Days 1 & 2 — Seattle to London, UK to Tel Aviv, Israel to Tiberias, Israel

Let's see how much we can pack into 36 straight hours? We left SeaTac International Airport on Monday, April 26 around 7:15 p.m. No sleep it would seem was available for me as we flew direct to Heathrow International Airport in London, UK. We arrived in London around Noon their time but it was 2 in the morning our time. We met our tour director for the afternoon bus tour of London. But didn't board the bus until after I could find a decent latte!

Our bus was comfortable and a few of the 52 among our team decided to nap. But I soaked in the sights. It was a whirlwind, but we saw all of the highlights: Trafalgar Square, London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, The Eye of London, and of course, Big Ben, which we learned is the name of the bell inside the tower. The tower is actually named St. Stephen's Tower.

Following our tour, we had dinner at an authentic London Pub. I was excited that the meal of choice for our entire group was Fish and Chips! It was delicious. But our visit to London would have to end there. Our next stop was back at Heathrow to catch our 10:30 p.m. flight to Tel Aviv. By now, I was fading and ready for some serious Zs. I changed clothes at the terminal to get comfy, laid down on the floor, and started to doze off. I was awakened by voices in a language I didn't understand but sounded familiar: Hebrew. Yep, this was the flight to Tel Aviv. About a half dozen hasidic young men were talking and then as we began to board they excitedly pulled away from our area and began praying, bobbing their heads back and forth, dressed in long black coats, black hats, and wearing long beards (untrimmed at the corners.)

The flight went quickly and I definitely slept. Upon our arrival in Tel Aviv, we were met by the remainder of our group—Tom from Florida, and Rick and Laurie who had spent some time in France ahead of us. We also met our tour guide for the week: Tony. He's a jewish man with a wealth of knowledge who has been leading tour groups for more than 40 years. He knows the history of the area, the people, the three major faiths, and I suspect much more.

Our agenda for today was to have breakfast in Jaffa (the historical port city of the biblical Joppa), followed by Ceasarea, then a trip to the top of Mount Carmel, lunch, and finally Megiddo. Joffa was a fun first stop. We visited a couple of small street front bakeries that had delicious cheese, egg, or meat stuffed breakfast pastries. Susie and I found some iced blended coffee, sat down at a small table, and tried to take in the realization that we were in Israel!

We drove along the Mediterranean coastline talking about the significance of the biblical city of Joppa. This was where Jonah left for Tarshish and was swallowed by the whale. The New Testament account of St. Peter's resurrection of the widow Tabitha written in Acts 9:36-42 takes place in Jaffa. Peter later had here a vision in which God told him not to distinguish between Jews and Gentiles as told in Acts 10:10-16. We passed by the house of Simon the Tanner mentioned in that chapter.

We drove on to Caesarea which is an archeological marvel. So many ruins here have been uncovered and preserved over the past 50 years. We walked along the shore and then stopped where Pastor Jim shared with us that this city, in fact this very point on the globe was where the Great Commission first became real. The message of Christ was sent to the unbelieving Gentile world from this port. We took time to consider our personal and appropriate response to the Great Commission. If you've heard Pastor Jim say that before, it was at this location where he first considered those words.

Following Caesarea, our guide Tony took us to the top of Mt. Carmel. The view of the Jezreel Valley below is stunning. You can see all the way to Mt. Tabor to the east and to Mt. Gilboa to the south. We discussed that valley and the incredible scene that will play out in the Book of Revelation. But more about that when we visited Megiddo. We were actually at a site commemorating the Prophet Elijah when he challenged the prophets of Baal. You can read about it in 1 Kings 18. Tony did a great job detailing the scene and retelling the story. Pastor Jim followed up with some personal application for us. It really is amazing to be standing on the site where a biblical story played out thousands of years ago.

After Mt. Carmel, we headed toward Tiberias for lunch and enjoyed a sit down meal that filled us full. There's a downside to not knowing the cuisine here. When we were seated there was a variety of garnishes and sauces, oranges, lettuce, and cabbage. Then a plate of flatbread was brought out. Hmmm. Is this our meal? None of us knew. So we assumed it was and ate everything in sight. Then each of us was brought another plate with the main course. Grilled chicken, curry rice, and vegetables. No matter, we'll eat that, too!

Lunch was followed by a final stop at Tel Megiddo. A "tel" is an archeological dig site with several layers of cities one atop the other. We visited a small museum that told the story of the surrounding "tel" and the history of Megiddo. Then Pastor Rick Sherman gave us a brief devotional about Megiddo, the Valley of Jezreel, and the endtimes epic battle of Armageddon (which means "mountain of Megiddo") written about in Revelation 16. We climbed up the mountain amid rocks and ruins and then down a series of 183 steps and through a long dark tunnel into the ancient water system. It reminded us of the queue line for the Indiana Jones Ride at Disneyland. But this was the real thing.

Our final stop of the day was our hotel in Tiberias, right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. I don't think there are sufficient words for any of our team members to describe how glad we were to have a hot shower, a bed, and a fresh change of clothes!

Tomorrow is a new adventure with some of the highlights being a visit to the Sea of Galilee and baptisms in the Jordan River!

You should be able to view all of my photos at http://gallery.me.com/eternaldesign2#100703

Thanks for your continued prayers! Shalom and Layla tov!