Due to spotty internet connection and general sanity-keeping, we're going to be migrating all updates to Facebook from here on out. Pictures for the last few days are all there, and we will just be posting brief summaries of the day's activities and prayer requests there. It's been a challenge to do both the blog and Facebook with the slow internet, especially!

Here is Tuesday's Update: 
We had a great day today in Bethlehem! We saw the Church of the Nativity and the Shepherds' fields, plus did a little shopping. We came back for a brief lecture on the history of Christ Church and got a tour of the Heritage Center here! Pictures coming soon! Thanks for your continued prayer for us. Weather is a big concern as we try to finish out our itinerary. Please pray for cooperative weather conditions for us as we go about tomorrow and Thursday!

Link to our Facebook page here.

​Saturday was another busy and physically exhausting day as we left the Dead Sea and headed to Jerusalem. Our stops along the way included:

• Masada – Masada is a large fortress and palace built by King Herod as a sort of “doomsday shelter” in case there was any trouble in his palace in Jerusalem. It also served as the last Jewish refuge during the Roman conquering of Israel in 70 AD. It’s built on the top of a mesa in the desert, close to the Dead Sea. You can access it by climbing up the Snake Path, or by taking the cable car. The Snake Path is a challenging vertical climb that winds its way back and forth up the side of the mountain and 13 of us chose to take that route. (I only have pictures from the climb, because that’s where I was, but others in the group were getting a tour from Elin while we were huffing and puffing our way up the mountain). Once everyone reached the top, we met with the rest of the group and joined the rest of the tour. We saw a few more sights at the top of Masada before everyone headed back down by cable car.
• Ein Gedi – Next, we went to Ein Gedi, (Hebrew for Goat Spring). It’s believed that this is where David hid from Saul in the desert when he was fleeing from him. Amazingly, there is a large rock spring waterfall at the top of the hike up the cavern. Everyone walked to the Lower Falls, and about 2/3 of us continued on to the upper falls, which was a sight not to miss. We had beautiful views of the Dead Sea as we went back down the mountain as well.
• Qumran – Our final stop before heading to Jerusalem was Qumran, where we had lunch and then a teaching on the Essenes who lived in the desert as an isolated Jewish sect. We were able to see the cave that contained the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls. We had a reading from Daniel 9 and Isaiah 53, which Jews long believed were added by Christians after Jesus. Because they were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, we can know that these two books were prophetic from before the time of Jesus. The readings were a powerful moment for many of us.
• Arrival in Jerusalem – We arrived in the City of the Great King, met Levya, our Shoresh Tour Coordinator and got settled into our rooms.

Another packed but wonderful day in Israel! Sunday is a low key day, programming-wise, so there will be less to report! Thank you for your continued prayers for healing from illnesses. We have a number of folks not operating at 100%. 

​We left our hotel in Tiberias and headed south where we would end up in the Dead Sea at the end of the day.

• Our first stop on our way south was at a kibbutz called Kibbutz Gesher on the Jordan River. A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that is usually surrounded around agriculture. Jewish German immigrants founded this kibbutz in 1939. In their time as an active kibbutz, they often found themselves at the front lines of many of the wars fought in the country across the 20th century. In each of those cases, it was the civilians who lived in the kibbutz left to fight against the well-trained armies of Jordan and Iraq. The kibbutz is named (gesher means “bridge”) for the three distinct and prominent bridges on the property. We were able to go down past the Israeli border fence (which isn’t actually the border with Jordan, but more like a buffer zone”) to get a closer look at the Jordan River and the bridges.
• Next, we went to Beit She’an. Here there are the remains of two different cities. At the top of the “tel” (man-made hill) there are the remnants of a Philistine city (with many other layers of cities underneath, making the tel). Below is a fully excavated Greco-Roman city that used to be part of the Decapolis. We saw the “cardo” or the main road that went through the “heart” of the city (where we get the word cardiology!) with large pillars lining the street. We also saw a very large Roman bath. Those who wanted to climb could climb to the top of the tel for overhead and panoramic views, while those who stayed below were able to get a guided tour with Elin through more of the ruins.
• Our final stop was Jericho, which is in Palestinian-controlled territory. First we stopped at a lookout point where you could see a mountain that is believed to be the mountain that Satan took Jesus to when he was tempted. There are the remains of the We had lunch at a restaurant there. We were able to go onto the roof of the restaurant to see what remains of Jericho from the time of Joshua. It wasn’t much to look at, but cool to see such an old city still preserved.
• From there, we headed straight to the Dead Sea. As soon as we got to our hotel, we dropped our bags and headed for the beach. While it was chilly, we had a ton of fun floating! Some continued on to the indoor heated pool with the Dead Sea water (so you could still float).

Overall, we had an amazing weather day, and Kari had a great birthday!