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

Hi there,

Our last day in Jerusalem began on the top of the Mount of Olives at a church named Pater Noster (latin for "Our Father"), where the Lord's Prayer is displayed, in mosaic, in over 100

languages with new languages going up all the time.

The experiance continued as we made our way to an overlook of the City of Jerusalem, where we took some pictures and took our last look at the City from the Mt. of Olives.

We then began our walk down the long steep road toward the Kidron Valley where we stopped briefly in a Jewish Cemetary to learn about the burial traditions of the Jewish Faith. This cemetary is sufficiently old that there are graves there that date back to the time of King Solomon.

After we left the Cemetary, we stopped at Dominus Flavit, a church built to commemerate Jesus sitting on the Mount of Olives and weeping over Jerusalem. There is a tomb on the grounds of this church where we learned the meaning and use of ossuaries, where deceased Jews bones were buried (stored) in family plots. The church, one of the most beautiful spots in Israel, had a service going on while we were there, so we didn't get the opportunity to go in and take any pictures to share with you.

Upon reaching the bottom of the hill, we spent some time in the Garden of Gethsemane where once again Graig led us in worship and we savored the beauty of being close to where the Savior had been. The Garden is separated by a road and the part we worshipped in is apart from the traditional site and only available as a result of our guide's networking and influence, (the tip didn't hurt anything either). The time was seriously special and a quiet repose from an otherwise busy day.

We left the Garden of Gethsemane and went into the Church of Nations.

We then got back on the bus to be driven to the Upper Room, where we learned about the Passover Meal, that Jesus and His disciples likely had and then off to Caiaphas House, where we went into the church of St. Peter of Gallicantu (The Rooster Crows), where Jesus was imprisoned in an old cistern over night awaiting

His trial before Pilate. This is also the place Peter denied being a follower of Christ three times and as Jesus had predicted at the Last Supper, the Rooster Crowed.

There are a set of steps on a trail that goes from the Kidron Valley by Caiaphas House where Jesus, travelling from the Mt. of Olives to Jerusalem would have walked. The stones on the trail are original to the time of Christ however, the trail is now closed because they are uneven and apparently someone had injured themselves walking up them. Additionally, some inconsiderate pilgrims had been breaking up the stepping stones to illegally take home souvenirs of the Holy Land. We were able to walk on them in the courtyard of the church and once again say with authority that we'd "walked today where Jesus walked".

Lunch was next on the docket and we had a great meal at a Kibbutz in Jerusalem

We, after lunch, entered the old city through the Lion's Gate, where we visited the ruins of the pools of Bethesda and sang in the Church of St. Ann, Mary's mother. Tradition has it that Mary, Jesus mother, was born where the church now sits. The church is all stone and has incredible accoustics, so we sang several hymns and sounded great, reminiscent of the Choir's tour several years ago.

We left the church of St. Ann and walked to the Arab Quarter of Jerusalem and began our walk along to Via Dolorosa, where Jesus walked on his way to His crucifixion. As you can see from the pictures, it's a busy crowded noisy journey, probably much like it was when Jesus walked the route.
We stopped and learned about each of the stations of the cross, where each represents something that happened to Jesus along His trek to Calvary. After learning about Jesus sad journey, we arrived at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, occupied by several denominations of Christiandom and one of two sites believed to be the site of Jesus crucifixion and burial.

The other site believed to a site of the Crucifixion, is the Garden Tomb, next to a rock outcropping that resembles a skull.

Next to the scull looking rock is the Garden Tomb, where we were able to see what Jesus Burial Tomb might have looked like and the possibility that we were actually in the place of Christ' crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

A person may choose one of the two places as likely to have been the genuine site however; the important thing to remember, is that wherever Christ was crucified, buried and rose after 3 days, He did in fact do those things and specifically to save us and give us eternal life. That in and of itself is a reality almost too much to comprehend.

The day and our time in Jerusalem ended with a great service in the Garden Tomb, where we shared in the Sacrament of Communion, and experienced the appropriate conclusion to our trip to the Holy Land and the experiences that will have matured us all spiritually.

Graig has been the best teacher any of us could imagine, raising our knowledge of the Word and whetting our appetite to study the Bible and know our Savior better.

Thank you again for following our BLOG. I can't tell you what a special trip this has been and it isn't over yet. We will be seeing Megiddo and Caesarea Meritama tomorrow and then be off to Tel Aviv, where sadly some will be flying home and others of us to Turkey where we'll be taking a bus to Greece.

Please keep praying for us, we really wish you were here with us, but will have to settle for boring you with our pictures and stories.

Have a great night& day tomorrow.

Doug

Shalom Y'all

Today, like others, was a spectacular experience. We began at the Temple Mount where we learned much of the history of the location and the various nations that have controlled it. Mt. Moriah, the rock top which the Dome of the Rock is built over, is believed to be the site where Abraham obediently tried to sacrifice Isaac and was stopped and given a ram in Isaac's place. The other explanation for the holiness of the site involved the prophet Mohammed and the rock falling out of the sky and landing on the top of Mt. Moriah, making it the 3rd most holy site in the Muslim faith.



No one outside of the Muslim faith is allowed in the Mosque on The Dome of the Rock, so we had to content ourselves with taking pictures of the outside of the building.

The Temple used to be built over the same rock, which resided in the Holy of Holies. Jews believe that while the Ark of the Covenant has disappeared, the Holy of Holies which houses the earthly presence of God and is fatal for anyone to enter except the High Priest once a year, is still somewhere on Mt. Moriah hence; Jewish people do not visit on the Temple Mount, lest they step onto the area of the most Holy.

We left the Temple Mount and walked down to the Western Wall, where most of us prayed, at the wall, and learned about it's significance both spiritually and politically to the Jews. It is considered the most a holy place on earth for them in as much as the Western Wall is the closest they can get to the Ark of the Covenant. The cracks between the blocks are filled with prayers written on small pieces of paper and left there to commemorate the prayers.

We finished with our prayers then walked around the South end of the Temple Mount Retaining wall, past the City of David and sat on the ancient steps up to the Temple. This is one of the places it is known that Jesus actually walked. He walked up the very steps we sat on and entered the gates above where we sat and listened to our guide Julie.



You can see the three arched gates that have been filled in the next picture. This is the entry gate that Jesus used when He entered the Temple Mount, We genuinely "Walked today where Jesus walked", and I don't mind telling you we "felt His presence there".

We left the Temple Mount area and drove across town to Visit Yad Va Shem, the Holocaust museum, where we all were particularly moved by all we saw and wondered to each other, how is it possible for men to be so depraved they could author that kind of evil? The Children's Memorial is especially moving as the names of the 1 1/2 million children's names, ages and country of origen are read one after another in perpetuity.





Lunch was at a great Falafel joint in Julie's neighborhood where some had Falafels, some Shwarmas and some went next door for pizzas. The food was great and we all typically ate too much and loved every minute of it.

Our last stop of the day was the Shrine of the Book in the Israel Museum, where we saw a scale model of Ancient Jerusalem and then went into the museum to see Dead Sea Scrolls, including the complete scroll of Isaiah ( a copy), discovered at Qumran and displayed in a beautiful museum.


Upon leaving the museum, some went back to the hotel for a welcome afternoon rest, some stayed at the museum and the rest hung out in the Old City of Jerusalem and enjoyed the ambiance of the Old City and shopped. Did I mention we went shopping? The city looks much like it must have looked 2000 years ago when Jesus may have walked among the very shops we frequented this afternoon.





Tomorrow finds us starting out on the Mount of Olives, walking the Via Dolorosa to the sites of Christ's crucifixion and ending the day with Communion in the Garden Tomb.

Your prayers were answered, we're all pretty rested and healthy and looking forward to another great day.

Lord Bless you

Doug

Good Morning,

Well I got up this morning to find a bunch of mistakes in last night's BLOG, like run on sentences, duplications etc. Sorry, I guess I could blame it on the late night or my older than dirt age, OK, that must have been the reason; sorry. I sure hope there aren't any English teachers out there reading this.

Have a great day, talk to you tonight.

D

Hi there,

Today began early for a long but magnificent day that took us to places Jesus walked and some great learning from the Bible.

We began at Bethsaida and learned about the story in II Samuel 13 about David's Son Amnon and Tamar.

Our next stop was Banias, or Caesarea Philippi, as it's known in the Bible, the sanctuary for the worship of the god Pan. Here Jesus brought His disciples to declare himself as the Messiah. Matthew 16 tells us of the occasion when Jesus asked them who did people say He was and Peter declared him "..."the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus replied by telling them that "...You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church and this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not overcome it."

When then we left Caesarea Philippi and traveled to Banias, the headwaters of one of the tributaries of the Jordan River and the home one of the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom, Dan. This place has a large nature conservancy where we felt like we were back in the Northwest and the remains of the City of Dan, the northernmost settlement of Israel. Once again we were blessed with Biblical history that has brought the Word to life for us.

We left Tel Dan and went to the Mt. of Beatitudes, where Jesus delivered the "Sermon on the Mount", found in Matthew 5. This may be the most beautiful spot in Israel; peaceful and encouraging of prayer and contemplation.

Lunch was scheduled next where we enjoyed the crowd favorite, Peter's Fish. We all got a Talapia (Peter's Fish), head and all, but didn't find any coins in any of them. We learned how to take out the bones and as Julie tells us, ate them as the Israelis do, with our fingers.

The afternoon found us 1st at Kafur Nahum, known to us as Capernaum, the city Jesus called home after He left Nazareth to begin His ministry. We saw Peter's Mother-in Law's house, the Synagogue where Jesus likely taught and all the city included.

The late afternoon was dedicated to our service at Yardenit, the Baptismal Site on the Jordan River where several of us recommitted our Baptismal Vows and worshipped our Savior. To say that it was a meaningful time would be an understatement, we were all very moved by the experience.

The day ended after a 2 hour ride back to Jerusalem where we welcomed dinner and a restful evening. Tomorrow will find us praying for each of you at the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) and going up onto the Temple Mount and then off to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum.

We moved our Hotel, so we are not in the Ambassador, rather are in the Grand Court Hotel where we will be for 3 nights and can be reached at 972-2-5917777, or on the emergency numbers you have for Pam Fogg or Graig Flach.

Thanks again for following us and praying. Have a great night and day tomorrow.

Shalom

Doug

Bethlehem to Nazareth to Galilee
We loaded our bags onto the bus for a new destination, our sixth in as many days. But what an exciting day it was! Following the life of our Lord, we traveled from Bethlehem in the West Bank to his childhood home of Nazareth and on to his adult home near the Sea of Galilee.

Our first destination was Nazareth Village, a 6 acre simulation of Nazareth at the time of Jesus. Here goats and donkeys are tended, olives and grapes are grown and harvested, olives are pressed into oil, and the Gospel is shared as staff and volunteers demonstrate and tell about life in the “insignificant” village of Nazareth during the time of Jesus. We sat in a first-century synagogue and read from Luke 4, hearing about how Jesus declared Himself the Messiah in keeping with Old Testament prophecy.

Still in Nazareth (a village of about 70,000 today though there were no more than a few hundred in Jesus’ time), we visited the only constant spring in town, one that has provided water since the time of Christ. Here Mary certainly drew water daily, and perhaps it was even here that she learned she would have a child. Ken and Jan Stone, friends of the Foggs , at Mary's well

After a lunch of Falafel, we proceeded east to Galilee where we saw a first-century fishing boat before boarding a larger boat to spend time out on the lake. This proved to be a highlight

experience for many of us, as we first viewed the many biblical sites pointed out to us by our guide, Julie, and then Pastor Graig read from Matthew 4 and Matthew 8 before praying Christ’s peace for all of us, as we floated on the silent, peaceful lake just before sunset.

Violinist, Peter, from the Czech Republic

Then the boat crew played devotional music for us, including live violin music, starting with “How Great Thou Art” and “Blessed Be Your Name”, followed by Jewish music. It was a sweet and unforgettable experience that occupied the thoughts of each pilgrim as we then proceeded to our dinner and rest at Ma’agan Kibbutz at the southern end of the lake. A magnificent day.

Pastor’s Note – “Hello, blog readers and especially Lake Grovers. I need to tell you that this Lake Grove group is making a positive impression wherever they go. Merchants, guides and drivers (we have had 5 guides and 6 drivers so far) remark to me that this group is different from most – friendlier, more polite, not demanding or pushy, cooperative and actually personally interested in the people serving them on this trip. They are representing Lake Grove, Oregon, and the Lord very well. You can be proud of them.

“Also, we invite your comments to the blog – is anybody out there following along? Doug puts a lot of effort into these posts, so leave a few comments if you can! – Pastor Graig.