_salt If I ever go back, I will be prepared!
Tuesday we toured the Old city seeing the temple mount, and seeing most of the things you see on TV and on postcards and walked the Via Dolorosa. At night we would sit in the lobby and talk with different people in our group, but mainly with James & Patty Walden, Alyssa (their daughter U of A student), Cy, Allison, Rose Ann (both work with Jo at Zoe’s) and Jo. This night our group met in our room and we had a very sweet share time and took the Lord’s supper together.
Wednesday we went to the Garden Tomb which was one of the highlights of the trip. We took communion together. We toured the Ancient Book museum and model of Jerusalem and went to the Holocaust Museum. At that point Jo and I and most of the tour group wanted to head back to the Old City for a walk through and shopping. We spent several hours and dollars. It was our last night in Jerusalem. We had a most marvelous time.
On a couple of late afternoons we went to the Jerusalem House which is the place where Jo and Dru served as journeymen in the seventies. The missionaries in residence now were people Jo and Dru knew. We spent a couple of wonderful hours in the prayer room and visiting with Jo’s friends.
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