An e-mail to our tour group:

Hey guys I had some spare time so I made a short movie of some of my family's pictures.

You can see them on UTube... just click on the following link:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pCCl_toGDSs

Enjoy and live for Jesus!

David Castillo

Coming Soon: Link to Shutterfly for pictures

Passion Week

Our last day in Jerusalem and all of Israel was spent walking the roads and visiting the spots Jesus was at during Passion Week. Many of us had been waiting for the opportunity to see the city from one of the best vantage points, the Mount of Olives. Personally, I was really looking forward to it because Jesus spent so much of His time there. - Spectacular views, beautiful gardens, and ancient olive trees (some possibly dating back to the days of Jesus)

We first stood out on a ridge overlooking the
Old City so we could get the classic view of the Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock
now stands. In the picture foreground there is a Jewish cemetery - even thousands of years ago Jewish people wished to be buried facing the Golden Gate, which is now sealed off, because this is where the Messiah is to come into the city. In the middle of the picture you can see the gold top of the Dome of the Rock - the cemetery just below it spanning along the city wall is a Muslim cemetery which is being used to try and prevent Christian and Jewish prophecies about the coming Messiah from coming to pass. The tree line below that is in the middle of the Kidron Valley. The church with the Russian Orthodox-like golden spires is the Church of Mary Madelene, which is off to the right of the valley and the old city. This is the location of her birth.














The following pictures are various angles of the Garden of Gethsemane and the
Church of All Nations. The tree by the gate is the oldest olive tree on the Mount of Olives
and may even have been living when Jesus was here.

Jewish History and Jesus' Last Days

On this morning we headed off to the Jerusalem Museum to see a small scale model of Ancient Jerusalem. Soon after we were bused off to another location to see fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including portions of the Psalms and the book of Daniel. Next we were taken to Israel's Holocaust Memorial where we saw hundreds of names inscribed on walls in a rock labyrinth commemorating the loss of entire communities of Jews around Europe, Russia, Africa, and the Middle East during WWII. We also solemnly walked through the museum where we recounted the horrible details of the Holocaust and WWII. I was most stunned by learning about the events and conditions of the world leading up to this era.

Today we also took time to visit The House of Caiaphas where Jesus was held prior to His trial.
we stood in two caves, one used as a stable for animals and another - simply a rock pit with one small hole at the top, which Jesus would have been lowered through after being beaten. We remembered how Jesus had stayed in this place because of our sins, but it was because of God's love and forgiveness for us that He willingly did so.




























A stop was also made at the Upper Room where Jesus had The Last Supper with His Disciples and we went to a church resting over where it is believed Mary, the mother of Jesus, may have lived and died after His ascension. There is another location in Ephesus which is the other traditional site, depending on if she stayed in Jerusalem or traveled with John the Disciple.

The Music of the Middle East

Here are a few of the things we have heard:
Multiple languages from the Middle East, Europe,
America, South America, Asia; goats and camels,
city traffic, harps, wooden flutes, Muslim prayers
streaming in the air over loud speakers, prayers and
hymns of saints from around the world lifted up,
Jewish prayers at the Western Wall, lapping and rushing
waters of the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, the Med.,
the Dead Sea and the Red Sea; Israeli and Jordanian
coins changing hands, and mosaic pieces being cut.

Pictures - click on picture to see larger image; a picture website may be developed for all to post pictures on

A small scale model of Jerusalem; the Temple Mount is to the middle right.












Sue and Larry Trachie on the way to either Caiaphas' House or the Church which rests over where Mary lived and died after Jesus' ascension.











Women praying along the foundation of the Western Wall in the underground tunnels. This is considered to be the closest spot to where the Holy of Holies was in the Temple, before it was destroyed.











Along the Via Dolorosa


















The remains of an old Roman road.













A cistern constructed by Herod's engineers.


















A portion of one of the largest stones in the world used to construct the Western Wall's foundation.

The Dung Gate

Before coming back into Israel we were reminded (as we had been by our Jordanian tour guides) by our Palestinian tour guide that we were welcome in the Arab/ Muslim world and that they along with the Israelis longed for peace among all people.

During our first trip to the Old City, we entered in through the Dung Gate - the lowest in elevation of all the gates - where the "city dump" had been located in previous generations.
From there we went to the East side of the former temple mount (the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim mosque now sits there) and sat on the original 15 steps leading up to the Temple.

Since today was a full day, we raced off behind our tour guides to a spot where we saw the Western Wall (mistakenly named the Wailing Wall, by the British). Before we could think about
approaching it along with other pray-ers, we were whisked off into an underground world of tunnels literally running along the buried portion of the Western Wall. As we ran our hands along its smooth surface and noted its exemplary craftsmanship, the largest stone was pointed out to us - 30 ft. long and 500 tons. Re-emerging to the modern world we re-traced our steps above ground through market streets. We were led back to the Western Wall where we each were allowed time to meditate and pray. We even got to leave our prayers on paper wedged between the cracks.

The City of David

Today what had only been images in our minds was now sight as we boarded our tour bus and headed to the Shepherd's Field near Bethlehem. Yesterday we had been instructed to dress modestly and be sure to bring our passports. This morning, to our surprise we "left" Israel to enter the Palestinian West Bank even though we were only about 10 minutes from our hotel.
Sadly, our Israeli tour guides and bus drivers had to stay behind (they are not allowed in and Palestinians have to meet certain criteria to come out.) as we passed through the border crossing and met up with a new bus, driver, and tour guide (a childhood friend of Mikey, our regular tour guide). Quickly the written language changed from Hebrew and English and Arabic to Arabic and English only.

We walked a little ways from the bus to a hill side over looking a field and valley. We were told how this was the general area the shepherds lived in; there are even caves nearby which indicate human dwellings and burial sites. Pastor Tanner reminded us of the scriptures and we sang and meditated in that place about the experience of the shepherds with the angels. "Glory to God in the highest"!

The Church of the Nativity was close by so we joined a throng of other Holy Land pilgrims descending on the traditional site of the stable Jesus was born in. Mary and Joseph were unable to find other accommodations, so an inn keeper let them use the cave which is now incorporated into the the oldest functioning church. Beautifully, richly, and ornately decorated the church was perfumed with incense and soft beams of light shown in through high windows. We all eagerly waited in line to catch a glimpse and place our hands on the places where Jesus was born and laid in a manger.






With two other stops
(a gift shop and restaurant), we met some of the
local Christians and were able to help them out by giving them our business.

All Roads Lead to Jerusalem

Driving on a new four-lane highway, we moved on toward our final destination city - Jerusalem.
As we went on our way we could see Jericho much closer than in Jordan earlier in the trip. We wished we had time to stop.

Our driver, Josie, qued up a special song about Jerusalem as we ascended and curved our way up along greener hills. I was moved again by the natural beauty of Israel. Slowly we began to see small towns and Bedouin villages pop up more frequently. Soon we were seeing more modern apartment-like buildings. I felt like I had no idea what to expect of Jerusalem and yet I was excited and nervous to be there.

Just before pulling into the city our guide Mikey prepared us for our first view of the classic "Old City". We were all filled with anticipation and even cried tears of joy or prayed. Before long we passed through a short tunnel and once on the other side Mikey prompted us to look to our left out the bus windows where we immediately saw the Temple Mount (aka Mt. Moriah) and the surrounding newer city. I was amazed and glad to see the rolling grassy and tree covered hills mixed with human dwellings - we have been greatly blessed with the pleasant weather and spring decor.

Masada and Qumran

Most, if not all, of the women and some of the men in our group visited the spa at our hotel by the Dead Sea. From messages to mud raps and floating in the Sea, we pampered our travel-tired bodies.

After packing up and bidding our resort hotel goodbye, we made a short trip north on the road to Masada which is situated in a striking mountain range. Many of us commented on how familiar this topography seems - it is comparable to Central Oregon or Arizona and New Mexico, only the desert of Israel and Jordan is endless with scattered Bedouin communities and a few small cities and villages.

Our tour guide pointed out how Masada is a natural military fortress because it is physically disconnected from all sides of the surrounding mountains. King Herod, who was also responsible for building Caesarea, spent 3-7 years constructing a small city on top of Masada in case he needed to run back home to Edom (he was not well-liked and was a descendant from Esau). We rode a three minute cable car up to the imposing mountain; three minutes from those heights was about all some of us could handle while others were stunned by the breath-taking views.

Once up high we were told how Herod had used gravity and flash floods to channel water down nearby hills up through rock "pipes"to cisterns on Masada. It is said 1,000 people could live there with the stores of olive oil, grain, water, and pigeons for 7 years. Although Herod never used Masada for his intended purpose, a group of Zealots who were rebelling against Rome in Caesarea retreated. Until Rome built a siege ramp, the Israelites lived comfortably...then they were faced with a choice live and become slaves or die free. Most of the community chose suicide, without destroying any earthly goods (food, water, animals etc.), to show Rome they did not die due to a lack of provision but because they were protecting their freedom.

A little while later we rolled Northward to Qumran where we saw the ruins of a small community who referred to themselves as the Sons of Light. This is the site near where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. I was amazed at how close the caves were to the Dead Sea - literally within sight of each other.

Dead or Alive?

When we were in Jordan we had our first look at the Dead Sea. Before our trip many of us had been told the Dead Sea is the most salty body of water in the world - nothing can live in the Dead Sea. Yet from all angles in Jordan and Israel the Sea (actually a lage lake) is undeniably beautiful.

We expected the water to be dirty and barren but, in fact, the water was very blue and green and rimed with white and brown swirls from the salt and mud-minerals. The Dead Sea sparkled as it caught the light of the sun-lit sky. Admitedly I was unsure about putting more than a toe into the water. We had also been told that everything floats more than usual, even people. Eventually I did put my feet in and the water felt almost softer than normal. Other swimmers likened the experience to being in bath water with bath salts or oils as well as a weightless feeling with little control over one's movement.

It was mentioned by a few people how even though the Dead Sea is breath-taking against the desert background and blue sky with clouds, it is still dead! In the same way, we all are God's beautiful creation, however when born into this world we are dead in our sin. Only Jesus can clean us from the inside so life can come about.

Aqaba and the Red Sea

Last night we left Wadi Rum and came down to the southern most point of Jordan. We have never strayed far from the River Jordan. Up in Tel Dan we saw the source of water, we saw how it came down into the Sea of Galilee and on into the Dead Sea (we will dip our toes in later) and now we see where it empties into the Red Sea. We are in Aqaba! Before Israel reformed, Jordan had Mediterranean ports (Jaffa and Haifa). I never imagined, and several others agreed, God would bring me to the Middle East. Some of us walked around the beautiful hotel. Others of us walked around the small down town area and along the shoreline. Some people even took a swim in the sea. It is beautiful here and we can see over into Israel where we will go later today via another border crossing. We have been told it will be more difficult to get back into Israel. Sadly life and relations between the two nations are limited as Israelies are allowed into Jordan, but Jordainians are not allowed into Israel. Last night was our worship service I told you about in another post - the missionaries we met shared that the persecution of Christians has begun!

In spite of all these things, God is still the Lord Most High who loves us and Israel and Jordan and He will watch over His people as well as bring more lost people to His side. There is hope.

Aqaba to the Dead Sea

Today was a travel day - back across "no-man's-land" from Jordan to Israel. We got to sleep in a little and enjoy last trips around town or quick swims in the Red Sea. This has been one of my favorite cities we have visited - very beautiful, worth a visit.

We pulled out at noon, crossed the boarder, and met up with our previous Israeli tour guides. Micky told us about the Rift Valley stretching from Turkey well into Southern Africa. We rode along for a couple hours looking out at a wildlife preserve (ostriches were everywhere) and then pulling up along side the Dead Sea. It was apparent that salt was caked onto the shoreline.

Wadi Rum and the Bedouins

For a few days we stayed at a hotel which is actually a former Bedouin village. Though we are in the desert, it is quite cool and windy. In May summer will come and the temperature will be much hotter; we have all marveled at how good the weather has been...we hear some of you have been driving around in snow, in the Spring!?

The word wadi means valley. Today we went off-roading on the sand in Wadi Rum. Looking up at the 7 pillars of wisdom rock formation, a handful of us took on the challenge of hiking up a red sand dune. We met the local Bedouins (nomads) who are represented in the Jordanian government but are permitted to travel from place-to-place wherever they choose - they have ancient roots and are known for sheep, goat, and camel herding. They produce goat cheese and many women are being trained in a jewellery trade using silver and beautiful wood or stones. Often there children do not attend the local schools, but the government has begun to provide housing (even though they continue to migrate based on seasonal weather and climate changes) for assistance.

A Call to Prayer

Hello to our friends and family back home "walking" along with us through the Holy Lands via this blog. A few people over the past couple days have been ill either from exaustion or the food and water. Usually these have been taken care of with rest, bottled water, and over the counter medications. We would greatly appreciate your prayers though.

Last night we had our very own church worship service - singing, a message from Pastor Tanner, a testimony from a traveler in our group who lost and then found his billfold, as well as a visit from some local missionaries who told us about life and ministry here in a Muslim country.

We are all in awe of how the Lord allowed us to come here. There is great beauty here, but also we see how blessed we are by God as there is far reaching poverty in Jordan. Please pray with us for the salvation of these people.

Someone in our group put it well: "Now I understand Paul's life here more. Sometimes he stayed in a 5 star hotel and sometimes he was a bedouin."

*Note: Please come back for pictures and further updates.

City in the Red Rocks

After our buses struggled up into the mountains I wondered if we would have to come back down those same curving roads. Soon I saw we were to stay up near the clouds as we passed through Madaba and continued along the ancient King's Highway. There are many villages scattered all over the mountain sides of Jordan - men and women and children are easy to see along the roadsides. Men and women wear head coverings. Mosques are everywhere; in the morning and evening we can hear the prayers of the Muslim people streaming in the open air over loud speakers. In the evenings men sit in small groups outside restaurants or on front stoops drinking tea and smoking. Women and children herd goats and sheep and camels are hitched to posts here and there.

Today we went down to Petra. Some of us walked down while others rode carriages. The guide showing my group around pointed out ancient statues for worship of the gods as well as ruins of rock-wall dams which helped control flash floods. He also pointed out sky bridges and petroglyphs among the soft and vibrantly colored sandstone walls. When it came time to walk around the corner to see the most famous sight of Petra, the treasury (and perhaps disspell our misconceptions), he lined us up single file telling us to cover our eyes. One by one we walked forward opening our eyes to see stunning, carved architecture. Several of us rode camels at Petra or hiked up to see more monuments.

Mosaics

Our first stop in a modern Jordanian village was Madaba where we learned about the Byzantine style mosaic craft. Local disabled villagers are employed by this growing business and we, along with other visitors from around the world, were able to admire their art and even bring some home to the States.

Bethany beyond the Jordan

Today in the distance, looking back over to the Holy Land, Jericho was pointed out to us; when archaeologists excavated the ruins they noted how the wall had fallen inward instead of crumbling as usual. We arrived in Bethany where Elijah was taken up to heaven. This part of our journey was very hot as we walked out to a spot on the Jordan River where, our Saviour, Jesus Christ was baptized by his cousin John the Baptist.

On to Mount Nebo - as our motor coaches strained their way up steep grades, we were on our way to see the traditional burial site for Moses. Traveling across endless desert mountain and valley vistas in all directions, Aaron's burial site was noted also. Now 800 meters above sea level, we sang and prayed together. Sadly Mount Nebo is the location where Moses looked down into the Promised Land not being permitted by the Lord to enter into it before his death because of his anger towards his fellow Israelites.

Border Crossing: Crossing the River Jordan

This morning began at 6:00 a.m. as we prepared to cross the River Jordan into the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Starting out at 100 meters below sea level at the Sea of Galilee, the day only went downhill from there, literally - we made our way to the Dead Sea (400 meters below sea level and the lowest point on earth). Although the "no-man's-land" between Israel and Jordan along the river is still fruitful, there is a noticeable climate difference between the two nations.

Most of us said we were surprised and even troubled by the immediately obvious disparities between the neighboring nations. One woman in looking out over the Jordan River Valley rightly quoted scripture about Israel saying, "the land flowing with milk and honey". Our tour guides in both countires pointed out one of the major difficulties in the Middle East - water use.

At the border crossing we were not permitted to use our cameras and much of the experience required the fourth fruit of the Spirit. Even though a Peace Treaty is in place between Israel and Jordan and there is a Free Trade Agreement between Jordan and the United States, tension remains - barbed wire fences, soldiers with weapons, and watch towers. We submitted our passports and luggage to be stamped and inspected. I often wonder what this land was like while Jesus and John the Baptist as well as Elija and Moses lived here.

St. Peter's Fish & The River Jordan

Tonight we are looking forward to seeing how Jews prepare for the Sabbath (sundown on Fri. 'til sundown on Sat.). In late afternoon stores and restaurants close up and families begin to wind down (no work) before sharing in the Shabbat dinner, which we will join also.

Early this morning we arrived at the Mount of the Beatitudes - where Jesus shared his ideas about life (the Sermon on the Mount). We all took time to reflect on our time in Israel so far as well as what God might want to share with us. We are becoming closer as a group and were very excited to visit the Jordan River. Several of us hiked around beneath a canopy of lush trees to see the source of the Jordan as well as Tel Dan. We saw an ancient flower mill of a wealthy man and the city gate where the king and societal leaders sat to carry out court-hearings. Tels are several layers deep containing the remains of thousands of years of cultures, one upon another.

Our group became more excited as we nervously prepared many in our group to be baptized - some people were re-committing their lives to Christ and God while other men and women made first time public professions of faith. Lastly we stopped to see (traditional site) where Jesus appeared for the 3rd time to His disciples, inviting them to cast their nets again on the other side of their boat and join Him for breakfast.