Tuesday's Activities

Today, Tuesday, May 13, we spent in Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights. We start each day with the Shemah from Deuteronomy, “Hear oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” This morning we sang, “Ten Thousand Reasons for My Heart to Sing”...Bless the Lord.

On the way we pulled over to the side of the road to see a thorny tree that was most likely the kind of tree that the crown of thorns Jesus worn was made from. We then stopped at one of King Solomon's cities, Tel Hazor. It was an amazing archaeological find and excavations have produced fascinating finds, including a restored Canannite palace.

Further north we hiked to Tel Dan nature reserve with ruins of the city;. Special finds there are the High Place, from the time of King Jeroboam. The Israelite city gate has been restored, as has the Canaanite gate, with perhaps the earliest constructed arch ever discovered. We had a fun time taking photos of all the grandmas, then all the mothers, then all the guys. Our group of 32 ranges in age from 25 to 81. Great-grandma Darlene has been a delight...and certainly has not slowed us down...she may even be seen leading the pack!

We then stopped at Caesarea Philippi where Jesus came to proclaim that He would build His church. The site is also know as Banias, and it is a beautiful nature reserve with waterfalls and streams that provide water to the Jordan River. This was a very pagan worship site where the Greeks developed a cult center for the worship of the god, Pan. This is where Jesus took his disciples on his journey to the cross. Here he asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” This area is very near to Lebanon.

We gathered for a very moving lecture from our guide, Boaz, at the Valley of Tears...which is within yards of the Syrian border...next to Kibbutz Elrom, which was evacuated only a few hours before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur war in 1973. During the war, one of the fiercest tank battles in war history took place there and today you can see the monument in honor of those soldiers who paid with their lives in order to stop the invading Syrian army. There is both an Israeli and Syrian tank at the site.

Boaz surprised us with lunch at his kubbutz (home). He and his lovely wife, Magie, served us pizza, salad, watermelon, and wonderful homemade Swedish cinnamon bread. Magie is from Sweden so several us spoke Swedish with her...just kidding! What hospitality!

On our way back through the Hula Valley we enjoyed seeing all the fruits and vegetables that are grown in that area. A fun stop for all was at the Capernaum Vista Olive Farm. After an entertaining talk with Rose and the owner of the farm, a video, taste testing, and demonstration, we all shopped until we almost dropped! The Olea Essence, all natural products we purchased are sure to make us all younger, healthier, and beautiful!! Plus, we supported our Israeli friend's business.

We continued around the Sea of Galilee to our hotel to enjoy a quick walk to the water and another buffet dinner.

We have enjoyed another day in Israel...everyone is happy, no one has been seriously injured, even after a few tumbles here and there, and I haven't heard that anyone has been ill. PTL! Thank you for your prayers!

P.S. 12 of our 13 lost suitcases were at the hotel when we checked in on Tuesday night. It was great to have some of our needed items...but we also realized, we really didn't need to pack quite so many things and now we just have more to drag around!

Audrey & John have been very pleasant even though their suitcase has not arrived! They did get to do some quick shopping on the airline's dollar...but there is nothing like having your own comfortable things.