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We got up today and got some great news that we had been invited to lead worship at the Aliyah Return Center in Galilee on this upcoming Sunday. The Aliyah Return Center, also know 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 small hostel near Tiberias that we were invited to check out this day. We started to head out and got there a little early, so no one was there to greet us. I noticed on my map that the Jordan River was right behind the village that we were in. So, in Colorado fashion, we did a little off-roading to find the river. Our tiny little Kia Picanto got us through the mud to the banks of the Jordan. There are a couple of spots that are the traditional site of where people think Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. One is close to Jericho and the other is right where the river picks up after the Sea of Galilee. Because of the war, both of those places are closed right now to the public. But this spot is just a little downstream from the one in Galilee. Because it is rainy season we didn’t go down to the river because of all the mud. But there was a little foot bridge that we could cross and look right over the river. It’s not a real impressive river, but something very impressive happened near here!

We decided to get something to eat when our hosts contacted us and we headed back to the village. We got a chance to meet Paul and Peggy who volunteer to help take care of the house where people stay and do ministry. Originally from Canada, they have been in Israel for about a year and a half. Their kids moved here and they came to visit and stayed much longer after finding volunteer opportunities to serve here in Israel! We stayed and talked for a while then headed back to get ready for our drive to Jerusalem the next day.

We got up, still not feeling that great, packed and headed out to Jerusalem. Back on to the real life Mario Cart game they call a freeway here, I definitely had came to the conclusions that my least favorite part of Israel is the driving. But, we survived, returned our car and checked into our hotel in the Old City. Since we were so close, the first thing we did was to go to the Western Wall. It was fascinating to see all these people worshiping and praying for the rebuilding of the temple. Once again, because of the war, there are very few tourist here so we didn’t have to wait to get in. Right next to the Wall are the remains of when the Romans sacked the city in 70AD. The temple mount was constructed with huge stones that were stacked on top of one another each stone averaging about 2 tons. The Romans soldiers toppled the stones down from the mount and gave up after about a 1/4 of the way down because of how heavy they were. Those stones they tossed are still there to see. 

We got something to eat and then went back to the hotel to continue resting and fighting our colds. At about 7pm all the mosques in the area fire up their loudspeakers and begin their prayer chants. Because there are so many happening at the same time, sung in different keys, the sound is very dissonant to the ear and not very peaceful at all. Then, as if in defiance to the prayer chants, a lone church begins to ring it’s bell in a an attempt to drown out the loudspeakers. At this point you have the prayers of the Jews at the Wailing Wall, the chants of the mosques, and the bell towers of Christian churches chorusing through the city. What a strange and peculiar place this is.

The Aliyah Return Center Entrance

The Faithful Galileans

Galilean house cat

Walking over the Jordan River

The Jordan River

Western Wall with Dome of the Rock behind

Western Wall

Stones tossed over the mount by Roman Soldiers

Group of German pilgrims praying over the ramparts

View of Mount of Olives through the ramparts

Original Roman road in the Old City

Walking through Jerusalem

We made it!

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 near by 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 home town 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. But, there was no line and we paid the 20 Shekels to get in (about 8 dollars) and we were only with a few other people in the ruins of Jesus’ home town. Here you could see where homes, places, and markets once stood, but only a two foot high remnant of a wall remains. Jesus and his disciples walked and ran the ministry from here. The Synagogue where Jesus taught was very much intact (minus a roof) because it was renovated a few centuries after Jesus. But still, this was the place where He attended, taught, and healed!

“They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”  - Mark 1:21-28

Like the people who heard His teaching, I was amazed to be standing in this place! People left little notes and prayers in the walls, much like they do at the “Wailing Wall” but these were prayers to Jesus.

Next we went to a special spot that a church was built on, (but has since been removed). It was a modern church over the site believed to be Peter’s house. You can walk under the new church and peer right over and into Peter’s home. The walls are nearly as tall as they were in the 1st century but no roof or covering. We then went inside the church and in the middle of it a glass floor reveals a glimpse right from above. A very simple home for a fisherman who would go on to become a fisher of men. Afterwards, Sandi and I sat by the shore and enjoyed the cool northward breeze. Of course, we picked up a few rocks and put them in our pockets! We stayed for awhile just thanking God for this time. Walking and seeing where Jesus lived was a big deal and it felt really special to be in this place.

We got back in the car for a quick ride uphill to the Mount of Beatitudes. We followed the directions and when we reached it the gate was closed. Once again there was no one there. It became pretty clear by now that very few people, if any, are visiting Israel right now. There was a small sign on the gate with admission hours so we dove up to it to read it. We started to read the hours when the gate just opened! We looked at each other and then proceeded to drive in. We swung into the empty parking lot and got out of our car. We started to walk onto the grounds noticing the rail doors of the souvenir shop and refreshment stand closed and locked. We began to walk through the gardens with quotes from the sermon on the mount, more specifically the beatitudes portion. The place where Jesus gave his great sermon is now a church but outside at the base of the church right in “front” facing the Sea is a palm tree. As we made our way around the church to the palm tree, this was probably the closest place outside to where Jesus might have been during that sermon. I stood there and the winds picked up and blew straight to us from the Sea to this most northern part of Galilee. As a recording engineer, it dawned on me that if Jesus stood with His back to the sea, with a wind like that, His words would carry for quite a distance with the help of that wind. Sound is a waveform whose energy is transmitted by the colliding of air molecules in that waveform. If the wind is blowing in the same direction of that energy wave, it will be carried further with more energy. This could have been how this “great multitude” could have heard Jesus’ sermon that day.

The passage of Matthew chapters 5-7 are some of my absolute favorites. I once was challenged to read all three chapters once a day for 30 days. I had a great respect for that teaching after that. Sandi and I were amazed that we had this whole beautiful place to ourselves. The grounds are covered with flowers, trees, and sculptures dedicated to, perhaps, the Lord’s greatest sermon.

We headed back down the hill to another small church that was built around the rock that Jesus stood on when He fed the multitude. The stone has natural steps that lead into the church. Inside, the top of the stone stands as an altar for worshipers. Since, again, we were the only ones there. Sandi started singing in the small but reverberating chapel!  Still hard to believe that we were nearly all alone in these wonderful holy places. It’s understandable. There is a war going on right now. We are reminded every night as we hear the constant sound of jet fighters making their rounds throughout this northern region of Israel. Rockets are being fired from Hezbollah (the Islamic militant arm of Lebanon) everyday. Israel responds in kind with strategic attacks against Hezbollah leadership. It’s a tense time for all here and it is felt. There are Israeli flags flying everywhere. Giant posters on buildings and freeways cry out “עם ישראל חי” which mean “I am Israel”. But here, on the north coast of Galilee, I feel only peace. As we stepped out of the small chapel I saw a little plaque attached to the side. It read…

“At Thy Word I will cast down the net” - Luke 5:5

The deeds and miracles of Jesus are not actions of the past. Jesus is waiting for those who are still prepared to take the risks at His word because they trust in His power utterly.”

I don’t know if I have trusted Him utterly. I’m still striving towards Him. But I know that Sandi and I have dropped our nets decided to come here to Israel because we believe utterly that this is His will for us.

We left the shores of Galilee with a lot of gratitude in our hearts, but still stuffiness in our noses! So we headed back home to cook our dinner and continuing nursing our colds. All in all this was a great day to remember.

Capernaum, Jesus' home town

Synagogue where Jesus preached

Old homes and places of Capernaum

Peter's house

Peter's House from above

Church cat on the church organ getting pets from Sandi

The Mount of Beatitudes

Palm tree near where Jesus stood?

Fish mosaic with loaves of bread in the fountain

Natural step rock goes into the church

Rock on which Jesus feed the 5000

Plaque outside the church

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 in Tel Aviv and on our trip. We got to our hotel in Tel Aviv and had an awesome Mediterranean fish dinner and then went to the pharmacy to get more cold meds. Our plan was to get up early and head to the volunteer center, but by now both of us were hacking up a storm and thought it best if we tried to just stay in as much as possible and rest.

The next day we loaded up the Picanto and headed to Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee. On the way we stopped by Caesarea to see a 2000 year old Roman aqueduct and pickup sea shells on the beach, then back to the road. Ah, the roads… the driver’s in Israel are INSANE! Everyone goes over the speed limit and there is much zig zagging over lines and around other cars. After white knuckling it for an hour and a half we were almost to our destination when… the GPS went crazy and said we were in Beirut! We were immediately lost, trying to go from street to street with crazy drivers honking at us because we were too slow for them. Tiberias is a very compact town on a giant hill. Everything is curved and moves up and down. Every parking spot is taken and there are few places to even pull over. I noticed that many people just drive their cars up on sidewalks, I followed suit and got the car to stop so I could check my map. After much debate we were able to write down the names of the streets and look at maps I had screenshots of to finally find our place.

Now this was Shabbat in Israel and that means that everything shuts down at Sunset on Friday. We had made plans to meet up with another couple nearby to have Shabbat Dinner with them. They are Carolyn and Richard Hyde who have a ministry of music and “Aliyah”. Aliyah is the Hebrew word that describes Jews coming back to their homeland. As a Christian she helps Christian and Non-Christian Jews make the transition back to Israel. They can also use this as a witness to others and share the gospel in a tangible way. Carolyn has been a worship leader and songwriter for years, starting in the states until she moved to Israel 20 years ago. She grew up as an orthodox Jew but came to Jesus in her 20s. Check out her YouTube Channel here! 

We had a great dinner with her, her husband Richard and their daughter Deborah. They invited us attend worship with them at their congregation “Kehilat HaCarmel” or Mount Carmel Church. Yes, THE Mount Carmel as in the one in the Bible where Elijah had his confrontation with the false prophets of Baal. The people were so happy to see us and that people from the west are here despite all the turmoil going on right now. We sang modern worship songs and Messianic songs in Hebrew. The screens had Hebrew, English, and Russian lyrics simultaneously. During the songs a special dance team with children paraded up and down the stage and people in the congregation played shofars and tambourines. What a great celebration of these people that have come full circle from Judaism to full faith in the true Messiah Jesus. No wonder they had so much passion in worship! The pastor’s message was from Joel 13:14. Which reads…

“Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.”

He showed a 200 year old winnowing fork that he bought in Jerusalem and explained that the time has come to make a decision: Will you stand with Israel? I have no doubt that God is not done with His people. A great remnant is returning to the Lord and I’m a first hand witness to that here. 

After the service we traveled up to the traditional place where Elijah had that great battle with the fake Baal prophets. From that point, not more than 20 feet is an overlook where you can see the Jezreel Valley. This is the Valley that is also called “Megiddo”. I remember when Pastor Mike talked about this in one of his recent sermons. This is where all the armies of the world will gather to fight God’s army. Then Jesus will return and wipe them out! Looking out on this valley I could see how vast and wide this place truly is! It could easily fit millions of soldiers and weapons. That’s when it hit me that this place is where it all begins and ends. Israel is still in God’s plans and his people are still in his heart.

After taking more cold medics we turned in early and took it easy to try to beat this cold while praying that the Lord speaks to us and helps us to make more connections with people while we are here.

2000 year old Roman aqueduct

Walking though time

Sea of Galilee behind us!

Sandi with Carolyn

200 year old winnowing fork!

Place where Elijah has his showdown!

Megiddo the place of the Armageddon

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 amazing things… Michelangelo’s David, Botticelli’s Venus, art galleries, and gardens. It’s amazing to see a whole museum with art only from the artists that lived in that city. This really was the birthplace of the Renaissance and the building and art still stand today. 

After that, we traveled to Venice, which during February, is still very cold and damp. This did not help Sandi’s cold. We stayed in a 500-year-old building that once was a Palace but is now a bunch of converted apartments. Unfortunately, it had the dampness and draftiness of a 500-year-old place too! We did manage to get out and see a music museum and a concert featuring Vivaldi’s music, who lived and composed in Venice. But most of my time was going out to get groceries and medicine for Sandi.

All in all, our time in Italy was still great. The history of the early church, the marvel of art and architecture, and the beauty of the churches and cathedrals were good for our artistic souls. But I’m sad that there is a definitive absence of the presence of Jesus in people’s lives. In Venice,  churches that were once filled with worshipers have been turned into museums. There is a great need for Jesus in a place where people once willingly laid down their lives for Him. The stories and places of the 1st and 2nd-century martyrs and the courage of those first Christians to follow Jesus’ authority and not that of the government is the kind of passion we need today.

On March 28th we headed back to Rome by train and spent the night next to the airport. The next morning we got up early, took our medicine, and got on a flight to Israel! I’m very excited about these next few days and looking forward to what God is going to do and show us while we are there.

(Sunday March 3rd Update: Thank you to all that have been praying for our recovery from this cold. It's a tough one but we are getting better. Keep us in you prayers as we journey into the Holy Land.)

Totoro enjoying the view from our balcony

Florence from atop the Bell Tower after I climbed the 417 steps to get there!

David

People clamoring to see “The Birth of Venus”

Venice

Vivaldi's church that he worked in and composed is now a music museum

Amazing church built for a 1st century martyr is now a concert hall

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. The collection spans the history of human civilization starting from Mesopotamia to modern times. At the end of the museum is a spiral staircase that takes you back down to the depth of mundane life to spit you out onto the streets of humanity. As if we were somehow given a glimpse of heaven and then returned to our plane of existence. Of course, I took exception to that. As great as much of the art I saw was truly magnificent. I felt that most of it fell short of touching the true Creator. Creation is wonderful and we should marvel at its beauty, but it is still looking into a dark reflection when compared to the glory of God. 

When we finally got to the Sistine Chapel we were quickly rushed through because of the huge crowds (and this was off-season!) What little we saw was amazing, but once again, we felt as though we were meant to feel somehow smaller than the art itself, yet Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” How much more valuable are we than any painting?

Finally, after a 2-hour wait in line, we are in the Basilica of St. Peter. The sheer size is really hard to place in words for me. No video or picture can do it justice. The ceilings go up forever and the statues that adorn each column are beyond any colossal statue I’ve ever seen. Sandi was very emotional when she took in the beauty of it all. But what I wanted to see with my own eyes I wasn’t sure if that was possible. We made our way through this whole complex, resting along the way as we were worn out from our journey there. I stumbled upon an open staircase and a few others were going down into it. So I followed. Down the stairs I went until I was under the alter above. And in front of me was the tomb of Peter. Behind the portrait of Jesus and underneath lies Peter’s tomb. Is he really there? I’m not sure. But in faith, it brings me that much closer to someone who gave everything for the cause of Christ. Peter willingly gave his life, like that of his friend and master, but he chose to be crucified upside down, so as not to take any glory from Jesus by being crucified in the same way.

From there we had another great gluten-free pizza and made our way to a nighttime concert of Gregorian chant in a medieval church full of old monks’ bones. Creepy and beautiful at the same time. I think that the beauty of it is that we all need to be aware of our short time here on earth and that we need to find our purpose in Jesus to fulfill the mission He has called us to do.

Off to bed and then off to Florence for our next trip!

The “Map Room” in the Vatican Museum

Emperor Domitian. One of Christians' greatest enemies.

St. Peter's Basilica with Jesus and the 12 Disciples watching on. Jumbotron and all.

Michelangelo's “Our Lady of Piety” inside St. Peter's Basilica.

Ceilings that go on forever…

Tomb of Peter

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 about 12 other folks for the “British Flag” tour (English speaking). Marco guided us to the Roman Forum, the city center of ancient Rome. This was the political and commercial market hub of Rome. This is where Romans could buy anything - food, clothing, livestock, and of course - people (slaves). A practice that all these years later we still can’t get rid of. I thought about how in this human market the church would rise eventually leading to the end of commercial slavery in the Western world. But my heart still hurts knowing the black market of human trafficking is alive and well.

From there we made our way to Palatine Hill where the elite of Rome lived and played. There the Emperor lived in opulence with palaces beyond any size I’ve ever seen. He had his own personal temple where he can worship a god that no one else was allowed to, and his own personal circus (think race track and arena) for gladiator games to entertain just himself and his guests. But all of it is now in ruble and as our tour guide was showing and explaining all of this to us, my eye caught the glimpse of a small green lizard running between the cracks of the giant stones that held this place together, but now the mortar has decayed leaving a perfect little path for this small creature to safely run from one small opening to the other. Proverbs 30:28 says, "a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings' palaces.” It means that something so small can still accomplish big things. The emperors that lived here never realized that this “small” faith in a Jewish Messiah, would flourish to eventually turn the whole world upside down.

From there we toured the Coliseum and went on the stage (newly built because the old one had rotted away centuries ago) and marveled at the size and scope of this wonder of the world. It was on this stage, maybe near the spot we stood, that the emperor Domitian condemned that the apostle John be boiled to death in oil. John, the one Jesus loved the most, survived his ordeal and many in the stadium came to believe in Jesus as a result. This made Domitian so angry that he banished him to the island of Patmos in A.D. 95-96 where he wrote the Book of Revelation. Genesis 50:20, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive.”

Finally, after sharing a salad and a gluten-free pizza, we saw the Catacombs of Saint Sebastian. Here, the early church buried their loved ones. It was located in an old quarry that was no longer in use and became a maze of over 7 miles of tunnels with over 65,000 people buried there, most in secret. Graves were simply marked with doves, or a fish to show they were Christian. Also, a man with his hands raised could mark a Christian burial, because the early Christians prayed with their hands folded open. This site once held the bones of Paul and Peter and included an underground chapel where persecuted Christians could come and pray. When Christianity was made legal they removed Paul and Peters's bones and placed them in newly formed churches around Rome. I felt as if I was back in the first Century and I wanted to join those early Christians in that small underground chapel to pray with them. What faith they had!

After another 12,000-step day, we bought some local groceries and made dinner at our place. Or I should say, Sandi made dinner! Chicken and Gnocchi with a mushroom pesto and salad. It was awesome!

After walking a total of 32,000 steps in 3 days, I think I'll combine the next few days into one blog to give my feet a rest.

The Forum

Where palaces once stood

The Emperor's Private Temple and what it looks like now

On the floor of the arena

Blessed are those who are persecuted…

Entrance to the catacombs (no pictures inside allowed)

Church built right over the catacombs

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 stressful day. There were credit cards that didn’t work at certain places and others that did. We wanted to see a few things, but we were hit square in the face with the poverty of a big city as many people were begging for money, some even violently so. Trying to find places for Sandi to eat non-gluten food became a challenge and at about 1:30pm we hit a brick wall. We were running on very little food and at this point, we had already been awake for over 24 hours. Sandi encouraged me to rest a little and see if we could keep going. After a tiny bite of food and lots of water, we jumped back on the subway and headed for the Pantheon. 

After a 3/4 mile walk from our subway stop, we were able to get right in. I think our spirits immediately felt refreshed at the awe of this place that once housed a pagan tribute to all the false idols of the Roman state religion turned into a beautiful place of worship to the One true God. The amazing frescos of people from the Bible with tributes to some of the early church fathers adorned every wall. The famous Renaissance artist Raffael is buried there and you can see his tomb. I looked up and I could see the empty alcoves that encircled the upper walls of the Pantheon, right before its huge dome started, and I thought maybe those were the removed pagan idols that once looked down on and cast their merciless stare at their worshippers, now removed to reveal a new church that teaches that all men are equal under God’s eyes.

At the top of the dome, there is a round opening where you can see the sky. Sandi asked me before we got to Rome, “What happens in the Pantheon when it rains?”. Well, as we walked toward the center of the building we felt a fine mist of water, quickly turning into larger drops as the storm outside began to brew. Soon, there were clashes of thunder reverberating through the temple. As if God were speaking to us through as He said in Jeremiah 31:25, “ I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”

We finally made it back to our place by 5pm to check in, and after 29 straight hours and 12,000 steps, we crashed into bed.

Trevi Fountain on our way to the Pantheon

The Pantheon

Inside

The “hole”

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