In The Holy City of Jerusalem

Greetings from Jerusalem!

We have had quite the adventure since leaving Petra--as if that wasn't adventure enough!

After leaving Jordan on Sunday morning, we came into Israel and drove to Jericho--where

the walls came tumbling down--this was also where Rahab hid Joshua's spies when they came over to scout out the land! Jericho claims to be the oldest city in the world--so that's pretty cool too! Also in Jericho, we saw a sycamore tree--very similar to the one the wee little man of Zaccheus climbed up to see Jesus.

Then, on to the Dead Sea. Now I can say I've been to the lowest place on earth--too cool! It's 417 meters below sea level--so maybe 1400 feet? The water has a HIGH concentration of salt, making it very dense, and very easy for someone to float in it! We checked into the hotel and got in immediately. It was SO weird--the "beach" is really just salt crystals, there are NO fish--or anything else--alive in the sea, and your feet really just pop up--you can't not float in it! But look out--if you have a cut or scratch or you've recently shaved your legs you will be in a world of hurt! We woke up at 5:30 Monday morning to watch the sunrise and take one more swim before we left.

Monday, we drove up to the hilltop fortress of Masada. Two reasons this place was significant. 1--it was the desert retreat palace of Herod the Great. 2--After the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 a.d., the final stand of the Jewish people took place at Masada. 900 people held off a Jewish army of more than 14,000 for three years!

Then, we stopped to look at some beautiful waterfalls and streams at Ein Gedi--the stream of the wild goat. They say this was the stream David sat by when he wrote Psalm 42--As the deer pants for the water...

Then, on to Qumran and the home of the Dead Sea Scrolls. How cool it is to know that the Bible we have today is the same as the Bible that was written on the scrolls thousands of years ago.

Finally, we enter Jerusalem. Anton, our guide has said that Galilee is the place where Jesus enjoyed himself--he was surrounded by friends and family, but in Jerusalem, no one smiled at him. I'm looking forward to spending time in some of these special places--the Garden of Gesthamne, the empty tomb, the walk from the temple to Cavary. I know it will be so moving, I can't even imagine it all.

Today we went to the mountain of Mizpah, where Samuel met Saul to crown him King. There was also a special graduation ceremony for the israeli army, so that was neat to get to watch too. Then, on to Bethlehem where we went into the cave where they say Jesus was born. It's hard to imagine it, because it's become such a shrine, but it was really neat to be there!

Next, we went to Herodian, Herod the Great's main palace. Also pretty cool.

We're going to the Western Wall (also known as the wailing wall) at 7 in the morning, so that should be really neat. The trip has been such an education, and also it's been so fun to get to know Prentice and Barbara and other folks at our church. It really has been an amazing blessing!