Day 2...

Pastor Keith shepherding his flock on the Jordan
River

The view from the top of Nebo looking North

The inside of St. Georges Church

Our second day was packed with activities and sights to see. We started the morning off with a trip down the street to the St. George Greek Orthodox church with the oldest mosaic of Jerusalem in the world...dating to the 6th century. Only 1/3 of it remains, but it is a beautiful and intricate work of art showing much of the Holy Land geography.

From there we drove 15 minutes to Mount Nebo, the sight of Moses viewing the Promised Land before dying and having Joshua lead them in to conquer Jericho in the valley below. It was a hazy day, but the view was nonetheless spectacular and it really gave us an understanding of the rugged landscape that comprises much of this area. Mt. Nebo has been inhabited for thousands of years, and is most recently home to monks of the Franciscan order who maintain the premises and live on top of the hill.

Next, we were off to the floor of the Jordan valley below where we visited the muddy, but full, Jordan river and the traditional site of Jesus' baptism. It was much warmer down here, and the site is full of trails winding through thick bushes that surround the river. The first area we came to was the baptism site (no longer connected to the present flow of the river) on top of which successive Byzantine churches had been built to commemorate the event. The path then wound around until we reached the muddy banks of the river. On one side sits Jordan, and right across the waters is the state of Israel. It was fascinating to stand there and feel like you were in the true center of history. A wonderful experience.

After this, we got back onto our bus and proceeded to go south to the shores of the Dead Sea. Jordan has done much work to build up their tourism industry in this area, and as we speak numerous hotel/resorts are sprouting up along the North East side of the water. We visited one of them for lunch and a few on the team took a dip in the salty waters. For those of you who have done this, you know it is a surreal and sometimes painful experience! We hung out at this resort for an hour or so and then wearily made our way back to the hotel.

Tomorrow we'll be heading into Israel and then into Bethlehem for a few days to begin our work with HCEF. There has been much to see and do so far, but please pray that we would be rested and ready to work diligently and soak in our time with the wonderful people in Bethlehem.

Thanks for everything! See you soon...