Hello from Home,

Well, we did it, completed what may have been our best ever trip to the Holy Land with what turned out to be the greatest group of folk one could ever imagine.

Pastor Graig said it most eloquently while we were worshipping in Corinth. He mentioned that we were picked specifically by our Soveriegn Lord to be a part of what became a close Body of Believers, as we were taught from I Cor. 12. Every person in our group brought something special that enriched us beyond our wildest dreams. What began as a disparate group of travelers grew into a group of pilgrims who opened themselves to the working of the Holy Spirit and all matured spiritually as a result. We laughed together, shed tears together and will be something of a bonded small group for as long as we reminisce about our experiences.

I am genuinely blessed to have travelled and gotten to know each person on our trip and will cherish the memories forever. We are also grateful for each of you that has faithfully followed on our BLOG, prayed us through to an incredibly successful trip and will infulge us in all our stories and pictures.

Hopefully we have peaked your interest or whetted your appetite to join us again on our next trip, which won't be nearly soon enough.

"NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM"

Doug

Hi there,

We began our day in Athens with a bus ride toward Corinth, where we stopped at the Isthmus with a manmade channel that connects the Aegean Sea with the Ionian Sea. This channel makes it possible to travel from Turkey to Italy without having to go all the way around the peninsula as in Paul's time. The shippers with lots of money, at that time in history, paid to have their ships put on sleds and drug on animal fat across the Isthmus, where the channel now exists. The alternative was that they wintered on one side waiting for spring to sail around the peninsula.
On the way we passed a Greek military base and watched as an American made C-130 dropped a platoon of paratroopers, fun for all us old GIs.

We left the Isthmus and drove to Corinth where we first visited the Museum and saw much of what was salvaged from the ruins and perserved inside rather than leaving them in the ruins proper.

We left the museum and walked around the ruins, marvelling at the places we know Paul taught, the Bema (pulpit), still intact today.

While at these ruins, we had a wonderful conclusion to our trip, the last time all of us in the remnant, were together, as Graig led us in worship and we spent time in Scripture tying all we'd learned together.Our first place to visit in Athens was Mars Hill, where Paul ministered, Acts 17 and told the philosophers about the "unkown God". We were able to stand very near where he must have been.

The final destination for us, after we let the Roberts off to begin their trip home, was the Acropolis, with all the ruins and the Parthenon (Temple of the Virgins) . The site is a center piece of Athens, named after the goddess Athena, for whom one of the temples. in the Acropolis was built.

We left the Acropolis and on the way to the hotel, passed the Olympic Stadium, the home of the fisrt modern day Olympics in 1896. The Stadium is still in beautiful shape and apparently used for sporting events even today.
Before we got to our destination, we passed the Greek Parliament to take pictures of the guards and our single pilgrims couldn't pass up the opportunity to introduce themselves to the dashing examples of Greek majesty.

Our time in the Holy Lands has come to an end and we all meet it with mixed emotions. We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity God has given each of us to walk where Jesus and our spiritual ancestors have walked. We've learned things we'd never have learned any other way, whetted our appetite for Scripture in ways that will keep us in His Word forever, developed new relationships that will strenthen each of us spiritually and been blessed beyond our wildest dreams.

Tomorrow morning early will find us on our way home and looking forward to seeing each of you.

Help us pray for a safe trip, see you tomorrow.

Doug

Greetings from Athens

We began today with a long bus trip to Delphi, the site of the Temple of Apollo and all the ruins surrounding it. Lunch was the first thing on the agenda, so we ate at a great restaurant overlooking a beautiful mountain landscape.

We shopped our way back to the bus for a short ride to the site and museum for a delightful experience beginning in the museum.A piece of pottery 5000 years old and perfectly preserved.

A statue similar to the Sphinx, the result of the Egyptians on the Greek culture in Alexandria, the largest Hellenistic settlement in the world at that time.A statue of a philosopher, important during that period, both politically and philosophically.

We then left the museum and climbed out onto the ruins and were seriously impressed with the overwhelming magnitude of the site and how they have been perserved and restored.Sitting on the back porch of the Temple of Apollo

We all have lots more pictures of this incredible site and will inundate you with them when we get home, along with all the new knowledge we have.

This site has no signifigant spiritual meaning except that this is testimony to the very thing God through Paul was fighting against; false gods and all the futility that goes with it.

These ruins include buildings and development from as early as several hundred years before the birth of Christ until the 14th to the 16th century after Christ birth. Much of what we saw is from the Byzantine (Roman) era 14th through the 16th centuries.

This area (Delphi, pronounced Delphee) supports a great ski industry in the winter and the village is full of shops like Columbia Sports and the like.

We left Delphi for Athens, stopped along the way at a McDonalds and then into the city where there are major demonstrations going on about the failing economy. The police were everywhere and we thought we would have to schlepp our baggage from several blocks away from our hotel however; at the last minute, our super driver was able to get us all the way to the front door of our hotel, so we were all very appreciative.

These Greek hotels have been really super along with the exquisite meals. We just finished a great meal and are off to bed.

Night

Doug

Greetings from Greece,

We began the day in Macedonia where Paul had his vision, Acts 16:1-10 and Lydia was converted. She was the 1st Gentile converted to Christianity outside of the Kingdom of Israel. We began the day with our Sunday Worship service by the traditional place on a river where Paul had ministered and converted Lydia. There is a beautiful church on the site that we visited and is filled with lots of great artwork and stained glass windows.

We left there and bussed to Thessaloniki (Thessalonica), a modern city next to the water where the streets were filled and lots of people. It's election day and they were all commiserating about how they were going to vote. Unfortunately, while Paul ministered there, nothing remains of his visits.

We left Thessaloniki and drove for a long time on a narrow country road, most of us asleep, to Verio (Berea), where Paul ministered in the synagogue, which no longer exists. He did, as tradition has it, also teach in a public square used as a forum for philosophers, where there is a monument that embodies some steps that he was reported to have stood on while he taught.

After we left Verio, we drove for another very long time, stopping briefly for lunch and then onto Meteora, near Kalambaka, where there was once 21 monasteries, 6 of which still exist today. The Monasteries and one convent, are built on the tops of rock pillars, or outcroppings from the surrounding mountains.

We visited the convent of St. Stephen, where they didn't allow any pictures, but it was very beautiful. One of the monasteries, Holy Trinity, the left picture above, was used in the making of two James Bond Movies.

When we left Meteora, we stopped on our way to the hotel, at an Icon Store where we learned how to make Icons and some bought things you'll soon get to see.

We're done with a great dinner and off to bed. Keep on praying, we'll be home soon and all are still healthy and enjoying our time together learning more about Scripture.

Night

Doug

Supplemental Post

Here's some pictures for last night's BLOG

The Blue Mosque

Egyptian Obelisk, thousands of years old and still like new.

Hagia Sophia, originally a mosque, then a Greek Orthodox church, now a museum, but still very beautifulTypical artwork on the inside of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, all done in mosaics with great detail.

I know the Bue Mosque and Hagia Sophia look the same on the outside and are very similar however; the Blue Mosque is much larger and still used as a mosque.

It's about time for the rest of the family to get up, so I'm off to get ready and conquer the day.

Talk to you tonight.

Doug

Greetings from Greece,

We got up at 0130 this morning to catch 5:30 flights to the US and 6:30 flights to Turkey.

The Turkeys landed in Istanbul and were bussed to the Hippodrome, where we visited the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia (Greek for Holy Wisdom) and then off to the Grand Baazar.

When we left Istanbul, we had a very long bus ride to Greece, with another complicated border crossing and finally to our beautiful hotel and dinner.

We've been up just over 21 hours, so we're a bit tired and welcoming a good nights rest.

Sorry for no pictures, I've tried several times and the internet is slow and keeps kicking me out, so I give up. I promise we have lots of great pictures of Turkey and will bore you with them all when we return in something less than a week.

It's been another great day; keep on prayin.

Gnight

Doug

Shalom,

Today we sadly left Jerusalem and headed for the Coastal Plain, where along the way we passed memorials to fallen heroes of Israeli Wars.

Our first stop was at Caesarea Maritima, the administrative headquarters of Herod's Regime for the Romans. It is not only a beautifully restored site, but gave us great insights into Roman life during the period. Additionally it is the place Paul left Israel from to begin spreading the Gospel to the Gentile world.

We left Caesarea filled with new things to absorb and headed for Megiddo, another important site in Israel's history and Biblical understanding. Megiddo is located at an important crossroads both in the ancient world and in future considerations as well. We learned and were able to see first hand, the significance of the concept of a Tel and the various changes that have occurred through the ages. The location is important and availability of water also plays a key role in Megiddo's past, as in most Mideastern communities. We were able to see the genius of providing access to water from within the city's walls, precluding having to expose themselves to danger by leaving the city to replentish their supplies.

The water supply is at the end of a tunnel that has 183 modern steps down to a tunnel about 100 yards long and was hidden from the outside. Currently that end of the tunnel has been opened and there are 80 steps back out of the water source, where we boarded the bus for our trip back to Joppa.

The included picture is of an alter where pagan ceremonies occurred, honoring several gods, one of whom was Baal.

We arrived at Joppa, another important site in Israeli and Christian history, where Peter was given his vision of the sheet full of animals and told not to reject anything God provided. The upshot was the conversion of a Roman Centurion, marking the first Gentile convert, opening the Gospel to the rest of the world. Joppa, once an isolated city, mostly inhabited by Arabs, over the period of centuries has become a suburb of Tel Aviv, a modern Jewish City and the largest and most influential business center of Israel.

Our time in Israel has come to an end except for our dinner this evening when we'll reminisce about our experiences and relive the wonder of our pilgrimage to the land where Jesus walked and the underpinnings of our faith have come to life. Our lives have been changed in ways many of us didn't expect and will effect us forever.

We are sad to have to bid adieu to nine of our fellow pilgrims yet have valued our time together and will remember always how special this time has been.

Please pray for travel safety as some travel home and some to Turkey and Greece. We are all looking forward to seeing you and being home once again.

Doug