Day 7 – Saturday 29th March

Worshipping on the Sea of Galilee

We had an incredible experience this morning. We boarded the “Faith” boat owned by Daniel Carmel. Daniel comes from Haifa, but now works here as a boat captain / singer. He ministered to us in song in English and Hebrew. He has translated a number of Christian praise songs into Hebrew, and he recognises Yeshua {Jesus} as the Jewish Messiah. Jews who believe that the Messiah has come as Yeshua, which means Salvation, are called Messianic Jews.

It was so amazing to worship Jesus whilst sailing upon the same sea He sailed upon so many times during His earthly ministry.

We then went to what is believed to be the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount {Matthew 5 - 7}. Ps Steve Berger from Grace Church brought a Bible study on The Kingdom of God.

Afterwards, we visited the ancient city of Caperneum, where Peter lived and Jesus made His home at various times. Kfer Nahum has been excavated to a great extent, and it is possible to walk on the Roman streets. They believe that they have identified Peter's house. They consider it to be one of the earliest House-churches in the world.

http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/capernaum.html

"PETER'S HOUSE - Only a few hundred feet from the synagogue, the stone house of the disciple Peter has also been found at Capernaum. This is where Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law and others (Matthew 8:14-16). Jesus may have lived with Peter while staying in Capernaum. In the years following Jesus' death and resurrection, the house apparently became a house-church. Centuries later, Christians honored the site by building a church here. It was destroyed in a later conquest of the city. Archaeologists have excavated both the church and the earlier house below."

We then saw “The Ancient Boat”, discovered by two brothers in 1986. As it is a First Century boat, it was called “The Jesus Boat” by the media at that time. It had been preserved in the mud for 2,000 years, but was discovered at a time when the Galilee was particularly low.

Lunch was at a kibbutz, and we ate St Peter's Fish. I didn't know you had to ask for it to have the head removed. The other choices were pizza or pasta. I once had a pizza in London, which I couldn't eat, so I wasn't going to choose that sight unseen. Ginny had noticed the fish with head on someone's plate as we were walking to our table, and told me. I said I couldn't eat something that was looking at me. Chris, a former work-colleague of Dan's, heard and laughed at my comment. When Chris's fish arrived, Ginny told him he should give me his fish, as Dan had requested that his and Chris's fish come sans head. When he went to do so, I said, no, she is joking, but he insisted. What a nice man. He was a pro-footballer and is now the vice-principle and football coach of the school in San Diego where Dan had given him the job.

After lunch, we went to Tabgha, the place on the Sea of Galilee that Jesus prepared breakfast for the disciples after His resurrection. Peter and John and the other disciples had gone fishing, but had not caught anything that night. Jesus told them to cast the net on the other side of the boat, and John realised it was Jesus, as He had instructed them to do the same thing on another occasion. John said, “It is the Lord”, and Peter jumped into the water to swim ashore. They caught 153 fish.

Ginny dipped her feet into the water, but as I don't like putting wet feet back into sandals, I declined. Yes, I am fussy, as most of you know.

Glenn said that you can't come to the Sea of Galilee and not swim in it, so when we arrived back at the hotel, he and Ginny had a swim in the sea, and afterwards in the hotel pool. Personally, I could refrain from swimming in the Galilee – it has to be really hot for me to swim anywhere.

After dinner, we walked into Tiberias and had a hot drink and a very rich chocolate mousse dome for dessert. I only had a couple of spoons-full as it was really rich. We noticed a man standing outside, and Ginny wondered why there would be a bouncer for a cafe. She then realised he is the Security Guard, and we thought it is very sad that their presence is required in Israel.

On the Israel forum of Tripadvisor.com, they mentioned an Israeli brand of shoes, called NAOT. They originally started making them on a kibbutz in 1946. I had decided to use the money Mum had given me for my birthday to buy a pair. We found a shop selling NAOTs on our walk in Tiberias, and Ginny and I both wanted the same pair. Unfortunately, they didn't have black in a size small enough for me, or big enough for her.