Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Monday, February 25, 2019
February 25, 2019 - Qumran, Masada, Jericho and the Dead Sea
Hope to upload videos and pictures tomorrow!
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Thursday, February 21 - Tel Av-iv to Nazareth
Well, I've been delayed in getting this out as I've had some technical issues. Luckily, Stacey Franco, our awesome Communications Director who is with us on this trip, has been putting a video log each day. You can find that here: http://www.fumcdurango.org/jeffs-vlog-from-israel-2-21-19/
And here's the one from Thursday...
We landed late Wednesday night into Tel Av-iv safely, however one of our groups flying out of Durango had plan issues and did not arrive until Thursday morning, and was able to catch up with us by evening. They had a great guide who was able to get them to all the sights and then they arranged for all of us to be together in one bus by Friday morning.
The picture above and to the right are from our hotel balcony at night and in the morning. This area is significant to our faith as the church in many ways has some of it's beginnings here. The Apostle Peter lived in this area and did many healings in Acts 9 as the town of Joppa was just down the road. Joppa is also where Jonah departed as he headed for Tashish, running away from God and his call to go to Nineveh. Peter would eventually be called out of this region, north up the Mediterranean Sea, to Ceasarea Maritime, which was our first destination Thursday morning. On the way, we stopped to see this famous Roman Aquaduct which carried water from Mount Carmel down towards the coastal cities in the first few centuries.
The ruins of Ceasarea are to the right and we spent time remembering that this is the place where Peter met Cornelius in Acts 10 and his entire family was baptized, setting the stage for the church to continue to capture hearts in the Roman world. Paul was also imprisoned here in Acts 26 and shared the gospel in his testimony before being shipped to Rome for trial before Caesar. We remembered in our time together here those scriptures and the truth that the Gospel was meant to be a word of hope for those outside the faith, and those who feel imprisoned by life. I also couldn't resist adding the photo below of Pastor Karen and Stacey enjoying the ancient Roman toilets!
Our next stop took us to the top of the cliffs above Nazareth, where Jesus was taken to be thrown off after preaching his first sermon in Luke 4! The Mount of Precipice has beautiful views and was a great place to focus on Nazareth as the home of Jesus for the first part of his life, but becoming painful as he began his public ministry. We read from the scriptures and remembered how God promises to be with us even when we feel rejected at places that used to feel like home. We also talked about the fact that Nazareth was a town no one expected a Savior to come from! You can see the view in the photo on the right.
We then traveled into Nazareth to the Church of the Annunciation, built over the top of the cave where tradition says Mary lived. You can see the worship center dedicated to her below. All around the church are works of art from different nations depicting Mary such as the ones below. Underneath the church you can see the ancient ruins of Nazareth and remember the role of this special town that no one believed would matter to anyone.
We ended our day on the shore of the Sea of Galilee at our hotel, where the sunset lit up Mount Arbel, a place we will visit on Saturday, and gave us beautiful sunrises in the morning from our balcony. I leave you with these images and will share more tomorrow.
And here's the one from Thursday...
We landed late Wednesday night into Tel Av-iv safely, however one of our groups flying out of Durango had plan issues and did not arrive until Thursday morning, and was able to catch up with us by evening. They had a great guide who was able to get them to all the sights and then they arranged for all of us to be together in one bus by Friday morning.
The picture above and to the right are from our hotel balcony at night and in the morning. This area is significant to our faith as the church in many ways has some of it's beginnings here. The Apostle Peter lived in this area and did many healings in Acts 9 as the town of Joppa was just down the road. Joppa is also where Jonah departed as he headed for Tashish, running away from God and his call to go to Nineveh. Peter would eventually be called out of this region, north up the Mediterranean Sea, to Ceasarea Maritime, which was our first destination Thursday morning. On the way, we stopped to see this famous Roman Aquaduct which carried water from Mount Carmel down towards the coastal cities in the first few centuries.
The ruins of Ceasarea are to the right and we spent time remembering that this is the place where Peter met Cornelius in Acts 10 and his entire family was baptized, setting the stage for the church to continue to capture hearts in the Roman world. Paul was also imprisoned here in Acts 26 and shared the gospel in his testimony before being shipped to Rome for trial before Caesar. We remembered in our time together here those scriptures and the truth that the Gospel was meant to be a word of hope for those outside the faith, and those who feel imprisoned by life. I also couldn't resist adding the photo below of Pastor Karen and Stacey enjoying the ancient Roman toilets!
Our next stop took us to the top of the cliffs above Nazareth, where Jesus was taken to be thrown off after preaching his first sermon in Luke 4! The Mount of Precipice has beautiful views and was a great place to focus on Nazareth as the home of Jesus for the first part of his life, but becoming painful as he began his public ministry. We read from the scriptures and remembered how God promises to be with us even when we feel rejected at places that used to feel like home. We also talked about the fact that Nazareth was a town no one expected a Savior to come from! You can see the view in the photo on the right.
We then traveled into Nazareth to the Church of the Annunciation, built over the top of the cave where tradition says Mary lived. You can see the worship center dedicated to her below. All around the church are works of art from different nations depicting Mary such as the ones below. Underneath the church you can see the ancient ruins of Nazareth and remember the role of this special town that no one believed would matter to anyone.
We ended our day on the shore of the Sea of Galilee at our hotel, where the sunset lit up Mount Arbel, a place we will visit on Saturday, and gave us beautiful sunrises in the morning from our balcony. I leave you with these images and will share more tomorrow.
Sunday, February 17, 2019
Off to Israel and Egypt...
I'm off on my next journey, this time back to Israel and then to Egypt which will be a new frontier. The best advice I've received so far is not to fall for the offer of a free camel ride. While the ride is free, they will charge you big bucks to get off! I'll be updating this as we travel and experience the Holy Land, the flight to Egypt by Jesus and his parents, the route of the Exodus and even the pyramids. Thanks ahead of time for you prayers. I'll post again once we get to Israel. We hope the weather systems moving through Durango will allow us to get out on time, which means we arrive in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night. Remember that we are 9 hours ahead so some of the posts may come at odd hours! Stacey Franco, our Director of Communication and videographer will be with us so we'll be able to send some good videos back while we're still in Israel, and may be able to post some here as well. Talk to you all soon!
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Leaving Malta - next stop Barcelona - Thursday, October 13 part 2
Here are a few more photos of our Malta Xperience which includes some more instructions we found in the bathroom as well as more pictures of st. John's Cathedral. I also have a few pictures of us pulling out of the port in Malta to give you an idea of the amazing views as we leave and head out to sea. We'll be at Sea tomorrow and then into Barcelona on Saturday morning.
No fair, the boat next to us has a water slide on top!
Valetta, Malta - Thursday, October 13th
We pulled into the beautiful port of Valletta on the island nation of Malta, known as the place the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked on his way to Rome. We first visited the Catacombs where the poor buried their dead. We also learned about how people went to the bathroom and what they did with the pea pods in ancient times. You can see the description in the picture below.
These catacombs were also used as shelters during WWII. The area you see in the first picture was where they held worship underground while bombs fell during the war.
The catacombs lead to Paul's grotto where it is believed Paul lived while on the island. Our team read that story from Acts 28 and said a prayer together for healing for those we know who are ill as Paul was said to not only have survived a poisonous snake bite here but healed many who were sick. The second picture is of the Grotto and then the area outside the grotto that leads to the church.
You also will see a picture of the eight-pointed Maltese star and a girl making those stars using silver from Malta. This is the symbol of the Knights of St. John who made Malta their home in the mid 1500s. The eight-pointed star represents the 8 nationalities of the Knights as well as their Creed which is the 8 Beatitudes. You will see in the next picture the cathedral they built to st. Peter and st. Paul which sits atop a Hill near Paul's Grotto.
We then made our way into Valletta and spend the afternoon here, first going to st. John's Cathedral which commemorates the beheading of John the Baptist. Caravaggio's great painting is in this Cathedral which is stunningly inlaid with 24-carat gold. You will see a few pictures from inside the cathedral along with the picture of Caravaggio's painting. There are actually eight worship spaces in the cathedral representing each of the eight nationalities of the Knights of st. John.
I then was able to go to mass at the Saint Paul Shipwrecked Cathedral and afterwards found a small hole in the wall restaurant and ate the best lasagna I've had in years. You will see a picture of the statue of Paul outside of the church as well as the front of the church which is in a small alley. I then took a picture from where I ate my email looking down one of the streets of Valletta. The narrow streets are at signature of this beautiful town.
I then had some free time and so I made my way to Fort St Elmo which is at the entrance to the bay where our ship came in and was an instrumental Fort during World War II in keeping out Mussolini's Army out of Malta which was a strategic stronghold for the British army and Allied Forces. You will see if you pictures from the fort looking out across the bay to the fort on the opposite side of the inlet.
The time in Paul's grotto was probably one of my most favorite memories of the trip. It was a very meaningful time of prayer and scripture for our entire group, to think that the Apostle Paul spent five months in this space ministering to the people of Malta until the ship could take him and the rest of their party to Rome to stand before the emperor
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Amalfi Coast of Italy - Wednesday, October 6th
After a night at sea we ended up in port at the Almalfi coast in Italy, a beautiful spot that Paul would have passed on his way to Rome. It is renowned for its fishing villages and it is the gateway to Pompeii. The first photo is the sunrise that greeted us this morning.
In the morning I took a boat ride to Amalfi village which had a beautiful church and quaint little shops. You can see photos of the boat ride and the village in the first few pictures below. After returning by boat to the main port we were treated to an amazing Italian feast for lunch and then boarded a bus to Pompeii.
The other pictures below are of some of the ruins in Pompeii as well as a pomegranate tree in the middle of them because my daughter loves pomegranates! Pompeii was destroyed in the first century by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius which carbonized many of the inhabitants. The second to last photo in the group below is believed to be the first pizza oven because they found the remains of a pizza fossilized in the oven!
The final photo has Mt. Vecuvius in the background of the ruins. You will see that it is shaped like a V because the middle and top of it blew out during that eruption. It still is an active volcano underneath and is monitored on a regular basis.
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