Pastor Terry

After breakfast we drove east and south the to lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea. On the way we stopped in the Judan hills at sea level where most of us rode a camel. I felt sorry for the camel when I got on. He was obviously used to small Arabs. The camel master asked me “How many kilo do you weigh?” We then drove into the wilderness area associated with John the Baptist via the Oasis of Ein Gedi to Masada. At this great mountain fort were the Jews fought the Romans, we took the cable car up to the summit where we visited the excavations and heard the story about the Zealots and how they choose suicide over slavery in the war against the Romans. It was a beautiful vista looking over to ... read more

Happy Lord's Day to you! We split up the group of 37 and attended 4 different churches. The group I was in went to the East Jerusalem Baptist Church (Interdenominational). There were probably 60 people in attendance. It was a very informal service with praise songs, hymns, lots of prayers and testimonies and a message by an Australian missionary. We then went in a van to the Old City, entered the Jaffa gate and walked to the Church of the Holy Sceplicur the site of the tomb of Jesus. We waited in a massive line for 1.5 hour to get our turn to enter the tomb. Only 3 or 4 people at a time can enter the inner chamber. Rather than being a stark rocky chamber it was decorated with icons. The Greek Orthodox Church has ... read more

Departed the kibbutz hotel at 8 am and drove to Cana of Galilee, where Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine. As “faith” would have it there was a wedding going on the church which marks to site. It really brought the festivities of the scripture story alive. It was then a short but rugged distance to Nazareth. Remember Jesus walked from Nazareth for the wedding. I keep saying “things” are amazing, but Nazareth deserves no other word. Wevisited the Church of the Annunciation, Joseph's Workshop, and Church of the Synagogue. The synagogue where Jesus preached his first sermon was still standing, through the walls had been rebuilt a couple of times. It was smaller than most country churches I have been in. For me the highlight was seeing the ruins of the house ... read more

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 What an amazing day! Beautiful weather and great experiences! The schedule changes a bit from time to time since they call a head and check on traffic and crowds. This morning we went to the ancient city of Joppa (Jaffa) of Jonah and the Fish fame and the place of Peter's vision of the clean things of God. This is an wonderful country. Northern Israel in very green with much agriculture and pine forests planned over the past several decades. Israel grows almost 100 % of their food supply and are the biggest citrus exporter to Europe. The cities and villages are modern, if not ultra-modern, except the preserved old sections. Highways and bridges are very new and in great repair. Every bit of the tillable land is planted with vegetables, fruits, ... read more

On time to Washington D.C.! Did have a long walk and bus ride to go to another terminal for the next flight to JFK. But here I am with an orange soda and my laptop with plenty of time. Very smooth flight from Tulsa to D.C. No storms and very little wind. On to the next leg! Thanks for your prayers!... read more