1. A Pilgrimage to Israel A Sacred Story Journey Connie Paul, January, 2010

2. Israel Now and Then

4. Our guide and driver were Palestinians and Israeli citizens

5. The Life of Jesus

6. Why does our story begin in Bethlehem?

7. Shepherd’s Field Remembers Two Events: First Ruth and Boaz

8. The monument at the entrance to Shepherd’s Field

9. This church commemorates the site of the angels & shepherds

10. Just down the road is Manger Square The Church of the Nativity is one of the oldest in Israel. The Persians didn’t destroy it in the 500’s as they did most others because of the icon of the Wise Men in Persian dress

11. This section is Greek Orthodox

12. Mosaic from the floor of the church of the 500s

13. The ancient walls of the church

14. By Tradition the Place of Jesus’s Birth

15. To the right of the birthplace is the place of the manger

16. The manger may have looked like this one at Megiddo

17. Bethlehem today

18. Our story continues in Nazareth It was Jesus’ hometown Jesus grew up in Nazareth which was insignificant at the time It is now the “Arab capital of Israel”

19. A village from Jesus’s time has been recreated

20. Nazareth today from the village

21. Jesus’s first miracle was at Cana.This church remembers it.

22. Some of the group re-enacted their marriage vows

23. To the Sea of Galilee

24. We hear the story of the calling of Peter and Andrew at the seaside

25. The Sea is clear and lovely

26. The Site of the Sermon on the Mount

27. The Church of the Beatitudes

28. We heard the whole sermon here

29. The Church of Multiplication(Feeding the 5000)

30. Nearby is the church remembering Peter

31. “And thou art Peter and on this rock…”

32. Capernaum

33. Jesus really did walk here

34. The synagogue where Jesus taught

35. The church is built over the ruins

36. The floor of the church looks down on the ruins of Peter’s mother-in-laws house

37. An ancient olive press

38. The ancientmosaicfloor

39. Hearing Capernaum’s history

40. By tradition Zaccheus climbed into this tree

41. Sailing on the Sea of Galilee We saw the shore from a boat on the Sea

42. The Jordan, where Jesus was baptised, and one of our group was, too.

43. The tomb of Lazarus in Bethany

44. The bottom of Lazarus’ tomb

45. The church of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus

46. Jerusalem the Golden

47. Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

48. The pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem

49. On the path to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday

50. The Garden of Gethsemene, an olive grove

51. Caiphus’s house where Peter denied Jesus at the crowing of the cock

52. The Via Dolorosa, a place of pilgrimage

53. Station VII

54. The site of Golgotha in the Church of the Holy Sepulchure

55. Stone of Preparation* *from Internet

56. Behind the window of the church is the location of the crucifixion

57. The Garden Tomb

58. Other wonderful places we visited

59. The Western Wall, the holiest site for Jews

60. The wall of the temple closest to the Holy of Holies

61. The model of the temple at the Israel Museum showing the courtyard of the Gentiles

62. The Dome of the Rock

63. Climbing to the tel

64. The tel of Megiddo

65. The excavation is to King Ahab’s time Horse

66. Megiddo looks down on the plains of Armegeddon

67. Qumran Where the Dead Sea scrolls were found

68. The museum has recreated how the scrolls looked when they were found.

69. The Springs of En Gedi

70. Going to swim in the Dead Sea

71. Masada

72. The model of Herod’s Masada

73. Touring the top of the mountain

74. The baths retain some of their color

75. The room where the lots were cast

76. The pilgrims at BeitShe’an