To the Holy Land I go...

...for 27 days and nights. It might seem like a long time, but I know this trip will go by in the blink of an eye. I'm sure many of you are asking yourself why I'm going to Israel, or what I am going to do while I am there, especially for a month, so I'm hoping to answer those simple questions in my first post.

For the first week that I am in Israel, I will be touring the country with my mom. The following is our tentative schedule:

Day One—Arrive in Tel Aviv and spend the night there.

Day Two—Depart Tel Aviv and head to Tiberius, where we will be staying for two nights. On our initial dive to Tiberius, we will drive along Caesarea Maritime and visit the excavations of the city, the Roman theatre, and aqueduct. We will then stop at Mount Caramel and drive along the Haifa Bay into the western Galilee region. Our next stop will be in Megiddo, where we will visit their excavations sites and travel to the site of Armageddon, as referenced in Revelations in the Bible. We will then continue along the Jezerel Valley and visit Nazareth and Mt. Precipice as we pass the Sea of Galilee and arrive in Tiberius.

Day Three—We begin our day by sailing in the Sea of Galilee. We will stop in Philippi and then continue to the Hula Valley and the Upper Galilee, finally returning to the Sea of Galilee by stopping at Yardenit on the Jordan River. This will be our last night to stay in Tiberius.

Day Four—Depart Tiberius and head towards the Dead Sea, where we will stay for one night. On this day, we will be visiting the sites of Jesus’ ministry around the Dead Sea. We will visit the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount and Tabgha, where Jesus fed the 5,000. Also, we will visit Capernaum, the archeological sites at Beth Shean, and pass through Jericho to the Dead Sea, which is the lowest place on Earth.

Day Five—As we depart from the Dead Sea and head towards Jerusalem, we will visit Masada, Ein Gedi, where David hid from Saul, and Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947. Once we arrive in Jerusalem, we will view the city from Mt. Scopus, and we will stay in the city the last three nights of our tour.

Day Six—We will start the day by visiting the top of the Mount of Olives, where we will have a view across the Kidron Valley to the Eastern Gate. Next, we will travel through Palm Sunday Road down to Gethsemane and then to the Western Wall. We will visit the Western Wall Tunnels along the base of the Western Wall, which will lead us to the Temple Mount, St. Anne Church, and the Pool of Bethesda. We will walk the Stations of the Cross—from the Judgment Hall of Pilate all the way to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. That afternoon, we will visit the bazaars and have Shabbat Dinner at the hotel.

Day Seven—We start off the day by driving to Mt. Zion and visiting the Upper Room, where the Last Supper was held, the tomb of King David, and we’ll walk through the Jewish Quarter. After Mt. Zion, we will drive through the New City and stop at Ein Karem where John the Baptist was born. We will then head to Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity and the Shepherd’s Field, where an angel appeared to announce the birth of Jesus. Finally, we will end our day, and the last night of our tour, by visiting the Garden Tomb.

The morning after our last night, my mom and I will part ways: she will go back to the States and I will start my three week archeological dig, at Khirbet Qeiyafa, which is 15 minutes outside of Jerusalem. Khirbet Qeiyafa was a city fortress, which overlooks the Elah Valley. Khirbet Qeiyafa is a forgotten biblical site and it is where David fought Goliath in the Bible, making it a key location in the kingdom of Judah. Until a few years ago, this site had never been excavated and originally it was thought to be the site of the biblical city Azekah, but remains from the tenth century BC, disproved this. A few years ago, two gates were uncovered at the site and Khirbet Qeiyafa is the only site in the Kingdom of Judah and Israel to have two gates. Because of this finding, this site is believed to be the location of the biblical city of Sha’arayim, which means “two gates” in Hebrew. Below is a map, showing the location of Khirbet Qeiyafa in relation to other cities in Israel.

While on this archeological dig, I will be staying in a hostel within a kibbutz, a Jewish religious village. Since driving on the Sabbath is forbidden, we will be staying there from Sunday to Friday morning, with our weekends being spent back in Jerusalem. Our typical dig day will begin with a wake-up call, bright and early at 4:15 am! We will be at the dig site, which is 25 minutes from the kibbutz, by 5:10 and will dig until 1:00pm. While there, we will have three breaks: a coffee and biscuits break, a breakfast break, and a watermelon break. I’m pretty sure that the watermelon break is the break that I’m looking forward to the most. That watermelon is going to taste amazing after being in that hot sun all morning. We will reach the hostel by 1:45 and have lunch followed by an afternoon siesta, which I am also very excited for! From 4:30-6pm, we will wash and read any pottery that we find that day and from 6:30 to 7:30 we will have a lecture on the archaeology of ancient Israel. Finally dinner will be served at 8:00pm and after dinner our long day is complete. This is my schedule for Monday through Thursday. Friday morning I will hop on a bus and head back to Jerusalem and stay there Friday and Saturday night. Sunday morning we will meet at the Central Bus Station and head back to the kibbutz. On Sundays we will be at the dig site from 12:30-8pm, with two refreshment breaks. Since we are staying at the kibbutz, our breakfast and dinner are vegetarian meals and lunch is the main meal of the day, which is also the only time when meat is served. Most of what I will be eating will be Mediterranean-style food and all of it will be kosher. So, not only will I be exploring ancient Israel, but I will also be expanding my palette with new foods!

I was hoping this would be a short run down of what I would be doing in Israel, but that was easier said than done. Over the course of the next month, I will provide updates (hopefully on a daily basis) on the trip and I will include pictures and videos when I am able. Please pray for our safe trip to Israel and for our travels while there. Also, please pray for me while I am at the dig site that not only do I stay out of harm's way, but that maybe I will be blessed with discovering some amazing artifacts!

And on that note, in the words of the Mickey Mouse Club,
"Now it's time to say goodbye to all our company
M-I-C, See you real soon

K-E-Y, Why? Because we like you

M-O-U-S-E”

Cheesy ending, I know, but you get the idea.