Better Perspective
Hi Israel Team Families,
The last two days have been incredible! Yesterday, we had breakfast at our hotel in Netanya and then drove to Megiddo to start our day. Tel Megiddo had an amazing view over the Valley of Jezreel, and the ruins they had gave a better perspective of the things we’ve read about in the Bible. As we were leaving, we walked through the tunnel that the city had built to retrieve water safely and sufficiently.
We drove to Nazareth and stopped at small shawarma restaurant where we ate delicious sandwiches and drank fresh squeezed pomegranate juice. From there, we walked up to the Church of Annunciation, the church built above Mary’s old house to honor her. It was beautiful inside and out, despite it being in a rather boring town. It was interesting to learn that Nazareth has always been a very impoverished city, and Mary was one of the poorest families in this city. Yet, God uses her in such a powerful way: to give birth to our Lord and savior! We walked across the grounds to Joseph’s church, which was not nearly as ornate as Mary’s, but it was still powerful. We then drove over to Cana, where Jesus performed His first miracle when He turned water into wine.
After that we were pretty exhausted so we drove to the hotel and checked all of our stuff in. We somehow found energy because within the hour we were driving around Tiberias to find a beach where we could go swimming in the Sea of Galilee. We found a secluded spot and swam around in the freezing water for about 30 minutes. Then, we drove back to the hotel for dinner, devos, and games. It was a fun way to end the day laughing and singing on the patio.
Today, we woke up and drove to the Mount of Beatitudes after breakfast. This is where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. It was super lush and beautiful. As we were standing at the top, we learned about how the mountain itself is perfect for acoustics. It’s been tested by skeptics and proven that sounds carry brilliantly up the mountain, making it the perfect spot for Jesus to preach to 15,000 people (Matthew 5:6-12). From there, we drove over to Caesarea Philippi. Here, we walked around the ruins of the shrine to the Greek god, Pan, where Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah (Matthew 16:13-20). It was weird how such a beautiful place could be distorted for such evil, but it opened our eyes to the lesson that Satan can best tempt us through beautiful things.
From there, we drove to lunch where we ate fish that still had their heads! A few brave people even tried eating the eyeballs, but it was disgusting. Our favorite spot of the day was our last site: we visited Capernaum where Jesus preached in the synagogue and where Peter’s house was. It was breath-taking as we walked down to the Sea of Galilee from Peter’s house and got to take it all in. Today really was such an inspiring and beautiful day!!!!
We love you and more to come,
Ashley and Abby
The last two days have been incredible! Yesterday, we had breakfast at our hotel in Netanya and then drove to Megiddo to start our day. Tel Megiddo had an amazing view over the Valley of Jezreel, and the ruins they had gave a better perspective of the things we’ve read about in the Bible. As we were leaving, we walked through the tunnel that the city had built to retrieve water safely and sufficiently.
We drove to Nazareth and stopped at small shawarma restaurant where we ate delicious sandwiches and drank fresh squeezed pomegranate juice. From there, we walked up to the Church of Annunciation, the church built above Mary’s old house to honor her. It was beautiful inside and out, despite it being in a rather boring town. It was interesting to learn that Nazareth has always been a very impoverished city, and Mary was one of the poorest families in this city. Yet, God uses her in such a powerful way: to give birth to our Lord and savior! We walked across the grounds to Joseph’s church, which was not nearly as ornate as Mary’s, but it was still powerful. We then drove over to Cana, where Jesus performed His first miracle when He turned water into wine.
After that we were pretty exhausted so we drove to the hotel and checked all of our stuff in. We somehow found energy because within the hour we were driving around Tiberias to find a beach where we could go swimming in the Sea of Galilee. We found a secluded spot and swam around in the freezing water for about 30 minutes. Then, we drove back to the hotel for dinner, devos, and games. It was a fun way to end the day laughing and singing on the patio.
Today, we woke up and drove to the Mount of Beatitudes after breakfast. This is where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. It was super lush and beautiful. As we were standing at the top, we learned about how the mountain itself is perfect for acoustics. It’s been tested by skeptics and proven that sounds carry brilliantly up the mountain, making it the perfect spot for Jesus to preach to 15,000 people (Matthew 5:6-12). From there, we drove over to Caesarea Philippi. Here, we walked around the ruins of the shrine to the Greek god, Pan, where Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah (Matthew 16:13-20). It was weird how such a beautiful place could be distorted for such evil, but it opened our eyes to the lesson that Satan can best tempt us through beautiful things.
From there, we drove to lunch where we ate fish that still had their heads! A few brave people even tried eating the eyeballs, but it was disgusting. Our favorite spot of the day was our last site: we visited Capernaum where Jesus preached in the synagogue and where Peter’s house was. It was breath-taking as we walked down to the Sea of Galilee from Peter’s house and got to take it all in. Today really was such an inspiring and beautiful day!!!!
We love you and more to come,
Ashley and Abby
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