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In Jerusalem two of the first guided tours we took were going through the underground tunnels right next to the Western Wall. As you probably know, this is a very special, sacred place for the Jewish people. It’s where they come and pray. There is a men’s side and a women’s side. While we were there it was bustling with a lot of people.

We gathered with our group and set out on our first tour called “The Great Stone Tour” where we got to see and walk alongside of the 570-ton stone that is the lower section…

We got up today and got some great news!  We had been invited to lead worship at the Aliyah Return Center in Galilee this upcoming Sunday, March 10th. So we went over for the grand tour! The Aliyah Return Center, also known as the Faithful Galileans, is a ministry that has helped thousands of Jewish immigrants and Israelis in need, settle and grow roots in the land of Israel. This is a unique way for Christians to serve and show love to Jewish people and many have come to Christ as a result! They have a…

Waking up on Sunday morning with both of us still feeling the effects of our colds, we made breakfast and decided to buckle up and see a few nearby sites.

From our place it was a quick drive down to where the road hugs the sea. We headed north toward the town of Capernaum, the hometown of Jesus. It was easy to drive and get to as we pulled up to the parking lot. There were only about four other cars there. Normally this place is packed with pilgrims to the Holy Land, and you need to buy tickets in advance…

Recap by Sandi

One of the ministries we visited in Galilee is called The Aliyah Return Center. (Have you heard this term before?) “Aliyah” in Hebrew means “to go up,” for example to an upper room of a house. The first time this word is used in the Bible is in Exodus when it describes Moses going up to meet with God on Mt. Sinai. (Exodus 19:20) This is where he received the Ten Commandments for the people of Israel. So, the purpose of aliyah was not just to go up somewhere, but to go up and meet with God. The…

Well, it was bound to happen. I got Sandi’s cold. I could feel it coming on as we were getting ready to board our plane to Israel. But thankfully from Rome it is only a 3 hour flight. Once we landed we got through immigration and customs and rented a super tiny car. The Kia Picanto, with so little horse power, even the horses thought we were crazy for renting it. Its ready to rip and roar with the Smartstream G 1.0 L engine that gets 0-60 in 5 minutes! But, it did come in handy in a few really tight spots…

March 3, 2024 

To quickly summarize the last few days: We took the train from Rome to Florence and on the train, Sandi started coming done with a cold. At our place in Florence, we had an other-worldly view of the Duomo from our balcony. The Duomo is a huge church with a dome that is 375 feet tall. It is the tallest structure in the whole city and is a sight to behold. Thankfully, with Sandi not feeling well we were right next to a pharmacy and a gluten-free restaurant. We were still able to see a few…

February 24, 2024 

Our last day in Rome and it was another whopper. We got up extra early and took the subway to the Vatican. Once there, we went to the Vatican Museum, which according to Wikipedia, is the 6th largest museum in the world. I’ve only ever been to one bigger -The New York Metropolitan. That’s the 4th largest. But this felt like the world’s biggest after walking 24,000 steps the 2 days before.

The artwork collection is beautiful and overwhelming at the same time. It's almost too much to take in…

February 22, 2024

This is our first full day in Rome and we had a lot planned. The place we are staying at has a little grocery store across the street. We bought some basics to make ourselves a little breakfast. The fruit here is amazing and the chicken eggs are huge, with tiny bits of feathers still on them! I guess that’s as fresh as you can get it. After breakfast, we made our way down to the Coliseum, which is only about a 10-minute walk from where we are at. We met up with our tour guide, Marco, and…

February 21, 2024 

Our first day in Rome was preceded by a 4-hour flight to Toronto and then a 9-hour flight to Rome. Leaving Denver at 11am Monday we arrived in Rome at 10am Tuesday. Without any sleep, we attempted to navigate our way out of the huge airport to get to the train station for a 30-minute ride to Rome proper. We still couldn’t check in to our place until 3pm so we came up with a plan to buy train tickets and a subway pass, then to walk to a luggage drop-off business. It was actually a pretty…

Sandi and I are traveling to Italy and then Israel. Because there is an ongoing war in Israel we are not going to share updates via social media or on our e-news. Instead, we will provide updates on this password-protected site. Our travel dates begin Feb. 19th as we fly out of Denver to Italy. Then on Feb. 29th we will fly to Israel and be there for 15 days! Bookmark and come back to this page often to see new blog entries as we travel.

Thank you and please keep us in your prayers.

Steve and Sandi