Blogs from North District, Israel, Middle East - page 17

It was another warm and sunny day as our group arrived in Haifa. Israel’s largest port. Another busy port, we docked across from several very modern looking Israel navy vessels at the base of the hills that make up Haifa. Our guide was there to meet us promptly at 8:00 AM, and it looked as though we would be off to a quick start. However, our bus could not leave the port area because someone had not paid some kind of exit fee, or some such kind of bureaucratic nonsense—a delay of about 45 minutes. When we did get underway we drove inland to the Sea of Galilee passing farms, orchards with olives being harvested and through historical sites where the Crusaders lost a major battle. Israel in experiencing a major drought and things looked very ... read more

Saturday, Oct. 4: Until today the only news we could get was Aljazeera in English; very interesting. The weather today was 89 and very clear. We drove today from Jerusalem to the Galilee district. Highway one, a super highway, was build along the old border between Israel and Jordan. We went through the Jezreel Valley, an agricultural district. The Israelis use modern, scientific farming methods on flat land. The Arabs are left with stoney slopes some of which have been terraced since Biblical times. It is the beginning of harvest for olives and cotton, quite a contrast in methods. The first stop was Nazareth, the Church of the Annunciation. It is supposedly built over the grotto/house in which Mary lived. Nazareth is now predominately Arab Muslim; until recently it was Arab Christian. On the way we ... read more

Imagine the widow's grief when her only son dies. To be left with no husband and no son, this was devastating. The townsfolk carry her son's body outside the city to be buried at the graveyard pictured here. But the funeral procession did not complete its journey that day. While we may imagine the widow's grief, we cannot imagine her joy at what happens next. A Teacher is approaching the city with some of his followers. He approaches the widow, and kindly tells her to stop weeping. Then, addressing the dead boy, he commands in a firm voice "Get Up!" At that, the boy sits up! The Teacher gives the boy to his mother, and proceeds on his way. Word is spread far and wide, "A Great Prophet walks among us." In the video above, you ... read more

Today we embarked on a day long tour of Galilee. A few highlights: 1.) Many of the Bethel family came out onto the sidewalk to greet us. There are 30 members, serving about 1,300 Witnesses, but they had 2,800 at the Memorial. They gave us back issues in Hebrew. 2.) In Caesarea, we saw the Hippodrome, Herod's Palace, and the very room where Paul appealed his detention to Caesar. 3.) Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a contest on Mount Carmel. After they failed to arouse Baal to accept their sacrifice, Elijah drenched his altar with fire. Then, with a single prayer, fire from heaven devoured the offering and the altar itself. Elijah and his men then executed the false prophets of Baal. 4.) An army of 32,000 was reduced to 10,000, then down to ... read more

We are in the ancient city of Safed in the mountains above Galilee. At night we can see the twinkling lights on the shore on the other side near Tiberius. We stayed in the local hostel high up on a hill the first night, our hosts Ricky and Dovi we're so sweet and offered us beer, nuts, cold watermelon and conversation when we returned in the evening after a jaunt around the old city. It's much cooler here and very breeezy..at night it's balmy and we sleep really well. Today we explored the old city and the artist quarter. So many wonderful artists and the streets and old buildings are very inspiering for paintings. We have met many friendly people and wish we could stay in Safed longer. We may even come back during the month. ... read more