Israel 2011 Service Learning Trip

I know it has been a while since an update. After long days of hiking on the Jesus  trail this week it was difficult to get online to update. We are safely back in Nazareth staying at the Fauzi Azar Inn; the place where we started our Jesus trail adventure. The hike was a definite highlight, seeing many wonderful sites and truly getting a feel for the land of Galilee. We celebrated our finish today by swimming in the Sea of Galilee!

Everyone is doing well. A few suffered from blisters but all are happy to rest feet and heads now. Tomorrow we will celebrate our time with a time of reflection, debrief and shopping. We fly out tomorrow night.

See you back home.

Mike

Greetings!

Today we spent our first full day in Nazareth. Our day began with a tour through the old city. We saw a first century synagogue believed to be where Jesus taught…

the Basilica of the Annunciation (the largest church in the Middle East)…

and we went to Nazareth Village (a place that uses 1st century tools and clothing in an attempt to recreate what Nazareth was like during the time of Jesus.

A few team members have felt a little under the weather today…please keep our team in your prayers as we prepare for the Jesus Trail tomorrow. It’s a 4 day hike from Nazareth to Capernaum (roughly 10 miles a day). We’ve enjoyed our two days of rest, but we’re ready to be on the move again!

See you all in a week!

Sara Shoup

This past week has flown, and I have had no chance to update the blog. Here is a run down on what has been going on.

Monday: We left Jerusalem in the morning and traveled into the West Bank. It was quite remarkable how easily we just walked through the check points. We held our passports in our hands as we walked through and they were never looked at them. Our time in the West Bank started by a visit to a Palestinian refugee camp and meeting with the director of a cultural center for the youth in the camp. We then went for a tour of the Nativity church which is the traditional place believed that Jesus was born. Our last and final stop of the day was at the Tent of Nations. We stayed there for the night and on Tuesday we spent the day snapping chick peas from branches and hand pulling wheat in the fields for harvest.

Tuesday: After a full day of wheat pulling in the fields we returned to Beit Sahur outside of Bethlehem and spent our first night with Palestinian Christians. We all had different homes that we stayed in, mostly in groups of two. This was a highlight for most and I am going to see about having one of the team members share their experience tomorrow on the blog.

Wednesday: This day was one of the more powerful Holy Land experiences for the group thus far. We dessert hiked through the Judean range. It was a tiring 4 hour hike that ended at the St. George Monastery which was nestled in the side of the mountain. It was breathtaking! Here we found rest and fresh water after our long trek. It was on this journey that we started to realize how much work it took for people to travel at the time of Jesus. We then went to lunch in Jericho and finished our day floating in the Dead Sea. We returned late to our host families for our final night in Palestine.

Thursday: We started the day by visiting the Herodian ruins in Bethlehem. The reality of the governmental situation of Jesus’ time was unavoidable as we stood on top one of the highest mounts in the region that owned the best views of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea looking out into Jordan. This fortress was built for all people in the land to not be able to forget the Roman’s rule. After this visit we then took some time at Ein Gedi. This is the place believed to be where David fled from Saul and hid in the wilderness. It was a place of lush green trees in the middle of the dessert with waterfalls.

Thanks for checking in. Like I said, I am hoping to transition from updating the blog myself and having some team members write in starting tomorrow. We are now in Nazerath staying at the Fauzi Azar Inn. We start the Jesus trail on Saturday.

After two full days of viewing the sites in Jerusalem, we are packing up to visit Bethlehem tomorrow morning after breakfast (Monday). Our time will start in visiting the Tent of Nations where we will begin our first service project. Our guides Tom and Dave have left us a bit in the dark on what this place is about or what we will be doing. We are excited to move from sightseeing in the city to a very different view of living in Israel.

Everyone is starting to adjust to the time difference. Our energy level was quite a bit higher today than yesterday. No real sun burns yet, but the heat is exhausting. We have enjoyed lots of fresh fruit from the markets for breakfasts and dinners. Lunches have included many falafels. Brian and Micah said they keep getting better each day. Hopefully that will last ten days in!

The last two nights we have been staying in a hostel in the old city. It is right above the markets and we love the atmosphere. In Bethlehem we will spend two nights with Christian host families. Keep us in your prayers as we start to transition from the tourists sites of Jerusalem to experiences with local people. Pray for perseverance through the heat and times of connecting with our host families.

We will try to get some pictures up in the next few days.

Mike

Greetings!

I am happy to report that we have all arrived safely here in Israel. It was a long a flight for all of us. Most slept a few hours at most. Although it did not keep the team from heading out for a tour of Old City Jerusalem and the Western Wall on Friday night for the Sabbath activities. Now everyone has went to sleep in attempts to wake early and see the sun rise from the Mount of Olives.

We will be here in Jerusalem for the next two days and relocate to Bethlehem on Monday. I will aim to give another update by late Monday or early Tuesday.

Shalom!

Mike Hansen

We are partnering with Summit Adventures to experience the Holy Land up close and  personal.  Although sufficient time will be spent seeing the many historical biblical sites, the trip will also include hands on exposure to the people and culture. We be examining what are the various religions of Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem and doing our best to understand why Israel is such a conflicted country. We will be spending time at a Tent of Nations, Palestinian Christian families, and an organic goat farm in the West Bank. There will also be a 4 day trek following in the footsteps of Jesus along the Jesus Trail which runs from Nazareth along the West side of the Sea of Galilee.

Itinerary

May 19: Depart Malone

May 20: Arrive – Tel Aviv- Transport to Jerusalem- Lodge- Old City Jerusalem

May 21 and 22: Jerusalem- See sites of old and new city (Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Western Wall, Dome of the Rock, Mount of Olives, Mt Zion, many sites at each of these locations) Lodge – Old City Jerusalem

May 23: Dead Sea, Ein Gedi, Masada, Jericho, Lodge- Old City Jerusalem

May 24: Travel to West Bank, Volunteer Tent of Nations, Lodge Tent of Nations

May 25: Bethlehem and Hebron tour, Lodge- Home Stays with Palestinian Christian Families in Beit Sahur

May 26: Tour Beit Sahur, and then travel to Nazareth, Lodge Nazareth Fauzi Azur Inn

May 27: Tour Nazareth, Volunteer Nazareth Village , Lodge Nazareth Fauzi Azur Inn

May 28: Jesus Trail- (Walk for 4 days from Nazareth to Capernaum) 1-Nazareth to Cana, Lodge Cana

May 29: Jesus Trail 2-Cana to Ilaniya, Lodge on Goat Farm

May 30: Ilaniya-Service on Organic Goat Farm, Lodge on Goat Farm

May 31: Jesus Trail 3-Ilaniya to Moshav Arbel, Lodge at Shavit Family Hostel

June 1: Jesus Trail 4-Moshav Arbel to Capernaum, Lodge Nazareth Fauzi Azar Inn

June 2: Course end celebration-Depart – Nazareth for Tel Aviv Airport

June 3: Arrive Malone