Hi there,

Today began with our heading for the Tel in Jericho, where we saw first Elisha's Spring that has been flowing for thousands of years and is still active today. We started out by looking at the excavated ruins of what is believed to have been the Jericho wall, a watchtower that is over 10,000 years old, (the oldest ruin in the world), seeing from afar, the mount of temptation, a traditional site where Jesus is believed to have been tempted in the Judean Wilderness and a Greek Orthodox Monastery that comemorates the site.

When we finished at the Tel, we convened on the roof of a very nice store and restaraunt where we had church. We had a great sermonette from Pastor Graig about Joshua and obedience and how successful we become when we acknowledge God's sovereignty and plans for our lives.

We left after buying some great fruit, both dried and fresh, headed for a glass shop in Jericho. Many folk bought things you'll get to see when we return and had a great time shopping.

Our destination after the glass shop was the ruins of Herod's Winter Palace, also in Jericho where some hiked a short way to the recently excavated ruins and others of us stayed back and were entertained by local kids and their goats and donkeys.

On the way out of town we were got to see a herd of camels, next to the road, pruning some farmer's olive trees.

We picked up Julie, our guide, who being Israeli, cannot enter any of the major cities of the West Bank, so had not been with us earlier in the morning. Hazem then drove us to Qumran, believed to be the home of the Essenes and the location of the repository of the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1947, by a shepherd boy. There is some controversy about whether the Essenes actually occupied Qumran, but the concensus is that they did and were the authors of the scrolls found in a variety of caves around the site. They were a monastic sect of devoutly religious Jews that were in the end, annialated by the Romans, who also tried to trash many of the Scrolls.

Bethlehem was our next destination, once again where Julie couldn't join us, so we picked up our Bethlehem guide Adel, the same gentleman that had helped us the last time we were in Bethlehem in 2007. We began with a great lunch and were then off to the Shepherd's Fields and a cave similar to the one believed to house the shepherds, the night of Jesus birth. We were able to go into the church built over the site of the cave and once again were blessed by Graig's teaching.

We left the Shepherd's Field and traveled the short distance to the Church of the Nativity for a particularly trying and dificult experience. This holy site was being visited by literally thousands of people who all, including us, stood in line, or mass, waiting their turns to see the traditional birth place of the Savior.

The last place before dinner and bed, was a stop at the Three Arches where we all shopped for Olive Wood gifts and endless other beautiful things you'll all get to see either when we get home or some other occasion. Mike Cannuati, the owner is a most gracious and excellent business man and friend who welcomed us to his store and cared for us well as we selected our Treasures.

Dinner was great, once again, and bed welcome as this was an especially long and tiresome day. Several are feeling a great deal of fatigue and could use some specific prayers for strength and endurance. All are healthy and continually praising our Savior for bringing us to his homeland and our spiritual home.

Lord bless you all; stay tuned and we'll talk to you tomorrow.

Doug

Hello again,

This comes to you from Jericho, where we've had a terrific meal in a beautiful hotel, with each of us in our own bungalow.
Our day began at Mt. Nebo, where Moses looked into the Promised Land and the valley where he died and was buried by God. There were, as you might imagine, lots of conversations about what Moses must have been thinking on that momentous day. Graig shed some great insights and lots of Scripture to help us reconcile what occurred there.

We left Mt. Nebo and our all too short visit to Jordan and terrific Guide Ruby; travelled off the site on a seriously windy road, past lots of Bedouin settlements (tents), across the Allenby Bridge and into Israel.

Julie Beretz, our Israeli Guide and Hazem our driver, met us there and whisked us off to Masada for a brief snack and then up onto the mountain to view the remains of Herod's fabulous palaces and the site of the Jew's last stand against the Romans.

We left Masada and drove a very short way to the Ein Gedi Spa, where we, well most of us, went for a refreshing float in the Dead Sea. The unfortunate thing is that it was close to the end of the day so the experience was all too short.

So, here we are, all tucked in our rooms, looking forward to another wonderful day, walking where our spiritual ancestors did. We begin at Qumran and then off to Bethlehem.

Stay tuned, we love sharing with you and knowing you are following us with your prayers. Please pray for Julie, she has a bit of a sore throat but is busily teaching us none the less.

Lord Bless you, Shalom.

Doug

Hi there,

This is a day late, sorry. It's for yesterday, the 5th.

Today was a spectacular day, after a very restful night in a beautiful hotel on the banks of the gulf of Aqaba. Early morning saw us off to Petra, passing through Jordan, peopled by the friendlest and most cordial people one could imagine.

Ruby, a Jordanian Christian and our guide did a great job of welcoming us to her country and teaching us about the Israelites as they passed through the very places we visited.

A two hour ride brought us to Petra, an ancient city carved out of the sandstone mountains by the Nabataeans and the forces of nature. It's amazing to contemplate how all this could have occurred and how well preserved the whole site is. We walked 1 mile into Petra, enjoyed it for a while and then most walked out the mile back except for the last 1/4 mile where we were able to ride horses the remainin way.

Dinner was great again as we contemplated finishing up in Jordan tomorrow at Mt. Nebo, where Moses looked into the Promised land.

Thanks again for your prayers; some requests if you would. We have several people that could use a little healing touch, nothing serious, just typical travel miseries and exhaustion.

Lord Bless you all, we're looking forward to boring you with all our pictures and stories.

Doug

Mt. Sinai

Hi there,

Sorry for no pictures yesterday, here are a few that should catch you up to date and get you ready for today's BLOG

This morning began for the hardy group of Mt. Climbers that set out to hike to the top of Mt. Sinai for sunrise over the Sinai. There were 17 of us of which 11 rode camels up the trail and the rest walked. There is a Greek Orthodox Monastery, St. Catherines, from which an apparently really sinful monk, several centuries ago, took 40 years to build 3750 steps to the top of the mountain. The camel path ends at the 3000 step level and the last 750 steps are too steep for the camels so everyone, all 17 of us hiked to the top of the mountain to watch a spectacular sunrise. While there, Graig brought us a wonderful devotion, concluded with some great singing and praise for our Savior. You can see, next to Dorothy, our great Bedouin guide Joseph. He not only took very good care of us all, but was lots of fun to have along as we climbed the mountain.

These pictures are taken in a kiosk partway up the climb, where we were able to rest and get a small snack.

This group of people are the most fun a person could have. We had people from age 44 to 82 climbing the mountain and every single one of us summited Mt. Sinai and were exceedingly blessed by the experience and Pastor Graig's great insights from God's Word.

When we finished the climb, we left the village of St. Catherine, where we'd spent the "all too short" night and began our journey north along the Gulf of Aqaba toward the city of Aqaba, in Jordan where we're spending the night before going the Petra tomorrow. Along the way we had to clear passport control from Egypt to Israel, where we were in transit for about 1/2 hour in route to Jordan, where we again had to clear entry into the country. All in all the day was spectacular, exhausting for most of us and is ending in a beautiful hotel on the banks of the Gulf of Aqaba.

Thanks for all your prayers, we are really enjoying the opportunity to follow the steps of the Israelites and learn about God's infinite plans for us.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Doug

We do not have the use of the internet today so pictures will follow tomorrow.

Today we started in Cairo. We took a beautiful sailboat ride down the Nile. We crossed the Suez Canal and headed south and stopped at the first place the Israelites stopped at Mara. We continued south to the place where the Israelites met the Malachites. We continued south through the Sinai Dessert and ended up at Mt. Sinai. We stopped at St. Catherine’s monastery and saw the traditional spot of the burning bush and the well where Moses met his wife, Zapporah.

At 12:30 a.m., the hardy ones of the group will get up and begin to climb Mt. Sinai at 1:00 a.m.! They should be on top by sunrise. Then back on the bus toward Edom.

Hi there again,

Today was a busy day, beginning with the Egyptian Museum, to see many antiquities. We saw much of the contents of King Tut's tomb, historical evidence of the Pharoahs surrounding Moses' and the Israelites' occupation and exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land and lots more of Egyptian heritage than most of us will remember.

We were grateful for a great first day, after much flying and waiting on the way over.

Dreaming about the adventure ahead.

After the Museum we went to a Synagogue that figured prominently into the lives of several of the Apostles and people we've studied about. Then it was off to a Coptic Church nearby, built over a traditional spot where Joseph, Mary and Jesus were said to have spent time while they lived in Egypt.

The Pyramids were next on our itinerary, where some brave souls went into the Pyramid and others of us rode camels. Some even tried to kiss their camel.

The Sphinx was next, where we stopped for a few minutes, pictures and lots more history.

We had a great lunch and then were off to buy kartushes, jewelry and lots of other stuff you're probably going to get to see soon.

Our final stop of the day was a Papyrus Factory where we all learned about the age old process of turning reeds into paper and the magnificent artwork we all admired and some will bring home to share with all of you.

The Lord has been good to we pilgrims and blessed us with great learning, lots of new and very special relationships and a fair amount of welcome humor. Hopefully this will give you a small insight into the incredible trip we're having, all the while wishing you were here with us. Please keep us all in your prayers and we'll talk to you again tomorrow.

Doug

Hello Everyone,

We are all here safe and sound in Cairo. We flew here in two groups, one going from Portland to Atlanta to Rome to Cairo, who had a two hour weather delay in Rome yet got to Cairo first. The second group left Portland an hour late while maintenance tuned up an engine. That group flew to New York, Istanbul where they had a 8 hour layover and then on to Cairo. We are all here and having a late supper before a welcome sleep.

Tomorrow it's off to the Pyramids, the Sphinx, the Egyptian Museum and various other places around Cairo.

Talk to you tomorrow, with pictures.

Doug