The most wonderful day!

Yesterday was the most wonderful day!

Our day began at the River Jordan at the place where we celebrate the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. Here is a picture of Toni and I remembering our baptism.

In the background across the Jordan River you can see St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church.  It is in Jordan, and we are in the Palestine.  The buoys in middle of the Jordan River form the boundary between Jordan and Israeli-occupied Palestine.  

We ended the day at Wadi Qelt on the trail between Jericho and Jerusalem.  It is better known as "The Valley of the Shadow of Death." 

You can see a deep valley behind us. The valley is riddled with caves where robbers would hide waiting for travelers. Ancient hearers of the Scriptures would have pictured this place when they heard the words of the 23rd Psalm, "Yes, thou I walk through the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."  When Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho, this is the image that ancient hearers would have had of the place where the man was robbed and beaten.

Overlooking the valley on the hillside is the Monastery of Saint George of Choziba which dates to the fifth century AD where it is believed that Elijah was fed by ravens (1 Kings 17:5-6).

In between these two remarkable places, we visited Masada where 960 Jewish patriots committed suicide rather than live as Roman slaves in 73 AD,  and Qumran where the Dead Sea scrolls were first discovered in 1946.

This has been an amazing Spirit-filled trip with a wonderful group of twenty-one pilgrims!

Soli Deo gloria!