Lots of traveling

Wednesday 11:30 a.m. - Israel time
It is 11:30 Tuesday morning, 3:30 your time. What a morning it has been. We have gone to Caesarea on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and it is amazing. The history, the biblical context, is tremendous. I stood in one of the "cells" that the apostle Paul was probably held in before he went to Rome. We saw Charles Swindoll at the theater. He had a huge group and they did a worship service there. Our tour guide is magnificent. If half of what he has told us is true, it is amazing.

We are headed to Mt. Carmel. I hope we don't encounter any false prophets. They had some incredible storms here last week, and everything is green and the plants are flowering.

When we go to the Jordan River, I will actually be doing some of the baptizing. Wow!

Wednesday 2 p.m. Israel time
We just finished at Mt. Carmel. It's almost 6 a.m. for you. It is 2 p.m. here. Lunch was good. I ate a falafel -- crushed chickpeas that are fried and in pita bread. They look like hush puppies and taste like taco seasoning. Pretty good. Everything comes with "salad" which is different types of vegetables, peppers, egg plant, etc. It is hard to describe, so I took a picture. Hopefully I will get to upload some of these tonight.

It is a moving experience to be here. We looked over the Jezreel Valley where the last great battle will be fought -- Armageddon. It is a beautiful, green valley with lots of villages. I cannot imagine the horrors of war coming here. But it is.

Well, now we go to Nazareth. Still doing okay. Kind of tired.

Wednesday 10 p.m. Israel time
It is bedtime. We went to Nazareth - the Arab part. Very busy, crowded place. We walked up to the Church of the Anunciation - where Mary was supposedly given the message by the angel Gabriel. It really is a shrine to her. It is a Catholic church that is very beautiful, but it is obvious there that Mary is an object of worship. There is a tremendous disparity between the haves and have nots here. To rent an apartment costs $1300 per room per month. To buy an apartment is over half a million dollars. Cars cost twice as much here as in the USA because they charge 105% tax. We walked down to the Sea of Galilee tonight. It is quite beautiful here.

Thursday morning Israel Time
Pat and I were awakened at 2 am with a phone call. The lady that fell yesterday, Sarah, had to go to the hospital with an infected hemangioma in her leg. I awoke before the wakeup call and watched the sun rise over the Sea of Galilee. Spectacular sight. Breakfast was excellent. Pastries, eggs, eggs with stewed tomatoes, bell peppers filled with cheese and roasted. I knew I should have worn my stretchy pants. We left the hotel and traveled to the Sea where we boarded a boat named Mark and set out for a wonderful journey. We worshiped, we took pictures, we danced -- yes there is video evidence-- and we bought souvenirs. Now we are headed to the Mt. of the Beatitudes.

Thursday 11:15 am Israel time
We just finished at the Mt of Beatitudes. I was a little disappointed. The site was beautiful, but it has been developed into a tourist trap. Many beautiful flowers and even some parrots. There were a couple of beautiful views, but I guess I would have preferred to stand on the mountain and look out over the field where the multitude was gathered. Not disappointed, but I guess I was hoping for a little more natural beauty. The country is so beautiful and green. Shimon, our guide, says that in two months everything will be yellow and brown. Right now it sure seems as if the desert has truly bloomed. Banana trees, mango trees, loquat trees, olive trees, mustard, heather, and Rose of Sharon are blooming everywhere. Cows are everywhere. The storms last week raised the level of the Sea of Galilee by six feet. What a thrill to see it. The sea is 16 miles long, and from the Mt. of Beatitudes you can see all the way across. Now we are headed to Korazim.

We have just finished lunch and it is almost 2 p.m. here. The day has been full. We have taken the boat on the sea of Galilee, danced to Hava Nagila and another song, and watched one of the men cast a net. He didn't catch any fish. :)

After the mountain, we went to Korazim, the place that Jesus cursed. It was destroyed not long after, and nothing was ever rebuilt on the site. They did build a modern day city of Korazim, but according to the guide, they did not know where the old city was. Miraculously, the site is only a couple of hundred yards from the destroyed city. Amazing. I am really wondering how much of what this guy says is true.

We just finished at Tabgha, the place where the miracle of the multiplication of bread and fish supposedly took place. The Catholics built a church around the rock where they say Jesus performed the miracle. Wow.

Now we have been to Capernaum to see the house of Peter's mother in law. Some pretty neat stories about that. I will try to share them later. Now we are heading to the Jordan river for the baptism service. I will be baptized and will baptize some.

Wow. We did go to the Jordan River. I baptized Allen and Shannon Thompson and Pat baptized me. The water was extremely cold. My feet still haven't warmed up. I forgot to buy me some water shoes. If I cannot find some, I won't be able to go into the Dead Sea. Oh, well. If that is the only thing I miss out on, I won't complain.

Lunch was great. I had "shiwama" which is a turkey and lamb mixture with some kind of sauce and cabbage in a pita bread. It was great. Shimon, our guide, brought around an Iraqi sauce made of mango peels. Not very good, but I tried it.

The hotel has put a special gift in our room since Pat is the tour director. Last night it was a bottle of wine. As you know, it has remained unopened. Tonight there is a thermal coffee mug. I could hide it since Pat isn't here, but he has worked hard to make this trip good, so I guess he should have it. Besides, he said nice things about me when he baptized me.

Tonight, some of the ladies are going to the diamond factory to shop. I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I chose not to go since you don't wear jewelry any more. :) You know that I love you from the bottom of my heart.