Day 9

We had another full day ahead of us. Our first stop was Tabha, the site of the miracle of the Loaves and Fish. We also went to the site where Jesus was standing on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and told the fishermen to cast their nets on the other side of the boat when they did not catch any fish. Inside the chapel there is the rock where they believe Jesus cooked the fish that was caught. This was the one place where we were able to actually go to the Sea of Galilee and touch the water. We also went to Korazim which was one of the cities condemned by Jesus because they did not believe after he performed miracles there. After that, we went to Capernaum and saw the remains of the house of Peter. After visiting Capernaum, we went to Kibbutz Ein Gev and ate St. Peter’s fish which is tilapia. A kibbutz is a community where everyone works and basically they all take care of each other. After lunch, we rode on a boat back to the other side. It was already about 3:00 by this time and we were now headed to the Jordan River for baptism. Our guide did not know that the place closed at 3:00 instead of 4:00 this particular Friday. We arrived at 3:30. It is specific place on the Jordan River with sites set up for baptism. It has a place for people to sit and watch. You pay $10 and they let you use a robe and towel. When we got there, we had to rush. Those of us who were getting baptized had to get our stuff and change. We changed right away and walked down to the site. About half of the group was getting baptized or rededicated. This was my first baptism. The water was extremely cold. The experience was all worth it. The people who worked there were rushing us. As sson as we were done, we had to run up to the changing room and change. We all got done by 4:15. We went back to our hotel. I had to shower and get ready for dinner. This is probably the day I will never forget because it is the day I was baptized in the Jordan River.

Day 8

This morning I woke up and looked out the window and saw the sun rising above the Sea of Galilee. We had a full day ahead of us, visiting many sites where Jesus had preached or performed miracles. Our first stop of the day was Mt. Beatitudes, the site of the “Sermon on the Mount.” It is a beautiful property that overlooks the Sea of Galilee. After Mt. Beatitudes, we went to Banias (Caesarea Phillippi). The remains of an old temple are there. Also, this is the place where Jesus reveals Himself to His disciples. This again is another beautiful and peaceful place. We then drove up to Golan Heights and looked over the Hula Valley. We ate lunch at a Druse eatery. Druse are groups of people that inhabit certain parts of Israel and believe that Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, is their main prophet. They set up their own businesses in their community. We ate falafel and it was the best falafel I have ever had. Felafel here in Israel is so good. It is crispy on the outside but very moist on the inside. They put 4 felafel in a pita and then you add your own vegetables and salads. It cost $8 for a falafel and a drink. After lunch, we headed back down through the valley on our way to Ginosaur. In Ginosaur, there is a museum that contains the boat they found that they have dated as being 2000 years old. They believe this boat was used during the time of Jesus. We watched a short video that showed where they found out and how they were able to dig it out and transport it. It was not easy and took a lot of work. The only reason they found it was because the sea level was so low. After watching the video, we went into the room where the boat was. That was a pretty awesome sight. We took pictures of the boat and many bought some stuff at their store. They also had 4 computers with free internet so everyone was trying to check their e-mail. That was the last stop of our day. We went back to our hotel for dinner.

Day 7

Today, we woke up in Amman, Jordan. It is a very modern city. The hotel we stayed in was decent. We got up early. When we left our hotel, we headed straight to the city of Jerash. This is one of the decopolis cities that is mentioned in the Bible. It was a Roman civilization that was built in AD 129 to honor the Roman Emperor Hadrian. We walked around the old city for a couple of hours. We walked through the main street (cardo), hippodrome (where they had chariot races), theater, and the marketplace. This city is also known for its relation to the story in the Bible about the demon possessed man. After Jesus commanded the demons to leave the man and the demons then possessed the swine, this was one of the cities that man went to. He told them about Jesus and what Jesus had just done for him. After having lunch there, we got back on the bus and made our way to the border or Jordan and Israel. Getting out of Jordan was easy. Getting into Israel took several checkpoints. We had to take our luggage out of the bus, put them through security machines and transfer to a new bus. We met our new guide Hela. When we got on our new bus and began our drive to Tiberias, we saw our first glimpse of the Jordan River. We drove to our hotel and saw the Sea of Galilee for the first time. We got to our hotel pretty early. We walked to the downtown area before dinner. After dinner, I went straight to bed. I was so tired.