Nina's Notes for Tuesday

Tuesday, February 7 This has been one of my favorite days of the trip! We made our way out of the city and into the Judean wilderness of Palestine. It is barren, rugged and quite a contrast to the countryside we have seen near Jerusalem. Our initial stop was at Qumran where the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Most scholars believe that the Qumran scrolls were left by a Jewish community called the Essenes who hid the scrolls in caves before their city was destroyed by the Romans. We continued our journey to 1,800 feet below sea level as we reached the Dead Sea. The water in the Dead Sea is 23% salt as compared to10% in most oceans. Several of us waded and others ventured out further to float in the Dead Sea. It was a beautiful day and this motley group of pastors enjoyed romping and laughing together in the water. The next stop on our journey was to the oldest city in the world - Jericho. We saw portions of a wall that is 5,000 years old! We visited a monastery that sits high on the face of the mountain in Jericho. We rode cable cars to one level of the mountain, and then had to climb our way up many flights of stairs to reach the monastery. It is literally built in the rock and is beautiful inside. We were able to see their chapel which is small but has many icons and paintings on the walls and ceilings. The monk that let us in spoke with me and asked where we were from. I told him we were from Kentucky and he asked if I knew where Louisville and Lexington were! He has family in Lexington and lived there for five years! It is definitely a small world! We ate lunch and did some shopping in Jericho before piling back on the bus after an exhausting day of swimming, climbing, and exploring the ruins of Jericho. God was and is in this place. How grateful I am that when I read the Scriptures now they will come alive for me as I envision these places I have visited.