Israel and Jordan Day 4

Day 4: After several miles of hiking yesterday, we all woke up a bit sluggish today, but again filled with anticipation about what this new day of travel would unveil. We left our hotel and drove to the city of Madaba (the biblical city of Medeba), about 30 kilometers from Amman. This city is best known for its Byzantine mosaics and one in particular—the earliest surviving map of the Holy Land (roughly from Lebanon to Egypt), dated several centuries after the birth of Christ. Today, a Greek Orthodox church has been built over the mosaic and tourists from all over the world come to visit this site daily.

Next we visited the site that for many of us has been the most powerful experience thus far—Mt. Nebo. This is the vicinity where Moses is believed to have been buried and also the locale where God brought Moses to show him the Promised Land that he would not be permitted to enter because of his disobedience. We were all so moved by this place. From our vantage point, we could look down, thousands of feet below and out into the west and take in the Dead Sea, Jordan River, the city of Jericho, and far in the distance, the Mediterranean Sea (it was actually too overcast to see the sea today). As we read the words of Deuteronomy 34, thought about all that we were surveying, and then considered how faithful God had been to fulfill his promises—leading the Israelites into the land of Canaan to claim their inheritance—we were all struck with a sense of wonder at it all. Earle shared a stirring message with us about Moses’ final encounter with God and Joshua’s preparation to succeed him as the new leader of the Israelites. Nicole led us in singing “Psalm 121” and many of us were moved to tears at the power of the Lord’s presence in that place at that moment.

We drove down to the Plains of Moab, said good-bye to our Jordanian guide, Aladdin, our driver, Hassim, our security guard, Ramadan, as we crossed the border to return to Israel. Our Israeli guide, Pilar, was there to greet us and we were all very glad to see her and continue with our journey toward Galilee.

Once we arrived in the area of the Galilee, we came to the Jordan River and several folks from our tour decided to be baptized! The experience was not what many of us expected (unfortunately being baptized in the Jordan has become highly commercialized), but it was still very special. Earle and Tim baptized Candy Walhood (OR), Debbie and Jayne Mercer (Earle and Julie’s daughter and granddaughter), Tim and Tiffany Thompson (WI), Lena (Christine) Satterlee, Flo Shiroma, Barb Benda, Pat Robinson (Marla Hazen’s sister), and ‘Spike’ Smith (who came to faith in Jesus this week!). After the baptisms, we all sang “How Great Thou Art” and enjoyed such a sweet time of fellowship and celebration with one another.

We drove to the northern end of the Sea of Galilee, up into the high country (near Lebanon and Syria) and settled in at our accommodations for the next three days—a kibbutz (sort of a Jewish commune established by Israel allowing people to live, work, and volunteer to serve the nation and provide services like growing crops, providing education, caring for livestock, etc.,…) called The Hagoshrim. This has been the lodging that we’ve all been most excited about. It’s set in a wooded area with streams, waterfalls, wildlife, and absolutely delicious food! What a blessing this day has been! Just listening to the stories of all the folks being baptized made this trip MORE than worthwhile. The power of Jesus to save and change lives never ceases to touch our hearts deeply and challenge us to continue to boldly and compassionately share the ‘good news’ of the gospel.