Monday May 5, 2008-Northern Israel-The Golan Heights

Okay, I'm dedicating the next 6 blogs to today, because it was really an exciting day! So, I decided to stay at the Tiberias Hostel for Sunday night, so that on Monday I could explore a bit. So I took a bus up to one of the most northern cities in Israel, a place called Qiryat Shemona. I really didn't know what was there, except for the fact that Meir, the hostel manager said they had some kind of sky tram that takes you up to a mountian view. Well when I got there, I couldn't find the skytram, so I just started walking around, there really wasn't much to it. So I stopped a lady on the street and asked her and she said that her taxi guy could find it for me. So I got in the taxi with her. . .







and I met Hosi, a native from the Golan Heights. He said he could show me around the area, so I took him up on it. I thought at first maybe an hour or so, but I ended up riding through the entire Golan area with him for the whole day. It was a great decision because he was able to take me places that I never dreamed of seeing. And Hosi and I became friends, he is the nicest guy.








So the first place he took me was a neat little town right on the Lebanon border, called Metulla, the most northern city in Israel. It was a quaint little town, had a Swiss feel, but it was almost vacant because of the political and military turbulence the permeates the area. The area is populated by Druze inhabitants, a sect of nonconventional Islamic people coming from Lebanon and Syria. Hosi is Druze, but not practicing. Most are farmers and work in agriculture.




The next place we went was to the Lebanon border, right across that fence is Lebanon. It's pretty interesting the tension that exists in this area. And it's no wonder considering that. . . . .











these flags wave right across from that fence. The first is the Lebanon National flag, the middle one is the Palestinian Authority flag, and the yellow is the Hezbollah flag, and if you know anything about the tensions is the Middle East, the Hezbollah is considered to be a major threat to security in this area, they are know internationally as a terrorist group of the Shiite Muslim groups.

Hosi had many opinion about the Lebanese, but next he wanted to take me to meet a good friend of his, who he said was a Born Again Christian . . .hmmm, up here in the Golan?

Meeting Tayser

As we drove through a few of the Druze villages, we came upon this village named, Majdal Shams, and there was this monument, memorializing the Druze battles and struggles throughout history and the many fickle conquests of this area between Syria, Lebanon and Israel. And it you'll get a different answer as to who the land belongs to, depending on who you ask.







So Hosi wanted me to meet one of his childhood buddies named Tayser, and so he took me to his house. Tayser spoke perfect English, because he visited the States last year and stayed for almost 3 months, where not only did he meet the love of his life, but he also became a born again Christian and let me tell you, it is the real deal for him. He says "I have Jesus in my heart and I cannot explain it, but it has changed my life, I have peace!" Amen to that! So he's going back to Chicago this year to marry his fiance and become an American citizen.
He was very hospitable and a great person to meet and who'd'a thunk that I'd be sitting here in one of the most remote areas in Israel, where no tourists ever come, sitting in this guys living room, talking about the love of Jesus? Wow, it was surreal!
Hosi would snicker when Tayser would talk about the Lord, he's not quite ready to meet Jesus, but Tayser says he witnesses to him a lot.



This is the view of the village from Tayser's house. It's really a great view.














And as we left Tayser's home and Majdal Shams, Hosi said he wanted to show me a place where you can see 4 countries from one view.









But first we stopped at this really cool coffee place for some java. I just really liked this Egyptian mural and the decor of this coffe house, it was fancy.

The Mountain that looks over 4 nations

So Hosi drove me to this mountain area that looks over the four nations of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and of course Israel. This first pic is facing north onto Lebanon.








And if you turn just a little to your right, you're facing east and that is Syria.












And if your turn a little more right, you're looking down on the village of Metulla with Lebanon to it's far left and Syria to it's right. An of course Metulla is in Israel.








Turn a little more right and you are facing directly east onto Metulla, with Syria in it's background.






And lastly, a little more to the right and you've done a 180 degrees and now you're facing South towards Jordan.

Kinda cool, huh?

Monday May 5, 2008 -Golan Heights

So, after leaving the mount area, we took off through the entire Golan area, and I think Hosi mentioned that there were 4 major Druze villages in that area and this is one of them.









And to my surprise, Yes, the have skiing in this area, the only ski lodge in Israel is right here. The Golan climate is very much like Colorado, because it's elevated, and they get annual snow in the winter. I didn't see any ski lifts though, they might use donkeys










We drove by this nature reserve which is an archaeolgical site and nature reserve. We didn't go in, but I took this pic and the proceeding one from this area.

These are some of the archaeological finds at Banias.

And of course you can't go many places without seeing the military influence. This is an American tank, btw. No surprise.

And lastly, from Golan back to Tiberius

This is what's called a maar (a crater caused by volcanic eruption) at Birket Ram in the Golan.




As we pass down the Syrian border line we drive across The United Nations camp at Quneitra in Syria. The city behind is Quneitra, which has been abandoned for years.

Before leaving the Golan, Hosi and I stopped for some coffee. I tell ya, I thought I was a coffee phene, but not like Middle Easterners, they make me look like a tea drinker.

And lastly, we drove over the Jordan River.

And back to my hostel in Tiberias. This is a view from my room at the hostel. And I have to say, that this day was one of the best days I have had here in Israel. Partly because I just felt the Lord leading me all through the day, and when I started the day I had no idea what I was going to do. A day in the life, led by my Lord, what a blessing!!!

Saturday (Shabbat) May 4, 2008

Today is Shabbat, Day of Rest, actually Saturday, but it really felt like a Sunday. We got up and had some breakfast at the hostel, and we wanted to go to a Messianic Jewish service, so we heard about this St. Andrew's Church, but it was so small and we had heard from my Mormon roommate (imagine that!?), who said he was going to attend another service of the same type a little farther away, so . . . .







we drove up the mountain to try to find this place, supposedly next to the UN building. We drove for almost an hour, but we finally stumbled onto it, and it looked like. . . .










this, not much to it, but it's much bigger on the inside. . . it was a nice service in Hebrew and in English, which was helpful. There was an eclectic crowd of people, lots of white American or European folks mixed with lIsraeli locals and a few Oriental. I wondered how a church like this got started and wouldn't ya know after the service I met this guy. . .




Nathan from the States, who has lived in Tiberias since the 80's when he moved here to start this church along with the current pastor, who is Jewish. Nathan was very friendly and talked about how they had a vision to minister to Jews and Christians and decided to start this church and they've been here ever since. Quite a story and I was happy to have met him.






After the service, I spoke with Karen about what she thought of the service, considering she is Jewish, not Messianic, and I knew she had not been exposed to a service that spoke of Yeshua, or Jesus. She was perplexed by it, and I could understand why. Although there are a number of Jews who are learning more about Jesus as the Messiah, there are many who still don't believe in Him nor ever really hear of Him. I wanted to know if she felt anything in the service, because I certainly did and I know it was the Holy Spirit, but she said she didn't. She is a good person to talk to about religious differences because she's not judgmental, somewhat open, and can listen as well as hold a good conversation about it. But I sent out a prayer for her later that day, just that the Lord would cross her path again.
The rest of the day was spent exactly how a Shabbat should be. . . . relaxing.
And actually Sunday was spent the same as Doris and Karen packed their things and headed for Sefad (0r Tsfat) the home of Kabballah, the Jewish mystic religion, ya know, the one Madonna made famous. Well I wasn't that interested in going there as much as I was in staying in Tiberias another day.

Friday, May 3, 2008 Part 2 - Sea of Galilee

So on this same day, we drove to the opposite side, or the East side of the Sea, to a kibbutz named Ein Gev, known for it's agriculture and tourism. You might have to google "kibbutz" to find out exactly what they are, cause it took me a while to understand them, however they are/were a very big thing in Israel, basically it's communal living. Google it! But this place was really nice, felt very touristy, but we had a great meal and then headed for Susita.







This is Susita, city of Hippos, which is Greek for Horse because originally the ruins were built to resemble a horse. Basically this place has gone through the same historical pattern that most places have, but in the New Testament, Jesus mentions a "city set upon a hill that cannot be hidden" referring to the metaphors of Salt and Light in the Sermon on the Mount, He may have been referring to Hippos. From here we got to see some spectacular views of the Sea of Galilee.












Like this one, just in time to watch the sun set. It was a goose bump moment for me, especially as I reflected on the fact that Jesus or the disciples might have watched the sun go down under that same mountain that I was seeing.











This is Karen, the Aussie gal we met at the hostl, and Doris from Germany. Karen is Jewish who used to work and live at a kibbutz in Israel and is now just visiting and touring. Doris is an amazingly sensitive Christian, just full of the Spirit and lots of fun, also. They were a lot of fun to explore with. And great photographers when I wanted a pic of myself. I think this must have been some sort of artillery lookout place for any of the dozen occupiers of the area.


This day was truly a wonderful day!

Friday, May 3, 2008 - Tiberias

So we left Beit Shean and headed for Tiberias, the city next to the Sea of Galilee. We drove along the Jordan River and the Jordanian Mountains most of the way. We went to the hostel which was very close to the Sea, met the manager Meir, who was great and picked up an Aussie girl now living in London, named Karen and we went to the coast to get a bite to eat. We chose a regular fish restaurant, because they say it's the best fish in Israel, and I'm glad I didn't order it. Yep, you could have guessed, it's the entire fish, head and all, pretty much just thrown on a grill and seasoned. I was harassed for being so American, and I was still glad I didn't get it. Well we were also just in time to watch Israel's basketball team play in the European Final Four, and they won. It's a really big deal here in Israel. Next they play Moscow for the title. We went back to the Hostel and was pleasantly surprised that it was pretty nice, it had everything I needed and it was clean. I roomed with two Mormon guys, had some good conversations with them.

This is Tiberias, named after the Roman emporer Tiberius. Couple of facts about this place is that it was built in 20AD by Herod Antipas and it's the burial place of a very famous Jewish scholar named Maimonides, more famous to Jews than Christians. However this city is really beautiful, seated right next to the Sea of Galilee gives it a beach feel, and I like that. Also if you drive up from the coast you get a spectacular view of the entire Sea of Galilee.

Just like this one! However this is on the East side of the Sea, closer to Jordan, but I really like this photo. Now remember, this is the place where Jesus recruited 4 of the apostles, Simon, Andrew, John and James, He also fed the 5000, walked on water, and calmed the sea all at this place. Amazing! Oh, and he gave the Sermon on the Mount here, also, could have been right where this pic was taken.

From this pic you wouldn't think it's changed much, maybe the boats haven't, but the city is certainly different, with a few remains from ancient times, not many. I'm going to make a new blog for our trip on this same day to the East side of the Sea, we went to two places called Susita, which had more of the ruins and En Gev a kibbutz that attracts the tourists.






But here is a pic of the town at night, right where our hostel was located, pretty lively!

Thursday May 2, 2008 - Off to Tiberias - First Stop, Beit Shean

Today I was invited to go to Tiberias by Doris, my German friend that I met at Christ Church the other day. She had a friend, Esther, from Texas volunteering at Joseph's Storehouse, the food and clothing ministry at Vision for Israel, so I took her up on it and we headed for Tiberias. Our first stop was this place, Beit Shean Park National Park. We ended up driving a longer route, passed Jericho, along the Jordan River so we could check this place out. It was worth it! This place is still being excavated and they think they've only found half of it, but what they've found is pretty remarkable. It dates back to around the 15th century BC, and most notably referred in the Bible as a conquest of King David. Here's a website for more info. . . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beit_Shean or if you're interested check out this video of Simon Zealotes song in the movie, Jesus Christ Superstar, of which I am not a fan, but it was filmed in this location. . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X348pXy7LpI





I was amazed at the size of these pillars, so here's my best Sampson pose! And a pic of Doris, Esther and myself.





















This is a view from the top, again I was amazed at the size of this, and I wondered how they excavated it because all of it was completely buried by an earthquake.





And for me this was really incredible. This is the place where King Saul and his three sons were killed and hung on the outside gates of the city. Pretty fascinating!