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…all that I saw and felt today. I was so moved.

            Brief synopsis that will do this day no justice: Woke in Tiberius, traveled to Jerusalem. We traveled by bus to Jerusalem, although I did get to ride a camel for the first time in my life today!

            The Garden of Gethsemane was one of the most peaceful places I have ever been. The part with the garden gated off had olive trees that were at least 2000 years old! Next we visited the Western Wall where we were able to go up to it and pray and leave a prayer on a piece of paper in its cracks. As we walked through the city of Jerusalem, school classes were getting out and students were hanging out in the streets and eating ice cream at the local shops. I wish I could have sat down and talked with some of them and asked what it was like living within the walls of such an ancient city on a daily basis, and having visitors from all over the world walking around their city all the time.

            The empty tomb was very serene, the garden surrounding it quite beautiful. The Dead Sea Scrolls where interesting to see. They were so accurate, organized, and neatly written. Even more interesting to hear a lady tell the captivating stories about their discovery and history over the years.

 This is Golgotha, do you see the skull?

            Dinner tonight was spectacular. Such a lovely place, and everything was set up so nicely. Hearing more stories of how people were impacted as well as praying over future opportunities for this ministry was so neat to be apart of. I cannot believe I only have one more day in this amazing place where everywhere I turn I am reminded of my dear Savior and all that He has done for me and all mankind.

            I am sorry that this does not touch on everything we did and experienced or how I feel and other special moments and conversations I had with these amazing people, but I wanted to give you a glance at the surface of my time here. 

  Live late night blogging! 

   Thumbs up family! Keep doing what you do well! 

      Today I learned more about the people, hearts, and operations behind the MegaVoice Ministry. They gave us each an Ambassador (audio device that reads the Bible in many different languages), and a tour of the offices. Here is a picture of one of the people who were hand putting the chips inside the devices.

            We ate lunch in Nazareth! There was a recreation of Nazareth Village that we got to walk through. It was amazing to see and hear and walk in a place probably much like Jesus would have 2000 years ago.

            Then we took a boat on the Sea of Galilee. We were able to see many places where Jesus’ ministry took place. From the boat we saw the Mount of Beatitudes, the place where Jesus fed 5,000, and told Peter if he loved him to ‘feed my sheep’. 

            We ate dinner at a lovely place outdoors on the deck over the water. The food was delicious and kept coming and coming. Most of all I have enjoyed meeting people from all over the world with the same vision to spread God’s Word, especially those who cannot read. Represented in this group of staff and investors are: Australia, South Africa, Germany, Canada, Israel, and the US! 

       This is my friend Ivan from South Africa. He is so much fun and such a sweet kid!

  This is overlooking Nazareth!

       The sweet southern flight attendants from Georgia graced us will this welcome when we arrived it Israel! Shalom is a Hebrew greeting, and ya’ll is a way southerns address more than one person. (Thought I’d throw a little translation in there for ya).  

            Harry (has lived in Israel 19 years and knows 5 languages) picked us up at the airport and drove us from Tel Aviv to the city of Tiberius. On the way we stopped at the recognizable ‘golden arches’ to use the restroom.

    I enjoyed watching the sunset, and after eating dinner at the hotel, we walked just outside to the edge of the Sea of Galilee! 

Thanks to THIS GUY, I made it to the airport in Atl on time and in style in the mini.

This was after I got to see HER beautiful daughter.

Now, I’m listening to taxi horns honking outside the hotel window in the city that never sleeps!

The deal-e-o : flight from Atl to JFK was a delayed because of weather in NY. We landed at JFK at 8:30 pm, but because of all the delays, there is not a gate available to pull the plane up to. We sit in the plane on the runway for 45 min! Meanwhile, our flight to Tel Aviv is leaves at 9:10pm.    

So…..we are exploring Manhattan! Walking in the rain with black umbrellas, gawking at Grand Central Station, and eating yummy pizza at Times Square!     

We are off to an adventurous start! I know MeriBeth is with me…who is along for the ride?