Israel - Day 2

This has been an absolutely amazing day! It is really wonderful what a good night’s sleep will do for you. As far as I can tell, the jet lag is behind me. I slept 10 hours last night after getting about 7 hours of sleep in the last 72. We started the day by visiting the monastery on the top of Mt. Carmel. You can see half of Israel from up there. It is a beautiful sight. Then we went to Tel Megiddo, it is the excavations of an ancient city that overlooks the Jezreel Valley, where the battle of Armeggiddon will be fought. While there, we went down through a water tunnel that was built so that the city could protect it’s water supply from its enemies when it was under siege. It was a pretty amazing place. The we headed down through Nazareth to Capernaum, where Peter lived and where Jesus did most of His ministry. There are some amazing excavations there, including Peter’s house and a museum with a boat that was uncovered in the area that archeologists believe is from the time of Christ. We sat in the synagogue that stands over the one that would have been there in Jesus’ time. Then we boarded a boat and sailed across the Sea of Galilee, to Tiberius. I cannot describe for you the feeling of riding the waves on the very body of water where Jesus walked on the seas and later said, “Peace, be still.” Tonight, our group gathered for a devotional time about the importance of meekness and humility if we are ever going to accomplish anything of eternal value. We ended it with a foot-washing. This event was my idea, but I never could have imagined how powerful it was when this group of pastors humbled themselves before each other and washed each others feet. Wow! We are staying in Tiberius tonight and tomorrow we are going to do some volunteer work in Bet Shean at the Dental Clinic that Rivers of Life sponsors over here. Then, its down to the Jordan. It should be a pretty exciting day.