Closing prayer

May God bless us to fearlessly speak out against injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people.  

May God bless us that we remember we are all called to continue God's redemptive work of love and healing.

And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world so that we will courageously try what we don't think we can do, but in Christ Jesus will have the strength to do.

This prayer was shared at our closing devotional.  This has been an amazing journey, one that we will never forget, and one that we trust will make a difference as seeds that are watered by God's grace and mercy in Jesus Christ. 

Galilee: In the footsteps of Jesus

Leaving Pilgerhaus we set out for the Mount of Beautitudes

We drove back down to the seaside to visit the next few sites.

"Tabgha" means to prepare a meal: the site of the feeding of the 5,000.  Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes.

 

 We walked a short distance to the church of the Primacy of St Peter.

On to Capernaum: the actual site of this is certain because the synagogue of the Jesus time has been excavated, along with the site of the house where Peter lived with his mother in law who was healed by Jesus. 

The modern church is built over the ruins of the ancient one.

A drive to the hills, to the town of Cana

Then to Nazareth

 The Basilica's chapel is built in a cave thought to be the home of the Holy Family

Finally to Mount Tabor, the site of the Transfiguration of Jesus.

Jerusalem to Galilee

A final visit to the Mount of Olives...good bye Jerusalem.  We will be praying especially for residents of East Jerusalem who are living with the burden of occupation, segregation and racism.  

Leaving Jerusalem heading north to Galilee means driving "down" to 300 M below sea level.  My ears popped!  We visited the traditional Baptismal site on the Jordan River.

This chapel is on the east bank in the nation of Jordan.  Recently the King of Jordan gave land to the EKCJHL for a Lutheran site.  We went on to Galilee, starting with a boat ride.

Visited the ancient boat discovered in the mud when the sea level was low due to a drought.  Then we checked into our final hotel for the trip, Pilgerhaus which has a chapel we can use for our evening devotionals.