Our tour guide, Yonni Simmons, gave his testimony. He is a Messianic Jew whose grandmother prayed him into his faith. What a powerful story! It was very touching and all our hearts were warmed by his willingness to share his story.
We visited the Tel Dan Nature Preserve. We had some great teaching and history lessons. We visited the archeological site of gates of Laish, the city Abram went to to rescue his nephew Lot when he was taken captive. We also saw the uncovered remains of the gates of Dan, the northermost city allotted to the tribe of Dan after entering the Promised Land. The first gate was 4000 years old, the second was 3000 years old. We actually stood before the gate, in a place where Abram would have stood.
We were given a very informative history lesson from our guide about the birth of the nation Israel. Some of the lesson even came with soudn effects--artillery fire from the other side of a mountain we we near. Really brought home the realization that this land of God is something the whole world wants, but it has been assigned to one people.
We also visited Banias, also known as Ceasarea Phillipi. Great teaching there on Jesus` words from Matthew 16!
Our next stop was lunch at the Berkat Ram restaraunt in Ma`esada. I tried a labne, which was alot like a quesadilla but filled with goat cheese and a olive relish of sorts. It was tasty.
We also spent some time at the Valley of Tears where Israel`s second largest war in its military history was waged.
I climbed to what seemed like the top of the world and visited the Coffee Anan shop on top of Mt Bental, where we could see the UN Headquarters in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria. We could see into Syria. We could also see signs along our route stating the danger of landmines, not a sight I am accustomed to seeing.
We are heading out to supper soon. I am so proud of all our travelers~everyone is getting along well, looking out for each other and are so very encouraging. No one is left behind and we are developing friendships that will last much longer than this trip.
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