FPEB

Dereyamanlı - Avanos Church

2011-09-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

Assorted Turkey Videos

2010-10-26T12:11:00.000-07:00

As an experiment, I took some video clips during our trip. I brought a very small Canon still camera that takes videos. As you might imagine, the quality if not top of the line and the images suffer the most in low light and when I can't hold the camera very still (like in a moving taxi).

But, I thought those of you on the trip might enjoy seeing a few of them. So, I'll post them here via YouTube.

TURKEY 2010 Last Post

2010-10-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

Today was our last day of touring. We stopped at the amazing Chora Church to see 12th century mosaics and frescos. After that we said bye to our guide Hakan and wandered around Istanbul on our own to see the place from the ground level and do some last minute shopping.

It's been a great trip. Thanks for tagging along with us.

Hakan, truly one of the best guides I have ever worked with.

Dog of the day

The "Tunel" - a tram to take you up or down a big hill

Cats have wanted equal time.

Turkey 2010 Day 11

2010-10-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

Had our first disappointment today as we cancelled our boat trip to Patmos. Thunderstorms, wind, and high waves would have made the trip risky. I'll have to make it there on my next trip. Instead, we visited the Biblical site of Myletus and a majnificent temple to Apollo nearby. We alkso stopped in a small village near Ephesus that is know of their wine production and charm.

One side note on this picture. It is taken in Sirince, a small town just up into the mountains near Selcuk/Ephesus. I was with our guide when we met this woman in a small store. He pointed out to me the fact that, while she was a Turk, the baby (a grandchild, we assumed) had blue eyes. He said “I’ll bet she’s from Greece”.

He asked her where her family was from and she said “Thessalonica” (Thessaloniki is the more modern spelling and pronunciation ). She obviously had a fair amount of non-Turkish blood – Greek, Slavic, etc – in her family tree.

There is a reason this wasn’t just a lucky guess. Sirince a mostly Christian village up until 1923. In fact, that’s one of the reasons it was, and is, well known for its wine production: Christians could make and consume wine. Moslems could not.

After the Greek-Turkish war in the early 1920’s, a population exchange was agreed to. Christian “Greeks” (they would still have thought of themselves as “Byzantines”, not “Greeks” in the sense we think of the modern state of Greece) would leave Turkey and move to Greece. Turks now in Greece would leave and move to Turkey.

There were far more “Greeks” in Turkey than Moslems in Greece and so, there were far more Christians displaced than Turks, but it was hard on both sides. Thus, a large population of Christians that had lived in Anatolia since the Roman period were forced to leave. That was the final chapter in how the heartland of Biblical Christianity became almost completely devoid of Christians.

The Christians of Sirince left and Moslems from Greece replaced them, some picking up where the Christians left off in fruit wine production.

But 400 years of Turkish presence in the west led to intermarriages and some Christians became Moslems, so the genetic pool of dark eyed Moslem Turks was infused with a few blue eyes – like these eyes that trace back to northern Greece.

Today's sleeping dog.

Turkey 2010 Day 10

2010-10-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

Started today off with some major traffic delays due to flooding from rain in Izmir. Finally amd it to the azazing ruins of Pregammum and the scant ruins of Thyataria-two of the seven churches in Revelation.

Turkey 2010 Day 9

2010-10-18T11:08:00.000-07:00

It looks like our luck dodging rain is coming to an end. We did our last site today in rain and it looks like rain all day tomorrow.

Gate at Heiropolis

Roman columns in the hot spring pool

The main cardo at Laodecia (one of the seves churches of Revelation)

Temple to emperor at Laodecia

Just to prove I'm really here

Turkish transportation can be a little funky at times.

Massive pillars from a 6th c. Byzantine church at Philadelphia

Sardis synagogue and gym

The group at the Sardis gymanism

Turkey 2010 Day 8

2010-10-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

St. Nicholas' church in the town where he was a Bishop.

Another German tourist

This is now where the river Myros forms bay and connects to the sea.

The tel (hill where a town stood) of Colossae.

Almost brought him home

Cool Lycian rock cut royal tombe in Myra.

A couple more pictures of the Roman era harbor at Myra (modern Demre). The harbor area has silted up and is now more of a shallow lake and marsh. This is the harbor Paul and his Roman guard Julius changed ships in on their way to Rome. The ruins in the background are of a grainary on the harbor shore that was built by emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century.

Turkey 2010 Day 7

2010-10-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

Today we toured around Antalya: Perge, Aspendos, the harbor, and museum.

Turkey 2010 Day 6

2010-10-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

A few pictures for ya'll.

This is a 13th C BC Hittite shrine. Way cool!

Pisidian Antioch - a place visited by Paul and Barnabas during their first missionary journey.

Brand new excavations underway. Huge plaza near the public fountain.

A small treasure in the local museum

Turkey 2010 Day 5

2010-10-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

A 4-5 church cut out of the rocks in Cappadocias

More rock dwellings in the 'fairy chinmeys'.

The SultanHan- a motel on the ancxient silk road.

A couple of pictures for Ariana.

Turkey 2010 Day 4

2010-10-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

A truly amazing day of homes, cities, and churches cut in to rocks of Cappadocia!

TURKEY 2010 Day 3

2010-10-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

Forgive me for not posting much. We've had some very long, but really great days. I'll post a few pictures and hope to add more verbage later.

Turkey 2010 Day 2

2010-10-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Today was our first full touring day in the Old section of Istanbul-Sultanahmet. It is here the the Roman-Byzantine empire reigned for over 1000 years and the Ottoman empire ruled for over 400. Some assorted pictures.

Church of Holy Eirene (Peace). One of the oldest standing Christian churches in the world.

Guard outside Topkapi Palace

Cistern (as seen in From Russia With Love)

Topkapi Felicity Gate

Blue Mosque

Our group next to the Egyptian Oblisk in the Hippodrome

Shop in Grand Bazzar

Grand Bazaar-one of many lanes

The Blue Mosque

Probably no post tomorrow---we get to Cappadocia very late!

TURKEY 2010 Day 1

2010-10-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it to Turky. All is well. I have been up about 30 hours, and that on three hours sleep, so I don't plan to post much. I'll try to post a couple of short videos posted, but the upload speed here is very slow.We did a bus tour of the old city walls and a cruise on the Bosphorus. Above was our view of the Galata Bridge from where we had lunch.

My cell phone isn't working, so send me e-mail if you need to talk to me.

Dillon Dalton Update 2

2010-09-08T22:35:00.000-07:00

Updates Ported From Caring Bridge

Sunday, September 19, 2010 2:02 PM, PDT

Well that a difference one week makes! This past week Dillon's strength in this arms has grown a lot more. He has been having little muscle reactions to his therapy in this ankles! Also during one of the acupuncture treatments this past week Holly told me the needles were "twitching" per say...(excuse my lingo I am not medical minded!) in the knee area as well. They said that the muscles are likely trying to react to the brain signaling to 'move' and thus the little muscle movements! This is huge news! Although it is baby steps...each little step helps along the way to his recovery.

This next week is a big week as well because Dillon will get to make small trips outside the hospital. Holly will be able to take him on a few small outings. They won't be gone too long at a time but this is good practice on getting in and out of the vehicle. How nice for him to be able to leave the hospital for a few minutes during the day! I am sure the walls of the hospital can get boring.

The days at Seattle Children's seem to be pretty action packed with the specialist, residents, nurses, physical therapists and everyone else that comes to work with Dillon during the day. Holly said they always seem to be working on something or moving somewhere throughout the day. Dillon is such a trooper doing everything he possibly can to help with his recovery. Can't wait to hear new news this next week.

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Sunday, September 12, 2010 8:38 PM, PDT
Dillon is hoping to feel better in the next few days so he can continue his physical therapy. It is still the dizziness and the faintness (along with low blood pressure) that is greatly effecting him when he tries to sit in his wheel chair. As you can imagine this is super frustrating! Holly has a plan to tackle this problem she told me...so pray her idea will work! :)

Friday, September 10, 2010 8:32 PM, PDT
Well the last couple days have been a bit rough for Dillon. When he moves to his wheelchair the blood seems to be draining away from his head down to his feet, so he gets dizzy and light headed easily. From what I have read people with spinal cord injuries can have lower blood pressure as a result of their injuries with blood flow etc. (Remember I am not a doctor so I may not be stating this correctly).This is frustrating for Dillon not feeling good when he was just starting to feel more mobile with the small trips in and around the hospital. They are continuing with therapy as planned but it is a bit tough when his overall feeling of health is down.

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OK, next time I'm holding out for a better picture.

I had a chance to visit Dillon (and Holly) at Seattle Children's Hospital today. The news is basically good.

If you have been to Children's, you know what an amazing place it is. Everyone there is there because they have a passion to work with children and youth. They know how to help meet not just the medical needs of their patients, but their emotional and social needs as well.

As I visited Dillon today, Holly was meeting with a psychologist who will work with Dillon and a coordinator who will set up a school program for him. He will be well taken care of.

Dillon was his old self. He looks good. He's as bright and articulate as ever. If you didn't know about his healing pelvis and lack of feeling, you'd have no idea anything was wrong with him.

I found he had also followed and understood what the doctors had told him (no small task for anyone). He still has no feeling from about the middle of his torso down, but the anticipation is still that once the swelling in the spine subsides, feeling will come back. He is equally aware that when it does, he will need to re-train all the muscles that have been affected – something that could take not just weeks or months, but up to 1-2 years.

He started physical therapy today. The frustrating part of that for him is that what they are mainly doing to is to show him how to use and get around in a wheelchair. They have to start where he is at. He defiantly told me "Leaving here in a wheelchair is not an option!"

I was glad to hear that spirit and determination. He will need that in the weeks to come.

Continue to keep him and his family in your prayers. God is good. Dillon could have been killed in this accident if the truck had landed six inches further up his body. Let's pray that the miracle will continue and he will be restored to full health.

Dillon Duncan

2010-08-25T12:26:00.000-07:00

Dillon Duncan, the 16 year old son of Holly and Todd Duncan and grandson of Bonnie Bricker-Smith, was seriously injured in an car accident. He was driving to meet his dad and brother in the Tanum Creek area, when he accidentally rolled his truck. He was ejected as the truck rolled and the truck rolled over him. While seriously injured, a small depression he fell into prevented the truck from completely crushing him.

He was found by his father and brother, taken to Kittitas Valley hospital, and from there flown to Harborview in Seattle, where he is receiving excellent care. (DILLON IS NOW AT CHILDREN'S SEATTLE)

Dillon’s pelvis was broken in several places. He is having surgery to repair this on Wednesday and he is expected to recover from these injuries with time and rehabilitation. Thankfully, there were no head injuries and Dillon is awake and alert.

Of greater concern is that he still does not have any feeling below his waist. It is far too early to assume that this is a permanent problem, or even that if it does not correct itself that there will not be an effective medical therapy that can treat it. However, this is serious and something that we ought be to praying for.

Whatever the short term results, Dillon faces months of rehab, probably at Children’s Hospital in Seattle and he, along with his family, will need our prayers and support – both immediately and for the months to come.

There is a web page for him at the CaringBridge.org website (enter "dillonduncan" on their main page). I will try to port their updates here also and keep it all in this same post. Information below will start to read with the latest information first.

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Story in the Daily Record, 9-5-2010

The Ellensburg High School FFA member leading the 1,400-pound steer in the Junior Livestock Sale auction show ring on Friday was not fellow EHS FFAer Dillon Duncan.

Yet it was, indeed, Dillon’s steer according to the list of sellers. Showing it for Dillon in Bloom Pavilion was a friend, Ethan Johnson, 15.

Dillon, 16, couldn’t be there. On Friday he was at Children’s Hospital in Seattle undergoing extensive rehabilitation for serious injuries he received in a one-vehicle collision on Aug. 22.
When the bidding was over for the animal, the steer brought in a hefty $7.50 a pound.
Johnson, before leading the steer back into the fairgrounds barn, said everybody wants to help out Dillon at this hard time in his life, including families associated with 4-H and FFA.

Dillon’s brother, Dalton, 13, sold his steer just before his brother’s went to auction and said he and others have pitched in to help raise the steer and get it ready for showing since Dillon went to the hospital.

Dillon’s steer didn’t go far afield: It was purchased by Bonnie and Ian Smith of Ellensburg, Dillon’s grandparents.

On Saturday, Bonnie staffed a table in front of Bloom Pavilion to sell beef raffle tickets to help support the Kittitas County 4-H program.

In addition to a pile of raffle tickets, on the table was a sign that told about a Sept. 12 benefit spaghetti dinner and silent auction to help the Todd and Holly Duncan family pay for medical treatment and rehabilitation services for their son, Dillon.

“We want to get the word out about how people can help,” Bonnie said. “It seems everybody who’s found out about the situation wants to help in any way they can.

“I’ll tell you, the friends and families of these organizations (4-H and FFA) have been absolutely awesome in all their support of Dillon, in their love and all their care for Holly and Todd.”
Bonnie said Dillon, after the accident, was taken to Kittitas Valley Community Hospital and then was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

For those who want to give directly to help the family with medical costs, Bonnie said there is an account set up at Sterling Savings Bank in Ellensburg. Checks can be made payable to: FBO Dillon Duncan.

“There’s so many people who have helped in so many ways,” Bonnie said. “It would be so hard to thank them all. We appreciate everything.

“This community reaches out so much to those who need help.”

Bonnie said she did want to mention two who have especially helped: the Bland family and Ellensburg High School FFA adviser Steve Russell.

“I believe in prayer and I believe in asking God for healing,” Bonnie said. “One thing everyone can do is to pray for Dillon’s complete healing.”

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9-3-2010

I’ve had a few more notes filter in, so just a brief update.

Of course, the biggest concern is that Dillon has no feeling below his waist and the worry is that there is a spinal cord injury. They have done several MRIs and none have found any sign of such an injury, but there is a small chance that there is still one that cannot be detected.

One odd bit of good news is that when his feeling of numbness started to moved up his body a few days ago that was a sign that perhaps the lower body numbness was not from a spinal cord injury. Such injuries never seem to move up the torso. So, they have looked for another cause.

This could still be from swelling. It could also be from a very rare condition when marrow from a broken bone seeps into the spine, causing temporary paralysis. There is no way to test for this, but the good news is that this condition is almost always 100% reversible over time.

There will still need to be a long time of recovery and rehabilitation and we need to keep the family in our prayers. Such time are hard on families for all sorts of reasons and while things looking better, there is a long way to go.

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Ported from CaringBridge
9-1-2010
Okay this will be a short update...but Dillon got to move to Seattle Children's Hospital today! This is great news because this means he was well enough to move hospitals and can withstand a few hours of rehabilitation already. If any of you haven't visited Childrens it is an amazing hospital! I look forward to getting to visit him there. Although Harborview is an AMAZING hospital and no doubt they worked magic on Dillon...Children's has a more 'warm and fuzzy' feeling there. I will update you all more when I talk to the family! (P.S. Holly there is an amazing italian place within walking distance I want to walk you to that serves football sized calzones!)

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Tuesday, August 31, 2010 2:33 PM, PDT

Okay so new update...they are thinking it is just pressure from it being swollen and with the swelling going down so will the pressure on his nerves! Medication and time are what will fix this. Talk about getting on Dillon's nerves! :) Hang in there Dillon...I will update more when I hear from the family!
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Tuesday, August 31, 2010 2:18 PM, PDT
I am floored at the number of people that are checking the website...gives me chills to think all of these people are pulling for Dillon!

Today I got new from Holly that is kind of frustrating for Dillon and his family. Dillon was feeling more sensations around his stomach area and yesterday that feeling went away. The numbness feeling that he has been having started moving it way up into his chest area. This hasn't been explained this all of a sudden happened. There are several reasons this may be happening, one the pevic surgeon said can be fairly common. Sometimes when the nerves in the back are healing it can have a 'yo yo' type effect...so they thought it may be temporary.

Other reasons are beyond my medical knowledge so I won't attempt to try and explain what I "think" they may be. One step foward and two back...but doesn't mean that those sensations in his stomach will not come back. There may be more swelling on the spine putting pressure on the nerves along the spinal cord. He was put on a few steroids and other medications I can't recall and they are searching every MRI, CAT scan and I think they talked about doing an endoscopy as well. He has a team of people working on fixing this situation as soon as they are able.

Holly said Dillion is a trooper and is fighting along with everything that comes up!He has been sitting up a little more everyday and been doing every bit of therapy that he has been expected to do. Please continue to pray and send well wishes. Although this may seem like a huge set back lets pray this is just another step along his incredible road to recovery!

The donations and overwhelming amount of volunteers for the spaghetti feed and auction is awesome. Please let me know via email if you would like to do something to help, or have something to donate...thank you!
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8-31-2010 Morning
We got word from Dillon's grandmother that he has had a few small set-backs. The biggest one is that he now doesn't seem to have feeling below his navel. That's a little higher than before. He's also experiencing some pain in his armpit.

A new MRI has been ordered and that has probably already been done. It's still way too early in the healing process to have a handle on this, but any new problems are a strain on everyone.

Please continue to keep Dillon in your prayers. Pray also for the family as they have to move from "sprint" to "marathon" mode to stand beside him during this time.
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8-27-2010
This is Melissa again, I got to talk to Holly today to get an update on Dillon. He is getting these messages and the ones emailed to the Harborview email address...so keep them coming! The whole family appreciates all of the love and support being given to them during this stressful time.

Today was a HUGE today for Dillon! He was unhooked from all of the tubes and wires today...and was officially moved out of the Intensive Care Unit! Hooray! :) He is being moved form side to side to make sure the body doesn't get to stiff sitting in one position. Today he also got to sit up for the first time. This makes him very dizzy right now so he is only able to sit up for a minute or so at a time. The time will increase everyday as to help gain his mobility back. He is still coping with the pain and is on round the clock medicine for comfort. Dillon has been able to eat and drink little bits at a time too.

After the surgery the other day the surgeon himself came out to talk to Holly and Todd and explained everything about the surgery. He even drew a whole picture of the operation on a white pillow case! He explained what pins were put where, in what breaks, and where the plates were placed. It sounded like the surgeon took great care in explaining everything he did during surgery. This was the top pelvis surgeon in the country operating on Dillon too! What a blessing for that...and the surgeon seemed very hopeful that Dillon would be mobile again with therapy.

They are estimating Dillon being moved to Seattle Children's Hospital by the middle to end of next week. It will take about 6 weeks total for the pelvis to even heal. During this time Dillon will be doing lots of therapy teaching his body how to move again after the trauma. His stay at Children's has been estimated to be between 4-6 weeks...so in one aspect he has a long journey...but at the same time this is faster than most adults are able to heal. Being 16 years old has its perks here! The body is able to heal and regenerate itself a lot faster at this age (as compared to mine!)

I will be updating this website as much as I can when I find out new information. The family will take over at a later date when things slow down a lot more in the hospital~ Planning for the Spaghetti feed on September 12th from 4-7 pm at the fair grounds is coming along! Thank you so much for continuing to offer help...all donations for the silent auction are appreciated! This will be a great and fun event in honor of Dillon.

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8-26-2010
Wednesday Night Update.....

I visited with the family today. You could say I visited with Dillon too, but after about 5 hours of surgery:

1. All he really wanted to do was sleep; and,

2. He will have no recollection I (or probably anyone else) was there.

Surgery went well. He was lucky to have a amazingly qualified surgeon do the surgery to repair his broken pelvis. 13 pins and two plates later it was done and the doctor felt good about how things went.

He told the family that the normal recovery time for this kind of surgery is six weeks of mostly bed rest, followed by six weeks for physical therapy. However, that doesn’t account the spinal injury, the extent of which is still unknown.

Eventually, Dillon will probably be moved to Seattle Children’s Hospital for the therapy portion.

Keep the prayers going. This is just the first step on a long road.

Update from General Assembly

2010-07-09T10:54:00.001-07:00

Hello from warm and humid Minneapolis. We are in our last full day of meeting of the PC(USA) General Assembly. It has been a long week.

I have received several communications from some of you about what has happened, specifically about the Assembly approving “homosexual ministers”. I will speak about what GA has done on Sunday morning, but let me give you some brief details now.

Often the media gets the story wrong, or tells it in an incomplete way. Right now we have a standard in our Book of Order for ordained office that states for church officers:

“b. Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W 4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.”

This General Assembly, just as several GA’s in the past has done, has recommended that this standard in our constitution be removed, potentially allowing for ordination of active homosexual persons.

It is important to understand that this change MUST be approved by a majority of our Presbyteries before the change is made. That is how changes to our church constitution are approved. All previous attempts to make this change have failed; the last attempt was just over a year ago. I do not believe this new recommendation will succeed either.

That is not to say that I’m happy about everything the GA has done. They did reject any attempt to redefine marriage from “one man and one woman” to “two people”. That’s showed some good sense. But to say that we now permit the ordination of active homosexuals or as a denomination approve of any homosexual behavior is not correct.

Thanks to all of you who care enough about the greater church and our witness to the world to pay attention to this. Keep praying for the work of our GA.

Israel- The House of Bread

2010-06-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a short photo essay for those of you who love good, fresh bread. How I wish such bread could be had as easily in the USA as it is in Israel.

Not to be missed is this little bakery in the Old City, Jewish Quarter (on the far south end of Jewish Quarter Rd).

Lutherstad Wittenberg

2010-02-21T10:14:00.001-08:00

Let me start with a few side comments. First, allow me to continue my rant on the German transportation system. Today, I went to Wittenberg. I had to first travel about three miles to the main train station. There is a metro train (S Baun) that goes directly there from the station one block from our pension. It should have been a 10 minute ride to get to my 9:17 train. It wasn’t.

I had to change trains three times to get there. Add to that the fact that trains seems to run 10-20 apart. It took me almost 45 minutes and I missed the cheap 9:17 train to Wittenberg. No problem, I buy the expensive ticket for the nice ICE train. At least I get a nice ride for 40% more. I go to the #1 rail line, the train arrives, it has my train number on the outside and inside displays. I get in and sit down. But, it doesn’t leave on time. It doesn’t leave at all. I don’t know what happened, but eventually someone walks down the train and tells me, in German, to get off as the train was now out of service.

So I now get to wait 45 minutes and ride a cheap train with my expensive ticket. I never want to hear about German efficiency ever again.

Things get better. I arrived in Wittenberg to light snow and took a taxi to the historic town center. It seems that on Sundays everything but the historical sites are closed, which was wonderful. It left me with an almost empty, quiet, peaceful little village. A delight after the big cities we’ve been in.

This was a great visit. I toured Martin Luther’s house (which is now a great museum), the church he preached in, and the grand Castle Church where is 95 Thesis were posted (well, at least the re-built church, the original was mostly destroyed in a local war several centuries ago).

It was just great to walk down the same path the Luther would have walked as he strode paper in hand, from one end of town to the other to post his ideas for debate – not knowing how that action would change both Christianity and the world forever.

Some local color. Wittenberg is in the heart of what used to be East Germany.

The Town Church where Luther preached. A beautiful sounding choir was rehersing in Latin as I toured the church. It sounded heavenly.

Below is the Castle Church, where Luther posted his discussion proposals on the door and where he is buried.

Re-creation of the doors.

Tomorrow we fly to Amsterdam mid-day, to position ourselves for our flight home on Tuesday. I’m tired, but it’s been an amazing trip for me and I have over 2000 photographs to use as teaching resources into the future. This will probably be my last post, so thanks for reading. God Bless!

It's Saturday, so we must be in Berlin

2010-02-20T10:09:00.001-08:00

Let me say that I learned something I would have never guessed: even the French have a better metro system than the Germans. After not a single misstep in either England or France, both Shawn and I struggled with the Berlin S ban today. It is the most confusing system I have yet encountered. God only knows what will happen when I try to get to Wittenberg tomorrow.

Today was great once I got there. I got to look at loads of looted treasures from a number of places that are Biblically significant. This includes what many people think is the temple that is called the “Throne of Satan” in Revelation. Also, by completer accident, I stumbled onto some very important papyruses from Jewish soldiers in Egypt serving the Persian Empire, asking for permission from Jerusalem to replace a temple to Yahweh that had been destroyed. I had read about these letters, but had no idea where they were. Here are a few pictures.

Paris Misc

2010-02-18T14:14:00.000-08:00

Again, too late and too tired to write much. Some pictures of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. Enjoy

Louvre

2010-02-17T14:12:00.000-08:00

Paris is called the city of lights. It should be called the “City of Stairs”. I did more stairs today than I do in a year. Unending stairs in the metro stations. More staircases in the Louvre than a human could count. No wonder the French can eat and drink all they want and not get fat. Their city is like a giant Stairmaster.

The Louvre is amazing and also the most confusing museum I have ever been in. Poor signs or no signs. Everything in French. Crowds everywhere. If it didn’t house some of the most interesting pieces of history and art in world history, you wouldn't go near it on a bet.

But, was able to find most all of the items I was looking for. We have a couple of days to poke around Paris, then on to Berlin.

D-Day

2010-02-17T13:21:00.001-08:00

I am getting a little behind in my posts. Yesterday, we took a tour of D-Day sites with a company that does battlefield tours. It was amazing. I won’t post many pictures, because without the background you won’t really understand what happened there.

Note the stain on this church bench. It is blood from a paratrooper who died there 66 years ago on June 6. This little church was used as a hospital.

But I will say that it reminded me of the enormous dept we owe to the WW2 generation for the amazing sacrifices they made in the face of great evil. Both allied soldiers and French civilians gave their lives so that both nations could be the free nations we grew up in. I fear when these brave men and women are gone, we will too easily forget how dear a price freedom always seems to require.

Oxford & Normandy

2010-02-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

Since I got all my shooting at the British Museum accomplished, I had Sunday morning free. So, I went on a pilgrimage--to Oxford. Specifically, to a pub. Let me explain.

Two of my favorite writers are JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. For the many years they taught at Oxford schools, the met for lunch at a local pub called the Eagle and the Child, in a back room called the "Rabbit Room."

So, I had lunch in the Rabbit room, sitting in the same space where these men talked about their writings and their faith for many years. Not a life changing event for me, but wonderful to be surrounded by the ghosts of such influential Christians.

I'd like to go back to Oxford when I have more time.
We took an bus to the coast and an overnight ferry to Caen, France. A bus to Bayeux and a rental car got us to an amazing place Mont St Michelle. It is even nore amazing in person than all the pictures you have seen of it.

Can you guess what this is?

BTW, I thought England was expensive. See this cup of coffee:

I'll ask the price before I buy the next cup. Tomorrow we get a tour of D-Day sites and take a late train to Paris. Bonsoir.

British Museum

2010-02-13T15:41:00.001-08:00

Today was an amazing day...really the most important on the trip. I spend all day in the British Museum taking pictures of amazing stuff. About 14GB of pictures.

I'll post a few here, but most of the will require some Photoshop work to balance the lighting and sharpen, so the may not look all that good here. You can guess what they are.

Tomorrow I'm off to Oxford and the a ride to the coast and an overnight ferry to Normandy. Good night!

PS-London is EXPENSIVE. Everything costs in GBP (pounds) about what it would cost in dollars, except a pound equals about 1.6 dollars. I couldn't afford to live here.

We're Across the Pond

2010-02-12T15:38:00.000-08:00

We have arrived. The flights were my favorite kind- boring. I didn’t get any sleep on the planes and after a nearly evening nap my body clock is seriously messed up.

London is cloudy, cold – normal for February. We rode in on the Tube to save money and found our hotel is two blocks from a station. The hotel is simple, but clean, in a nice area, and cheap by London standards.

Here are my traveling companions Shawn and his son Josh.

We didn’t do much today, but we did make it to Westminster Abbey. This great church is important for all sorts of reasons, but for me, I went there because this is where the great Westminster Confession was written. This confession has defined Presbyterian since it was written in 1646.

Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed inside the ornate and complex church interior, so a couple of exterior shots and a couple of misc London sites.

By the way, how come the British can made such good fish and chips? All ours look like chicken nuggets compared to the big, battered pieces that actually look like they came off a fish.

Tomorrow is my most important day of the whole trip: The British Museum. Good night!

Stolen Treasures Tour

2010-02-09T20:32:00.000-08:00

For centuries, European powers sent the archaeologists (and a few Indiana Jones') into the world to "aquire" (read "steal") treasures of art and history. Among the many tresasures they returned with are many that have connections to Biblical and church history.

I'm off to the British Museum, the Louvre, the Pergamum museums to take pictures of as many as I can. I'll also stop by Normandy, Oxford, and Wittenberg.

I'll blog if I have time and access. Pray for good weather and stamina.

Electricity in Israel

2009-06-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

I’ve received a number of questions about using USA electrical appliances in Israel over the years and I decided to put together a post that covers most of the information you will need. Unfortunately, it’s a little complicated.

Electricity in Israel is different in two main ways:

First, the plugs are a different style that the standard USA two prong flat plug. What makes this even more complicated is that you can encounter several different style plug receptacles in Israel. I think these variations are why some people report one kind of adapter worked fine for them in one location, while that same adapter will not work for someone else in a different hotel. Below are "H" style plugs, somewhat unique to Israel.

Second, the electrical current in Israel is very different that what comes out of our USA outlets. USA power is 110 volts and 60Hz (or cycles). However, like much of the rest of the world, power is Israel is 220/230 volts and 50Hz. If you plug a 110v only appliance into a 220v socket, you will quickly destroy the device.

So, you MAY need to do two things to use your USA electrical items in Israel:
1. Get an adapter plug
2. Have a transformer that will convert the 220v that comes out of the wall into 110v.

Adapter Plugs
-I have found that there are different types of plug receptacles in Israel. The oldest seem to have been designed for a two or three flat prongs, often designated as a (H) style plug (technically, SI 32). Some were designed for two round prongs. The biggest problems is that while many of these receptacles look like they should accept any two round prong European type plug, they often do not. Most of the newer receptacles (post 1989) are designed to accept both the European (C) and Israel (H) style plugs, but not all hotels have newer receptacles.

Look at this picture below. The European “shucko” type plug prongs in the middle look almost identical to the top two prongs of the other Israel adapters, but I will tell you it does not fit wall receptacles in Israel. Shucko, or "F' style plugs have wider prongs than "C" style European plugs (Europlug - CEE 7/16).

What I recommend is that you take two different plug adapters with you. Both can normally be bought on EBay for about $5. That way, at least one is likely to work. Take a three round prong Israel adapter and use it whenever possible because it is grounded:

Also, take also a two prong round. Some outlets are not grounded and don’t take three prongs:

The rounds almost always seem to fit a outlet designed for flat prongs, but the flat prong adapters will sometimes not fit receptacles designed for round plugs. Stick with round and be sure the adapter is for Israel, not simply listed as being a “universal” or European adapter, they may not work. I have seen many web sites that tell you to use the 'European adapters' in Israel. Not exactly right, because there are several types of European adapters. Buy either ones specifically listed for Israel (H) or the common two prong (C) - Europlug CEE 7/16.

See my comments of surge protection below.

Transformers:
Transformers are heavy electrical coils that take the 220v current and reduce it to 110v. They are rated according to the amount of current, or watts, they can convert. To put things simply, the more power your device pulls, the bigger a transformer you need. Unfortunately, devices like hair dryers and some hair straighteners take a lot of current.

You may not really need one. Almost all modern hotels now have a wall mounted hair dryer in the bathroom. That hair dryer will usually have a 110v ungrounded outlet on it. Unless you are staying in a historic hostel, a very old hotel, or a private home you probably don’t need to take a hair dryer. An electric shaver will easily work with the provided plug. So will most two prong camera battery and cell phone chargers.

You may find that most of your newer electronic devices can run on both 110v and 220v. My computer, cell phone charger, camera battery charger, and even my Cpap breathing machine all run on both currents. Some devices have a 110v-220v switch you need to manually switch – don’t miss that detail.

How can you tell? The device will almost always tell you on the side of the power pack itself, you just need good eyes. You'll see something like “100v-240v, 50/60Hz”. These devices you can plug right into an Israeli outlet with just an adapter.

Here are some examples:

If you really need a device that requires a transformer, all I can suggest is that check the wattage of the appliance, then buy a transformer that is rated for at least 20% more capacity that your units calls for. If your device is 1600 watt, get a transformer that is rated for 2000 watts.

Finally, “converters” are cheaper and smaller that true “transformers”, but every electrical FAQ I have read suggests you not use them, because they do not truly convert 220v to110v and can still fry many devices, especially electronic devices. They do seem to work for short durations for things like hair dryers. I do suggest you avoid these if possible. You have been warned.

Final note: I’ve had many people who work with electronics tell me it’s stupid to buy $500+ worth of electronics and plug it into a wall socket without a surge protector. One power surge can fry the whole unit. I think the advice is good on the road too, so I take a travel surge protector with me. I almost always need two spots to plug stuff in, so this also helps out here.

I take a Eurosurge and it has served me well:

Note that this unit has a European style Shucko plug. You need an adapter for any country, like Israel, that doesn’t use the standard Shucko plug (F). This is the unit with the Israel adapter, which I might add, did not work in some outlets (flat prongs). I had to plug it into an adapter plug first, then into the wall. Go figure.

Bethlehem Olivewood

2009-04-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

I had several conversations with people about buying Olivewood Nativity sets from Bethlehem. They are a beautiful and unique souvenir to bring home from Israel and almost every bus tour that goes to Bethlehem stops at some shop that sells them. (You should be able to click on the pictures for a larger version).

On our last trip, while our group was upstairs getting the hard sell from the sales staff at one particular store, I slipped downstairs to get a few pictures of their production facility. I won’t tell you where this is, because I find this is one of my least favorite places to stop and shop. Prices are higher than the normaly inflated Bethlehem tour-bus-stop prices and I found the sales staff downright pushy.

Drying wood - important, because, if not dry, carved wood will later crack

Bethlehem has many garages and warehouses where people carve out nativity sets. The place I took these pictures is larger than most. The pictures aren’t the highest quality. It was a bit dark and a haze of wood dust hung in the air. I also didn’t want to get in right the workers faces, so I took the shots from a distance.

Each person seems to work on one specific figure at a time, often using an identical figure as a model.

I was first a little put off by the fact that this looked a little like a sweatshop. But the reality is that unemployment in Bethlehem is high and jobs are scarce. A job like this is steady work and a relatively safe and secure environment, even if that doesn’t look like what we’re used to here.

OSHA would probably not approve of this workstation.

My experience is that prices for Olivewood nativity sets are higher in the stores in Bethlehem than what you will find in the smaller stores in Jerusalem’s Old City or even some of the hotel gift shops. That has always seemed counterintuitive to me, but I suppose that the factors of both location and next door competition are a big factor.

If you plan to buy a set and price is the biggest concern, I suggest you buy in Jerusalem. You could save 40%. Be sure the set is actually carved by hand and is not simply wet Olivewood that has been formed in press – those figures will likely crack when they dry. Also, be aware that Olivewood nativity sets are now being shipped in from China and sold by some in Jerusalem shops at lower prices.

I don’t mind spending a little more for a set in Bethlehem because I think the people there need the support and you are less likely to be sold junk. My favorites store is Kando’s. It near Rachel’s Tomb. It was started by the cobbler who was brought the first Dead Sea Scroll by the Bedouin boy who found it (and asked him to make shoe laces out of the leather).

Kando used the money he got from being a middle man for the Scrolls to open a store. They still have the original Dead Sea Scroll jar that the Isaiah scroll was stored in right there in the store (worth the trip alone). The store is now run by his grandson Shibli, who is a delightful and friendly host. Yes, their prices are higher than Jerusalem, but I like supporting a Christian family who continues to exist under such hard circumstances.

Remember, don’t pay their asking price. Expect to pay about 75% of the price they first ask; perhaps less of you’re buying a very expensive set or multiple items. Don’t be put off by the look of the store on the outside. The staff is friendly, not especially pushy, and I found them basically honest about what they sell. Just don’t be surprised if you find a similar item in Jerusalem’s souk for less –consider this a “fair trade” purchase that will help a group of people who have had it very tough for several generations.

Guide Gila Yudkin has a nice page on the Scrolls and the Kando connection at this page:
http://www.itsgila.com/headlinerscrolls.htm

Ramparts Walk in Old City Jersualem

2008-12-15T22:50:00.000-08:00

Heading North from the Jaffa Gate

Heading South from Jaffa Gate

How Not to Feed a Camel

2008-11-24T22:43:00.000-08:00

I wanted to test posting a video. Let's see how well this works.

Wrapping Things Up

2008-11-12T11:08:00.001-08:00

Time to wrap things up. Yes, everyone got home on time and with baggage. The connection at JFK was tight, but everyone made it.

I’ve had a few extra days, as have the Brittan’s. Big as this city is, I kept running into them. We walked the 500 year old walls together on Tuesday and had lunch. They were off to Athens-London-Seattle at 6am on Wednesday.

I spent today photographing the Jerusalem model in detail (about 300 pictures). I always seem to need an angle I don’t have on file, so I should be covered now.

I then headed over to an area known as the Jerusalem souk—the fresh market that many Jews shop in. I love the balance of everyday life of the living city to the Biblical treasures this city also houses.

If you don't know what this is, ask Karen Jennison.

One thing I do like about the old city is that there is an interesting looking person on just about every corner.

This guys just stands by the Jaffa Gate every day.

It took me the longest time to figure out from a distance this was not a hat, but his hair.

This girl couldn’t have been more than 21 years old (she looked younger from the front). She is obviously a private security guard for some Jewish touring or study group.

Tomorrow I have a midnight flight to the USA, so this will be my last post. Thanks for looking. Come with us next time. I’ll see you in church Sunday, but don’t expect me to be too awake.

A Free Day in the Old City to Wrap Things Up

2008-11-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

Sadly, today is our last day. We had to meet at the Western Wall at Noon to tour a tunnel that ran along the 2000 year old foundations of the Western retaining wall Herod built in Jesus time. We had no tour guide, so I had to fill in what little I knew.

This part was a 2100 year old water channel cut in bedrock.

After this, everyone wandered off to shop, sightsee, eat, whatever.

At 6:15 we loaded on the bus and had a special dinner at a place called Pasha’s. By the way, if any of you see any pictures of me with a nargile pipe, let’s just assume the picture is digitally altered.

We went off to the airport of a late night flight. We had a few misty eyes as most of our folks said goodbye to Sam and the most unique place on earth.

I include this for my friend Todd Bolen, so he can see how his old friend Shabban's new shop is coming along.

Always nice to finish with a scenic shot....but...

Just when I thought the story was about to close, I got a phone call from Ariana, saying that baggage handlers were on strike and the plane might not be going anywhere. That sparked a few frantic phone calls, but it does look like the plane finally left, just a little late.

I hope that A: the luggage made the flight too; B: they made their connection at JFK. I’ll know soon.

Last Guided Day

2008-11-10T11:06:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know I’m behind in the posts. We’ve been in transition mode.

Our last touring day had us passing Bethlehem again and heading into the mouth of a old, small volcano. Once again, Herod had built another fortress/palace in this spot between Masada and Jerusalem, just in case he needed to escape from angry Jews or if the Romans turned against him. Note the huge swimming pool in the foreground.
We wandered around the ruins inside the hill and walked through the underground tunnels that were later used by Jewish rebels in 135AD.

This next picture sure looks like nothing, but imagine this: On the left is the hill the Philistines are camped on. On the right (OK just behind the hill), is another hill the Israelites under Saul are camped on. In this valley is where Goliath would stride out and taunt the Israelites each day, trying to bring them down off there defensive hill.

And…this is where David wacked him.

We did a few more tunnels at a site that was mostly non-Jewish by the time they where built (lots of underground in this trip).

Finally, we stopped at a hill that once was the site of a great and important city-Lachish. It guarded the north-south road that bridged Africa to Asia and Europe. It was destroyed by the Assyrians, them 100 years later destroyed again by the Babylonians.

After this we did a couple of sites in the Old City, then everyone had some free time to get their feet wet in wandering its streets.

On the way back to the hotel, our driver Hasam (Sam) brought three of his four kids to meet us. He was the best, most friendly bus driver I have ever worked with and his kids are absolutely beautiful.

Our guide Mike and driver Hasam.

Dead Sea Area

2008-11-08T08:11:00.000-08:00

The Romans had to build a seige ramp. Herod had to climb the face. I like the cable car option to ascent to Masada.

Inside a Roman bath built on the top. This whole place is a wonder.

Next, a stop at Qum'ran nto see where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Her is one of the easily seen caves.

The next stop to just to float in the Dead Sea. You can't sink in the 35% salt water, but have to be careful not to drink.

On the way back to Jerusalem, we stopped at the village of Bethany, the home of Martha and Mary and the place where Jesus brought their brother Lazarus back from death. This the a mosaic from a 5th century church build in the town.

Today, Bethany is a sad looking, somewhat run down village that is in a fog between Israel and the Palestinian controlled areas.

A Long Day in the Old City

2008-11-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

We spent all of today in the old city of Jerusalem. Personally, I think this is the most amazing place on the earth. We started with the Temple Mount, now the home of several Islamic mosques and sacred sites--especially the Dome of the Rock.

After that, we went to St Ann's church; a Crusader church with amazing acoustics and a echo that lasts about 8 seconds.

We visited a water storage pool built by Herod 2000 years ago and still in great shape.

After that, we turned into the Moslem quarter where many people still live and shop. I love the sights, sounds, and smells of the old city life here. It is the most exotic part of Jerusalem.

Our guide, Mike, treated us to a tradational Palestinian treat---don't ask me to remember what it's called. People come from all over to buy it from this place and it was very good.

We then went to one of my favorite places, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Like the church in Bethlehem, it suffers from being loved too much and was choked with crowds. It's hard to appreciate the place with it is that full.

Still, there are some stunning views.

In the Jewish Quarter, we visited a mansion that had been destroyed by the Romans in 70AD. It is now under a building. I think this very well could be the house of Annas (read John's Gospel).

Here is a model of what it would have looked like 2000 years ago.

After that, we dropped down to the Western, or Wailing Wall for a visit.

Then on to the site of a 1st century road by the corner of the Temple mount, one Jesus and the disciples would have walked on.

By now, feet are starting to get tired.

Here we sit on the steps leading up to the Temple, a place I think Peter preached on Pentacost and the church was born.

We finished the day walking through the 2800 year old water tunnel built by King Hezekiah. It is quite the adventure. Ariana had her camera (and I did not) so you get a rare pictue of me.

Another view (Tom Brittan in the distance)

Yet another truly amazing day. We head to the Dead Sea tomorrow.

We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us!

2008-11-05T10:41:00.001-08:00

Today was a bit of a strange day. It started well enough. We went to the Mt Zion section of the Old City of Jerusalem. This was probably the place that Jesus had the last supper, but today it is just outside the city walls.

This place was built by crusaders and remembers the Last Super.
We got our first look at Israeli girls in military training.

We went to a chuch that now covers a 1st century house some believe was the site of Jesus trial before Caiphas. I think the location is questionable, but it was a good place to remember the events, including the old cistern that could have been used as a place to hold Jesus before he went to Pilate.

Here we're standing on 2000 year old steps that Jesus and his disciples almost certainly would have walked on when they were in Jerusalem.

We next headed into Bethlehem, now under control of the Palestinian Authority. Our tour agency insists that we visit one specific olivewood store and factory there and it was overpriced and a little too pushy. Ana and I quietly moved around and encouraged our people not to buy there. Bill and I snuck downstairs to take a look at their factory.

The next part was not so good. We got to the church of the Nativity and it was packed. There was a Disneyland type line to get into the grotto and lots of rude, frustrated people standing in it. We even got into a bumping match with an highly rude nun! This is an amazing, historic place...the oldest standing church in the holy land, but the crowd sucked the joy out of it.

Of course, we are a part of that crowd...

We did a brief stop at a a better olivewood shop that actually has one of the original Dead Sea scroll pots, the one the Isaiah scroll was found in. This is a good Christian family who it was a joy to support.

Just outside there shop, you can see a part of the Israeli security wall that surrounds Rachel's Tomb. Not a very pleasant view.

On the way back to Jerusalem, we stopped at the Hass viewpoint, to the south of the old city. This is a view Abraham might have had 3800 years ago (OK, it has changed a bit)

Our final stop was a place known as the Garden Tomb. This tomb is too old to be the one Jesus was placed in, but it is an oasis in the midst's of the chaos of the city and a good spot to visualize what Jesus' tomb might have looked like.

You see a lot of strange people in this city, but this guy must be out for some award.

Tomorrow night I might be out to dinner with an old friend who is a guide, so I might not get a post in. Thanks for looking!

Day 6 - One the Way to Jerusalem

2008-11-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

The days started with a lost bag that never showed up at the bus. As it turns out, it wound up in Bethlehem. We'll get it tomorrow. Today we headed south along the Jordan river towards Jerusalem.

We first visited a site that was once a great Byzantine city - Bet Shean. It was the place the body of King Saul was displayed after he was killed. It is a stunning site.

Here is the main street-the Cardo.

We were delayed getting to our next site because of rush hour traffic.

We stopped at Jericho, perhaps the oldest town in world history. Not much to look at, but it is a very historical spot. This tower-store room may be 8000 years old!

Here is a part of the city wall system that Joshua and the Israelites overcame with God's help.

Of course, you have to ride a camel...

Or, you can give the camel a treat.

The Jericho economy gets a shot in the arm as Karen does her thing.One thing I love about Jerusalem is the different people you see there from all over the world.

Here we are at the Church of All Nations.
And here we are at the 1000 year old church of Mary's Tomb.

OK, I'm a little embarassed to admit this is just a part of my room at the Olive Tree hotel. It's good to be the tour host.

Sea of Galilee

2008-11-03T10:21:00.001-08:00

Today we drove a whole circle aroung the Sea of Galilee, except for a stretch we did by boat. This was the main are of Jesus ministry and the place where most of the events in the Gospels took place. So, a few pictures, again in random order, thank to the blogger web site working a bit crazy.

This is a first century boat the was found in the mud along the seashore when the lake was low. Much like the boat Jesus would have ridden in and the disciples would have fished in.

Here is our group in front of the 4th century synagogue, built on top of the synagogue that Jesus preached in at Capernaum.

A 5th century mosaic in a Byzantine church on the sea shore.

I told Ana to keep her penguin on a leash, but she wouldn't listen to me.

The town of Capernaum from the sea, as the disciples would have seen it while fishing.

I few folks from our group on our boat trip on the Sea of Galilee. It was a beautiful day.

A close up of our group at the synagogue.

Here you can see the 1st cetury foundation the 4th century church is built on.

Our last stop was at a Byzantine church built near the spot where Jesus cast a "Legion" of demons out of a man and into a heard of pigs.

The effects of a long day, warm sun, and beautiful flowers.

This was our last day around the sea and we're a bit sad to leave. On to Jersualem.

Day 4-Northern Galilee

2008-11-02T09:33:00.000-08:00

We visited a whole range of Old Testament and New Testament sites today. The internet is amazingly slow, so I may be posting in bits and pieces today. And it seems the pictures are out of order again.

This is our view outside our hotel window of Tiberias.

Look closely and you'll see most of our group on the top of what was a 2900 year old temple to a golden calf set up in the area of the tribe of Dan.

An oil press at Hazor.

There is nowhere we can go that Ana cannot find an animal to make friends with.

Not exciting to look at, but the was a palace area built by Solomon's orders and a place he probably visited and stayed it when in the north.

We used the fresh and clean Jordan River water that flows out of the Banias spring to do some re-dedication of Baptisms. We actually did one full baptism of a trip member who had not been baptized. It was a very special moment.

It out of the cave the the Jordan once flowed. Romans saw it as an entrance to the underworld and worshipped Pan there. Jesue took his disciples there are asked them "Who do you say that I an?"

This is a 3800 year old city gate (really), one the Abraham may have wandered through.

This is the altar at Tel Dan that the renegade king of Israel set up to keep people away from Jersualem 2900 years ago. They worshipped a golden calf there.

One the the streams that is fed by underground springs and eventually makes up the Jordan river.

Here are Alisha and Melissa just outside the military bunker on a hill that overlooks Syria.

Hard to see, but on the middle left of the picture are the edges of Damascus. The overlook is only about 35 miles away. The apostle Paul had his conversion experience somewhere in the landscape, as he was heading to Damascus.

Here is part of our group, with Syria in the background.

Back near the Sea of Galilee, we stopped at Chorizim. This is a 4th century synagogue. The city Jesus did miracles in was just up the hill.

Not much to look at, but this is another city the Jesus visited and did wonders at-Bethsaida. Three of the disciples called this their home town - Peter, Andrew, and Phillip. It's amazing to think that you're walking in a place Jesus walked in 2000 years ago.

Sephorris, Megiddo, and Nazareth

2008-11-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

Yet another full day of touring some amazing sites. First Sepphoris, a kmajor town in the first century near Nazareth...probebly where Jesus and Joseph worked. Here is the main road.
A house with mosaics of the Nile.

More beautiful mosaics.

A view of the surrounding country from a Crusader watchtower.

By the way, we now have a new bus driver.

These pictures are loading backwards, so in a reverse order...some pictures of the historic tel of Meggido, a town that guarded the main north-south road and has seen more historic battles than any other place in world history.

The water tunnel King Ahab cut through the bedrock to get to the spring.

Descending to the tunnel...all cut by hand 2800 years ago.

Our group on the highest point of the site, viewing the pass and the valley of har Meggido...Armaggedon!

An area used by Canaanites for ritual sacrifice.

An ancient gate to the city.

Some amazing sites in Nazareth, Jesus home town.

This is the spring of Nazareth, now covered by the Greek Orthodox church, where Mary would have gone each day for water.

This is a tradational site for Joseph's workshop.... not a real location IMHO.

The Church of the Annunciation...built over a 1st century home in the heart of the old village.

The altar on the Roman Catholic church and the house, surrounded by earlier churches.

At Nazareth, a group has created some elements of a 1st century village, much like the one Jesus grew up in. It was more interesting than I thought it would be.

Ariana trying her hand at a 1st century drill.

Two local Christian Arabs who play villagers.

A working oil press for the olives they grow, 1st century style.

A recreation of a small village synagogue, much like the one Jesus must have learned to read in and where he began his public ministry. A Donkey pulling the crushing stone that was the first step in olive pressing. He was a big hit with our young women.

We Made It--Days 1 & 2

2008-10-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry for no post last night. After 48 hours on the road, I was just disoriented/tired. We're still tired, but all is well and everyone is enjoying the trip. We have a great guide and driver. Weather is good; just a little warmer then we have been used to lately in Ellensburg.

I bring you up to where we are at as we end day two, with a few pictures. Thought maybe less than I planned, because the internet connection here is really slow! My pictures are even getting out of order.

Here we are with our guide Mike at the port of Joppa. Bleary eyed, we arrive in Israel after a 11+ hour flight.

This is the hippodrome, the sports arena for chariot races and more.

Herod build a grand palace here out into the ocean. It was in this area that Paul was held by Felix for about two years before he was sent to Rome.

The moat and walls that protected the city during the Crusader era.

The aquaduct that brought water to Ceasarea from ten miles away.

Our group getting toes wet in the Mediterranean.

A statue of the prophet Elijah on Mt. Carmel, near the site he had a "God-off" with the priests of Ba'al.

Looking out to the east from Mt. Carmel.

Some shots of the souk (marketplace) in the old city of Acco.

Some of the older parts of the city built by the Crusaders 1000 years ago. Richard the Lion Hearted and St Francis would pass through here.

Tomorrow we head to Megiddo and Nazareth. Thanks for looking.

Israel 2008 - Stand By!

2008-10-24T09:16:00.000-07:00

In just a few days, our group will be heading to Israel. We leave very early on Wednesday, October 29 from SeaTac, get to spend six hours at JKF, then take a late night flight to Tel Aviv.

We'll have eleven days to tour this amazing place. When the group leaves, I'll spend four more days doing some photography and visiting a few more sites.

I hope to make daily reports and post a few pictures. Of course, that all depends on
1. Access to the internet
2. Some time at the end of each day to put the post together before I collapse.

It will probably be a few days into the trip before I have the first post up. Stay tuned!

Ready to Pack Your Bags?

2008-02-17T19:02:00.000-08:00

Folks, the next great adventure will be Israel once again, but I won't be alone this time because you're invited!

This Fall I'll be leading a tour to the Holy Land. We'll even spend two days in Istanbul on the way.

There is a separate blog with all the details. I hope you might join me on my travels for what could be the trip of your life.

http://holylandtour.blogspot.com/

Boston Non-Tea Party

2007-08-11T18:55:00.000-07:00

OK, I know most of the time I'm is some exotic location posting pictures of historical or Biblical sites. This is a little different. I'm in Concord, Mass, just outside of Boston, to assist in the wedding of our own Erik Holmstrom to a delightful young woman Erik met in the Air Force, Nicole Crampton. It has been a wonderful time and the friends and family that have gathered simply couldn't be better. I've been asked for a few pictures, so here you go. Double click on a picture for a larger version.

The bride, groom, and groom's family
The lovely couple. I dare say, Erik did very well and found a young women who is beautiful, intelligent, gracious, and has a great family behind her. It doesn't get much better.
Wedding cake...yes, Erik was nice and no cake smashing.
The wedding party, You see a few Ellensburg folks in the crowd.
Erik and mom at the reception.
I may eventually post a few pics of my other travels here: Plymouth, Harvard, Boston, Concord.

Enjoy!

When is a Cistern not a Genizah?

2007-03-23T17:01:00.001-07:00

WARNING!!!! Obscure archaeological/historical discussion ahead! Proceed at your own risk!

Seriously, I wanted to correct a mistaken identification that occurred on our tour.

While visiting Coptic Cairo, we stopped at the Ben Ezra Synagogue. After visiting the interior, we came around the back and looked at an object in front of an smaller annex building. We were told it was the Synagogue's Genizah.

I had read about the Genizah before and, frankly, that wasn't what I expected it to look like. It looked to me to be an old cistern. Guess what? I was right - it is an old cistern, not the synagogue's Genizah.

Now for the long explanation.....

What is a Genizah?

Jews believe that when the name of God is written on a piece of paper, that paper must be treated with respect. It cannot be thrown out or simply destroyed. Just as the body is buried after it is worn out, so these writings that use God's name must also be buried with ritual when they are worn out or no longer in use. Hebrew word Genizah literally means "hiding place".

A Genizah was the place in a synagogue where such writings were stored until enough were collected for a proper burial. In practice, papers were often placed in the Genizah and forgotten about, the burial never taking place. Just look in any out of the way closet in your local church and you'll know what I mean.

Over the nearly thousand year history of the Ben Ezra Synagogue, literally hundreds of thousands of documents were stored in their genizah, some written as early as the first century AD. The dry climate in Egypt kept these documents intact and readable. It was a treasure trove of historical information.

I had seem what I thought were pictures of an old, scholarly man pouring through documents in the Ben Ezra Genizah in numerous books and websites. Apparently, some of the participants on our trip had seen it too.

I found that this picture is often misidentified. It is Dr. Solomon Schechter, a man who was responsible for retrieving some 140,000 documents from the genizah. But, he is not in Cairo. This picture is taken in a room at Cambridge University, where Schechter taught and where he studied the documents he got from the Synagogue.

So, Where Was The Genizah?

That's not easy to answer. There are lots of sources that talk about the documents and few that talk about their discovery. One major events complicates the story - the rebuilding of the Synagogue in 1892.

With the Jewish community in Egypt shrinking and those who stayed moving away from the old section, the Ben Ezra Synagogue (BES) began to fall into disrepair. In 1889, much of the roof collapsed. The Jewish community rebuilt the synagogue on the same foundations and it was completed in 1892.

Incidentally, the building we visited is the 1892 building, but it had gone through significant renovation by an international team, beginning in 1989.

Only a few documents were obtained from the BES before the 1892 rebuilding. It appears at that time, the Genizah was in an upper attic of the building, that was accessed (this is not clear) by passing through the women's gallery and using a ladder to enter:

"...the Genizah is a small chamber on the roof of the old Synagogue. It is closed on all sides without any entrance; the roof is opened from above and from there they put in or throw down old and torn scrolls. I went up by ladder. It is full to a height of two and one half stories" ......Jacob Saphir, describing his visit to the BES Genizah in 1864.

Only a few documents seem to have come from the Genizah before the 1889 renovation. During that renovation, the Genizah was emptied and the contents literally sat out in the open for the three years it took to build the new BES. Apparently, a number of documents were obtained by a variety of people during that time. While illegal to remove historical treasures during this time, it appears that liberal use of "baksheesh" was used to obtain the documents.

When the new BES was completed, a new genizah was built in a similar location, accessed by a ladder from somewhere in the women's gallery. Interestingly, I have yet to find any drawings, pictures, or even detailed descriptions of the Genizah itself.

In 1896, enticed by documents he had already studied from the BES Genizah, bought by two Presbyterian ladies from Scotland, Dr Solomon Schechter of Cambridge University made a trip to Cairo to look at the Genizah. He describes what he found:

"The Genizah, which probably always formed an integral part of the synagogue, is now situated at the end of the gallery, presenting the appearance of a short windowless and doorless room of fair dimensions. The entrance is on the west side, through a big, shapless hole reached by a ladder. After showing me over the place and the neighbouring buildings, or rather ruins, the Rabbi introduced me to the beadles of the synagogue, who are at the same time the keepers of the Genizah, and authorized me to take from it what, and as much as I liked."

"The task was by no means easy, the Genizah being very dark, and emitting clouds of dust when its contents were stirred, as if protesting against the disturbance of its inmates. The protest is the less to be ignored as the dust settles in one's throat, and threatens suffocation. I was thus compelled to accept the aid offered me by the keepers of the place, who had some experience in such work from their connexion with former acquisitions (perhaps they were rather depredations) from the Genizah. Of course, they declined to be paid for their services in hard cash of so many piastres per diem. This was a vulgar way of doing business to which no self-respecting keeper of a real Genizah would degrade him- self. The keepers insisted the more on bakhshish, which, besides being a more dignified kind of remuneration, has the advantage of being expected also for services not rendered."

(read the whole story here: http://members.tripod.com/~papyri/texts/hebrewI.html)

Once the work of Schechter's finds got out, a floodgate opened up and for the next 20 years people searched the BES and the surrounding area for documents. Some were found in graves, many others were obtained from locals who had got their hands on them.

The Damascus Document

One important document Schechter retrieved was named the "Damascus Document". It talked about a "Teacher of Righteousness" and of a community of believers. At the time, no one had any idea of what the source of this document might have been. But, in 1948, another important series of ancient scrolls was discovered in caves near the Dead Sea.

It was soon realized that the "Damascus document" came from the Qumran community that produced the "Dead Sea Scrolls". The BES copy is better than any discovered at Qumran. How a scroll that must have been written before the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD made its way into the BES Genizah at least 1000 years later, then lasted another 900 years is a mystery we may never answer.

The People of Egypt

2007-03-09T14:19:00.000-08:00

Those who know me, know that when I travel, I am interested not just in the historical sites or the great monuments, but in the lives of the average people around me. That’s what makes travel to very different countries so interesting to me. Little things like roadside shops and open-air butchers fascinate me.

Of course, the worst place to experience this is from a seat on a tour bus or in a luxury hotel. But, I made a great effort to take in my surroundings in Egypt and grab some pictures.
Several things struck me. First, how very materially poor parts of Egypt are. There are vast areas of Cairo that we might call slums. They are made up of both old houses and new tenements that seem unfinished and poorly maintained. To be fair, Cairo has some nice parts and many middle class apartments, but the size of these run down areas surprised me.
Second, we to see how much of the rural life outside the cities seem to have bypassed the 20th century. You see many mud brick homes, with people working in the fields with donkeys, water buffalo, and even camels as their main source of transportation. Some of these people live much of their lives just about as their ancestors did 4000 years ago.

I think this is a bakery. Notice that one window is for men, they other for women.

But then, you see a mud brick home with a satellite disk on the roof.

Egypt is a fascinating country, still facing the transformations of the modern world.

St. Catherine's

2007-03-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

I have wanted to go to St. Catherine’s for years, so this was a minor dream come true.

First a little history. Sometime in the early 3rd century AD Christian hermits began to live near a mountain they identified as the mountain of God that Moses met God on. They lived near a bush they identified as the “burning bush” that God used to speak to Moses through. How this site was originally identified has been lost to history.

Around 320AD, the mother of the new Christian Roman emperor, Helena, authorized the building of a church at that location. More monks went into the area, but found they were routinely attached by the pagan locals. So in 542 AD the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I built fortress-like walls around the chapel and a new basilica (church). The church was renamed after a martyred Christian woman named Catherine, who was killed for her faith in the late 3rd century.

That building exists to this day. Making it one of the oldest existing and continually occupied churches in the world. In the early Moslem period, the story goes that Mohammed himself gave them a writ of protection that allowed them to go unmolested over the centuries. Her tall granite walls helped too and until the past century, the only way in was to be raised up in a basket – there were no doors. Here is the bush. It does not seem to be on fire.

More than just the building itself, St. Catherine’s is a repository of some of the oldest copies of the Bible ever found, along with many other writings and fantastic Christian art. The collection consists of some 3,500 volumes in Greek, Coptic, Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Slavic, Syriac, Georgian and other languages. It includes the Codex Sinaiticus, one of the earliest copies of the Bible we have (4th century A.D.).

There is only a small cemetary, so the bones of the monks are routinely stored in a small chapel outside the monastery. Yes, this is a little bit creepy.
No pictures were allowed in the church, but here is a shot I captured through the door. This photo does not do the beautiful church justice. It is stunning.
There is no place in the world like St Catherine’s and it is one of the Christian churches greatest historical treasures.

Into the Desert

2007-03-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

Well, I am back now, but I want to add a few posts to the blog for our last days, plus a few extra thoughts.

When we left off, we were following the Moses and the Hebrews as the fled Egypt. They crossed into the Sinai peninsula and made their way to the “Mountain of God”.

In truth, about all we know for sure is that they left Egypt, got to the mountain, then left to wander for 40 years. There are countless theories about the exact route, the true number of Hebrews, the places they stopped, and where the “mountain of God” is/was.

The path we followed is but one of the suggested routes. It is a reasonable guess (much more reasonable than many others, by my estimation), but no more than that.

Still, if it wasn’t this exact path, it must have been one that looked much the same. In fact, some parts of life in this region haven’t changed much in the past 3500 years. The area is a vast area of sand and rock, little water, few trees or vegetation. It is a harsh land at best.

We started our day at a resort by the Red Sea, south of the Suez Canal. This whole stretch of beach is being filled with hotels for Egyptians who want to escape the city and Europeans who want cheap, sunny beach holidays. We headed south along the coast, then turned east into a long canyon, knows as Wadi Ferian. Bedouins still live in this canyon and while it looks bone dry, you could see many wells that dotted the valley floor.

We stopped at an oasis that would have been a natural stopping spot. No water today, but obviously there is water near the surface and wells could have been there in Moses time.

In the Exodus account, we read that the Israelites got into a fight on the way to the mountain:

Exo 17:8-10 "The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. {9} Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands." {10} So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill."

This is the traditional spot of this battle: a bottleneck in Wadi Ferian that would have been a natural place for a small group of warriors to try and stop a larger group they saw as invaders.

This is the place Moses might have stood and at one time a monastery stood on this hill.

The locals seem to appear out of nowhere when the tour busses stop. This lady was a tough bargainer.

As you climb into the canyon, the mountains rise higher, until you reach the base of Jebu Musa, the traditional Mt Sinai, at 5000 feet. More on that in the next post.

Sitting At SeaTac

2007-03-06T16:41:00.000-08:00

I hate waiting for a shuttle at SeaTac. Mostly because of the cost of food. I often find my most expensive meal on a trip is the sandwich I buy at the airport before I get the 5pm shuttle.

I’m going to put together a couple of final posts from stateside. We had no internet access for three days and the final night it was almost a $1 a minute ( a rip off anywhere). On top of that, the hotel gave up our 1:15am wake up call at 1:45am, and we needed to catch a 2am airport shuttle to get our 4am flight. It’s been a long day.

I’ll put together a post of the Red Sea and St. Catherine’s in the next few days.

A Little More Goshen and On to Asia

2007-03-05T08:17:00.000-08:00

Again… Sorry this is late. We’ve had no internet access for three days. My posts about our final days will come from the good old USA.

This has been a day of important places, but not impressive places.

We visited several likely places that would have been stops for the Hebrews in the first few days of the Exodus. In some places, there was nothing there to start, so nothing remains. Still, it was interesting to again walk in the same steps of the Hebrews fleeing Egypt and Pharaoh.

Exo 12:37 "The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children."

This is the rural village that sits at the site of Succoth. This is not on the normal tourist track. They may get 2-3 busses a year and the kids of the town turned out in force to welcome us. This mud brick structure is from a period later than then Moses was there.

We next went to a place that may be the remains of a “sea of Reeds”
Exo 13:18 "So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle."

OK, trust me on this one, “red sea” is a mistranslation. It should be “reed sea”. A whole series of lakes and swamps were on the eastern border of Egypt and represented their boarder with Sinai. For the most part, when the Suez canal was built, these lakes and swamps were naturally drained and have dried up. You can still see them on maps over 150 years old. This is a small section of what large areas would have looked like.

Near this site, was the location of a city built in later times that sat on the Egyptian boarder. It’s called Tampahnes. This was the city that the Prophet Jeremiah was forced to go to after the fall of Jerusalem at the close of his life. Very little has been excavated there, but we‘re sure this is the spot.
Jer 43:7 "So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the LORD and went as far as Tahpanhes."

Finally, we crossed the Suez canal into the Sinai.

There we saw the Bitter lakes area…again mostly drained by the canal and not much to look at now.
Exo 15:23-24 "When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) {24} So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?""

Finally, we stopped at a traditional place called Moses Springs. It was an obvious place for Moses to stop, since all the Israelites could buy trinkets from the Sinai Bedouin.

We’ll pause tomorrow morning before we head to St. Catherine’s at the base of a traditional site of Mt. Sinai (Jebu Musa) deep in the southern Sinai mountains.

PS…It’s possible this may be my last post in Egypt. I don’t expect an internet connection at St. Catherine’s and the last night before we leave I may not have time (Shawn and I have a 4am flight out…so we need to be at the airport at 2am…aghhhhhhhhhhhhhh).

Two final notes:

One this has been a great trip and I’ve seem some stuff I have heard and read about for years. I looking forward to getting home, but I have had a wonderful time.

Second…I wanted to post this earlier: How about a Egypt blog contest!

Who can guess what this is? There will be a prize for the first correct answer posted in the comments.

Into the Delta-Biblical Goshen

2007-03-02T11:07:00.000-08:00

Today was an interesting day, for both good and strange reasons.

It started strange. On the way east through an elevated highway of Cairo we heard a loud “bang” and felt a jolt. One of the busses inner rear tires had blown. By the strangest of luck, we blew the tire right next to a place on the highway that was a small tire shop and the owner helped the bus driver change the tire. Apparently, he has the shop there for just such occasions.

There were also several homes there, plus lots of animals- who seemed to live in the houses – including this donkey.

We have had police escorts before, but today was extraordinary. At times, we had three police trucks escorting us, guns at the ready. We weren’t suppose to take pictures of them, but I did.

As it turns out, an Egyptian general was worried about where we were going. It’s not your normal tourist destinations. So he sent along some extra security. We had no problems and most of the people we passed seemed friendly.

We first stopped at a city that was probably the Biblical Pithom, one of the cities the Hebrew slaves built. All these cities were built of sun baked mud bricks that do not last over time. So these vast cities of mud brick homes and palaces turned back into brown hills, while the limestone pyramids and granite statues of Giza and Karnack endured.

After that, we visited Tanis, known as Zoan. If it looks or sounds familiar, remember the first Indiana Jones movie and Indiana finding the Ark of the Covenant in Tanis.

Finally, we passed by a place where several Biblical cities were built: the city of Avaris and the city of Ramses. This was the center of the area where the Hebrews lived and worked when they were in Egypt. It was interesting to see people working their fields with donkeys, in the same way and in the same places that the Hebrews did it 3500+ years ago.

Tonight, we are on the edge of the Suez canal. Tomorrow we cross into the Sinai.

Egypt Old and Very Old

2007-03-02T06:56:00.000-08:00

This has been our last day in the Cairo area. We went south and looked at the oldest pyramids very built and tombs in the area. We even climbed down into the burial chamber deep in the heart of the Red pyramid—one stinking long and hot climb in an angled shaft about 4 feet tall. In order, we saw the Bent, Red, and Stepped pyramids. As we drove through the country, we saw how most rural Egyptians lived. Far more donkey carts than cars. Water buffalos to plough the fields. Butchers who don’t rely on refrigeration. And, even a small caravan of 5 camels carrying palm fronds. It almost seems frozen in time.

In the afternoon we toured some ancient churches and a synagogue in the oldest part of Cairo, an area called Coptic Cairo. These church have existed since the 5th-6th century and are still in use. Amazing to walk in churches people have worshipped in for over 1400 years.

One other thought. Egypt takes security very seriously. Police are everywhere and in large numbers at all tourist locations. Today we had a police car escort our tour bus. We noticed that most of the others busses didn’t have escorts, so I asked our guide why. “Because you are Americans” was the answer. I’m not sure how I feel about that, but everyone has been friendly to us (or at least to our money).

Tomorrow, off to Biblical Goshen….

Cario---The Big Stuff

2007-03-02T06:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry, our last really nice hotel couldn't get their internet to work, so these posts are a few days late....

Again today, we got to see some amazing sights. Unfortunately, too much of our days was taken up with this sight: Cairo traffic. Cairo traffic is perhaps the worst and craziest I have ever seen.

Our sites today were not Biblical in any way. It possible that Abraham, or Jacob, or even Jesus saw the pyramids, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Never the less, they are amazing. I’ve seen too many pictures of them to count and still, just being there, you stand in awe in front of them.

Today was Shawn’s birthday and his daughter Emma wanted a picture of Shawn in front of a pyramid. Here you go Emma.

Also, check out the camels that vendors use near the site.

The sphinx is the same thing. Amazing to see close up.

And if any of us were homesick, comfort food was just outside the sphinx compound (we passed).

What continues to hit me is the level of poverty in Cairo. Many neighborhoods look like this: run down, dirty, tightly packed, almost falling down. It is city designed for 4 million people with 16 million, and it grows every day. For many people life is tough.

We also saw the Egyptian museum, but no cameras were allowed. One of the greatest museums in the world. Tutankhamen’s treasures themselves almost justify the trio to Cairo alone.

As always, thanks for looking!

PS: next time you think your job is tough.....

Luxor

2007-02-27T13:16:00.000-08:00

Hi folks. I have to be brief today, which means that my pictures and their headings may not line up.

Not much to report about yesterday. We met most of our group at the airport and flew to Luxor. A few (including the group leader) got stuck in New York due to weather. They will join us tomorrow, but have missed some wonders.

Today we got up at 5am visited some of Egypt’s most amazing sites:

The Valley of the kings what many Pharaohs were buried in elaborate tombs cut deep into the rock. There are no pictures allowed in the tombs, so you can assume that the slightly blurry pictures that appear from tombs here must have been camera malfunctions.

The temple of queen Hatshepsut.
Temple of Ramses the third.
The amazing Karnack Temple.
Finally, a typical stop and shop opportunity that gives the guide a small kickback from what we buy. Here it is alabaster. You can see Karen Jenison talking with a salesman. What you can’t hear is a sucking sound: That’s the sound of Lynn’s money being sucked into the Egyptian economy.

Tomorrow we rise at 4am to catch a very early plane back to Cairo.

Cairo & New Friends

2007-02-25T11:27:00.000-08:00

Cairo is city of about 16 million people. Crowded beyond belief. Traffic that downright dangerous. Air pollution that is already effecting Shawn and I after only one day. Most of the people are poor. Still, it is an amazing place.

If you're feeling bad for me, don't This is where I ate lunch with one of our Presbyterian missionaries, Dusty Ellington. He's a great guy and a gracious host.

Dusty teaches Greek and New Testament here, at the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Cairo (ETSC).

This is a school Presbyterians started for the training of local pastors way back in around 1860. In 1925 the moved to their current site. The building is a mix of old-run -down, with some nicely refurbished rooms. 10% of Egypt is Christian and 10% of Christians are Evangelical Protestants. We have some good people here doing some great work. We finished the night at another missionarie's home for a birthday party for two missionary kids.

One more interesting sight.

Cairo is an ancient city and has several large cemeteries where the dead are placed in mausoleums. Oddly enough, over 100 years ago poor people started living in these "Cities of the Dead", sharing these rooms with the departed. They have to leave when a family has to come and visit. This is a shot of one of them.

Tomorrow we meet the group and then on to Luxor.

First Day Walkabout

2007-02-25T01:28:00.000-08:00

We had planned to sleep most of the morning, but couldn't. So we walked around the busy streets surrounding our hotel. I'm told, this is the nicest part of Cairo, with and schools and embassies.

Just a few images to share:

The street outside the hotel

A local place to eat

A not exactly local place to eat

A mosque on the Nile

And lots of police all around.

At 12:30 a Presbyterian minister who teaches New Testament at the Evangelical Seminary in Cairo will be picking us up for lunch and a tour. I'll be amazed if he finds this place.

We're Here

2007-02-24T18:48:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it. An easy flight from Seatac to Amsterdam, arriving at 7:30am. It was raining steady (it did so all day), so rather than cruise the town, we got a day room at the hotel right in the airport.

At 9pm (13 hours after we got there) we got on a KLM plane for Cairo. It arrived at 2:00am. After clearing passport control, we were met by our driver and whisked to our hotel. Cairo is 5 million people and it already looks interesting. Our hotel is between fleabag and nice, but will serve our needs for 1 and 1/2 nights until we meet with the whole group.

Thanks for looking!

2007-02-12T11:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I’m getting ready to hit the road again. On Feb. 23 I leave for Egypt. I’ve wanted to go to Egypt for some years, but I wanted to travel with a group and a wanted a trip that focused on Biblical history, not just general Egyptology.

I’ll be traveling with a group from Associates for Biblical Research, a Christian group with a lot of interest in archaeological. My friend, Shawn Firminger will join me, as will Karen Jenison and a friend of hers.

My plan is to try and post regular reports and pictures. I’m not what internet access I’ll have where we will be staying. I’ve found that it’s just about impossible to upload pictures with a dial up connection. So, keep checking back. I’ll post as often as I can.

My flight into Cairo lands at 2:10AM (ouch). We get there a day before the main group, so I’ll use some of the time to meet with a Presbyterian pastor who teaches New Testament at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC).

ETSC was founded in 1863 by the American Mission, which was itself an undertaking of the United Presbyterian Church of North America. If you don’t know who the UPCNA were, ask Pins Dawson.

The school is now run by the Evangelical (Presbyterian) Synod of the Nile, with a number of Presbyterians serving on their staff and in support positions.

Here’s the rest of our itinerary:
Day 2
Arrive in Cairo and transfer to a flight to the ancient center of Egypt at Luxor (Thebes) and Karnak. Evening visit to the Luxor Museum and/or a carriage ride through the suk (bazaar). Overnight in Luxor.

Day 3
Morning: cross the Nile and visit King Tut's tomb in the Valley of the Kings and Deir el Bahri, the massive Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Afternoon: visit to the famous Temple complex of Amun at Karnak, including the relief of Seti I's campaign to Palestine ca. 1300 B.C., inscriptions and relief’s of Merenptah, the Pharaoh who mentioned Israel in his records in ca. 1210 B.C., and Pharaoh Shishak's record of his campaign against Judah and Israel in 925 B.C. Overnight in Luxor.

Day 4
Early morning flight back to Cairo. Morning: Visit Old (Coptic) Cairo and see the traditional burial place of Jeremiah the Prophet. Afternoon: Visit Cairo's famous Egyptian Museum to see many items (and sometimes the people themselves!) from Egyptian history that relate to the Bible. Overnight in Cairo.

Day 5
Morning: See one of the seven wonders of the world: the Pyramids and Sphinx on the Giza plateau. Afternoon: travel to the ancient capital city of Memphis and the pyramids of Saqqara. Overnight in Cairo.

Day 6
Depart Cairo and travel north to the Land of Goshen where the Israelites lived for over 400 years. See modern villages still operating with some of the same traditional practices the Israelites used. Stop at the ancient royal city of Tanis (Biblical Zoan) (remember Raiders of the Lost Ark?) and Rameses where many Exodus events took place. Overnight at Lake Timsah in Ismailiya.

Day 7
See the site of the famous store city of Pithom built by the Israelites, Succoth, the first stopping place on the Exodus itinerary, and the remnants of Lake Ballah, possibly the Yam Suph (Sea of Reeds, not the Red Sea) where God parted the waters, then cross the Suez canal and head into Sinai, stopping at Elim on the way to our Red Sea resort. Overnight along the Red Sea

Day 8
Enjoy a morning of leisure and lunch along the shores of the Red Sea. In the afternoon follow the route of the Exodus heading into the interior of the Sinai Peninsula on the way to St. Katherine's Monastery. Overnight at St. Katherine's.

Day 9
Optional: Rise early (very early!) and climb Jebel Musa (sorry folks, but I don’t plan to try this), the traditional location of Mt. Sinai, for an unforgettable view of sunrise over the Sinai. Visit the famous St. Katherine's Monastery where early Biblical manuscripts were found. Afternoon: Travel back though Sinai, visiting additional sites and scenes from the Exodus itinerary. Cross the Suez Canal and head back to Cairo. Overnight in Heliopolis, near the Cairo International Airport.

Day 10
Depart Cairo International Airport for home.

2006-12-03T12:57:00.000-08:00

Hello!

If you’ve found my blog, you will discover that it’s not very up to date. In truth, I tend to blog when I’m on a trip or at some meeting. If you look back, you’ll see blogs of my trip to the Presbyterian Church General Assembly in June of 2006 (boring), Jerusalem in March of 2006, and Turkey in the summer of 2005.

I probably won’t blog again until I’m in Egypt in late February and early March of 2007. Hopefully, I’ll find a enough good internet connections to post some thoughts and pictures.

Thanks for looking!

The Western Wall

2006-03-20T20:45:00.000-08:00

I got a little motivated to work with some of my 2006 photos. I took over 1600 shots on this trip and I often don't do the editing work I need until much later. So, here are some shots of one of the most interesting places in Jerusalem – the Western Wall. It also called the Wailing Wall, the Kotel, and "al-Buraq Wall" by Moslems. You should be able to click (or right click - open in new tab) on any of these pictures for a larger version with more detail.

It is a western portion of a retaining wall that was used to keep the Temple Mount platform from spilling into the Tyropoeon Valley. The lowest parts of the wall may be from the early second temple era. The main parts are from the time when Herod rebuilt the Temple and expanded the platform – around the time of Jesus' life. Romans destroyed the Temple and most of her walls in 70AD.

Probably, this part of the wall was saved when it was covered with the debris of the upper walls and buildings during the Roman destruction. The upper parts of the current wall were built up during Moslem rule. You can see how this might have looked around 50AD. It would have been just to the right of the ramp in the lower middle.
Men must cover their heads here; even non Jews. You can use anything, but if you forget a hat, you get to use one of these cardboard hats, that are a lot like a french fry tray and don't stay on your head unless you hold them on. I always travel with a hat in my bag.
For Jews, this place is a sacred reminder of the Temple and the first Jewish nation. Many Jews will not go up to the Temple Mount itself – believing it must be purified before it is once again used for worship. So, the Western Wall is as close as they can get to the site of the Temple. You will see that the wall is segregated by gender – women and men have separate sides.

The Wall is a common place for the Bar Mitzvah, a Hebrew coming of age ceremony when boy must pray and read a portion of the Torah. Tuesday and Thursday are the most common days. Note that the women must observe from outside the men's area and often throw candy to the participants.

Some people hire musicians for the celebration. These guys were pretty good.

Look for the candy mid-air.
I suspect that if any of these women caught me taking pictures of their posteriors, I would probably have received a handbag to the side of my head.

Shut da Door

2006-03-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

I have been asked about the ceremony of opening and closing the doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. To be honest, in some way this shows us Christianity at it's worst.

For centuries, different denominations have fought over control of this historic church. If you follow the news in Israel, about once a year you'll read about some fistfight breaking out between the priests two different denominations over some dispute of control or access inside the church. It's flat out embarrassing. These disputes trace back centuries.

In the 12th century, to end the fighting, the Arab conqueror Saladin entrusted the key to the Muslim Nuseibeh and Joudeh families. They are the only ones who can open and close the only door in and out of the church.

Eight centuries later, the 10-inch metal key is still safeguarded in the house of the Joudeh family. Every morning at dawn, Wajeeh Nuseibeh, who took over the job of doorkeeper from his father 20 years ago, picks up the key and opens the massive wooden church doors. Every night at 8:00 p.m. he returns to shut and lock them.

Prior to 1831 the opening and closing of the door was carried out by these families only after the payment of a tax which was abolished by Ibrahim Pasha in 1831.

Muslim control of the key, however, does not mean Muslims control of the Church. Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian Orthodox groups share the main control of the church, while the Ethiopian, Egyptian Copt and Syrian churches still maintain a presence in chapels and on the roof.

Like just about everything else there, this door opening has turned into ritual. You can read a detailed description here:
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/jhs/TSspclos.html

If you want to go and see this, you may find that it's easier to get to the closing than the opening. It takes place about a half hour after sunset (get there a little before to be sure).

As the closing begins, members of the different orders gather inside and make a few arrangements, like who will be there to help open in the morning. There are always people from each church locked in all night, along with some visitors.

Here are a few pictures of the closing:

Wrapping Up

2006-03-08T01:12:00.000-08:00

This will probably be my last post. Yesterday was a bit of an odd day. I went to a different hotel for breakfast to check it out as a place to stay when I come back with a group. After that, I roamed around a bit with my rental car looking for a place to do some laundry (I did find a spot).
Yesterday was also the only day I haven’t felt very well. Something I ate must have disagreed with me. I’m feeling perfect this morning, so it must have been pretty minor.

Yesterday afternoon, I met some people I have gotten to know over the internet. Todd Bolen teaches at a Master’s College Jerusalem extension campus and has taken literally thousands of pictures of Israel. He introduced me to Tom Powers who is an American ex-pat scholar who does volunteer work and is taking guide training. With a few other people, we did a tour of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Tom is somewhat of an expert on it) and then we all met an Armenian guide who gave us a tour of the Armenian Quarter – one of the more inaccessible parts of the old city.

After that, he was able to get us into a normally locked chapel in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that the Armenians control, called St. Vartan’s Chapel. It’s a part of an old rock quarry, where on one stone someone has drawn a Roman ship and left an inscription. It dated to the 3rd century. It could be one of the earliest signs of pilgrims coming to the area to area to worship; it could also be common graffiti. Still, an interesting place few people get to see.

I had planned on one day of rain during my visit and got none, so I find myself on my last day having seen all I planned to see and ready to be heading home. It is cloudy today. I’ll wander leisurely today and get packed up. I have to leave here at 2:30am (aghhhhhhhhh) to be on time for a 5:45am departure. This is when saving $300 of airfare doesn’t seem worth it.

Guns

2006-03-08T01:06:00.000-08:00

I both shoot and collect guns, so I’m not bothered by the sight of firearms. Still, I’m always amazed here at the amount of firearms that you see in public. Soldiers on guard, police, special guards with groups, and sometimes average Israelis. If you are nervous around guns, this isn’t the place for you.

It’s a reminder that in many ways this nation is still at war. Frankly, you might not otherwise know it. I wonder if terrorism continues to expand in our world how long it might be before we see these scenes in the USA.

Road Trip

2006-03-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

Not so much to report today. I took my rental car on a road trip. I’ll spare you most of the details, but driving here isn’t my favorite hobby. There seems to be some Jewish law against street signs. That I got to where I was going and back owes a great deal to luck.

I drove to Nazareth, Megiddo, and Sepphoris. Eventually you see the pictures show up in sermons and classes.

Nazareth is a zoo. In conjures up images of a sleepy, rural village. In reality, it is a huge, crowded city with small streets built on a series of steep hills and valleys. Nothing like it was in Jesus’ time. Here is what I saw a great deal of:

That would be cars not moving.

Here’s a little what it looks like from up above (if the picture looks fuzzy, it was a very hazy day):

On the flip side, Sepphoris is a little visited site of a 1century Roman/Greek town that is just over the hill from Nazareth. The homes were filled with beautiful mosaics. I think it likely that both Jesus and his earthly dad worked here. Interesting to see the ruins of houses God’s Son might have helped build.

Al

Girls...

2006-03-06T08:50:00.000-08:00

Another day of many stairs. My guesthouse is right near the Jaffa Gate (see picture). It just about the highest part of the old city. The tunnel Hezekiah had dug from the Gihon spring is at just about the lowest part.

So, today I went from my hotel and toured the City of David excavations all the way to the tunnel. Historic Jerusalem from top to bottom. Then I had to climb all the way back. More stairs than I ever want to see again. It was tough watching the tour groups get dropped of at the entrance and see their busses waiting to pick them up at the bottom.

Not as many people pictures today, but a few with some reflections. I am a proud father of girls, and as such I sometimes see the world through the eyes of a father. In Israel there are two main groups of people: Jews and Arab/Palestinians. Arabs who live in the Jewish state are often citizens, but tend to be treated as second class citizens. The two live very separate lives in most places.

All Jews serve in the military after they graduate from high school. Part of the training is to take them to historic location and to be sure they know their Jewish history. So you often find groups of young soldiers in training at some of the places you visit, in uniform and armed with M-16s.

This may sound a little sexist, but it’s still odd for me to see the groups of young women soldiers. Girls about 19, talking on cell phones and shouldering an assault rifle. I know in the USA we have many fine women soldiers, but we assume they are still somewhat unique and have some affinity for this kind of service. Here EVERY girl becomes a soldier. My daughter Alisha would be serving right now. I simply can’t imagine some of the cheerleaders I knew in high school trading in their pom poms for an M-16 right after graduation. Here are a few shots:

On the other side, few Arabs serve in the military. For them, it is not compulsory. Most of the kids go to schools that are segregated by sex and wear school uniforms (British influence). They look like kids everywhere. A few shots (note that the group of girls are playing with a Barbie sticker book and the one girl has a Barbie backpack):

It was strange to see these two groups side by side. Two peoples, sharing the same country, but having such different lives and futures. Maybe that's how people from outside the USA see the lives of whites and blacks when they visit us.

I can only imagine how their fathers worry about them. Thanks for looking.

PS to my family:
-Had a fabulous Middle Eastern dinner with Saliba tonight at a wonderful restaurant where everyone knew him (of course). I’ll have to take our group there when we go. He is doing great. Here’s a picture:

Strange Stuff

2006-03-04T09:59:00.000-08:00

I’ve had a few notes of concern from people who heard there was a riot here. In a place known for weird stuff, this was weird.

Apparently, a Jewish man, his Christian wife, and another woman went into the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth. He started throwing firecrackers and panic ensued. Local people heard the explosions and commotion and ran to the church. The situation developed into a near riot.

It’s interesting to hear how this is interpreted here. The Palestinians whom I talked to about this referred to the man as a “Jewish terrorist”. The Israeli media talked about him as a man with “emotional problems”. I suspect it’s true that had this man been an Arab, he would have simply been called a terrorist. Such is the underlying tension of the people who live here.

On the other hand, I spent most of the morning in Bethlehem – an area controlled by the Palestinian Authority and had no problems. There were far fewer people pestering me to “come to my shop” or “do you need a guide”. Taxi drivers were polite, friendly, and gave reasonable fares for the trip there and back. I was a little nervous about being there on my own, but I had zero problems.

However, one very politely talked with me about how much most people in the Middle East hate George Bush and are upset about the daily killings in Iraq. He was quick to point out that they did NOT hate individual Americans, just what our country has done.

I would have mentioned that all these people are being killed by Moslems, but I’ve learned to never argue with a taxi driver about politics. We live in a complicated world and they live in a far more difficult one than I do.

Today was the Jewish Sabbath. I saw lots of Jews in just about every variety you can imagine walking about in their Sunday best. I must have heard them speaking a dozen languages. I sat in a square for 30 minutes and watched families walk by; children playing in the square while parents visited with friends as the Sabbath was coming to a close. I wonder if we couldn’t learn a thing or two from them about using God’s day of rest wisely.

Jerusalem and Bethlehem are places we read about in the Bible; ancient, historical places that remind us of Christmas pageants and seem unreal. But they are also living 21st centuries cities, with people who want all the things in life we do. The mix of old and new always amazes me. To actually live in the town that David took for his city, where Pentecost happened, or where Jesus was born boggles my mind. For the people here it is simply a part of the rich heritage of their lives that we can barely understand.

Again, some people pictures:

Soldiers patrolling outside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (seemed like there were more today).

Jews heading into the Old City.

Palestinian schoolboys in the grotto of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, crowding to touch the place where Jesus was born.

A Palestinian sitting in Manger Square.

An African pilgrim on her way to her tour bus with luggage.

Two Harindi (ultra orthodox Jews) young men standing on the top of the city walls.

A little blurry, but a Jewish man and son walking in the Jewish quarter.

Finally, the nave of the Church of the Nativity, re-built in the 6th century and standing much as it was then.

Amazing place. Thanks for looking.

My Legs are Killing Me

2006-03-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

Well, another great day with wonderful weather. I started the day on top of the Mount of Olives, visiting churches and sites on the way down to the Kidron Valley. I walked down the valley to see a few 1cBC tombs, hiked out of it to the base of the southern temple wall, then down through what would have been the old city of David to the Siloam excavations.

After a wild bus ride on an Arab bus, I was back in the old city. I walked down to the beginning of the Via Delarosa to follow along the with the Good Friday walk they do each Friday at 3pm.

I find I walk A LOT more than I did on an escorted trip. No bus to drop me off and pick me up at every site.

Again, it’s been great to be able to take in the more than just the sites themselves. The people, the sounds, even the smells of incense and olive oil. A few more people pictures:

German pilgrims kissing the stone in the church in Gethsemane.

Russian orthodox priest in the Tomb of Mary.

Boys swimming in the water carried by a 2700 year old water tunnel in a 2000 year old pool.

Moslems filing out of the Damascus gate after Friday noon prayers on the Temple Mount.

An Ethiopian monk inside their chapel of the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Eastern European pilgrims carrying a cross outside the church.

And if you were worried I wasn’t eating well…here is my lunch for the past three days:
The best falafels in the world are made in Israel.

Thanks for looking. God bless!

And now for something completely different...

2006-03-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

AL IN JERUSALEM
Well, I made it.
I left my house at 6:50am on Monday and arrived at my hotel in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning at 4am. It was along time getting here.

Still, this is an amazing place. I think what amazes me as much as the history is the people. I don’t think there is anywhere in the world that drawn so many different people and draws them to places of faith and devotion. God said that he would draw all the nations to himself and it looks like he has done it here.

Here are a few shots of people I’ve snuck a picture of…

I have been busy and my legs feel it. Wednesday, I did a four quarters walk of the city and went through the tunnel that runs along the western edge of the great Herodian wall that the temple was built on. I spend some extra time in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Today, I took pictures of the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, the southern wall excavations, a few places in the Jewish Quarter, and Mt. Zion. Eight hours of marching up and down hills and stairs. Nothing here is flat and my legs feel every foot I walked.

I still have a lot to do. Seven days left.

Take care…Al

Last Turkey Post

2005-07-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

I wanted to finish up by posting a few last pictures of the project. This was what the trip was all about. One picture below shows Sandra going outside the center to try and bring a few girls who, for reasons we never understood, didn’t feel they could come and join us. We make it our job to show them that they mattered to us and to bring them in. Unconditional love.

Perhaps some day these kids will wonder why they were shown such kindness and they will think about the God who we worship. Verna King says that our job is not to convert anyone – that’s the Holy Spirit’s job. Our job is to witness. God is in charge of the rest. I can live with that and just be thankful that He might have used us as a small part of His great plan.
Pastor Al

2005-07-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

A few of our kids.

2005-07-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

Back in Kepez...

2005-07-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

At the end of the day, the girls went back to the Grand Bazaar and I walked around and took a few more pictures. For one Turkish lira, I had one of these rabbits tell my fortune. They pick a piece of paper out of a board with a fortune on it. Mine was bad (or so the guy at the hotel desk said). If it had mentioned anything at all about a tough return trip, It would have made me a believer.

2005-07-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

On the Asian side we took a boat out into the Bosphorus to visit Maiden's Island.

2005-07-29T12:50:00.000-07:00

The Bosphorus is filled with ferryboats that cross back and forth, carrying people, cars, and goods. A little like Seattle, but the rides are only 70 cents.

2005-07-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

Next we boarded a ferry to cross over from Europe to Asia.

2005-07-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

Turks take tea very seriously. One section outside the bazaar had a number of shops that sold all things related to tea: pots, trays, cups, and all sorts of coal and electric tea pots we�ve never even dreamed of. We bought a few tea items here from a very nice man (who spoke no English) and felt good we were bring back something real Turks would actually use.

2005-07-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

I found the shops outside the bazaar that cater to the locals more interesting than the tourist shops inside.

2005-07-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

This is the Spice Bazaar and you can smell the spices as soon as you enter. It a mix of tourist stuff, spices, and food. It's been here since Roman days when ships from Egypt brought exotic spices to the nearby docks.

2005-07-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

An electric tram ran right in front of our hotel. We took at a short distance, down the hill to to the area of the Galenta Bridge, the Egyptian (Spice) Bazaar, and the Emin�n� ferry docks.

2005-07-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

A little breakfast before our last day in Istanbul on our hotel's rooftop terrace.

2005-07-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

Last stop for the day was Suleyman�s Mosque, the largest in Istanbul. It so big, it impossible to get a picture of it when you�re near it. You get a sense of the scale by looking at the entrance and the size of the people.

2005-07-29T08:49:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you�re a Roman Emperor and you find an ancient Egyptian obelisk down in Egypt you like? You move it to your Hippodrome in Constantinople (the Roman name for Istanbul). They had to build a special ship to carry it. On the bottom of the obelisk is a marble base showing the emperor watching the games and rooting for his favorite team.

2005-07-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

Topkapi Palace. This was the seat of power of the Ottoman Sultan�s and it is an amazing and elaborate complex. It was also the site of the palace complex of the Byzantine empire. Lots of history took place here and it still holds stunning treasures.