Sunsets, Aqueducts, and Fishing in the Galilee Region

Greetings! I hope everyone is doing well. We returned back to Jerusalem from our trip to the Galilee region on Thursday night. Since then, we've had a test, a "graduation ceremony" (from the program here at Jerusalem University College), done some shopping, an essay, a church service, and washing clothes! We leave in an hour for Turkey! Israel has been incredible and wonderfully transformative, and I praise God for the opportunity I have had to be in this beautiful country.

I don't know what my internet access will be like in Turkey, Greece, and Rome (for my itinerary, see the first post!), but I will keep this blog updated as much as possible.


Sunset on the Sea of Galilee the first night! We stayed at this beautiful resort called Ein Gev. I shared a cabin with two other guys, and we were right on the beach. It was paradise! It was so meaningful to spend time on the Sea where our Savior walked on water. One night, we had a worship service on the beach, looking at the same coastal topography that Jesus would have seen.


Sitting on the top of Mt. Arbel, a steep hill right on the Western edge of the Sea of Galilee. It was beautiful!


Aqueduct at Caesarea. Caesarea is a town built by Herod the Great as a Hellenistic port on the Mediterranean. Caesarea was not a natural port, meaning it had no "inlet" for boats to dock. Really, Caesarea was just a way for Herod to express his "meglomania" and build another monument to his kingdom. Caesarea does not have a natural spring, so they had to channel water in from 25 miles away (from Mt. Carmel) by means of an aqueduct. Here, our group crowds around the ancient aqueduct!


Scythopolis (Beth-Shean in the Semitic time) is an incredibly well preserved Hellenistic city in the Galilee region. In 64 B.C., it was even made the capital of the Decapolis, or the group of ten cities that Rome controlled and used to "Hellenize" the land.


On Thursday morning, we took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee (or "Lake Kinneret" as the locals call it). Here you see one of the guys on the boat showing us how 1st century fisherman used cast nets to catch their fish.


Here I am in the Jordan River! The Jordan is a pretty calm and narrow river, flowing from the slopes of Mt. Hermon to the Sea of Galilee and emptying in the Dead Sea.


Jerusalem University College is where we've studied for the past 3 weeks. I'll miss you, JUC!