Join Gary and me as we travel through The Holy Land!

Gary  and I have just returned from a Tour of The Holy Land.  I hope you enjoy revisiting the steps we took with me.  Sit back and relax as we travel.......in the promised land .

The Holy Land

2017

            Off we go, The Day has finally arrived.  Son-in-law Ron is taking us to catch BART in Concord, then on to the San Francisco Air Port. Next stop--New Jersey.

            3 1/2 hour layover, time to get dinner, don't know if the airplane serves food (most don't anymore) so we will eat here at the airport.

            11:00Pm-off we go flying away in a huge 777 United Airplane. A 10-11 hour flight and we will be landing in Tel Aviv.

            We are with a group tour of 43.  Steve Keifer, pastor of 1st Christian Church in Suisun is leader of California folks and we are joining the other half of our tour coming from a church in Hermitage, Tennessee near Nashville.

            We landed in Tel Aviv and were met by a guide with EOTs (Educational Opportunities Tours) who guided us through the airport and onto the bus that would take us to the Angel Hotel in Beil Jala, Palestine.  The hotel was clean and nice, nothing fancy.

            We will be here three (3) nights. There is a Bar down stairs with coffee, tea, wine and beer and a Big very nice patio. The evening photo is the patio from our room above. 

First day of touring

            Our tour guide, Mike and bus driver Eunice (sounds like a girl name but he is a he) arrived. Eunice means Jonah but he has never been in the belly of a whale!

         We drove from BeirJala, Palestine to Bethlehem, through the security gate that divides Palestine and Israel.  There is a large wall that divides the two. I believe Mike said it is 400 miles long.

            We drove to the Promenade and walked to see an over look of Jerusalem. Saw the Mt of Olives. There is a huge area of grave sites as the people all want to be buried there. They believe that is where, when Christ returns and calls all the dead to arise, they want to be the first to be raised.

   We visited the site where Mary's mother Anna was believed to be born; a church stands there now with a beautiful garden. Sorry, I didn't find the name of church and no picture to share.

            Then on to King David's tomb. It is not know if David was actually buried there or at a different location. 

You will have to turn your head to see this picture of the statue of King David !

King Davids tomb

We saw the valley where Judas hanged himself.

The field where Judas hanged himself.

            Next we went to the Wailing Wall. Lots of Jewish people and tourists were there. We were allowed to walk up to the wall and touch it, pray or leave a note of prayer in the cracks of the wall or take pictures. The Jewish men were dressed in their religious clothes. All in black with large brimmed hats. Their belief is that they must not look up as they would be looking into the face of God. And no one is fit to do that. 

            The men and women do not approach the wall together. There is a fence between to keep them separated. I put my hand on the wall and prayed for Nina's health and for Emory Perkins who is an acquaintance of my son Jerry.  Emory and his wife were in a motorcycle accident a few years ago and he was badly hurt, his wife not as bad.  He is an artist who is creating  art work for my new book.

A drinking fountain in the courtyard area where we waited to 

step up to the wailing wall. 

Whenever we were in a Holy PLace such as the wailing wall or a church the men had to have their head covered. If they did not have a hat, there was always someone to sell them one of the little Jewish time caps. Sorry, I don't know the name of them. 

            Then we traveled on to the pool of Bethesda, where Jesus had healed a man who was lame for thirty-eight years. (John 5:2-6) . These were ruins. 

            We walked all around in small groups and prayed for each other.  I prayed for a lady in our group who had suffered Ovarian cancer and she prayed for my sister Nina.  We went into the church, at the pools of Bethesda, Pastor Steve's step-mom  sang outside.  She has a beautiful opera type voice.

            We visited "the temple courtyard" site where Jesus became angry about the money changing. He began throwing their possessions around to make them stop selling in the temple.  The temple is no longer there but the ruins of the stalls where the people bought and sold were visible to us.  Everywhere you go, excavation is underway.  Huge rocks lying all around. 

 I pushed and pushed but it wouldn't budge!

           We went to "The teaching steps" where Jesus stood: Quote: Jesus taught on these steps. He performed miracles on these steps. The woman with the issue of blood.... healed here. The blind man that Jesus told to put mud on his eyes then go wash it off.... healed here. Incredible to be here. Incredible.(quote from Michelle Kiefer)

We sat down on the Teaching steps for our daily devotional.

            We visited the site of The Birth place of the Virgin Mary. 

Day 2

          A new day finds us traveling to The Herodium, the site of King Herod's mountain palace.  We climbed up the hill to his home, a semi-hard climb on a pathway of gravel, then down steps into the ruins that are being excavated and restoring. Archeologists were working with tractors and hands on digging. Went down into tunnels and then outside to where they believe he is buried.  We returned to the bus by the path that we took to get up to the top. 

          Our tour guide Mike Be Galilee told us there is disagreement as to the actual burial place.  Herod was a very fearful man so he built several palace fortresses so he could hide from battles. 

          There was a shopping place that Mike suggested we visit and our companions really loved to shop!  We did very little shopping.

          We visited the Shepherds Field  where the Angels came to the shepherds and told them the Christ Child had been born.

          We went to the Church of Nativity where Christ was born.  The sites of events like Christ's birth have been changed as churches have been built on the sites through the many hundreds of years. 

          When we returned to the hotel, this was the night we had been looking forward to. We were invited to share dinner at the home of a Christian family in Palistine!  A grown son picked us up and took us to their home. We were greeted by the grown daughter, Hannan when we arrived.  Her mother was awaiting us when we went into the living room.  she was a bit shy at first but soon became comfortable and was a gracious hostess. 

Right to Left in picture

Pastor Steve's step-mom (I'm sorry, can't remember her name)
Me, Betty Overstreet
The mother
The Daughter, Hannan
The son

          She and her son brought a large folding table into the living room and she began filling it with food!   The main dish was a huge platter of rice and vegetables.  There was a dish of pickled cauliflower, Olives and a green salad.  A dish of baked chicken drumsticks and for dessert we had a delicious chocolate cake. No frosting, just cake. The daughter, Hanan,,  gave me the recipe. She served tea in tiny cups.

          The husband didn't join us for dinner but came in and set with us as we ate. He was very quiet, perhaps didn't  speak English.

          Another daughter came home after dinner, seemed to be having problems with a fiancée. We had a conversation about what she should do if she decided not to marry. If  she broke the engagement she would have to pay back all the money he had spent on the engagement: ring, dress, etc. I was surprised that they were sharing private problems with us.  Hanan shared her email address. Now we have communicated a few times!

Day 3

Today we are leaving the Angel Hotel and we will be staying at Caesar Hotel in Tiberius, Israel.

WE drove through high desert that is green with a type of pine trees and rows of what looks like grape vines. It is very foggy today.  We stopped at the valley where David killed Golith with his slingshot.  We had time to wonder around and pick up some small stones. 

Next we drove by the valley where Sampson fought the Philistines .  Such a history lesson.  I 'm sure I won't remember half of what we see, so I am trying to keep a record of it to read later! 

Our driver is crazy!  Laughing out loud at his driving skills, (which are actually quite exceptional). He misses a turn and just backs up to where he should turn --on the freeway off-ramps!!!  Or in the middle of a town!  He can turn this big bus around on a dime or sheqel if you are talking their money!

I will be adding more as time permits, please come back to read and see more pictures!!!