On Tuesday, April 20th, we held our first monthly gathering at Paul and Kay Nichols home. It was a big success. We had over 15 of our pilgrims attend! Everyone brought a delicious cover dish so there was plenty of food; appetizers, salad, main course, and desert. The evening was beautiful so there was the option to eat outside or in.
After dinner we gathered in the den to take care of business! First order was to review the travel plans. Several had not yet registered so we reviewed the registration form. Then we discussed tips for traveling overnight, packing bags, and dealing with foreign currency. We also discussed Passports. If you don't have one its time to get one. Check closely to be sure that your passport date is good for at least three months after we are due to return.
Knowing that we would probably need to spend more time on travel tips at this meeting than most we prepared for a discussion of touring Jehrico only. Mike and Russell had some great information. Mike started by sharing about how important this part of the world, the Crossroads of Cultures, has been throughout history. He showed us a very interesting website tracing the major empires in history. Click here to take a look!
Then Russell shared about his trip to the ancient city of Jehrico when he went before. He suggested that we all get a notebook and put information that is shared during these meetings. Then he handed out some maps, pictures, and information to put in the first entry. If you couldn't be there, or didn't get a copy, just let us know and we can get it to you.
Before closing in prayer we talked about our May meeting. We've decided that the best time and place to meet could change from month to month so we won't set a regular plan. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, May 11th, 5:30 PM, at Mark and Carol Fosters home. Watch the e-mail to get the address. We will be discussing the other places that we will visit on the first tour day along with Jehrico.
Did you notice the new feature on the Blog? Pictures!! I got several good shots that I've added as a slideshow. We'll be collecting these at each of the meetings, and then on the trip. Feel free to share the Blog site with your friends and family so that they can keep up with our trip.
Till next time... Rejoice Always!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I got my trip confirmation from Alpha Tours today. Exciting to be "officially" confirmed! However, there is a little glitch. I have paid in full, but they are charging me the $49.00 for the Dead Sea trip - I thought that was free with payment before May 1. Do I need to contact them about that, or is it just an administrative thing that you expect to be corrected?
ReplyDeleteI was embarrassed to ask a "stupid" question at the gathering, but I finally asked it and Marilyn provided me an answer. I hope I can save others from feeling stupid by providing the info that Marilyn provided me - the question was, "Where is Palestine?" I looked all over the Pilgrim's Map that Paul distributed, but it's not on the map. Here's what she found:
Palestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands
As a geographic term, Palestine can refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area that today includes Israel and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, as well as part of Jordan, and some of both Lebanon and Syria. In classical or contemporary terms, it is also the common name for the area west of the Jordan River. The boundaries of two new states were laid down within the territory of the British Mandate, Palestine and Transjordan. The term Land of Israel is used to refer to the same geographic region, both narrowly or broadly defined, by Israelis, Jews, and Christian Zionists, among others. Other terms for the same area include Canaan, Zion, and the Holy Land.