How would you like to begin your day next to the tomb where Jesus rose from the dead!?? Well, thats where we spent yesterday morning. A Scottish man named Bob gave us a tour of the garden, complete with scripture references and an incredible closing word reminding us that our God is alive. This was an optional, unplanned activity, but the Lord met us there in such an incredible way. We all experienced His Presence and His peace in a real and tangible way. We were able to have an incredible time of worship, prayer and communion together in the garden. There were many other groups there from different nations, all gathering for communion, prayer and worship in their native tongue. Every tribe, every tongue every nation anyone?
After our morning at the garden tomb, we gathered back at the Living Bread house for lunch and headed out to tour the old city. Our first stop was the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the paralytic. Afterwards, we were able to walk down the Via Delarosa, where it is believed that Jesus carried the cross. We stopped at many of the cathedrals along the way.
Later in the afternoon we walked through the markets in the Arab Quarter of the Old City. We were able to do a little bit of shopping and had a few interesting encounters with shop owners. It was late in the afternoon and everyone was a little weary. However, we were on our way to the Mount of Olives (yeah, the Mount of Olives) for a Shabbot meal with a local 24/7 prayer ministry. A Shabbot meal is the Friday night dinner that begins the Sabbath.
We took vans and taxi's from the New Gate of the Old City up to the house of prayer. The ministry is located on the side of the Mount of Olives, next to the Garden of Gathsemane. Their backyard overlooks the entire city of Jerusalem and we got to eat dinner, sitting on their lawn. (It is believed to be the only grass lawn in the greater Jerusalem area...jk...but possibly true.) During dinner, the sun was setting over the city. It may have been one of the most beautiful things we have seen so far. What an incredible place to intercede for the nation of Israel!!
After dinner we gathered for prayer and worship. Ministry staff from the house of prayer led the first half of the meeting. They allowed some from our team to close the meeting with worship. It's not every day that you get to worship the Lord on the Mount of Olives, next to the garden where Jesus often went to pray!
Please continue to pray for our team to experience the Lord in new and real ways. We love all of you and can't wait to tell you more!!
Shabbat Shalom!
Laura and Jason
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Finally United!
Sorry for the delay in posting, but we'll catch you up on yesterday (Thursday) and Jason and Laura will be back to talk about today. Hint: It was amazing :)
Imagine if you can waking up and walking outside to a garden, laying in a hammock overlooking the Sea of Galilee and just being with Jesus...that was our devotion time Thursday morning-quite awesome. We had breakfast made by Yael-one of the wonderful owners of the place we were staying and then headed back to Jerusalem to get ready for the team!
Here's just a few things we saw on our drive back (which was filled with sing-a-longs of Christmas and Disney songs all beautifully harmonized by ourselves!):
-camels to ride (trust me if we had time we would have!)
-caves in the desert
-Jordan (Jennie almost drove us across the border but we realized that probably wasn't the best idea-but we wanted to!)
-fields of sunflowers and palm trees-completely serious, they were huge!
-donkeys, goats, and a fox-Laura likes the animals of Israel :)
-lots of So Goods-the gas station of choice here
With some help from Jesus and Coleman's excellent sense of direction we made it into the city of Jerusalem and found Living Bread within 5 minutes (compared to the 25 it took us to get out). We quickly dropped of bags, filled up on gas, and returned the rental car with 0 seconds to spare :) We decided since we were in the Old City we'd grabbed some lunch and then headed back to get all the rooms ready for the team.
Jason, Laura and I headed up to the airport and waited for the team. Its not an easy or quick task to get 23 people off a plane, through customs, and get all their bags but they were champs! We saw some tired and sleepy faces, but all had smiles :) We grabbed 3 sharuts/shuttle vans and headed back to LB where the wonderful ladies helping us this week had an incredible dinner waiting. Then it was time for a rooftop meeting and prayer/worship and then off bed. Everyone is loving the 5 minute shower schedules :)
When asked how everything was going so far Bob says: "We got everyone here safe and sound and we're in Israel. It's going to be good." More posting from Bob in a few days-he had just gotten off a 12 hour flight so we're going to cut him some slack :)
God is good, all the time! Shalom Y'all! - Holly and Bob
Imagine if you can waking up and walking outside to a garden, laying in a hammock overlooking the Sea of Galilee and just being with Jesus...that was our devotion time Thursday morning-quite awesome. We had breakfast made by Yael-one of the wonderful owners of the place we were staying and then headed back to Jerusalem to get ready for the team!
Here's just a few things we saw on our drive back (which was filled with sing-a-longs of Christmas and Disney songs all beautifully harmonized by ourselves!):
-camels to ride (trust me if we had time we would have!)
-caves in the desert
-Jordan (Jennie almost drove us across the border but we realized that probably wasn't the best idea-but we wanted to!)
-fields of sunflowers and palm trees-completely serious, they were huge!
-donkeys, goats, and a fox-Laura likes the animals of Israel :)
-lots of So Goods-the gas station of choice here
With some help from Jesus and Coleman's excellent sense of direction we made it into the city of Jerusalem and found Living Bread within 5 minutes (compared to the 25 it took us to get out). We quickly dropped of bags, filled up on gas, and returned the rental car with 0 seconds to spare :) We decided since we were in the Old City we'd grabbed some lunch and then headed back to get all the rooms ready for the team.
Jason, Laura and I headed up to the airport and waited for the team. Its not an easy or quick task to get 23 people off a plane, through customs, and get all their bags but they were champs! We saw some tired and sleepy faces, but all had smiles :) We grabbed 3 sharuts/shuttle vans and headed back to LB where the wonderful ladies helping us this week had an incredible dinner waiting. Then it was time for a rooftop meeting and prayer/worship and then off bed. Everyone is loving the 5 minute shower schedules :)
When asked how everything was going so far Bob says: "We got everyone here safe and sound and we're in Israel. It's going to be good." More posting from Bob in a few days-he had just gotten off a 12 hour flight so we're going to cut him some slack :)
God is good, all the time! Shalom Y'all! - Holly and Bob
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Haifa to Tel Dan to Galilee: A Long and Winding Road
On the second day of our road trip, we left Haifa early en route to Tel Dan, the northernmost point in Israel. Coleman was driving, and here are some comments on that: Laura-"safe but scary", Holly-"adventure", Jason-"effective, yet wreckless", Jennie-"my driving twin". The best part of Coleman's driving adventure today was nearly running through a police checkpoint into a brush fire.
We stopped on the way to Tel Dan for lunch. Wanting something unique to Israel, we found a roadside restaurant that served falafel, hummus, olives, onions, eggs, and "something spicy". Holly tried her first ever olive, Did she like it? Ehh.. not so much.. But the food was absolutely amazing, actually the best we've had yet. We bought for 5 people but should've only bought for 2. They took care of us!
Upon our arrival in Tel Dan, we went into the nature center and experienced the beauties of the wildlife and plantlife surrounding the start of the Jordan River. Jennie seriously almost jumped in at first glance! Also there is the ancient city of Dan, where King Jeroboam set an idol up for the people to worship in place of the one true God. Bad decision... We prayed over the area against the evil presence of all the idolatry from so many years. In addition, the region of Dan was part of the original area of the promised land allotted to Abraham. Dan was the northern boundary of the Holy Land then, and still is today. Abraham's Gate, (a gate so old that Abraham is said to have possibly walked through it), is still located right outside the ancient city. Although in ruins, this ancient gate can still be identified even after its 4,000th birthday.
Not only does Dan have religious significance, but it also has historical significance to Israelis. While Israel defended itself against the other Arab nations, Dan was set up as the first line of defense from the North. The area is full of bunkers where soldiers would run through and shoot from. Very cool. There is one area where the bunkers are clearly labeled, but apparently, thanks to Jason, there is an entire network of bunkers that only his eagle eye and some kind of bunker radar could find. He must of uncovered 20 of them, buried under tall grass, thick brush, and fallen trees.
At one point on the trail, we could stand in Israel and look out and see the nations of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, all at the same time. Being part Lebanese, this was very special for Holly, and we were able to take pictures, (practically a photoshoot), of her with Lebanon in the background, a place we are very confident she will one day visit.
Next we went to Caesarea Philippi, the place where Jesus renamed Peter and gave him the keys to the Kingdom from Matthew 16. Philippi was the temple location of Herodian gods and idols. People came from around the region to make offerings in the names of Zeus, Pan, and Caesar Augustus. It is so cool how Jesus would choose a place where so much idolatry took place to, in effect, demonstrate His victory over all sin. We prayed there, read Matthew 16, asked for new names, and symbolically jumped off a big rock. It was a good time of taking in Christ's glory through the Word and His Spirit.
After Caesarea Philippi, we drove south to the Sea of Galilee, near the city of Tiberias, where we stayed at the Sea of Galilee Guest House. We ate dinner down by the water and all spent some time alone with the Lord overlooking one of the most peaceful places on Earth. Laura's favorite spot was definitely the hammock at the guesthouse garden, overlooking the water on the horizon. It was a great place to simply spend time in the Lord's presence. We are going back later this week with the rest of the team to tour the area.
Tomorrow the rest of the team arrives, and we can't wait to see them! We will check back in a few days, and we love all of you very much!
-Jennie and Coleman, from the Sea of Galilee!
We stopped on the way to Tel Dan for lunch. Wanting something unique to Israel, we found a roadside restaurant that served falafel, hummus, olives, onions, eggs, and "something spicy". Holly tried her first ever olive, Did she like it? Ehh.. not so much.. But the food was absolutely amazing, actually the best we've had yet. We bought for 5 people but should've only bought for 2. They took care of us!
Upon our arrival in Tel Dan, we went into the nature center and experienced the beauties of the wildlife and plantlife surrounding the start of the Jordan River. Jennie seriously almost jumped in at first glance! Also there is the ancient city of Dan, where King Jeroboam set an idol up for the people to worship in place of the one true God. Bad decision... We prayed over the area against the evil presence of all the idolatry from so many years. In addition, the region of Dan was part of the original area of the promised land allotted to Abraham. Dan was the northern boundary of the Holy Land then, and still is today. Abraham's Gate, (a gate so old that Abraham is said to have possibly walked through it), is still located right outside the ancient city. Although in ruins, this ancient gate can still be identified even after its 4,000th birthday.
Not only does Dan have religious significance, but it also has historical significance to Israelis. While Israel defended itself against the other Arab nations, Dan was set up as the first line of defense from the North. The area is full of bunkers where soldiers would run through and shoot from. Very cool. There is one area where the bunkers are clearly labeled, but apparently, thanks to Jason, there is an entire network of bunkers that only his eagle eye and some kind of bunker radar could find. He must of uncovered 20 of them, buried under tall grass, thick brush, and fallen trees.
At one point on the trail, we could stand in Israel and look out and see the nations of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, all at the same time. Being part Lebanese, this was very special for Holly, and we were able to take pictures, (practically a photoshoot), of her with Lebanon in the background, a place we are very confident she will one day visit.
Next we went to Caesarea Philippi, the place where Jesus renamed Peter and gave him the keys to the Kingdom from Matthew 16. Philippi was the temple location of Herodian gods and idols. People came from around the region to make offerings in the names of Zeus, Pan, and Caesar Augustus. It is so cool how Jesus would choose a place where so much idolatry took place to, in effect, demonstrate His victory over all sin. We prayed there, read Matthew 16, asked for new names, and symbolically jumped off a big rock. It was a good time of taking in Christ's glory through the Word and His Spirit.
After Caesarea Philippi, we drove south to the Sea of Galilee, near the city of Tiberias, where we stayed at the Sea of Galilee Guest House. We ate dinner down by the water and all spent some time alone with the Lord overlooking one of the most peaceful places on Earth. Laura's favorite spot was definitely the hammock at the guesthouse garden, overlooking the water on the horizon. It was a great place to simply spend time in the Lord's presence. We are going back later this week with the rest of the team to tour the area.
Tomorrow the rest of the team arrives, and we can't wait to see them! We will check back in a few days, and we love all of you very much!
-Jennie and Coleman, from the Sea of Galilee!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Roosters, Messianic Jews and Ice Cream!!
Greetings from the Port Inn in Haifa, Israel!!
This is our second full day here in the Holy Land. We arrived in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon, exhausted and hoping to get a good night's sleep at the Living Bread Ministry House in Jerusalem. Guess what did NOT happen!? A good night's sleep. At exactly 3am a rooster decided it was time for us to wake up. It could have been the Lord...but we really think the rooster just jumped the gun. We named him Gerald. So, all in all, we got about 3 hours of sleep.
Tuesday morning Jennie and Coleman went to rent a car for us. (That is a story that we should let them tell you!) The rest of us (Holly, Jason and Laura) walked to find an internet cafe. We asked the Lord for favor with money and the guy gave us a buy 2, get one free discount!
We finally left Jerusalem at 11:30 for our adventures in north Israel! It took FOREVER to get out of Jerusalem. Traffic jams...streets with no names (U2 anyone?)...Anyway, Our first stop was Caesarea. We were able to tour the ancient city that sits on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The city was built by the Persians in 586 BCE. It is most famous for the rule of King Herod, 37-4 BCE. Gladiator games, chariot races and different athletic events were held in King Herod's amphitheater. Many Christians were persecuted and killed during these events. This was also the place where Paul was brought up to charges and then sent to Rome to be tried before he was imprisoned and executed.
After Ceasarea we made our way to the Port Inn Guest House in Haifa where we accidentally took a three hour nap!! I guess we were tired! Thankfully, we woke up at 7:30pm and went to have dinner with David from "Jewish Believers in Jesus." David's ministry is based out of Haifa and Atlanta, GA. We ate dinner with him and two of his 11 children, Kayla and Asher. David is an amazing man of God. He is a Jewish believer himself and his heart is for the Jewish people to know Jesus as the Messiah. (And in case you didn't catch that, he has 11 children!)
After dinner, the 5 of us went to get ice cream at a place called Booza Booza! The guy who worked there was hilarious. His name was Samir. We talked to him for awhile and found out that he is a Christian!
We got back to the guest house around 11, but none of us were tired after our 3 hour nap! We played cards and the question game until 2am. Maybe not the smartest decision, but we had fun.
We are leaving this morning for Galilee! We love yall and will catch up with you again in a few days!
Jason and Laura
This is our second full day here in the Holy Land. We arrived in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon, exhausted and hoping to get a good night's sleep at the Living Bread Ministry House in Jerusalem. Guess what did NOT happen!? A good night's sleep. At exactly 3am a rooster decided it was time for us to wake up. It could have been the Lord...but we really think the rooster just jumped the gun. We named him Gerald. So, all in all, we got about 3 hours of sleep.
Tuesday morning Jennie and Coleman went to rent a car for us. (That is a story that we should let them tell you!) The rest of us (Holly, Jason and Laura) walked to find an internet cafe. We asked the Lord for favor with money and the guy gave us a buy 2, get one free discount!
We finally left Jerusalem at 11:30 for our adventures in north Israel! It took FOREVER to get out of Jerusalem. Traffic jams...streets with no names (U2 anyone?)...Anyway, Our first stop was Caesarea. We were able to tour the ancient city that sits on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The city was built by the Persians in 586 BCE. It is most famous for the rule of King Herod, 37-4 BCE. Gladiator games, chariot races and different athletic events were held in King Herod's amphitheater. Many Christians were persecuted and killed during these events. This was also the place where Paul was brought up to charges and then sent to Rome to be tried before he was imprisoned and executed.
After Ceasarea we made our way to the Port Inn Guest House in Haifa where we accidentally took a three hour nap!! I guess we were tired! Thankfully, we woke up at 7:30pm and went to have dinner with David from "Jewish Believers in Jesus." David's ministry is based out of Haifa and Atlanta, GA. We ate dinner with him and two of his 11 children, Kayla and Asher. David is an amazing man of God. He is a Jewish believer himself and his heart is for the Jewish people to know Jesus as the Messiah. (And in case you didn't catch that, he has 11 children!)
After dinner, the 5 of us went to get ice cream at a place called Booza Booza! The guy who worked there was hilarious. His name was Samir. We talked to him for awhile and found out that he is a Christian!
We got back to the guest house around 11, but none of us were tired after our 3 hour nap! We played cards and the question game until 2am. Maybe not the smartest decision, but we had fun.
We are leaving this morning for Galilee! We love yall and will catch up with you again in a few days!
Jason and Laura
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