This Pilgrim's Holy Land Experience

Ancient steps at Peter's Church

This Pilgrim's Holy Land experience: 
    It has been a full week since our return from the Holy Land and it has taken me this long to begin to realize and more fully comprehend what we experienced while there. There just simply is no way for the human mind to prepare for this experience in advance and it is so overwhelmingly moving and powerful that your mind can’t fully comprehend it while you are experiencing it. So a full week later as I am running on a beautiful Saturday morning through the streets of Kansas City, it slowly begins to occur to me what I have experienced.
     The Holy Land is a mixture of the Sacred and Holy combined with a Branson-esk feel of shops and tourist traps with a few unseemly characters trying desperately to separate you from your dollar bills. Everything is a dollar here – or in the case of “cashmere” scarves – “4 for $20”! It is amazing to see how quickly we as humans can be diverted from the most sacred of walks along the Via Dolorosa (Jesus’s walk to his death) by a smooth huckster selling scarves for the best price we’ve seen so far….”6 for $20”. Guilty! You have to understand that 70% of the economy here is driven by tourism – this is simply part of the experience. So while this may have appeared to be a distraction and an interruption to our tour, in reality Jesus Himself made this same walk and experienced these same interruptions as people mocked Him, yelled at him and cast dispersions upon Him. He continued to his death – for us, we picked up some great Christmas Gifts.  There are wonderful people here and we always felt welcome and well cared for.  But you can't help but notice the under current of unhappiness among the people here.  There is constant fear of the next skirmish or challenge to your faith - no matter what faith you aspire to.  Each faction has had the answer for thousands of years so how, in any one generation will this comflict be resolved?  It is a troubling question...
      For me I felt the presence of God in four other locations. I call these goose bump moments. Times when I was overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit and sense that YES, Jesus was here – it is palpable and so real. These times came for me when our group was away from the hustle and bustle – away from the other touring groups – NOT in the sacred churches or temples created in human fashion. No my real moments were, as they usually are, in nature. My four places were on the Sea of Galilee, in the wilderness, along the Old Roman Road, and at Peter’s Church where he denied Jesus three times and then the cock crowed. In this place there are some 2000 year old steps and walkway that you are allowed to sit on and touch and feel – I was overwhelmed with a sense that events of Biblical proportion occurred here many years before.
      During our time here we tried to remain focused on our mission of walking in the footsteps of Jesus chronologically – from His birth to his death.  All the while along this journey, over a 10 day period, we also were thrust into the realities of this part of the world today and the day to day struggles this region continues to live into.  In Bethlehem (Palestine) on our way to tour the Bethlehem Bible College we were caught directly in the middle of a group of Palestinian youths throwing rocks in an attempt to express their anger and frustration and to hopefully get somebody’s attention.  They succeeded in gaining the response of the local military who marched in, fired tear gas and dispersed the angry mob.  All of this no more than 100 yards from our destination at the Bible College.  On our last day, there was an assassination attempt of a Rabbi by a Muslim extremist.  The Rabbi survived, but the Muslim assassin was found and killed and for the first time in 14 years the authorities closed the sacred mosques and temples for the day.  This caused the shop keepers in Old Jerusalem to close their shops in protest.  All of this occurring less than a half mile from our hotel at the Damascus Gate.  While frightening to think about – in reality, no one in our group ever felt afraid or at risk.  Of course it could have been much worse – perhaps we were very lucky.
      The following are pictures that either I or Dave Pullin captured along the way. I think we both enjoyed capturing and recording this experience through the lens. With the help of the “Whispers”, the battery operated devices that allowed us to hear our guide Jimmy within a 50’ range, we could focus in on the things he spoke about and taught us and capture digitally the highlights of the experience. I am thankful for technology that allows us to take an unlimited amount of still and video images and bring them all home to continue to live into and refresh our memories. Enjoy!

On the Sea of Galilee or Israel's largest fresh water lake - Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias. Choose a name, any name.

Selfie on the Sea!

My version of walking on the Sea of Galilee.

Feeding frenzy for scarves 6 for $20.

Remembering our baptisms in the Jordan River - and yes it is "Chilly and Cold" like the old Spiritual says.

Dave and I experiencing a Roman toilet - very comfortable actually.

The ancient ruins at Beit She'an.

Kelly Photo Bombing Scott and Wendy at the Mediterranean Sea.

Amazingly intact Roman ruins on the Mediterranean Sea.

A horse/donkey trough that is similar to what Jesus birth trough (manger) would have been like.

Fresh catch of the day for lunch!

Yes!  It was good to the last bone!

In Kansas City we have Ferrel cats that are skittish and scared of humans.  The cats in the Holy land come right up and do this.  Please take me home with you...

Overlooking Jerusalem - Dome of the Rock and other key historic sights.

Picturesque view of tour boats on the Sea of Galilee.

Amazing and vast ruins of Beit She'an

How many millions of steps would it take to create these worn steps.

Overlooking the Golan Heights.  Everything is limestone - everything!

The "exact spot" of Jesus birth at the Church of the Nativity.

Where we entered the trail head to the Old Roman Road.

Hiking along the road as Jesus and the Disciples no doubt did many times.

Picture on the Old Roman Road - Road to Damascus

Video of the Old Roman Road - Road to Damascus.  Such a cool place.

Visited the Bethlehem Bible College and learned first had about the ages old battles being waged in this region.

The skirmish outside the Bethlehem Bible College

Palestinian youth throwing rocks and military response.

Our tour guide Jimmy Naummour - Very wise and kind fellow!

Appearing out of nowhere in the cliffs is The Monastery of St. George of Koziba - beautiful and secluded.

Desolate and extreme - Jesus did this for 30 days?  No wonder he was tempted!

The Wilderness has a beauty all it's own - vast and void, yet filled with wonder.

Floating weightless in the Dead Sea - such a weird feeling.

Guess what day it is???? Yes we rode camels on Hump Day!

Dome of the Rock.

Very small parking lot with at least 12 tour buses - these guys are master drivers.