We haven't talked about the other members of our group yet. Besides the 14 people from Hosanna traveling on this trip, there's a couple from the Cities, Gary and Joannie Sackreiter; a couple from Elbo Lake, Gene and Marilynn Larson and a couple from Rochester, Gene and Marilyn Tredder and their niece, Sara Bracket. There's also a couple from Wauseca named Merlyn and Bonnie Proechel. As you can see, there are two Gene's, two Melyn's (believe it or not) two Larsen (one spelled Larson) families and two Marilyn's although one spells her name with two n's. They've all been on trips with Larry and Joanne Larsen before and are seasoned travelers.
What makes this trip unique for them and for all of us is the three pastors along on the trip and the daily devotions,singing and praying we do.
Today we spent the day on the Sea of Galilee and the areas around Capernaum where Jesus did his ministry. We took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee - luckily we didn't have to walk on water. It was extremely calm on the lake and very hot - it got to 91 degrees today! We have a great picture with the three pastors standing on the stern of the boat under the Israeli and American flags. The men who ran the boat even showed us how the disciples might have fished and the nets they used. Our guide, Doran, told us the it was even more of an accomplishment than we might think when the disciples were called to follow Jesus. At the time they were probably teenagers and getting a teenager to do what you want is especially amazing. While we were on the boat, we sang, "I've Got Peace Like a River"
We went to a "Men From Galilee" Museum where the remains of a wooden boat most likely coming from the time of Jesus was found on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It was a group of Lutheran archeologists that discovered it. The way they found it because the lake got so low and they dug it out and restored it and preserved it is quite a story of perserverance.
The description of the synagogue was interesting because it started out as a place of teaching and readingof the Torah - only on Mondays and Thursdays during the crusades -when Jews could congregate around the market place safely. In the long area in back of the synagogue were rooms where families could come to stay if they were visiting the area.
Only in the 2nd century did it become a place of worship. Families would build their homes around it in a close formation sort of like a jigsaw puzzle. They just had to leave a space between the synagogue and the houses wide enough for a donkey to get through. It gave the impression of a very crowded, busy area. We saw the remains of Peter's house where he lived with his mother-in-law when Jesus healed her. We learned more about the many miracles Jesus did in the synagogues he visited in his travels around Capernaum and how only two are individually named in the gospel of Luke - the man whose daughter was sick and healing the woman who had been bleeding for many years. All the other miracles were described in multitudes. An interesting fact about the building of holy place around Peter's home was that some of the funding was provided by ancestors of the Zebedee family and James and John - the sons of Zebedee.
We saw the church of the multitides that commemorates the place where Jesus fed the 5000 with the loaves and fishes. Our guide, Doran, talked about how Jesus had the disciples hand out the food in a way that he was actually "ordaining" them to be leaders for after he was gone. He wanted the people of the area to trust them when they could no longer turn to Jesus.
We also saw the mount of the Beatitudes where Jesus gave his sermon on the mount. We heard the 8 blessings from Matthew 5-7 read by Pastor Meiers and we sang "Blessed are They" and prayed for a life lived in the framework Jesus laid out for us in the beatitudes.
Our final activity for the day was to go up to Mt. Tavor, the Mount of Transfiguration where Jesus was seen in all his glory along with Moses and Elijah by Peter, James and John. Pastor Reinschmidt preached about the 3 exoduses up there and we prayed the Lord's Prayer. What a moving experience that was!
We really got to see what it must have been like for Jesus and the disciples - the rough terrain on which they traveled, the obstacles they faced, the leading of God all along the way as they continued living out the exodus of the Jews first from Egypt during Moses' time, then from Babylon during the time of Isaiah and finally when Jesus rescued all the world through his death and resurrection. This has been the best day so far.
Tomorrow it's on to the river Jordan where we can have a ceremonial re-baptism and then to Jordan where we'll be with a new tour company for two days.
Blessings to all. ~Barb & Niel & Pastor Bill and Beth and Ginny and Karla and Paul (all here watching me type)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sunday April 19th The Golan Heights
Today we drove around the Sea of Galilee up to the Golan Heights near Mt. Hermon. We learned that 60% of the drinkable water comes from the Sea of Galilee. It was the man who designed the Tennessee Valley Authority who came and designed the system here.
Doran, our tour guide described the development of the kibbutz in 1930. They were started by Jews coming from England and the U.S. and the main focus was on cooperative living where they shared the work and the profits of their work and held all their possessions in common. Today there are 380 kibbutzes that make 31/2 % of the population. Because of all the wars, to protect the land of the kibbutz they planted eucalyptus trees around them to hide them from the soldiers.
When the wheat in, which supplied most of the area and countries around the world, almost died off, it was a Jew named Aaron Arronson who developed durham wheat - wheat with 2 rows of kernals on each head, that literally saved the world.
We found out that the blackberry is considered holy because its leaves are in the shape of a cross with three leaves - the trinity.
Doran told us that a Pharoh was worshiped as a "god to be" and a king was just a ruler of the area. Then he told the story of Jeraboam who was sent to be the king over the Northern kingdoms. The made a temple there - one of the only two outside of Jerusalem - but he allowed a place to put idols to appease the Egyptians who had to worship God through the golden calf. Because he stretched the boundaries of the Jewish religion and then allowed Sennacherib and the Assyrians to come into Dan, God destroyed all the 10 northern kingdoms. We got to see the remains of that temple and the altar and the clay gate where Abram actually used when he came from Ur into Israel. Being there really makes it all come alive.
While we were at Dan which is on the border of Lebanon, we were abruptly brought back to modern day Israel when we heard gunfire. Our guide told us that as long as we could hear the shots we were fine. When we didn't hear them anymore - we would probably be injured or dead.
Our next stop was Caesarea Philippi where we saw the Roman influence in the ruins. Dan and Caesarea were the two main sources or headwaters of the Jordan River. We took a long walk over rocks and water to get to Dan, but we saw the ruins of a whole city in Caesarea. It included a temple, altar and even market place area. It was there we sat and heard again of the story of Jesus' trip to Caesarea where he asked the disciples "who do you say that I am" asking them to declare their faith in an area that was really hostile to Jesus. If they could do that there, they would be more prepared to handle the time that was coming when Jesus would no longer be with them.
Our guide then asked us to declare our faith and tell him who we said that Jesus is. We said it loudly - Jesus Christ the son of the living God. Then we sang "Father I Adore You" and the "Doxology" is 3 part harmony. It was thrilling to hear in that beautiful but formerly hostile setting to Christianity.
We finally went "on the road to Damascus" the way Paul went to where he was struck blind. Doran told us that only when we can't see could we focus on what God really has to say to us and turn our hearts to God as Paul did. He thought it was amazing that Paul's traveling companions took him on to Damascus where he was going to hunt believers instead of back to where he would be surrounded by Jewish friends. But after Paul had been with Ananius and the new believers there, they were more confident in their faith and less worried about their future.
The last part of our trip to the Golan Heights was mostly about the politics of the recent past from the 1967 war and the 1973 Yom Kippur war between Lebanon, Syria and Israel and other interesting information about the natural vegetation, flowers and crops of the area. We even got to see an olive oil plant and bring back soaps and creams created by the leftovers of the olive pits and skins after the pressing was done.
Another amazing day of learning and experiencing the stories that make up the history of our Christian faith!
We got back for dinner tonight and Niel had an e-mail from Pastor Rist with the sad news about the passing of Rich Drexler. Our condolences to Cherie and Christina and our thoughts and prayers are with them and our Hosanna family.
Gods blessings to all of you. We'll be on the Sea of Galilee tomorrow. More later. ~Barb & Niel and Pastor Bill
Doran, our tour guide described the development of the kibbutz in 1930. They were started by Jews coming from England and the U.S. and the main focus was on cooperative living where they shared the work and the profits of their work and held all their possessions in common. Today there are 380 kibbutzes that make 31/2 % of the population. Because of all the wars, to protect the land of the kibbutz they planted eucalyptus trees around them to hide them from the soldiers.
When the wheat in, which supplied most of the area and countries around the world, almost died off, it was a Jew named Aaron Arronson who developed durham wheat - wheat with 2 rows of kernals on each head, that literally saved the world.
We found out that the blackberry is considered holy because its leaves are in the shape of a cross with three leaves - the trinity.
Doran told us that a Pharoh was worshiped as a "god to be" and a king was just a ruler of the area. Then he told the story of Jeraboam who was sent to be the king over the Northern kingdoms. The made a temple there - one of the only two outside of Jerusalem - but he allowed a place to put idols to appease the Egyptians who had to worship God through the golden calf. Because he stretched the boundaries of the Jewish religion and then allowed Sennacherib and the Assyrians to come into Dan, God destroyed all the 10 northern kingdoms. We got to see the remains of that temple and the altar and the clay gate where Abram actually used when he came from Ur into Israel. Being there really makes it all come alive.
While we were at Dan which is on the border of Lebanon, we were abruptly brought back to modern day Israel when we heard gunfire. Our guide told us that as long as we could hear the shots we were fine. When we didn't hear them anymore - we would probably be injured or dead.
Our next stop was Caesarea Philippi where we saw the Roman influence in the ruins. Dan and Caesarea were the two main sources or headwaters of the Jordan River. We took a long walk over rocks and water to get to Dan, but we saw the ruins of a whole city in Caesarea. It included a temple, altar and even market place area. It was there we sat and heard again of the story of Jesus' trip to Caesarea where he asked the disciples "who do you say that I am" asking them to declare their faith in an area that was really hostile to Jesus. If they could do that there, they would be more prepared to handle the time that was coming when Jesus would no longer be with them.
Our guide then asked us to declare our faith and tell him who we said that Jesus is. We said it loudly - Jesus Christ the son of the living God. Then we sang "Father I Adore You" and the "Doxology" is 3 part harmony. It was thrilling to hear in that beautiful but formerly hostile setting to Christianity.
We finally went "on the road to Damascus" the way Paul went to where he was struck blind. Doran told us that only when we can't see could we focus on what God really has to say to us and turn our hearts to God as Paul did. He thought it was amazing that Paul's traveling companions took him on to Damascus where he was going to hunt believers instead of back to where he would be surrounded by Jewish friends. But after Paul had been with Ananius and the new believers there, they were more confident in their faith and less worried about their future.
The last part of our trip to the Golan Heights was mostly about the politics of the recent past from the 1967 war and the 1973 Yom Kippur war between Lebanon, Syria and Israel and other interesting information about the natural vegetation, flowers and crops of the area. We even got to see an olive oil plant and bring back soaps and creams created by the leftovers of the olive pits and skins after the pressing was done.
Another amazing day of learning and experiencing the stories that make up the history of our Christian faith!
We got back for dinner tonight and Niel had an e-mail from Pastor Rist with the sad news about the passing of Rich Drexler. Our condolences to Cherie and Christina and our thoughts and prayers are with them and our Hosanna family.
Gods blessings to all of you. We'll be on the Sea of Galilee tomorrow. More later. ~Barb & Niel and Pastor Bill
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Tourists at last!
Today we went from Tel Aviv to Jaffa to Caesarea to the Sea of Galilee where we're staying for the next 3 days.
Our tour guide, Doron Bookstein, is an amazing student of Bible history and a great story teller. He seems like he should be a Christian, but when we asked, he said he isn't - yet. He said that's God's work.
Most of us are over jet lag, but we noticed Beth and Barb napping on the bus today. We got appreciation for how developed all the areas are and they have some amazing "national parks". We tasted a salty bush and learned why they write Hebrew from right to left- they had to write on clay tablets and it's easier to chisel from right to left.
We learned that drought in the area means no water, but famine only comes when there is no morning dew, therefore there is no grass for the livestock.
We also learned that the corner stone of a building is at the top of an arch in the shape of an upside down triangle. We learned about the Druz religion. It's almost as big as the Christian religion in Israel. Only 2% of the population is Christian in Israel.
In Jaffa we heard about a long term archeological dig that UCLA has been doing for years. The city is over 6,000 years old! Since they don't have much space. That's why archeologists have such a great time in this region.
We toured Caesarea Maritima. This man made seaport just a few miles north of Tel Aviv was King Herod's headquarters.
We saw Mt. Carmel and the group even prayed together there.
In Nazareth when we were going through the Church of the Annunciation we saw an example of all three religions together. They were celebrating mass in the church, there was a Muslim call to prayer over the loud speaker and Jews were celebrating their sabbath all in the same area.
It's been a tiring, inspiring day and we're looking forward to more tomorrow.
~ Barb & Niel
Our tour guide, Doron Bookstein, is an amazing student of Bible history and a great story teller. He seems like he should be a Christian, but when we asked, he said he isn't - yet. He said that's God's work.
Most of us are over jet lag, but we noticed Beth and Barb napping on the bus today. We got appreciation for how developed all the areas are and they have some amazing "national parks". We tasted a salty bush and learned why they write Hebrew from right to left- they had to write on clay tablets and it's easier to chisel from right to left.
We learned that drought in the area means no water, but famine only comes when there is no morning dew, therefore there is no grass for the livestock.
We also learned that the corner stone of a building is at the top of an arch in the shape of an upside down triangle. We learned about the Druz religion. It's almost as big as the Christian religion in Israel. Only 2% of the population is Christian in Israel.
In Jaffa we heard about a long term archeological dig that UCLA has been doing for years. The city is over 6,000 years old! Since they don't have much space. That's why archeologists have such a great time in this region.
We toured Caesarea Maritima. This man made seaport just a few miles north of Tel Aviv was King Herod's headquarters.
We saw Mt. Carmel and the group even prayed together there.
In Nazareth when we were going through the Church of the Annunciation we saw an example of all three religions together. They were celebrating mass in the church, there was a Muslim call to prayer over the loud speaker and Jews were celebrating their sabbath all in the same area.
It's been a tiring, inspiring day and we're looking forward to more tomorrow.
~ Barb & Niel
Greetings from the Solberg's
Well, here we are in the land of milk and honey. Actually, I've seen neither yet but that is besides the point. We have thus far spent time on a Tel Aviv beach and today visited several sites, including Cesaerea, Mt. Carmel, Megetto (Armageddon site), Nazareth and drove by Cana, the Sea of Galilee. Wish you were all here. More later...maybe. Merlyn & Ginny
Friday, April 17, 2009
Arrived safely in Israel!
We're here! After 24 hours of buses and planes, we made it to Tel Aviv safely. We had lots of prayer support on the way especially on our long flight from Chicago to Madrid. Pastor Meiers sat next to a Polish Priest going to Rome to teach and Pastor Mattson sat next to a priest from Boston going to Rome for a retreat and Pastor Reinschmidt talked to an ELCA clergy couple in the airport who were from Milwaukee and had worked at Mt. Olive after Pastor Keith Beaver retired. There's also a funny story about "Sister Beth" that you'll have to ask Beth Wiegand about when she gets back. Any way, we had great flights and food and lots of lively conversation along the way. We didn't get much sleep however, so after a great dinner in our hotel in Tel Aviv, we went right to bed.
We're writing this morning about about 6:30 am just before we get breakfast and get on our bus to go the the Sea of Galilee area for the next 3 days. We found our that Tel Aviv is celebrating its 100th anniversary - it must not have been settled by Israelis! And we were greated here by our tour guide, Doran, with Shabbat Shalom - Sabbath peace, I think. It's their sabbath weekend here - Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, so no shops are open and it's pretty quiet.
Last night before dinner we were able to walk a block to the beach on the Mediterranean and take great pictures of the sunset against breaking waves. There were even surfers in the 50 degree waters having a great time!
More later. Blessings ~ Barb & Niel
We're writing this morning about about 6:30 am just before we get breakfast and get on our bus to go the the Sea of Galilee area for the next 3 days. We found our that Tel Aviv is celebrating its 100th anniversary - it must not have been settled by Israelis! And we were greated here by our tour guide, Doran, with Shabbat Shalom - Sabbath peace, I think. It's their sabbath weekend here - Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, so no shops are open and it's pretty quiet.
Last night before dinner we were able to walk a block to the beach on the Mediterranean and take great pictures of the sunset against breaking waves. There were even surfers in the 50 degree waters having a great time!
More later. Blessings ~ Barb & Niel
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Plans are made / Suitcases are being packed
We leave in just a few days. Some of us are making lists and packing while others are working to "clear the decks" for while they are gone. Either way the bus leaves at 7:45 Thursday morning.
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