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Maranatha Group at Ceasarea
On Sunday, June 3, twenty-two intrepid travelers boarded El Al Airline for a 14-hour flight to Tel Aviv, Israel.
It was the beginning of a pilgrimage, and had to follow was an incredible 10 days filled with new sights, sounds and experiences.
In Israel, the stories we read in the scriptures take on a whole new meaning as we "walk where Jesus walked". pilgrims to experience Israel as a modern country, not just as a museum. Where Jesus walked, people walk, laugh, work and pray. Our pilgrimage began in Galilee where the ministry of Jesus was concentrated; we spent time in Capernaum, the base of his ministry, we read the sermon on the mountain just outside the church of the Beatitudes, we crossed the Sea of Galilee and visited the ruins of Magdala from where Mary Magdalene came. But we also met an Arab Christian entrepreneur in Nazareth and linked to the struggles of the Palestinians to make their way into the modern state of Israel. And we spent time in a Baptist High School in Nazareth, where Arab Christians teach and administer the largely Arab population of Nazareth, boldly preaching the Gospel of Christ. We visited the Tel Dan Nature Reserve and reconnected with the time of the divided kingdom of Israel; the time of Jeroboam, Ahab and Elijah. We visited the mountain. Bentaal, an army bunker resigned just on the Syrian border where a great tank battle was fought between Syria and Israel in 1973. We organized a baptism service on the Jordan where people had the chance to fight. opportunity to be baptized for the first time or to renew their commitment to Jesus
Then we traveled south to Mbadada and climbed the Roman ramp up to the top of the fortress from Herod where 900 Jewish fanatics committed suicide rather than submitting to Roman slavery in 70 AD. We visited Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. We visited the oasis of Ein Gedi where David was hiding from Saul when he was trying to kill him. We floated in the waters of the Dead Sea and then started this sacred journey "up to" the city of Jerusalem.
It's an amazing experience when you get out of the tunnel, look to your left and see the old fortified city of Jerusalem below you. We continued our pilgrimage, beginning at the summit of the Mount of Olives and stopping at Gethsemane to remember that night of great anguish in the life of our Savior. We crossed the city gate, down the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is probably on the historic site where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected from the dead the third day. We went out to Gordon's ordeal, outside the walls of the city, and, in view of the garden grave, we celebrated communion. As it was Ramadan, the Temple Mount was closed to visitors, so we walked on the steps of the temple that Jesus would have followed and contemplated the huge stone platform that Herod the Great had built to hold the temple in the time of Jesus. We prayed to the Western Wall, the closest that Jews feel that they can reach the Holy of Holies of Solomon's Temple. We went through the ruins of David's Jerusalem, built by him after calling the city of Jerusalem to the Jebusites. We walked through the water tunnel of King Hezekiah, built 40 feet underground to bring water into the city when it was threatened with siege by the Assyrians. We have done many more things in this city than can be shared here.
We visited Yad Vashem, the Israeli Museum of the Holocaust in Jerusalem, and then went up the coast to the ancient port of Caesarea built by Herod the Great. Many events in the life of Peter and Paul took place. We finally reached the modern city of Tel Aviv, went to Jaffa to visit the house of Simon the Tanner, and enjoyed an evening of sights and sounds of this amazing city, and then, after a great final meal, rode in the plane to fly back to Los Angeles
The pilgrimage was over, but the experience remains something that will continue to change us forever. Most of the time, we will remember that there is a place where all this has happened; it is not a fable, it is a story based on reality and history, and now a treasure of the more anchored in our hearts.
Maranatha High School, 169 S. St. John Avenue, Pasadena, (626) 817-4000 or visit www.maranatha-hs.org .
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