[acidfree:2266 style=image align=left size=200]Greetings to all:
Just a quick note from Tim to let you know that we are safe and sound
in Tiberius, on the Sea of Galilee! It's beautiful here. Our retreat
with 20 pastors is going well. Travel was fine, bus ride up was good
too.
This morning we went to Capernaum, on the northern side of this lake.
It's green and lush and even raining a little...the greenest time of
the year. This is the country's fruitbasket, apparently, as there are
banana farms and mangoes and citrus and grain and figs and lots and
lots of olive trees. The yellow mustard is also growing like crazy.
Our guide, Claudia, said it just grows a couple weeks out of the year.
Capernaum is an amazing place. There are the ruins of a fair sized
town there, and the remains of a fifth century church built around a
first century house church built around a first century house that
folks speculate must have been Peter's house (according to third
century source...Egeria, a Spanish woman who came on pilgrimage here at
that time). It's right on the sea. There is also a fifth century
synagogue that has been partially rebuilt using the beautiful old
stones that were lying around...the whole area was badly damaged by a
number of earthquakes through the years. We dined on St. Peter's fish
at a local retaurant...spiney but tasty, and a host of magnificent
dishes.
We also visited a site where traditional says Jesus taught the crowds the beattitudes. It was a green meadow. Tomorrow we go to the site of the feeding of the 5000.
David's doing a great job with worship and I'm working with the fine
pastors God has given us to shepherd. For all who wonder if the area
can live up to the hype...yes, it can and does. It's also been so
enlightening to talk to people about the political and religious
intricacies of life in this area. We're enjoying the discussions and
the hospitality. We're staying in a converted hospital built by at
Scotsman in the 1890's...still owned by the church of Scotland.
We love you all and look forward to telling you so much about this journey that you'll beg for silence!
Blessings,
Tim
