Good night and God bless! (name the comedian who closed his show like that - sorry I stole this from you Davey-doo!)

The 2005 excavation year is officially over. We closed up shop todayand left the church until next year. It was extremely emotionalleaving the site. We have spent so much time there - 7 hours a dayfor 20 days (you do the math!). That's a lot of hours. I have toadmit it has been incredible...so much more than I would haveexpected. I was super nervous about doing the archaeology before Icame. I didn't know what to expect or what would happen. Now thatI've been here I am so thankful for this opportunity and I really wantto come back again. We worked hard and accomplished a lot. It isamazing how much is done...I can't wait to see what happens next year,whether I come back or not I know I will follow it closely!It's so weird doing things for the last time - we had breakfast up atthe site for the last time - again it is the best view I've ever hadduring breakfast looking down at the Sea of Galilee and out at theGolan Heights; the last dinning experience at the Kibbutz; the lasttime swimming in the Sea of Galilee; the last time at the pub (ok - wewill be there tonight, but that will be the last time!); the last hikeup and down the hill to Hippos (the scenery continues to take mybreath away...and the hiking does too – kind of…not really anymore!); the last time hanging out as a team (I know I will miss each and every one of the individuals I met on this excavation - they all hold a special place in my heart); and the last time looking at the sarcophagus. I have to say that was really sad for me. I touched the sarcophagus before leaving the church - sort of saying good-bye to the woman who was buried there and also looking forward to seeing her in heaven!

I want to share a few or more pictures with you. The first one is the view of the Golan as we hike down the hill…I love the Golan!

Here is a picture of our Hippos team…it is almost all of us – the only person missing is Bill. (Sorry Bill – I wish I had a picture of all of us!)

Here is a picture of the bracelets my little sister Marcia made for Erin, Andrea, and me before I left for Israel…we wore them all four weeks! (They got a bit dirty!!)

I am excited to come back home too! I miss my family, the food!, thecooler weather (although it sounds like Minnesota is having a heatwave!), and just being home – I have heard there is no place like home! I know I will remember and cherish my experiences here for the rest of my life. Thank you for following our adventure and for praying for us. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” ~ Ephesians 3:20-21 Shalom!

It's all been done!

Today was the last day of digging. It was super weird, because we have been working here for so long and it is almost over. Tomorrow is a clean-up/take pictures day. I think it will be really crazy and hectic because there will be so much to do! But it will also be really cool because we will get a chance to check out the other excavations that are going on at Hippos. Regardless, it is almost time to go home. It has been amazing here. I have learned so much about the past and about myself. I don’t really have a lot else to write today. I think I’m just going to go spend some time by the Sea of Galilee again before lecture. One of my favorite things here is the sunset. It sets so fast! I mean the sun drops behind the hills really quickly – it is so odd and incredible. I love it.

May God’s peace and love surround you this day and always. Shalom!

P.S. Here is a picture of me working today and a picture of the mosaic I cleaned! Isn’t it lovely?

haha - fooled you...i did decide to write tonight - sillies...

Today felt like a day for digging, hauling dirt and rocks, and conserving the mosaic floor – so that’s what our team did. Yay! I’m not sure there is anything super exciting to report about today…although every day up at the site brings something new and intriguing. Nancy, Arny, Jim, and I worked on conserving and cleaning the mosaic floor. Here is a picture of the mosaic I cleaned up!

Nancy made a really good statement today – that it takes perseverance to work on this floor for about 7 hours straight (well…we do get a half hour for breakfast, so that’s good)! I thought that was an interesting statement and decided to read the Romans 5 passage on perseverance:
“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

Not that we are suffering when we work on the mosaic, but it is something to think about for our lives. Sometimes there are things we have to do that we don’t necessarily want to do. God can still use those things to develop us and to create us into the people He wants us to be. I think the most relevant or at least comforting statement in that passage is that “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” God loves us! He gave us His Holy Spirit, and not only that but His son - who suffered and died so that we might be redeemed. Wow. “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” ~ Romans 9-11

Ok…that’s all I have for today. I’m going to get some sleep. I’m tired!

bahahaha

ok- so i don't have a ton of time to write tonight. instead i'm going to hang out by the sea of galilee...cause i have limited time left to do that. have a great day folks!!!

something creative...

Exciting things that happened at the site today:

• In E2 Paul, Mark, Arny, and Dr. Schuler moved a lot of dirt and heavy rocks – unfortunately still no floor.
• In B0 Glenn and Jim reached the floor!! It is a fairly decent and intact mosaic floor with crosses near the doorways. Dr. Schuler says it might have been a prothesis, which was a place the pastors would have used to prepare before the service. Here is a picture of one of the two crosses found on their floor!!

• In the land of the mosaic-uncovering Erin, Nancy, and I worked at scrapping plaster from the mosaic and cleaning the mosaic tiles. It is still hard tedious work, but exciting when we can finally see the patterns! Here is a picture of the pattern I uncovered today!
  
  Ok…so, that’s what happened on the dig. Otherwise it was a really great day. I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone by – it seems like just yesterday we were stepping of the plane into a world that was unknown, yet somehow familiar. All my life I’ve read stories from the bible that took place here. Jesus grew up here. Paul was blinded here. Peter taught here. The list goes on and that’s only the New Testament. Suddenly as I read my bible all of these stories come to life. I can see these things happening in a new light. I’ve tried to communicate that to all of you and I have pictures too that should help. If any of you ever have the opportunity to come here you should take it! (Like the dig next year for example!!) Seriously though, I can’t describe to you how much this trip has meant to me. Thank you for sharing it with me. May God’s love and grace be with you today and always! Shalom!

this is the day...this is the day...

Today was the first day of the last week. It was a lovely day in respect to the weather - we had cloud cover for most of the morning and the wind was blowing nicely keeping us cool. The B4 room is finished! I spent the morning clearing out the dirt and hardened mud around the cistern...so the room is complete. If you want to view the entire room you can scroll through it! Just go to the Public Pages on the virtual dig website, click on Fun Stuff, and click on the South Vaulted Chamber. It's pretty sweet! Apparently there was about 65 square meters of dirt removed from that room (I think that was the right figure). That's a LOT of dirt!

The rest of the day (for Nancy, Erin, and I) was spent working on the mosaic in the nave or center isle of the church. It was tedious work, but still very interesting. It is fun to watch patterns and colors appear where there used to be dirt. We are uncovering crosses on the floor (along with other patterns) and it's very exciting! Elsewhere teams are working on different sections of the church - the B0 team (Glenn, Jim, and Marc Hequet) are beginning to find a fairly decent mosaic floor (we believe) and the theory as it stands now (this changes frequently!) is that it was a pastoral room. The E2 team (Paul, Arny, and Mark Kaetsu) are working on the western part of the church. They are trying to find the floor! They are confident they will get to it by Tuesday!

Since it was Sunday we had our regular church service in the lab at 7:30pm. The Church service is always really incredible just because, as Andrea pointed out tonight, we are all gathered together with really nothing other than our bibles, each other, and some worship books - singing, praying, and praising God together. Last Sunday Dr. Mike gave the sermon - he talked about how through baptism we are connected to God, but also to each other and to all of Christendom. The coolest part is that we are connected to the woman who was buried in the Northeast Church. She was a believer too! And when we get to heaven we will be able to sit down and talk to her about her life, the church, and all that went on there so many years ago. God is good! And we can praise His name together!

I pray all of you were able to enjoy being in God’s presence today and every day. May His glory and peace be with you always!

Sabbath Rest

The last two days we had free! Totally free - no digging and no touring! Most of us were a bit sad that we didn’t have any touring, but it was nice to have the time off. And we were kind of sad about the no digging, but our muscles needed the rest! It is interesting that Friday and Saturday are our days off here. Saturday is the Sabbath, so everyone needs Friday to prepare for it (I believe that is the idea at least). It is nice though…I like have Friday and Saturday off!

I think we are all getting excited about digging tomorrow though. I am anxious to start the first day of the last week. I know this next week is going to fly by and I want to enjoy every minute that I can!

Anyway, since we were completely free and unstructured we all spent our time in various ways. Since a picture is worth a thousand words I’m going to try to describe our weekend to you through a picture montage! (I will admit some of these pictures were not taken this weekend; they are needed to give you the full understanding of the past few days – I will clarify which were taken previously.)

Many of us had breakfast and dinner on the balcony (this was taken a while ago and doesn’t have anyone in it…opps!!!

Some of us built sandcastles…

At one point we all scrubbed pottery…

Some of us blogged or emailed…

Some of us cleaned up the lab (thanks for sweeping Arny!)…

Some of us napped (this was of me at the site...ok, not napping but close enough!)...
Some of us worked on the technical drawings for the dig (ok, only Andrea did!)…

Most of us worked on pottery picture taking and labeling...

We all had a party in honor of the three people leaving us this weekend (Mike, Linda, and Rachel left…we are all very sad…I couldn’t find pictures of the party so I just put a picture of a balloon…we didn’t have balloons at the party, but you could imagine what it would have been like if we did!!)…

Some of us were plumbers (stupid showers that don’t drain! luckily it was the boys' room and the girls didn't have to deal with it. Not that we couldn't handle it - but the smell was pretty gross!!)…

And some of us sat by the Sea of Galilee (this is just a picture of the Sea)…


Ok…I think that’s it. I hope this helped to give you a feel for our expierences of the last few days. It didn’t cover everything we did, but sort of gives you a rough overview! Thanks for taking the time to read/look over it! Peace!

meh

So today things happened.

It was fun.

Now the day is over! And I'm going to bed!


(Ok...for real I have a post for today, but it is taking longer then anticipated. Thank you for your patience hopefully it will be up tomorrow and then you will get two for one! Lucky you! Have a great day everyone! Peace!!!)

The beginning of the end…

Today we closed out B4, kind of. We completely cleared the floor and swept up the dust (as well as you can get dust out of an open room in the Holy Land)! There is still a section to clear near the cistern and outside the wall, but those projects should not take long to complete. I don’t know exactly how to describe the feelings surrounding finishing this room. There is a definite sense of accomplishment and a little amazement at how much we were able to accomplish in 15 days. A bit of sadness that the B4 team will be breaking up, but most definitely excited for what is to come in our last week at the site. Here is a picture of me in our finished room!


Ok, so…I have a bit of a story for you. Before I begin I want to share with you some insight Andrea had for us about a week ago. She shared a sermon from her pastor (I hope I explain this accurately) where he stated how important it is sometimes to thank God for the things that don’t happen! Here is my story. In my life there are only two times where I’ve fallen completely on my face - like in the movies when you see a tree fall down and it just goes straight down and bang! hits the ground...I’ve done that twice. The first time I was in between fourth and fifth grade and I broke my arm in two places, broke through the skin, was in the hospital for five days, and had two surgeries. Yay! I guess when I do things I do them up right! The second time was yesterday…I was running to go to Mt. Concordia (which is where we…umm…relieve ourselves). I had to hurry because the tractor guy was going to come and dump dirt and I didn't want to be on the wrong side of the dirt pile, if you catch my drift. So I turned to run and completely lost my footing and fell straight down. As I was lying in a pile of dirt I had visions and flash backs of the day I broke my arm. Luckily everything was safe and completely intact – no breaks this time! It was scary, but it really gave me a true and better understanding of praising God for things that DON’T happen! May each of you be able to praise God for the thigns that don’t happen in your lives, and for the things that do! Have a blessed day everyone! Peace!


I also wanted to leave you with this beautiful sunrise picture on Hippos - I took it today! Sometimes it is necessary to take the time to watch the sunrise - what amazing beauty we are graced with!

One, two, three - wake up!

Ok – so I don’t have that much to write about today. It was a pretty laid back day at the dig…well, relatively speaking compared to yesterday. We were not able to totally finish the room though. We ran into a mound of mud and plaster that was extremely difficult to get through. We worked hard chipping away at it and reduced the size immensely. There is now only a small hill that we will completely conquer tomorrow! This room is close to being finished! We are very pleased with what we have done so far and I’m looking forward to see where else I will get to work in the church! Here is a picture of the room and a picture of the hill that will soon be flattened.

Ok, so here’s the thing: Some people might believe that we didn’t finish the room today because we were reportedly “laying down” on the job. This may or may not be true, but what is true is that if we were “sleeping” on the job it was purely for the purpose of archaeology. After breakfast Erin and I wanted to truly getting a feel for and understand the Byzantium use for our room. So we decided to test out the rocks so to speak. Here…I will let you judge for yourself.

Dr. Schuler, when he found us, did say there is a type of archaeology that uses ancient tools to better understand the ancient people. I say we were still on the job! (If only we could have taken naps today…I was tired! But I got to nap today after work, which was lovely! See Brandon, Trevor, Emma, and Eric – big people need their naps too!)

I believe that is all I have for today. I finished just in time to enjoy the Sea of Galilee before pottery cleaning! I pray you all have a wonderful day! May each of you be able to find some rest and enjoy God’s creation wherever you are. Peace!

'All we are is dust in the wind, dude." (Name that movie! This one is kind of hard...)

Sorry this was late - we lost internet connection last night...c'est la vie!

The talk around the pottery circle tonight included much laughter and jocularity regarding the B4 team, specifically the women (Erin, Linda, and me), up at Hippos today. I’m not sure if I’ve talked about pottery cleaning before; basically we sit in a big circle around buckets of pottery filled with water and we scrub! The scrubbing isn’t always uber exciting, but the conversation around the circle can be! And we sit right by the Sea of Galilee, so who could ask for more?!

Anyway, up at the site today, after a very tasty breakfast of tomatoes and cucumbers (we have that every day!), Erin asked Dr. Schuler to challenge us. Dr. Schuler didn’t hold back and challenged us to clear the floor past the second pillar designating where the arches would have been (I hope that made sense!). Basically we needed to clear about half of the room. We gladly accepted the challenge and went to work! After about 45 minutes and a seemingly impossible task before us, not to mention the sun beating down on us, we became a little crazy. Ok – our team leader Mark Kaetsu, Dr. Schuler, Andrea, and probably the rest of the people on the team might want me to change the adjective from “a little” to “a LOT!” We got excited and definitely overzealous, but it was a ton of fun. The dust was flying, there was a lot of yelling for buckets and orders for places to be picked, sweat pouring into eyes, and possibly a few punches thrown. (Ok…the punches thing was a lie, but everything else was true!) Suffice it to say the three of us were all very tired when it came to 11:45am (quitting time), but we had achieved our goal! Here is a picture of our room and the newly uncovered floor and a picture of the three of us after finishing an extremely daunting task!



Our goal for tomorrow is to finish the room! We know we can finish it up soon and then we will move on to other sections of the church. It will be a sad parting of the ways/breaking of the fellowship, but it will be good to finish up the room. I’m tired and ready for bed! May all of you find rest and enjoy a lovely Tuesday! Peace!

Monday, Monday…so good to me…(name that band!)

Hello everyone!

Today was a lovely day up at Hippos – the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the people were digging! I don’t think I wrote this previously, but we have now officially seen the floor in B4!! Erin and I spent a majority of the day clearing the dirt and rocks off of the floor, while the rest of the team (Mark, Linda, Paul, and occasionally Dr. Schuler, who was called away frequently on account of the find yesterday!!!) worked at getting dirt of the layer on top and the BIG rocks! It was quite the day! The goal is to have the room finished by the end of the week. We are fairly confident this can be accomplished…at least the inside of the room. I believe we also have to excavate 5 meters outside the walls to see if the room is free standing or not, so that will take a bit more time! Here is a picture of our room and the lovely plaster floor that is being excavated (you can't see the floor really well, but there is one - up near the stone "table" looking thing - I like to be technical in my jargon) and a picture of me working at excavating it!


In other news: today I made a trip into Tiberias for the first time! Tiberias is the city directly across the Sea of Galilee from Ein Gev. It is an interesting city to visit – very busy, shops along every street, people roaming all over. Two things to note that are most important: crossing the street can be risky business – the drivers are not very patient!! and Tiberias does not have a breeze, since it is on the west side of the Sea of Galilee. Therefore, it is very hot! Water was lovely and much appreciated!! Tiberias is also a modern city, which was a little surprising. Basically, I went there on a hunt for the sixth Harry Potter book and it was already sold out in English and Hebrew. Who knew?! I won’t have time to read it until the plane ride home anyway, so there really isn’t a rush.

Last night was incredible. I sat outside by the Sea of Galilee alone for a bit just watching the waves and listening to them crash against the shore. The moon is slowly growing fuller and it cast an amazing light across the Sea. I was able to just sit there and pray. Andrea joined me a little later and we sang a few praise songs. It was amazing. I have no pictures of it, but this memory will stay with me for a long, long time. The peace that one can feel sitting by the Sea of Galilee and praying to our God, who once sat by the same Sea, is amazing. I pray that each of you are able to feel God’s abiding peace today, because He is constantly present and freely gives His love to us! Alleluia!

Gold rush!!

Shalom! Peace and greetings to you from Ein Gev. The Jerusalem trip was amazing. I have so many things to share and try to communicate with all of you. I know I can only truly share this experience with each of you face to face, and even then I’m not sure I will be able to fully explain my experiences in that Holy City. I will share this – one of the days we went through an archaeological park (I’m not sure why – none of us are interested in archaeology) where we were able to see (among many things) the south steps leading up to the temple. It is fairly certain that Jesus would have walked these steps. I walked them. Even as I write this tears come to my eyes as I remember being in Jerusalem, walking the Via Delarosa (both the traditional and the archaeological versions), seeing the place that commemorates our Lord’s death and resurrection (the Church of the Holy Sepulcher). I was awed by all that I saw and humbled again as I reflected on what Jesus did for me.

In other news…today was a huge day for the dig!! Linda Miller (who as of today joined Erin, Mark, Paul, and me in B4) discovered some pieces of jewelry – an amulet and other gold pieces. I’m not sure what they were, but hopefully we will learn more and through them understand our church and the Christians who worshiped there long ago. It was super awesome!!! There is a picture of her wearing the amulet on the public news page. You have to go to the left hand side and click on “Amulet” to see it (the chain is hers, but the amulet was discovered in our Northeast Church)!! Super exciting! Her discovery created a new job for our team - all of the dirt and rocks taken from where she found the jewelry needed to be sifted through in case her eyes missed something. Guess who had the job of sifting? You’re right! It was me! Yay! My eyes are super great at spotting small pieces of glass, pottery chards, and bones now! But it is really necessary to go through that dirt just in case there is something there. I’d love to do it again if it meant we found more jewelry or coins.

Ok…so that’s about all I have for today. Sorry no pictures from today – maybe tomorrow! Have a great day everyone, and thanks for taking the time to read this. If you want to comment or email me personally feel free to do so – my email address is schaefek@csp.edu. Thanks!

P.S. Ashley won! Mainly because she was the only one who played the game. Pink Floyd has an album called “The Wall.”

P.P.S. Eric – I know! Cistern one was amazing…now we have 5!! So crazy. And you will laugh at this one – Dr. Mike dropped a small hand-pick down the cistern in his section! Hahaha! And that cistern is 5.2 meters deep. I guess it’s a Mike thing…

Shalom!

The Wall (name the musical artist and you win!)

Ok - so, here's the thing: (Andrea says that a lot...and now so do I!) today was a good day, but not as much in the "exciting realm" as yesterday was. I will write a bit about what happened today - put a few pictures up and then go to bed!! I'm tired!!!

Today we dug some dirt...and moved some rocks. We haven't done that before, but we did today. It was a new and exciting experience! Ok...just kidding! We do it every day! Today was cool too - we dug in and uncovered the south wall. On it we found a few platform thingys (I'm not very accurate with the words tonight folks...I'm tired!) that further prove there were arches in our section of the church. We also found a cool alcove, which Dr. Schuler thinks may have held reliquaries. We are still trying to figure out what this room was used for - it baffles us! We also pushed forward and began searching for the west wall. We haven't found it yet - but we will most likelye find it tomorrow! Dr. Schuler may have Erin and I work in a smaller section of B4 digging down to find the floor!! I really want to do that...I'm anxious to see how far we have to go until we hit floor. I've never been so anxious to see a floor!! Here are a few pictures from today - one of our new "west wall"...and another of me working on that lovely wall!

In other news: Tomorrow we go to Jerusalem!! I don't have words to describe how excited I am to go there!!! I can't really believe it...that I will be in Jerusalem. I still can't believe I'm in Israel...much less going to Jerusalem! Please pray our group has a safe and incredible time on this weekend trip. I won't have internet access from Thursday to Saturday...so I won't get a chance to blog until Saturday or possibly even Sunday. Thanks for reading my entry...peace be with all of you, in whatever physical/emotional/spiritual place you may find yourself.

River Fun!

Today we had an adventure! (Ok, so every day is an adventure, especially here, but today was extra adventurous!) After lunch at 3:3opm four of us (Andrea, Paul, Erin, and I) went with the Haifa and Polish teams to swim in springs in the Golan. Now, before we started the four of us understood that we would be hiking to the pool/lake area to swim. We would swim for awhile and then we would have to hike back to the bus. Well, that's not exactly what happened!

First, the bus was headed in one direction and then had to turn around - I could tell from that it was going to be an interesting experience! Then we got out of the bus (a few of us with our backpacks and cameras) and headed down the trail. The trail swiftly turned into a stream and we were wading through it. At this point I was thinking...ok, so we are just wading through the stream a bit to get there. Wrong. We were in the stream the whole time! I love river walking - and that's what we did pretty much the whole time! It was a blast! At one point our leader, Shlomi, sat down. He said a few things in Hebrew and then he said, "It's ok cause I don't know where I am. We are in the wrong place, but we will go back to the deeper part of the water (which was above my stomach) and swim around there." So, we headed back to the "deeper" part of the water, but the Polish people stayed behind. Then about six minutes later everyone had to get out of the water and go to the dirt trail. Apparently one of the Polish students sprained her knee, I think, and we had to leave. It was still fun! The best part was getting to know the people on the other teams. I talked with most of the Haifa students and learned a bit about what they are studying. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything...even if it was a little messed up!! Here is a picture of our group after trecking through the woods and water!

The dig went really well today too! We hauled a LOT of dirt! And we expanded our section to find the third wall, which we did thanks to the help of Dr. Mike. Paul found a Roman pilaster; it was found in an upside down position, which suggests reuse. Either way it was a good productive day! Here is a picture of Paul with the Roman pilaster!

Ok - so that is a lot for me to write today! Yay! I told you it might be a longer entry today! I'm also including a picture of me working...hahaha! I do that here! Ok - have a great day ladies and gents!

Ta, ta, ta, taday Jr!

Ok- so...today! I don't have a lot of time to write...limited access to the laptop tonight. Today went well up at the site. It was hot! (But when isn't it?) We went "slowly, slowly" at first working around the cistern and a heap of rocks that are all over! We work slowly so we can decipher which rocks can be moved and which need to stay. The way the rocks have fallen can tell us the story of what stood there at one time. We still have yet to hit floor...maybe tomorrow!! Dr. Schuler says our church is becoming more and more confusing! We have walls in surprising places, three different cisterns in various rooms, and doorways in weird locations too! Hopefully some things will click into place to give us a little better understanding of this ancient church!

Otherwise things are going really well! As we rode down the hill I looked up at the Golan Heights and was again awed by the beauty of this place. I wish I could truly share with all of you the amazing beautiful of this land. I am including a picture of the Golan Heights. I hope that it helps to illlustrate God's magnificent creation in this amazing country! Have a great day people!

We found it!

So at the dig site today we found a cistern in our square!! A cistern is kind of like a big underground well that was used to store water to keep it cool. Erin Thompson discovered ours - she lifted up a rock and there was the cistern! It was really exciting! We've been wanting to make a big discovery lately...and we did on the first day of the work week! Just to clarify for you - there are four of us working in B4 (the section we excavate)- Mark Kaetsu (our team leader), Erin Thompson, Paul James, and me. We have a lot of fun together and Mark does a great job at directing us. Tomorrow we will need to continue to clear out dirt and rocks and figure out where the floor is for the square. The cistern seems kind of elevated - we didn't expect the floor to be that high and we were surprised to find it there (by "we" I mainly mean Dr. Schuler). So...it is all very exciting up in B4! Who knows what we will find next!!!


Here is a picture of our cistern! Isn't she beautiful? Erin loveingly named her Rita. We don't know what else is in store for us...and I'm sorry to say that I have to cut this short. If you want a much more detailed version and to see some sweet pictures check out Erin's blog! I'm super sorry guys...I'm just tired and ready to get some rest so I can be awake and ready for whatever is in store for us tomorrow! Pray that there are clouds during the morning so we can avoid some of the heat from the sun's rays! Have a great day!

The Second Tour Day

Today was a tour day here in Israel (for our group I mean - not for Israel as a whole country)! We toured a couple of different places today. It again was awesome getting to learn more about this land and see places of the past.

Beit She'an was the first place we went. It is an ancient city of the Decapolis. It was a Greek, Roman, and Byzantine city at different times. It was in the ancient city of Beit She'an where Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle and the Philistines fastened their bodies to the wall (1 Samuel 31). Here I am standing by an ancient wall of the city. It is possible this is the type of wall that they would have been fastened too.

Next we visited Zippori, a city that is about 4 miles from Nazareth. Zippori is the current name of the city, but its name in Roman times was Sepphoris. It is possible (though there is no evidence of it) that Jesus and Joseph would have come to Sepphoris to work. The bible calls Joseph a tekton, which could have been a builder, carpenter, or mason. Nazareth was a smaller town, and may or may not have needed a tekton. Sepphoris revolted after Herod the Great died and the legat from Syria came and destroyed the city and gave it to Herod Antipas. So, it would have been around Jesus' time that the city of Sepphoris was destroyed and in need of rebuilding. Joseph would have come to the area because it was in need of work, and it is possible that Joseph and Jesus may have traveled in the area to work, but again there is no proof of such. It again is incredible to walk in places where Jesus may have walked. He clearly would have known of the city and there is a high probability that He visited there. He really lived! He walked this earth just as you and I walk this earth, although He did it in perfection. The day was hot and the sun was bright. I grew tired and sweaty at times. Our Lord would have felt similar experiences, especially since there wasn't air-conditioning during His time! I love being here and seeing this place. It is so beautiful. (And praise God air-conditioning was invented for times when the heat is too much to bear!)

I want to add a couple more pictures for your viewing pleasure! The first is a picture of the Jewish quarters of the city of Sepphoris, the second is the theater in Beit She'an, and the third is one of the main streets of Beit She'an. Hopefully these pictures this can give you some idea of what we saw today!
Hahahaha! I added one more picture!!! It's of some of our group sitting on the public toliets in Beit She'an! From left to right it is Erin, Mark, Mike, Paul, me, and Bill!

Day off!

Today we have a day off! I slept in this morning - I think I woke up right around 9am. It was weird not having to wake up at 4am! So far today has been really relaxed - I did some laundry in the sink, cleaned up the room a little, and will go swimming soon. Tomorrow we are touring around Bet Shean, Sepphoris, and Chorazin.

Last Saturday we toured around different places around the Sea of Galilee. We first went to Hippos (which is the site where we are excavating) - it was fun looking around at the different areas and beginning to recognize different architectural constructs. Next we went to Kursi - which is the site that commemorates the casting of the demon into the pigs. Most of these places only commemorate the stories because we can not be certain where these things actually took place. Then we visited Caphernaum and we saw the house that commemorates Peter's house. Dr. Schuler stated that Caphernaum is the closest we come to Jesus and His ministry. We saw remains of the city and what the actual house may have looked like in Jesus' time. It was amazing! Here is a picture of me standing next to the site and a courtyard that would have been similar to where the people would have gathered to hear Jesus preach.


Next we went to Tabgha - which is the place that commemorates the feeding of the five thousand. It was a fully reconstructed Byzantine church. Inside the church there is a mosaic of loaves and fishes that was uncovered inside the church. Here is a picture of this incredible mosaic!

Then we went to the Mount of the Beatitudes. There is a beautiful church there even if it is not the actual spot of the Sermon on the Mount. Finally we finished our tour at Mount Berenice, where there are remains of a pilgrimage church. It was situated so the pilgrams coming over the hills would be able to look down at the Sea of Galilee before starting their tour of the area.

That was our day of touring last week! I'm excited and looking forward to our tour tomorrow!

Greetings to you from Ein Gev!

Finally - we have internet access. I apologize to the faithful who have been checking that this has not been updated. We were without internet access for about six days so I couldn't update. But it is up and running (and hopefully will continue to do so)! I will try to be faithful in my posting - since I missed a few days. Erin Thompson has been saving her blog entries on her laptop for the last five days, so you can read her blog to get completely updated! Basically I'm with her all the time so I guess whatever she does I'm probably there too. (I actually haven't read her blog...since I just got access now and she is sitting to my right posting everything she saved!)

What can I say? Israel is beautiful. The Sea of Galilee is a place that I heard about for years and now not only have I seen it, but I've swam in it as well! The Sea of Galilee is incredible. I don't know if I can describe it. The water is beautiful - it is clear and shallow for a really long way in. Some times (mostly in the morning and at night) the water is really rough - fairly big waves coming in, but other times it is still (right around noon or 1pm). It is very easy to imagine the disciples in a storm - the waves crashing around; the fear would have been great. And our God spoke to them and calmed the storm. He does that in our lives too. The things of this world can be difficult and hard to face, but Jesus promises us in John 16:33, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." May you be still and hear the voice of Jesus in your life.

I love it here. There is so much more to tell and to explain about life here on the Kibbutz (the place we are staying) and up at the site. I pray the internet access continues to work so I can explain my experiences more fully at a later time. Thank you for taking the time to read this. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." ~ Ephesians 3:20