Day three started by staying one of three nights in Tiberias, located in the north east corner of Israel and next to Jordan. After arriving in Tiberias the first evening, we met at the main lobby and chatted about the day. My roommate had the only key and I hadn’t memorized the room number. He headed back to the room and I came a few minutes later (I think I was uploading pictures to Facebook). When going back to my room, I went to 258, knocked once and then pounded on the door. I thought, hmm I might be at the wrong room. I went to room 259. My roommate had left the door unlocked and slightly open. Of course, a few minutes later, our phone rang. It happened to be our next door neighbors. They were pretty scared, anyone seen the movie “Taken”. They thought this was happening. I felt bad, really I did. LOL!
Here is the panoramic view of my view outside my window. I took this the first day. Here is a picture of Sea of Galilee first morning. I was so excited knowing I was staying literally a few steps from where Jesus walked on water, it was pretty cool.
Pastor Joel was telling us about when Jesus started his ministry, he came down a mountain and a city. I’m not 100%, but this I believe is the city. I’d want to confirm, but the picture was awesome! If not, it still represents a city in Galilee area, which the bible states Jesus started his ministry at.
In the morning while taking pictures, there was a bird, not sure the type. It would “hover” and wait, if it didn’t see the fish, it would move a bit and hover again. I witnessed this bird hovering, waiting and diving literally straight into the water. Here is the fish it caught. God inspired me to write a story called “The Hovering Bird” http://www.52pickup.co/steveschofield/a-hovering-bird
Yum…Pizza, Pancakes, Eggs and syrup…
The first day in Tiberias, we had perfect weather. The rest of our trip had weather where it was nearly 100% sun and temps in the 70’s / 80’s. The scenery in Tiberias is awesome. This is a fertile area and lots of growing of a variety of crops (olives, bananas are a couple that we saw, there are more trust me).
The first thing we did was take a boat ride on something representing a wooden boat of the day. The boat ride was good at “mood setting”, they played Christian music and raised the American flag.
One funny thing, mentioned by one of the members on the trip as we were pushing away from the dock, Dr. Williams and Pastor Joel were left on shore. The person mentioned, don’t worry, Dr Williams will walk out to us. Did I mention this was his 152nd trip to Israel.
Mt Hermon (9000 ft). Dr. Williams mentioned he had never seen this much snow and as clear as this.
Raising the flag
Panoramic view while on the boat
Here is Tiberias
The group from GCC
Another interesting sign
We went to a museum to see a 2000 year old boat. It was discovered and brought up using foam.
After the boat was discovered, they needed to save the boat before it turned to dust. They ended up using foam.
Interesting sign. J
After visiting the museum we headed off to the tour of churches, really, where something happened, there is a Catholic church (it seems). I found this picture similar to most locations, no pets, talking, shorts, food, weapons and smoking. Kind of different I must say, not in a bad way just not something I wasn’t used to at first, it was a place of worship and should be respected.
Dr Williams read the Sermon on the Mount scripture, (Matthew 5 – 7), it was a cool setting, after reading the passages, we performed a group prayer, while praying people started singing in the church. It was one of the first moments of the trip that was moving. It’s something I won’t forget.
On a funny note, as I was leaving, I needed to use the W.C (aka restroom). I walked in and there was an older lady (grandma age) cleaning the bathroom. She didn’t speak English, however when I looked at her wondering if she was going to step out, she went “Ahh” and pointed where the stalls were at, then went back to cleaning the wash area (sinks). I believe she stepped out and her reaction was priceless. And, I paid one US dollar instead of 1 NIS (New Israeli Shekel) for using the restroom. Yes, many places you pay a nominal fee for using public restrooms, some places have attendants collecting money.
Here is the location we were praying. The backside of the church.
The second church was called (Church of the Multiplication in Tabgha). It’s where Jesus multiplied Fish and Bread to feed 5000. (Matthew 14:13-21). Here is a picture of an olive press.
Here is the main sanctuary
The third church we visited was The Church of the Primacy of Peter ( John 21 ). We weren’t here too long and some people put their feel in the Sea of Galilee. I didn’t have that urge, but it’s awesome to visit such a holy place.
Another cool thing I learned while in being in Israel was something called Jerusalem cross. I’ve heard various meanings of the smaller crosses, but nothing stands out. I think it’s pretty neat as a symbol, not your everyday cross seen in the US and other churches. This cross was displayed as I was leaving the third church.
We headed to Capernaum next and seen this interesting signs.
On a serious note, there some cools things, this one shows the Ark of the Covenant, it was showed on the original Synagogue. Here is some external pictures showing http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/capernaum.html this area more.
As I was taking pictures, I found the word “Internat”, that sounds a lot like “Internet”. Sorry Al Gore, the Internet apparently was started in the 4th century BC, not when you said so. J
After visiting a few churches and significant other places, we headed to a place to get either 1) baptized or 2) recommitted. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River and is a popular spot. I “took the plunge” in the 50+ degree water. They gave us a white robe to wear. The one they gave me was a bit snug.
Attractive eh?!
There was over 50 different languages that have this saying shown, I recall someone saying there could be even more..
After several from GCC and others in the group, we headed to Golan Heights. This is about 1000 or so foot above Sea of Galilee. Here is a panoramic view. Funny and yes, true story. I was tired after going in the Jordan and getting warm. The bus ride to the top of Golan Heights took about 45 minutes. I don’t remember much of it as I took a nap. When I got there, I was groggy, I asked our tour guide what body of water that was. She said, “Hungry, Czech, and a few other Europe countries”. Somehow, I asked a few too many questions. It was in all good fun.
When we left Golan Heights, we took an alternative road back that felt like a roller coaster. It had a few hairpin turns, in a full tour bus. There was one time we bottomed the bus out. The bus driver (Uni I hope that is how you spell it), has been Dr. Williams bus driver for 30 years.
Pondering Thought 