Today was our last day touring Israel. The next two days are the weekend here, so we will not have any more tour days. Our first stop this morning was Caesarea Maritime. This was one of the nicest looking Roman cities that was built by Herod the Great. It was a port city that took a full 12 years to build. The city was later taken over by the Romans when Herod was dead. It was one of the most intact places we have seen even though earthquakes have ravaged the land. There was a theater that was used for entertainment as well as politics. We also saw Roman bath houses and a hippodrome where chariot races took place. It was a city right on the sea and was absolutely gorgeous!
Our next stop was Mount Carmel. This is where Elijah called down fire from heaven when there was a drought in the land. He built an altar and had the pagans build altars. Then he essentially made fun of them until they gave up and he prayed to God to light his altar. The view from Mount Carmel was breathtaking. Our last stop of the day was the city of Akko. This was also an amazing thing to see. We went into buildings that had been built by the crusaders. It felt like we walked right into a medieval movie. The buildings had huge ceilings and really tall pillars. We walked through the Templar's Tunnel. The shafts and tunnels used for sewage during peaceful times were also used as escapes during times of trouble and war. Today was one of my favorite days even though it was our last day. I loved being on the coast all day and seeing the beautiful sea. It was bittersweet though......we leave Jerusalem in only two days....
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Jerusalem Day 25 - September 22, 2009
Our day was supposed to begin with going to the Temple Mount, but when we got there it was closed off. Therefore, we went on to the Pools of Bethesda instead. This is the same pool where Jesus Healed the Paralyzed man. There are at least two pools and could have been more. The legend was that when the water was Stirred, the first one into it would be Healed. The Paralyzed man was laying at the side because no one would help him into the pool. When Jesus got there he Healed the man. This is also the site where Mary was born.
The rest of our day was spent going to all of the stations of the cross via the Via Dolorosa. This was one of the best things we have done thus far. The stations are as follows:
I. Christ condemned to death
II. The cross laid upon him
III. His first fall
IV. He meets His Blessed Mother
V. Simon of Cyrene is made to bear the cross
VI. Christ's face is wiped by Veronica
VII. His second fall
VIII. He meets the women of Jerusalem
IV. His third fall
X. He is stripped of His garments
XI. His crucifixion
XII. His death on the cross
XIII. His body is taken down from the cross
XIV. Laid in the tomb
Many people say that station XV is then his resurection. The walk was very interesting, stopping at every station to learn more about it. The Vio Dolorosa is what the Catholics believe to be the actual walk of Jesus to his death and then burial. The last four stations are all located in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The most interesting thing to me in the church was at the very opening of it. They have the stone that Jesus body was laid on to be anointed. Many people walk by and touch or kiss it. Another interesting thing about the church is that four different churches have ownerships on it. The Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Coptics, and Roman Catholics all have parts of the church. Each church has three months of the year where they have people spend the night there so that the other religions will not harm the building. The funny thing is that the key holder of the church is a Muslim and not even a Christian at all! This day was one of the most interesting.
The rest of our day was spent going to all of the stations of the cross via the Via Dolorosa. This was one of the best things we have done thus far. The stations are as follows:
I. Christ condemned to death
II. The cross laid upon him
III. His first fall
IV. He meets His Blessed Mother
V. Simon of Cyrene is made to bear the cross
VI. Christ's face is wiped by Veronica
VII. His second fall
VIII. He meets the women of Jerusalem
IV. His third fall
X. He is stripped of His garments
XI. His crucifixion
XII. His death on the cross
XIII. His body is taken down from the cross
XIV. Laid in the tomb
Many people say that station XV is then his resurection. The walk was very interesting, stopping at every station to learn more about it. The Vio Dolorosa is what the Catholics believe to be the actual walk of Jesus to his death and then burial. The last four stations are all located in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The most interesting thing to me in the church was at the very opening of it. They have the stone that Jesus body was laid on to be anointed. Many people walk by and touch or kiss it. Another interesting thing about the church is that four different churches have ownerships on it. The Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Coptics, and Roman Catholics all have parts of the church. Each church has three months of the year where they have people spend the night there so that the other religions will not harm the building. The funny thing is that the key holder of the church is a Muslim and not even a Christian at all! This day was one of the most interesting.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Jerusalem Day 24 - September 21st 2009
Most people on our trip would tell you that today was one of their favorites. We kicked off the morning by going to the City of David. Here we learned more of the history of how Jerusalem was set up during David's time. It is also the location for Hezekiah's Tunnel. When Hezekiah was king, he built a new tunnel for water to be brought into the city. He might have done this because the old tunnel was blocked off, the reason is not known for sure. The cool thing about the tunnel is that it was chiseled from both sides. The men carving the tunnel out of the rock actually met in the middle. From the rooftop we were on we also saw the valley in which King Solomon was crowned as David was dying.
Hezekiah's Tunnel was one of the most fun things we have done. It is a forty-five minute walk through a pitch black tunnel that has water in it. The water today was about mid thigh at the highest point, but closer to below the knee the rest of the way. During the rainy season it is obviously much higher. We were handed tiny flashlights as we walked in, but they weren't much help. Walking through the tunnel was really just a lot of fun. A lot of the tunnel was way too short to be able to stand up in and it was pretty narrow. When we came out we were in the pool of Siloam. The Bible story that takes place there is when Jesus healed the blind man.
Our other stop today was the Garden Tomb. This is where the tomb is that is believed to have held Jesus after he was crucified. We saw the hill of Golgotha and got to walk into the tomb itself. There are two different locations that are thought to have been Jesus' burial place. This was the first and the second is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which we will see tomorrow. It was really interesting seeing this tomb and imagining Jesus coming out of it on the first Easter morning. All in all I really loved today.
Hezekiah's Tunnel was one of the most fun things we have done. It is a forty-five minute walk through a pitch black tunnel that has water in it. The water today was about mid thigh at the highest point, but closer to below the knee the rest of the way. During the rainy season it is obviously much higher. We were handed tiny flashlights as we walked in, but they weren't much help. Walking through the tunnel was really just a lot of fun. A lot of the tunnel was way too short to be able to stand up in and it was pretty narrow. When we came out we were in the pool of Siloam. The Bible story that takes place there is when Jesus healed the blind man.
Our other stop today was the Garden Tomb. This is where the tomb is that is believed to have held Jesus after he was crucified. We saw the hill of Golgotha and got to walk into the tomb itself. There are two different locations that are thought to have been Jesus' burial place. This was the first and the second is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which we will see tomorrow. It was really interesting seeing this tomb and imagining Jesus coming out of it on the first Easter morning. All in all I really loved today.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Jerusalem Day 23 - September 20th 2009
Because it was the last day of Rosh Hashanah, today was a little bit different than usual. We went to a Baptist church this morning. It was the first church service we have gone to on a Sunday morning; normally they are on Friday and Saturday nights. The speaker was the same man who spoke to us from Bethany Bible College about reconciliation a couple of weeks ago. After the service we walked back to school and had lunch on our own. The afternoon ended up being quite interesting....
We were to report downstairs at 1:30pm to begin Southeastern's version of the Amazing Race. It wasn't quite the same as the Amazing Race, but we tried. We were split into groups of four or five and given a list of ten places that we had to find and have our picture taken at. The rules were as follows: The pictures had to be in order of 1-10, each picture with all five group members got you a subtraction of 2 minutes of time, and whoever had the best picture at each site got a subtraction of 1 minute on the time. Each group left the campus in five minute increments. The problem was, the list of places wasn't just a list but rather a list of clues. We had to figure out what the places were. Some groups messed up on the very first site and therefore lost quite a bit of time. Our 10 sites ended up being as follows: 1) The Jaffa Gate: This is where the British came through Jerusalem 2) The Church of Dormition: This is where Mary supposedly ascended into heaven 3) The Western Wall: Where Jews go to pray for the peace of Israel 4) St. Mark's Church: Where the Last Supper took place and St. Mark actually lived 5) The Dome of the Rock: The Muslim Holy site located on the Temple Mount 6) The Damascus Gate: Where poor and rich could walk into the city 7) The Via Dolorosa: We had to stop at one of the stations of the cross; we stopped at station III 8) The Cardo: The Roman road that is still intact in places of Jerusalem 9) Christ's Church: The first Protestant church 10) The New Gate: Where Christians could walk through without being persecuted.
My team made it to all of the stops....even though we took quite a few wrong turns. In the end though we tied for first out of our six teams. Our time ended up being around an hour and a half. (Obviously we ran quite a bit of the way) It was a fun day and everyone is quite proud that they now know their way all over Jerusalem!
We were to report downstairs at 1:30pm to begin Southeastern's version of the Amazing Race. It wasn't quite the same as the Amazing Race, but we tried. We were split into groups of four or five and given a list of ten places that we had to find and have our picture taken at. The rules were as follows: The pictures had to be in order of 1-10, each picture with all five group members got you a subtraction of 2 minutes of time, and whoever had the best picture at each site got a subtraction of 1 minute on the time. Each group left the campus in five minute increments. The problem was, the list of places wasn't just a list but rather a list of clues. We had to figure out what the places were. Some groups messed up on the very first site and therefore lost quite a bit of time. Our 10 sites ended up being as follows: 1) The Jaffa Gate: This is where the British came through Jerusalem 2) The Church of Dormition: This is where Mary supposedly ascended into heaven 3) The Western Wall: Where Jews go to pray for the peace of Israel 4) St. Mark's Church: Where the Last Supper took place and St. Mark actually lived 5) The Dome of the Rock: The Muslim Holy site located on the Temple Mount 6) The Damascus Gate: Where poor and rich could walk into the city 7) The Via Dolorosa: We had to stop at one of the stations of the cross; we stopped at station III 8) The Cardo: The Roman road that is still intact in places of Jerusalem 9) Christ's Church: The first Protestant church 10) The New Gate: Where Christians could walk through without being persecuted.
My team made it to all of the stops....even though we took quite a few wrong turns. In the end though we tied for first out of our six teams. Our time ended up being around an hour and a half. (Obviously we ran quite a bit of the way) It was a fun day and everyone is quite proud that they now know their way all over Jerusalem!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Jerusalem Day 22 - September 17th 2009
We stayed in the Old City today, so we walked everywhere instead of taking our bus. One of the first things we did was see the church that houses what people think is the real "upper room" where Jesus had his last supper. The church was smaller but still beautiful and we were introduced to one of the women who lives there and helps run the place. She told us some of the history of the church and then took us down to the upper room. The reason we had to go downstairs to get to it is because of how many years old the place is. Downstairs for us now is what was upstairs 2000 years ago. Then we went to our biggest site of the day, the burnt house.
The burnt house was really a site to see. It is a basement from a house that was around when the second temple was burned in 70 A.D. The basement walls are still somewhat intact and there were many items such as pots and spear heads that were found in the rooms. We watched a video portraying what it might have been like for the family that lived there. It is thought that the family was priests because of the pots and incense found in the basement. That was my favorite site of the day.
Our last major site was the Temple Institute. Here we learned all about the temple, the articles of the temple, different sacrifices, and how there are plans for a third temple. We actually saw the plans and the structure and found out that articles for the third temple have already been in the making for some years now. It was all very interesting and somewhat confusing at the same time. It is kind of scary to think that so many people are actually giving money to build this third temple....the Jews are only waiting until they can gain back control of the Temple Mount.
The burnt house was really a site to see. It is a basement from a house that was around when the second temple was burned in 70 A.D. The basement walls are still somewhat intact and there were many items such as pots and spear heads that were found in the rooms. We watched a video portraying what it might have been like for the family that lived there. It is thought that the family was priests because of the pots and incense found in the basement. That was my favorite site of the day.
Our last major site was the Temple Institute. Here we learned all about the temple, the articles of the temple, different sacrifices, and how there are plans for a third temple. We actually saw the plans and the structure and found out that articles for the third temple have already been in the making for some years now. It was all very interesting and somewhat confusing at the same time. It is kind of scary to think that so many people are actually giving money to build this third temple....the Jews are only waiting until they can gain back control of the Temple Mount.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Jerusalem Day 21 - September 16th 2009
We had an early start this morning at 6:30am. We drove about an hour to a Bedouin Museum where we learned anything and everything you could want to know about the Bedouin people. We had a Bedouin tour guide and he explained things such as marriage customs and different instruments used by the people. We also watched a short video explaining things more in depth. There were tents set up outside and we got to try Bedouin sweet tea and their pita bread. It was a great experience. Next we drove out to the Negev. It is out in the desert and we went to the gravesite of Ben Gurion and his wife. Ben Gurion was the first prime minister of Israel. The mountains in the Negev look a lot like the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful!
Then we drove to Ben Gurion's desert home. It was nice to see that he lived in a small and normal home in the desert even though he was the prime minister and could have afforded much better. I really enjoyed seeing that he had a huge library of books that covered the walls of his study. Our last stop of the day was in Beer Sheva. We stopped there to see the well that Abraham dug when he came into the land. Now all of us can say that we have truly been from Dan to Beer Sheva....
Then we drove to Ben Gurion's desert home. It was nice to see that he lived in a small and normal home in the desert even though he was the prime minister and could have afforded much better. I really enjoyed seeing that he had a huge library of books that covered the walls of his study. Our last stop of the day was in Beer Sheva. We stopped there to see the well that Abraham dug when he came into the land. Now all of us can say that we have truly been from Dan to Beer Sheva....
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Jerusalem Day 20 - September 15th, 2009
Today was a rather hard day, even though we did not actually physically do much work. Our first stop this morning was at the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. It was one of my favorite stops because it is so interesting to me and because I think it is great that we all get to learn more about what evil human kind can do to others. The museum is in the shape of a knife because the architect wanted it to be symbolic. The museum takes you through history starting with the beginning of the Nazi Regime and ending with the end of World War II and the release of all of the prisoners. It was hard to see all of the faces of the Jews that had been killed or tortured in all of the concentration camps. The best part of the museum, and also the hardest part to me was the very last room. It was a circle in shape with a huge domed ceiling and bookshelves lining the walls. There were pictures and names of every person that they know for sure was killed in the Holocaust. After you leave the museum you can go into another room that is pitch black. There are four candles lit in the center but there are mirrors all around the room so it looks like a countless number of stars. It is meant to represent the 1.5 million children that were killed during the Holocaust. As you walk through there is a recording that plays saying names and ages of all of the children. If the recording were to play 24 hours a day, it would take over four months to finish....
After the museum we went to the Temple Mount Sifting Project. Here we were split into groups of two and sifted through debris salvaged from underneath the Dome of the Rock. We found quite a few things such as pottery, pieces of mosaics, and even a coin. It was neat to be a part of something like that which is going on today. It will take another 15 years to finish that project. We were only there for a couple of hours but we all felt like we learned a lot and were a part of something meaningful. Putting together history is always important and fun!
After the museum we went to the Temple Mount Sifting Project. Here we were split into groups of two and sifted through debris salvaged from underneath the Dome of the Rock. We found quite a few things such as pottery, pieces of mosaics, and even a coin. It was neat to be a part of something like that which is going on today. It will take another 15 years to finish that project. We were only there for a couple of hours but we all felt like we learned a lot and were a part of something meaningful. Putting together history is always important and fun!
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