It is the Monday after the two weeks before and we are home from Israel. The trip seems almost a dream already as one wonders if it is really possible that we spent 10 days on the ground in israel. The jet lag some of us are experiencing seems to indicate we had some kind of overseas experince.
The final days of our trip were spent in Jerusalem visting sites like Gethsemane, the Israel Museum (home of the Shrine of the Book and the Jerusalem Holy Land Model of the city in 66 A.D.). Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum), Via Dolorosa, Mount of Olives, Mount Zion, Tomb of King David, City of David, Temple Mount, Western Wall and Western Tunnels as well as the Southern steps of the temple built by Herod and frequented by Jesus, Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Garden Tomb (possible sites of Golgotha) and so much more.
Some of us spent part of our free day re-visiting Bethlehem where we shared lunch with the students of Bethlehem Bible College before touring the college and viewing a presentation of the work they are doing to train church leadership for the the challenges of living Christian lives in the midst of a troubled situation. We also visited several of the sites in Bethlehem which were not included on our tour; Solomon’s pools, David’s well, the Shepherd’s fields and the site of Boaz’s fields.
Our hotel in East Jerusalem was less than a 15 minute walk from the Damascus Gate of the Old City so we were able to use any free time browsing through the Old City. Several of us visited the Western Wall as they welcomed in the Shabbat. That was a unique experience though we hurried fast enough to cause some to want to pause.
Malcolm Cartier, our tour guide was amazing. It is a wonder that one person could incorporate skills in getting us through the crowds with a minimum of waiting in line, profound knowledge of both the OT and NT and the history of their context as well as insights into current world situations AND amazing people skills complete with unending patience with people who often seemed more intent on locating the next Water Closet, climbing on a camel or observing stray cats than getting to the next site.
Some of you heard about incidents in the on-going struggle between Israeli and Palestinian people that occured while we were there. Only those of our group who monitored the news carefully were aware these things were happening. Our guide filled us in on some of the details toward the end. Our itinerary the last day was altered due to the unrest. We did not go near Ashkelon or Ashdod which are often targetted by missiles lobbed over from Gaza. We did however, visit the site of Rehoboam’s citadel and the site of Maresha of the Sidonians as well as the Bell Caves. We also did up a market (resembling too closely a North American flea market) in Beersheba so our trip did encompass the Israel experience “from Dan to Beersheba.”
The months ahead will show the true value of the trip in new friendships, renewed acquaintances, and expanded knolwedge of Bible accounts from Old Testament and New Testament times. We will try not to bore you with unending pictures or corrections of our Westernized pronounciations of Biblical names. But please excuse us if we slip for we are excited about what we saw and experienced together.
We thank all of you who awaited our return at home. We thank all those who made the experience possible; from our tour company (Maranatha Tours of Phoenix, Arizona) to the ground handlers in Israel (NET Tours), our guide (Malcolm Cartier) and main bus driver (RFai Abed), hotel and restaurant staff, and the people of Israel and Palestine. May God bless you all and draw you closer to Himself.
Blessings
Ron & Rita Pauls
