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Hi Folks

We left Jerusalem early, both excited for a change and sad to leave the wonderful Charity Sisters on the Mount of Olives. We packed up the van with suitcases and frozen water bottles to journey off to Masada (alongside the western side of the Dead Sea). It was a true “guy” adventure, with fortresses and old castle-like structures. HOT, HOT, HOT, probably 108 degrees F. Your youth learned all about King Herod and the fortress he built on top of the flat mountain by the Dead Sea.

Next stop was Qumran which is on the Northwest side of the Dead Sea. This is where the Dead Sea scrolls were originally written and subsequently found in the late 1940’s. We also learned about the culture at the time of Jesus and that John the Baptist might have been a part of copying the first Testament in Qumran.

The greatest fun we had today was floating in the Dead Sea. Everyone agreed that this was the highlight of the day. Lisa had to influence the girls a bit at first, but they got in and loved it. Father Earle, Matt, Chris and Lisa gave themselves a mud treatment that would have cost dearly in a local spa. George (our lovable tour guide) said we went over our time limit, but it was all worth it.

We are now comfortable at the Sisters of Nazareth, which has A/C, clean bathrooms and showers. Everyone liked the food.

On our way to Jericho, Northwest side of the Dead Sea, is when Cliff received an email regarding the incident in Jerusalem. We consulted with George who had read about it before joining us this morning. The Israeli press reported it very differently than CNN. We had all left Jerusalem by then anyway. When we got to Nazareth, we all talked about it as a group and re-iterated George’s comments as well as a customer contact of Cliff’s company that lives here. Bottom line, we are all fine and safe.

Peace and God Bless

Lisa and Cliff