This morning we headed to a spot called Nabi Samuel, which is a
traditional site for the burial of the prophet Samuel. During the Turkish rule
the Moslems built a mosque over the site. Currently the Jews have reclaimed the
area and it is a place where the more radical Jews come.
Our next place of interest was Emmaus where Jesus met
with the travelers on the Day of Resurrection and opened the scriptures to
them. Back in Jesus’ day there were no
towns named Emmaus. The word means “Warm Springs.” There are several sites
claiming to be the place, with warm springs, but this one is within a day’s
walk of Jerusalem, which fits the scriptures.
We gathered in the basement of the church around the warm
spring and George read scripture and Cindy led devotions.
Our final tour stop before lunch was at the Valley of
Elah where David faced off with Goliath and God won the victory!! We went down
to the streambed and each of us gathered 5 smooth stones.
I found a foot long portion of Goliath’s spear, everyone
else thought it was a piece of rebar!?
Our “Mighty 16” enjoyed Falafels and Shawarma in Pita’s
for lunch.
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| Bill and Gladys |
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| Ron and Janet |
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| George, Neal and Rebecca |
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| David (Gladys) and Joan |
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| Steven and Dee |
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| Cindy |
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| Nancy and Howard |
Many of our group decided to walk the ramparts around
Jerusalem. We entered at the Jaffa Gate and walked past the New gate, the
Damascus Gate, Herod’s Gate and exited at the Lion’s Gate (Stephens Gate)
Joan and I finally found a Geocache near Stephen’s
Gate!! Yayyyyy!!
We did one final walk through the Old City and visited
the “Cardo,” the main road or heart of the city that was uncovered fairly
recently. This would have been the main street during Roman times.
We leave the Hotel at 6:30 AM tomorrow morning for our
long flight home. I think it's a 13 hour flight (we have a6 hour time difference). I believe we arrive in New Jersey late afternoon and will
probably get home late Friday night! It has been a wonderful trip. Our guide
and bus driver were incredible. Our group has become like a family. It will be
sad to say goodbye to everyone!!
