Pilgrimage to Israel Day 12

On our final day in the Sea of Galilee area we planned to drive up to the northern area of the country. We begin with Kursi, the traditional site of the exorcism story in which Jesus casts multiple demons out of a man into a herd of pigs (Mark 5:1-20). You can just imagine the pigs running off this cliff and into the sea. 

Mt. Bental was our next destination. First let us say there were 5 other tour buses up where we were. We were not in any imminent danger. That being said, Mt. Bental is in the Golan Heights and about 13 kilometers (around 8 miles) from the Syrian border. The history is too complex to explain in this blog, but suffice it to say the Golan Heights belonged to Syria until Israel took it over in the 6 Day War in 1967. Mt. Bental was a Syrian bunker that was used to defend the mountain. Now it is a tourist attraction where you can see the original bunkers.

Metal statues seem to eerily bring this area to life.

Some humor was also added to the site as an artist used the scrap metal found here to create some interesting statues.

All humor aside, it was a very sobering place to be. It became even more real as we looked over the horizon to Syria and actually heard the bombs exploding due to their civil war. About every 5 minutes we heard an explosion and saw the devastation along the border where once thriving cities were now ghost towns. So sad that such a beautiful area had known and continues to be a place of such violence.

Our continued drive in the north led us to Nimrod Fortress where the impressive ruins of a once Medieval stronghold controlled the roads going in and out of Northern Israel.

It has a secret underground tunnel exit. Shhh, don't tell anyone.

Banias is a nature preserve where we took in the natural beauty of northern Israel. These lush forests were such a contrast to the desert areas in the south we had experienced just one week earlier. Also known as Ceasarea Philippi, Jesus was on his way to this village when he asked his disciples who they thought he was and Peter answers the Messiah (Mark 8:27-30).

The waterfall was worth the 45 minute walk.

Finally we went to Tel Dan, the traditional northern border of Israel and not far from the border with Lebanon. Dan is the northern most area of Israel and one of the original twelve tribes. It also has a nature reserve and some key archeological finds. It's absolutely gorgeous. 

On this last night near the Sea of Galilee we had to partake of the traditional St. Peter's Fish dinner (also known as Tilapia). And there it is...enough said.

We will miss this beautiful sea and countryside. It was a truly sacred place.

Pilgrimage to Israel Day 11

We have the privilege of exploring the Sea of Galilee today, the area where Jesus spent most of his adult life.  We quickly realized that using public transportation would be very difficult so we arranged to pick our rental car up one day early in Tiberias. Tiberias is the largest city on the Sea of Galilee and has all the amenities, including McDonald's (a kosher one of course).

Actually Tiberias was not good to us. We thought we could get a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee but were flatly told not only did they not sail from Tiberias, you also had to be a part of a group to get on a boat. We wandered around but Peter's church was closed, we couldn't find a souvenir shop, and there was not much to do or see. I did find a Presbyterian church, the only one we saw the entire trip.

Finally we got the rental car and were free of Tiberias. Next stop was Ginosar where we tried to get on board a boat sailing on the Sea of Galilee. We went to the boat dock but they could not help us since they don't let individuals on board. So we hung out in the entrance way and saw a very happy group come through the doors. It was easy to spot the tour guide and we asked him if we could pay our way to join the group. He asked the group of 8 men and women from South Africa who said yes. First stop was to see the ancient boat unearthed after 2,000 years and on display.

This boat was an amazing find in 1986. Buried in mud the wood had been preserved and dated back 2,000 years ago. Maybe it was the boat James and John or Peter used to fish, or even the boat Jesus slept in when the storm was raging outside. Who knows? It was really neat to see this ancient relic from so long ago.

Then we got on a boat ourselves and headed off on the Sea. It was a beautiful sunny day and the water was calm. 

The group from South Africa sang and danced as we listened to praise songs like "Here I Am to Worship" and "Blessed be the Name of The Lord" as well as "When the Saints go Marching In" and "Amen." It was a blast! I was once again impressed by how big the Sea of Galilee really was. We also laughed when we were told that Jesus wasn't a fan of Tiberias and never went to Tiberias since it was the seat of the Roman government in this area. No wonder we didn't like it there!

We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting four holy sites in Tabgha and Capernaum. We started with the Mount of Beatitudes. A beautiful Franciscan Church with manicured grounds built on this mountain providing a great view and space for reflection.

Looking out onto the countryside, it was easy to see how Jesus used these gently sloping hills to talk to thousands of people and share his wisdom and teachings as recorded in Matthew 5-6.

Next we headed to the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish where Jesus is said to have performed the feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21). Under the altar is a rock where some believe Jesus set the loaves and fish before breaking and distributing them. Next to the rock is the famous mosaic made in 480 and still perfectly intact. This is now the symbol of the church and the city of Tabgha.

Then we went to Peter's House with a UFO built over it.

Seriously, this was a really neat place where practically a whole city was excavated, the city where Jesus grew up in Capernaum. There was the synagogue where he likely taught.

And there was a house that didn't have the normal house furniture and instead had lots of oil lamps. It is believed this was a place many of the early Christians worshipped and is thought to be St. Peter's house. 

A UFO looking church was built over the exact place of ancient worship. It was one of the most beautiful churches I had ever seen. The glass sides let lots of the light in and the seating was in a circle. The middle had a plexiglass opening where you could see the ancient worship site. Truly a beautiful blend of honoring tradition while creating a modern place of worship.

The back of the property had benches over looking the Sea of Galilee. In my opinion, this was the most spiritual place of the entire Sea of Galilee. I could have stayed for hours.

Our last stop was the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter. "Upon this rock I will build my church," Jesus says to Peter in Matthew 16:18. Well, here is the rock (or at least the traditional site of that rock). This is also believed to be the place where Jesus ate fish with his disciples after his resurrection. 

The back of the property also is on the shore of the sea so we took advantage of it and put our toes in the water.

We love the Sea of Galilee area and could see why Jesus made it his home.

Pilgrimage to Israel Day 10

Our last day on the Jesus Trail and quite frankly I was a bit relieved. This trail was a lot harder than what I was expecting. We arranged for luggage to be transported once again (still the best $16 I ever spent) and we set off at 9:00. Another big decision was whether to literally climb over the Arbel Cliffs or take the valley road between the cliffs. Since it has been raining hard all night long, we were told the cliffs might be a little slippery and perhaps even closed, so we took the lower road in the valley.

This also was not an easy path. In order to get to the valley road, we still had to climb down the mountain, over a very rocky terrain. Rocks were everywhere and we had to slowly pick our way down through the loose stones. In addition, everything was muddy and slippery which made climbing over the rocks that much more dangerous. Every ten minutes we had to scrape off the thick mud that had accumulated on our shoes.

It seemed never ending but we finally made it through the valley, with cliffs towering over us. Throughout the centuries, those cliffs have harbored rebels in the caves who revolted against the prevailing government. Many battles have happened on or near this cliff that is so close to the Sea of Galilee.

While we didn't see many fellow walkers, there were companions along the way and we tried to make friends with them. Actually, I let Rose make friends with them first!

Along the road we thought the farmer wouldn't miss one of the delicious grapefruits that was ripe for the picking. So juicy and good!

We caught our first glimpse of the Sea of Galilee, our destination being Capernaum. It was much bigger than what I had imagined!

We trudged through the mud, closer and closer to Capernaum.

We made it to the Greek Orthodox Church at 5:00, 8 hours after we had left. 

The church had a gate that led into the Sea of Galilee. We considered this the end of the trail and gave prayers of thanks for a safe trip.

Then we found the official end of the trail and gave more prayers of thanks. The Gospel Trail, the Jesus Trail had been quite a challenge and with a little humility and recognition of physical and emotional limitations, we had made it. Thanks be to God!

Pilgrimage to Israel Day 9

We had a big decision to make this morning. When we woke up it was raining and our feet were still hurting. We were aware that most of the places along the Jesus Trail offer a luggage service. They will take our backpacks to the next place so we can walk free of that burden. But it meant I had to swallow my pride and ask for help, something that doesn't come naturally to me. Really though, we didn't have much of a choice. If we wanted to to make it safely, with dry luggage, and not permanently injure ourselves, we would have to inquire about this service. It was the best $8 we spent all week!

Feeling much better without our packs, we set off at 8:30 on our 19.7 kilometer day from Ilaniya to Arbel. It started off great with lush green rolling hills. The rain had disappeared and the sun shone brightly down. It was a beautiful day. 

We walked through a military gathering spot, maybe a training area. Tanks were everywhere and there must have been 100 soldiers, men and women. Everyone was very nice but since they all were carrying automated machine guns, we kept our cameras hidden, our heads down, and walked quickly by. It was pretty intimidating.

Then we got the the Horns of Hattin, a mountain that turned the flat dirt pathway into a rock climbing expedition. Oftentimes on our hands and feet, we crawled at a snails pace up this mountain and then slowly and carefully made our way down.  We were thankful we didn't have our packs on! 

By the time we inched our way over, it was 3:00 and we still had 9.6 km to go, another 3 hours or so. But there was a shortcut that was only 3 km. Again, I battled with my pride in "doing the trail the right way" versus doing what our bodies needed. We sat down to eat for 15 minutes to decide what to do, asking for God's guidance.

Just as soon as we sat down, a cold wind started to blow and the clouds rolled in. We didn't even wait 10 minutes until we decided this was the sign we were asking for. A storm was coming and walking 3 hours in the cold wet weather was not appealing. We high tailed it to the shortcut, almost running at times trying to beat the rain. As the wind pushed us on, it felt like God's hand was on our backs gently urging us to go faster. We were only 5 minutes from our bed and breakfast place before the sky burst open and it started to pour. While we were wet, 5 minutes of rain was a whole lot better than 1 or 2 hours worth.

That night we had the best meal ever in Ysrael's Kitchen. Ysrael is a wonderful chef and reservations have to be made way in advance. Thank goodness we had some and we enjoyed a lamb dish that was out of this world. The best thing was that while we ordered the lamb, little side dishes kept coming that we hadn't ordered: green beans, salads, tomato and cucumbers, vegetables, and apricot nectar. Everything was delicious, especially the chocolate cake and homemade ice cream!

We survived another day on the Jesus trail...and made a few friends along the way.