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Day 3 Blog

Landin Brown
Sophomore (Houston, Texas)

Friday, May 18, 2018

The experience from Israel so far has been amazing. Being able to see God's presence in some of the amazing places we visited is crazy to think about.  It puts things into perspective that our God has risen and has taken care of all of our worries. From what I've taken in the last couple of days is that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ went through so much suffering for us to live a worry free life. I think about putting myself in Jesus shoes and asking myself, would I be able to survive the things He has overcome? Our Lord and Savior is like no other, no one can compare to him. This trip so far has opened my mind and has motivated me to grow a deeper understanding of what all Jesus did for us.
 
As we started day three in Israel, we visited the Tel Dan Nature Trail.  The Tel Dan Nature Preserve is a beautiful site to see and it consists of many different trees with waterfalls from the mountains.  The water in the Tel Dan was spring water, so many of the guys actually got a chance to drink it!!! Crazy right?  As we went on the trail of the Tel Dan, we got to see more of a historical view than a spiritual view.  We did some team bonding activities such as walking barefoot in the ice cold water on top of the rocks and it was a great feeling spending time with the people I love. Throughout the Tel Dan it was inspiring seeing Gods creation of the trees, flowers, and sounds of the waterfalls.  It's incredible how we did not lose sight of what God had in front of us from a spiritual standpoint.  The spirit of God was really moving in that place.
 
The next place that stood out to me was Capernaum. Many of us know Capernaum because its where Peter lived and St. Peter's Church is located there now.  It stands northwest of the Sea of Galilee. Looking at it from my own eyes, it was wonderful to see the late fourth century White Synagogue, Peter's house, and the remains of the synagogue from Jesus' day.  When we think about Capernaum in the Bible, we relate it to the verse, Mark 1:21-28 (when Jesus drives an impure spirit) and for Peter's house we relate it to Mark 2:12 (when Jesus forgives and heals a paralytic man).
 
The next two places we went to were the Mount of Beatitudes and on a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.  When we went to the Mount of Beatitudes we spent time by ourselves, finding a comfortable spot on the Mount reading the passages of Matthew 5,6, and 7.  This gave us alone time to connect with God's word and relate it to our personal life. On the boat ride to the Sea of Galilee, we reflected on what we learned from the trip and what all Jesus did at the Sea of Galilee.  It's mind blowing that Jesus picked his disciples, walked on water, calmed the storm, and taught the disciples how to fish, all on the Sea of Galilee.
 
All in all, day three has been one for the books. The spirit of God is really moving in us and I cannot wait to see what God has planned for us the rest of the trip!