we made it to Atlanta! Be home in a couple hours! yay!

Thursday we started in Jerusalem and then went out to visit Bethlehem, Jericho, and the Dead Sea. We are all a little sad to leave, but so excited to get home to visit all our family and friends! We love you guys and are so thankful for your prayers and support.

Golgotha

Bethlehem

Dead Sea

Wednesday was another awesome day in Jerusalem….. It is so hard to express how incredible it is here in Jerusalem. Just being in the places the Bible talks about is amazing!

the western wall of the temple… aka the wailing wall

Dome of the Rock

Dome of the Ascension (top of the Mt of Olives where Jesus ascended to Heaven)

Mt of Olives

Room of the Lord’s Supper

 

 

 

So… I’m a little behind… Sorry! The last few days have been just incredible!

Tuesday we started in Tel Aviv and made our way over to Jerusalem.  We checked into a cute little guesthouse inside the old city walls. We spent the afternoon walking the ramparts of the old city walls (the top of the walls) it was incredible to see everything from on top the walls. We walked through the courtyard where Jesus was sentenced to die, visited the spot he was beaten and given the cross and walked the Via Dolorosa. Wow! Words can’t even describe!

Monday we had a great day connecting with an awesome local church in the morning and meeting with a great ministry in the afternoon!

We started off meeting with the leaders of the Messianic Jewish Congregation (same place we were able to attend Shabbat service on Saturday). They were wonderful and we began a relationship that we are sure will last for quite a few years. We talked about reaching our communities for Jesus, and Jan was able to share all about Celebrate Recovery which was fantastic! They were super interested in learning and possibly even adding a program to help with the hurts, habits and hang-up we all have in life!

We then went on and met with a pastor and outreach leader in the down town Tel Aviv area. He is doing great work to reach the young in that inner-city area and we had a wonderful time getting to know one another and learning all about their work! They had a great little outreach coffee shop that we were able to visit too… very cool!

Oh and we got to see an awesome sunset! God is good!

It was a full day of making friends, learning and growing together!

We are loving Israel…. Thank you for all your prayers… Miss you and love you all!

 

It’s now Tuesday morning here in Israel and we just got to internet, so let me get you up to date

so lets begin where we left off…. The Sea of Galilee absolutely amazing to be in the very place where so much of Jesus’ ministry took place. We stood on the shore, touched the shore sand and shells and felt the breeze… no words could describe the sense of awe.

 

We then drove around to the ancient city of Capernaum…. it was so exciting to see the ruins and the synagogue and peters house… wow!

From Capernaum we went up to the Mount of the Beatitudes

That was our incredible Sunday! wow!

Today we had an incredible Sunday! We were able to head north to the Galilee region and experience many of the sights of the New Testament. The Bible came to life today and we were able to walk some of the same places Jesus would have walked 2000 years ago. Each one of us were just in awe as stories we had read many times before became reality. We also met some great new friends from a Baptist school in Nazareth that we know we will be meeting with again in the future

We started the morning in Jaffa, one of the oldest ports in the world and the place where all the cedar for the temple in Jerusalem came through, where Jonah set sail from before being swallowed by the big fish, and where Peter raised Tabitha from the dead.

We then headed North to Nazareth, where Jesus grew up. We visited the Basilica of the Annunciation, a Basilica that enshrines a small cave dwelling identified as the home of Mary where the angel Gabriel appeared to her.

After visiting Nazareth we traveled to the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum and the Mount of the Beatitudes (I’ll post pics tomorrow because the internet is being temperamental right now and not uploading pics)

Such an amazing day and one that all of us will remember forever!

Thank you for your prayers!

 

 

Hi Friends! We are currently in TelAviv We didnt post yesterday and so we thought we’d let you know what we did for the last 2 days and show ya some pics!

Yesterday, we spent the day in Cyprus meeting people and seeing some awesome sights. We were able to visit the ancient aqueducts that date back to the Roman times, we visited the Church Built by the Angels that dates back to the 4th century (amazing murals from the 4th century…incredible) and we visited the 4th holiest site of Islam (a Mosque on the site where Mohammad’s aunt died). Pictures are below

Then last night we flew into Tel Aviv and all is well   We attended Shabbat Service at a local Messianic Jewish church today and spent some time getting to know the wonderful people here in Israel. At the church they had a great view over looking the hills of Samaria (The West Bank). Picture below.

We are looking forward to experiencing more of Israel tomorrow!

 

 

 

It is almost night here in Cyprus and our first day was great! Scott, Marisa, Desiree, and Jan all got up at 6:30 and took a great walk on the path by the Mediterranean Sea this morning and watched the sunrise! What a great way to start the trip (Deb and Kim slept )

We have a great breakfast together and had a great time of in-country training and discussion. We then visited the St Lazarus church which is right across the street from our hotel. This church was built over Lazarus’s tomb (2nd one) in 889. We all know the story of how Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead, but many of us were not aware that Lazarus came to Cyprus and preached about Jesus after he was exiled from Israel and when he pasted away for the 2nd and final time, he was buried here. We were able to go under the church and see his tomb, very interesting.

We also took a short boat ride on the Mediterranean Sea and saw a ship wrecked boat right off the coast. Tonight we have our first connect to talk PEACE with a connect here in Cyprus so we are excited to learn more about the country and the work that God is doing here.

Below are some pics from our first day!

 

Hi Guys!

We made it to Cyprus! We are here safe and sound We will post more in the morning! We are headed to get some dinner and then off to bed. Thank you for your prayers! Everyone is doing great and sending their love back home!