The Old City of Jerusalem

Brian Neyhart enters the garden tomb

 A view from inside the Garden tomb looking out at a rolling stone

Sign inside the garden tomb

Group photo in from the Garden Tomb

A drawing of the Garden Tomb

The Roman period Damascus Gate

A view of Golgatha from the Garden Tomb

Our group walking towards the Damascus gate.

 

The Entrance to the church of the Holy Sepulchre 

We walked all day today around the old city of Jerusalem

Jimmy Moore making friends with a Roman cat at the Cardo in Jerusalem

A view of the main road through Jerusalem (north-South) from the Roman period the Cardo

A painting of the Cardo from the Roman period

The men of the group at the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) in Jerusalem

 

A view of men praying at the Western Wall

The Dome of the Rock

Today we traveled on foot around the old city of Jerusalem. We started at the Western Wall, then we went up the Temple Mount area to see the Dome of the Rock. The we went to pool of Bethesda, and the church of St. Ann. The views the Roman pavement from the time of Christ and followed the via dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Then we ate lunch and walked through the old city through the Damascus. We ended our day with a tour of the Garden Tomb and a communion service.

Tomorrow we traveling to Caesarea and on the to Sea of Galilee.

John Wineland

Jerusalem

Jerusalem and Bethlehem

Here is our group in front of the model of NT Jerusalem.

Also our favorite coffee shop in Bethlehem.

This is the Temple during the time of Herod, from the model of Jerusalem

Ancient Olive Tree from the garden of Gethsemane

Group photo in the Garden of Gethsemane

Marion Clifton, Isaiah Prater, Jimmy Moore, and Mitch Swartzentruber wearing yarmulke after visiting the Tomb of David

Our Guide Mike explains the punishment room in the basement of Caiphias' house while Brian Justus, Olivia Sanders, Marion Clifton, Brian Neyhart, and Jesse Brown listen.

Olivia Sanders ponders of the wonders of the Holy Land

and

Mitch Swartzentruber takes a photo of Olivia Sanders going through the door of humility at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem while Marion Clifton waits his turn.

Here the group waits its turn to go into the grotto of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. Visible is Mike our guide, Brian Neyhart, Brie Justus, Paul Potter, Jimmy Moore, Isaiah Prater, Marion Clifton, and Brian Justus

The star marking the spot where Jesus was born in the Church of the Nativity

First Day in Israel

Greetings from Jerusalem,

We are all doing well and are spending the night of the Mt of Olives.

Today we crossed the border to Israel from Jordan and headed to Masada, then on to Qurman, visited the Dead Sea, and then on to Jericho.

Here is Isaiah Prater and Jimmy Moore in the Dead Sea

Here is a view of Masada

This is Cave IV at Quran where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found

Here is Seth Heller, Jimmy Moore, and Olivia Sanders taking a picture at Masada\

We are doing well and tomorrow we visit the old city of Jerusalem.

John Wineland
Jerusalem

Trip to Petra

Everyone is doing well. Today we travelled to Petra the rose red city.

We had a great trip. Above is a picture of the mosaic floor in the Byzantine period. It has fine mosaic floors. The picture above to the right is Seth Heller, Olivia Sanders, and Mitch Swartzentruber standing next to Trajan Arch at Petra. Upper right is the group picture at the Treasury at Petra.

Tomorrow we go to Jericho, Qumran, and Masada and we spend the night on the Mount of Olives.

John Wineland

Amman, Jordan

Great First Day!

Above is Mitch Swartzentruber and Brian Neyhart at Hesbon below is a view of Karak castle.

Greetings


All is well. We are at Petra now and I am writing from an internet cafe.

We had a good day. We went up Tell Hesban famous from the Old Testament.

Then we drove on to Mt. Nebo which has a nice little museum. This is the place where Moses viewed the Promised Land. We were there today which is exactly 10 years since John Paul II visit.

Then on to Madaba and the church of St George which has the oldest map of the Holy Land on its floor . It is map of millions of small tesserae.

Then we drove to Karak. He we ate lunch and toured the fine Crusader castle.

Then on to Petra we arrived after dark. The days are shorter this time of year.

The weather is wonderful and also many of the hills are green now.

Tomorrow we visit the amazing site of Petra.

John Wineland
Petra, Jordan

greetings from Caribou coffee

Hello

Here is a picture of the sunset tonight at our hotel

We have had dinner and now we are at the mall near the hotel. We are all gathered at Caribou Coffee to use the free wifi.

Tomorrow we leave at 7:30 for the kings highway and Karak castle a fine crusaders castle then on to Petra.

John Wineland
Amman, Jordan

Alll is well

Greetings

We are safe and sound in the hotel in Amman. We eat dinner in about a half an hour.
Tomorrow we head down the Kings Highway, to Madaba, Nebo, Karak castle, and Petra

John Wineland
Amman, Jordan