Monuments & Moments – Day 6 – Disputed Lands

On the BorderThe wall and the fence separating Israel from the West Bank were built to protect Israeli citizens from snipers and suicide bombers, coming from Palestinian cities, in the early 2000’s. Most of the divide is actually a chain-link fence, but in highly populated areas, there’s a wall that is 10 feet to 24 feet high. We visited the …

Monuments & Moments – Day 5 – The Garden (Part 2)

The Challenge of Being PresentThe walk down the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane was wonderful and felt adventurous, but if I’m being transparent, I was distracted by the cars driving by, the people around me, and the responsibilities of the day. We arrived in the Garden of Gethsemane and had 30 minutes to meditate and pray, but …

Monuments & Moments – Day 4 – The Garden (Part 1)

Gaining a New Perspective (by Jessica Stallbaum)Early in the morning, we were driven to the very top of the Mount of Olives. The view was breathtaking. From that elevation, we could see so many of the places we had recently visited on our sojourn across Israel. The Dome of the Rock with its multimillion dollar gold overlay was glistening in …

Monuments & Moments – Day 3 – Feeding the Masses

Visiting the Mount of BeatitudesWe visited the Mount of the Beatitudes, and this is the place where the feeding of the 5,000 happened and where Jesus preached His longest recorded sermon. There is a beautiful church sitting on top of the hill in the place where people would have sat listening to Jesus. Inside the church is a wonderful mosaic …