Seven more sleeps!

We have explained to our grandchildren that is just seven more sleeps before we are back in Canada.

Kristy, Margaret, Dorothy, Jane,
Christine, Lloyd, Amanda

This gives us mixed feelings!  We have immensely enjoyed our time here, and are reluctant to say goodbye to the wonderful people we have met here.  There are many local people, but we especially will miss those who were part of our cohort with 'Serve Nazareth'.  Christine Farah & Jane Shurrush, our leaders, Kristy Oltman, & Amanda Salyers(affectionately called 'the American Girls') of Georgia USA, Dorothy Pearson of the UK, and Damaris Zlatandamars of Romania.  We have shared many a good laugh, and times together.  At the same time that we are reticient to say goodbye, or 'see you later', we relish the return to Canada and the familiar.   Family, friends, food, church, etc., that we have missed.  

Katy & Margaret at Tel Aviv Beach.

It was great having visits from Canadians while we were here. Tours from Canada showed up at Nazareth Village, and I was able to connect with some of them.  Sheila Smith, and our daughter Katy were here and together we visited historical sites.  We especially enjoyed the Garden Tomb.  It is a special place, even though there are those who question its validity. While there, I found a quiet place, and went through my contact list and prayed for each name and family listed.  I used a 'selfie' as my FB profile pic.  There were many international groups there, singing, praying, rejoicing, as all went in to the tomb and verified that there was no 'body' there, even the bones were gone!  

At Nimrod's Fortress

Our last official tour with Serve Nazareth took us north to the place called 'Banias'.   In the Bible, it was known as 'Ceasaria Phillippi', where Christ asked the question 'Who do you say that I am?'  There were ruins there of pagan worship, Herod Antipas, and King Agrippa.  The fresh water spring flowing from Mount Hermon, lead to a picturesque waterfall.  We also visited 'Nimrod's Fortress'.  Though there is no biblical association, tradition says Nimrod lived here.  The prominent ruins are actually from the 1200, with Mamluke signitures.  The area had been under Syrian control until the '48 war, and when it came under Israel's control the Israelis gave it a Jewish link at that time, by naming it 'Nimrod's Fortress'.

There are some things that have been unique in our visit.  There are the five 'calls to prayer', the first about 5am every day, where loud speakers make the call for Muslims to pray.  This call echoes around the hills of Nazareth.  Also, there are sounds of aircraft overhead.  The airport is 100 kms away, yet we can hear frequent sounds of jets.  Sometimes we are able to see the source of the sound, and they are definitely fighters.   The other thing, which I have not seen in Canada, was while at Capernaum the quiet sound of the waves of the Sea of Galilee was interrupted by the whop, whop, whop, sound of helicopters.  Looking up, two attack helicopters, heading south, possibly 300 feet in the air, were coming toward us.  Clearly visible, to my untrained eye, appeared to be four tomahawk missiles hanging in place, ready to be fired!. The irony of the pastoral scene, with this military might seemed fearsome and incongruous. However, such is modern Israel, where guns of soldiers, police, and security are in clear view. There is a determination to quickly deal with the 'disturbed', the 'radicalized', or 'terrorists'.  It is sad, that such measures, as we see on Canada's Parliament Hill, are seen as necessary.

Margaret and I were glad that our daughter Katy was able to join us as we completed the last leg of the 'Jesus Trail'.  We had saved this last bit of some 12kms, so she could accompany us. We walked from a cliff called Arbel, to Capernaum, the center of Jesus' ministry in Galilee, where He performed many miracles.  As you know, He cursed it, because of its refusal to believe, and all we see today are the ruins of a village, dated in the first century, a community of an estimated 1500 people.