On the Road Again

Don’t worry I am still alive!  We got into Galilee on Monday and have been going nonstop since.  Today is our Sabbath so I thought I would quickly update my blog before church this afternoon.  Like I said we left Monday morning at 6:30.  I thought it was going to take us a long time to get to Galilee but it turns out it is actually a short drive; we just had a lot of stops along the way.

Our first stop was at Beth Shean!  Yahoo!  This was an important crossroads city during ancient time and was part of the Decapolis.  In Mark it says that Jesus traveled through the cities of the Decapolis and it is possible that he could have visited Beth Shean.  So we stopped at Beth Shean early that morning.  When we stepped off the bus, the humidity hit me.  I was sweating already and it was only 8:00 in the morning!  I don’t do well with humidity so I knew it was going to a long week with the sun and humidity.  Side note: I have survived so far.  Though it has been really hot and I die a little every time I step outside, I have been okay! 

Me pointing at Beth Shean on the map

Out next stop was at Nazareth.  This is the town where Christ grew up and taught in the synagogue.  We were able to visit the Synagogue where Christ announced that Isaiah’s prophecy had been fulfilled, the Church of the Annunciation, and the Church of St. Joseph.  The synagogue was small and very old looking.  It is almost exactly what I had pictured in my mind where that story would have taken place.  We were able to sing a hymn in there and read from Luke 4:14-30.  It was very neat and a experience that I will always remember.  The man that looks after the synagogue then opened up the Greek Orthodox church (I believe) next door.  It was beautiful and had huge chandeliers.  After that we headed to the Church of the Annunciation.  This is the largest Christian church in the Middle East and it commemorates the angel Gabriel’s announcement to the Virgin Mary that she would give birth to the Son of God.  Inside there is a small grotto and above that there is a chapel.  The chapel had gorgeous mosaics donated from all over the world depicting Mary with baby Jesus.  Next-door was the church of St. Joseph.  This is built above the spot where it is believed that Joseph had his carpenters shop. 

Church of the Annunciation

The front door depicts a lot of moments from Christs life.

Grotto

Chapel above the grotto

Church of St. Joseph

Front of the Church of the Annunciation

Our last stop was at Mt. Arbel.  It is a cliff that overlooks the valley of the Sea of Galilee.  It was beautiful up there and very windy.  We talked about what we could see from that point on the cliff that dealt with Christ’s ministry while in Galilee.  Then it was on to our hotel for the next week and a half!  We are staying at En-Gev Resort on the East side of the Sea of Galilee.  I am pretty sure this is where my parents stayed as well when they visited about 20 years ago.  And I can almost bet that they haven’t changed one bit.  We swam for a while the first night and then hung out on the beach.  We have class one day and then a field trip the next.  So it is an alternating schedule, but it is really fun to have some free time every other day.

Kendall and I-- It was really bright out