Chapter Forty Five - "Israel, Part One: Arriving in Tiberias"

Day 1 – Saturday, 30^th August 2014 (‘A Flying Start’)

The day had finally arrived; I would be leaving for Israel this morning! I was eager to get on my way, despite it being a quarter to four in the morning. I managed to convince myself to leave plenty of time to get ready, just in case I ran into any unforeseen problems.
 
After a final check of my bags, I left at five to make the short walk to the bus stop. My bags were heavy, but that was unsurprising, as I’d never really been good at packing light.

I had worked out the timings to a tee – I would arrive at Terminal 5 for six thirty, giving me plenty of time to find our meeting place (Costa Coffee), and meet everyone for six fifty. Perfect!

Despite arriving at the airport slightly later than hoped, all was not lost. I still had five minutes to reach the meeting point. I put my ‘Christian Travel’ lanyard around my neck, and waited for my travelling companions to show up.

As time ticked on, with still no sign from my other tour members, I thought it was odd. I checked the information sheet I had been given previously, to reassure myself. Then I saw it.

At that moment four things became unnervingly apparent: 

1) We were meeting at the café in the departures area; I was in arrivals.
2) It was Café Nero, not Costa.
3) The meeting time was actually six thirty – six fifty was the check in time.
4) I had no means of communicating with any of my fellow travellers, to ask them to wait.

Without wasting any more time I jumped into the lift and headed upstairs to the departures zone. I immediately rushed towards the right café, but again no one was to be seen. A lady in formal dress – airport staff, I thought – was waiting nearby, so I asked her to point me towards the information desk. She turned out to be from my travel company, Worldwide Christian Travel, and handed me my e-ticket. Apparently, the others weren’t too far ahead and would be looking out for me. I could breathe easily!

After the routine security checks I caught up with the first of my companions. We got chatting as we ordered breakfast together. John and Miriam, Colin and Essie, and Rob and Sharon; I suddenly realised how wonderful it was going to be, to be surrounded by other (more mature) Christians. I began to wonder, however, if I was to be the youngest member of our group.

On the flight, though our seats were mainly grouped together, I found myself sitting next to a lady who wasn’t part of our trip. I occupied myself with the Mail’s cryptic crossword, and a movie, whilst my companion tried to position herself in various positions across the two adjacent seats in a bid to get some sleep. She gave up in the end; I tried not to notice. As I marvelled at taking another foreign trip at last, and being in the air again, the attendant came round with food. A mixed grill – breakfast number three.

When we landed at Ben Gurion Airport, around three thirty local time (GMT+2), the heat hit me. Quite a change from the rain I had experienced this morning in London. I couldn’t believe I was finally in Israel; a place I had dreamt about visiting for so long. At last I would be able to picture the Bible in colour, and follow in Jesus’ footsteps.

Once on our tour bus, we were introduced to our guide, a believer himself. I got speaking to a young chap, Steve, the son of Ian and Ruth, the couple leading our trip – he had been asked to come along in a filming capacity. We would have neighbouring rooms in the hotel, so despite getting an unsettling feeling about being alone in a foreign country, I was glad to have made a friend in him.

We enjoyed a hearty dinner shortly after we arrived at our hotel in Tiberias, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. We had our formal briefing meeting later in the evening. I finally got to meet all my fellow travellers, and we had a short introduction and prayer, based on Psalm 121. Indeed the Lord watches over me.

 

Day 2 – Sunday, 31^st August 2014 (‘The Galilee Experience’)

At breakfast, at seven, we were spoilt for choice. The usual cereals and toast, but also fruit, yoghurts and omelettes – and also what seemed to be the remainder of last night’s salad option. I played it safe, though I inadvertently spread maple syrup on my toast, thinking it was honey. Interesting.

At a quarter to eight we left the hotel and walked down to the Sea of Galilee. Looking out at it this morning I began to appreciate why this ‘lake’ was called a sea. I could imagine the desperation of the disciples as they faced the storm in the middle of the lake, with Jesus asleep. We boarded our ark-like boat for our sail across the sea, conforming to the stereotype of patriotic English-folk as the crew hoisted the union jack and played the national anthem over the loud speakers.

Shortly after the hilarity had died down, it became apparent that we had an engine problem and would need to change boats. Before long we were out on the water. Worship songs were playing on the speakers, as we passed Mount Arbel, a peak on the Jewish border where Christ prayed all night. I joined in with the words of the songs, whilst appreciating the fact that Jesus himself walked these lands, and journeyed on these waters. I prayed that I wouldn’t lose the wonder of this occasion. Some Bible passages were read out by some of the group, but we were left to our own thoughts and contemplations, making it a very special time. To lift the mood, we had a go at traditional Israeli dancing, and I bought a few souvenirs.

When we came ashore on the other side of the lake, we visited a small museum focusing on the discovery of the 2,000 year old ‘Jesus boat’, found nearby. As I heard the story, I was amazed that something so fragile could be conserved so well. I couldn’t help thinking there was a significance in the fact that there were twelve different types of wood found in the structure of the boat, considering the number of disciples. The museum itself was interesting, but soon I felt it was time to move on.

From the kibbutz (where we saw the boat) we travelled up to the site of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). At the site now is the Church of the Beattitudes, run by Franciscan nuns.  After reading from the Bible we had some time to privately explore the church and gardens – all immaculately kept. We pondered over the words of Jesus during his sermon, and how they were so counter cultural (requiring the work of the Holy Spirit in order for us to live them out), but as I wandered alone I found it hard to focus on specific thoughts. It was already a lot to take in.

Then onwards to Capernaum, where Jesus did a large proportion, if not most, of his ministry. Situated on the northern side of the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum was a Jewish town on a busy traderoute, meaning lots of people would pass through. 10,000 people lived in Capernaum, with large families living together in shared houses. Due to their lack of faith, Jesus eventually pronouncd judgement on the town, which explains why it is in ruins today. History lesson over. As we walked through the ruins, we saw the remains of Peter’s house, perfect for his trade, situated directly between the sea and the synagogue. Ian asked me to read from Mark 2:1-12, about the men lowering the paralysed man through the roof of the house for Jesus to heal (as an aside, over dinner I discussed how it was interesting that Jesus saw the man’s real need, not looking at his obvious ailment, but forgiving his sins – we shouldn’t jump to conclusions when praying for others, either; what we see may not actually be their biggest need). As Jesus healed so many people here, we approached it as a place of healing and took time to pray for each other. Although I didn’t have any personal prayer requests, I silently prayed along with the others. It was a moving time, especially when we sang a simple worship song – ‘He is Lord’ – and I have faith that God will honour our prayers.

Lunchtime came next, and a chance to finally try the Tilapya, St Peter’s fish. It was a Lebanese restaurant, with brilliant food, but with hindsight I wish I had gone for the ‘whole fish’ rather than the ‘fillet of fish’ (which I chose for ease of eating), which came battered. Consequently I couldn’t be absolutely sure that I was sampling our intended delicacy.

Our first visit after lunch was to the Kursi region, the scene of the Gadarene swine and the demon possessed man. Although there wasn’t a lot to see besides the ruins of an old church, this particular stop was moving to our guide, as he recounted how Jesus came all the way here to save one man. A reminder that our God is so personal and so loving as to care about the individual. This perspective prompted our friend to share his own story with us, how God saved him and brought him into a life of hope and purpose. We praised God, and prayed for blessing on this man, especially looking towards the future.

The final sightseeing stop of the day was a visit to the Jordan river, the site of Jesus’ baptism. According to Ian, it was unusually quiet, as the place would normally be heaving with visitors. But this afternoon it was pleasant, giving us more time for private reflection about our own baptisms, and how far God had brought us. Sometimes it can be so easy to be taken up with the things of this world, and lose focus on the things of God.

With a few hours before dinner we headed back to the hotel. A small group of us, myself included, wanted to take a swim in the Sea of Galilee (to say we’d done it), and so we changed and set out. Finding access to the water was not as easy as we had expected, but the five of us eventually found a way in – the water was pleasantly warm. We followed this dip with a swim in the hotel’s outdoor pool, where I was able to get to know some of the others in our tour group.

I enjoyed making conversation at dinner, and we talked over the events of the day. It was hard to believe this was only day two, considering the amount of things we’d seen already. I was very glad to be part of such a close-knit group.