Israel Day 3 - Caesarea Philippi, Capernaum, Mount of Beatitudes and the Sea of Galilee

Our day began in Caesarea Philippi, a place that was believed to be the birth place of the pagan god Pan. So in Jesus' day it was a place of pagan worship - people would even sacrifice babies into the cave you can see above to appease the gods in the hope that spring would return.

And it is to this place that Jesus brought His disciples in Matthew 13 and asked them who they say that He is. This is the first place where Jesus is declared the Christ and where Jesus declares that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church.

Gates are not an offensive weapon, they're a defence - which means that the church should be on the offensive. Jesus is proclaimed as light in the darkest place. On the cross Jesus won the victory and even in this pagan place Jesus can be declared as Christ and Lord. And it is Jesus who will build His church - it's His work and He will accomplish His mission. 

It is after this declaration of Jesus as Lord that we read He turns His face towards Jerusalem where He ultimately dies on His mission to rescue us. And as we follow Christ on His mission we also need to die - we need to die in obedience to Him, we may need to die to some of our hopes and dreams.

When we follow God in death we also follow Him through to resurrection. Once someone has died they are no longer afraid of death - they have no fear because there is nothing with which they can be threatened. They are dangerous and, like the seed that falls to the ground and dies, they are in a position to bear much fruit.

Dave teaching on the path of a disciple and the path of a disciple-making ministry.

Our disciplemaking takeaway from here was:

If you want to live you have to die.

Another picture of the cave.

One of the most beautiful things about our trip was we were there when Israel is in bloom! This is a very short season here and it was beautiful.

The synagogue in Capernaum.

Our next stop of the day was Capernaum, which was Jesus' home base for His three years of ministry. In this place we talked about Jesus' foundation in ministry and how He equipped His disciples. Our disciplemaking takeaway was:

You equip by doing with.

Lunch!

We had lunch on the shore of Galilee, eating the most common kosher fish found in the Sea of Galilee.

We then went on a bit of a hike along the Mount of the Beatitudes, where Jesus may well have preached the Sermon of the Mount. Somewhere along the way we sat down and talked about how Jesus taught for transformation. Our disciplemaking takeaway from here was:

To teach like Christ connect truth and life.

The Chapel on top of the Mount of Beatitudes.

The mustard plant and the Sea of Galilee

Our final stop of the day was a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee! It was incredible to cross the lake (yes, the Sea of Galilee is actually a lake) and remember all the Bible stories that we know happened on the lake or around it. 

On the lake we thought about Jesus calming the storm - and we know it was a dangerous storm because the disciples, who were experienced fishermen, were frightened. I love that they were frightened and probably had no idea how Jesus would help but they still went to Him. I want to be someone who consistently goes to Jesus, even and especially when I'm not even sure how He could help. And I want to be someone who faithfully leads others to Him. 

Our boat.

It was wonderful to end our day on the water and singing worship songs. 

Israel Day 2 - Sepphoris and Nazareth

The theatre in Sepphoris

Our second day began in Sepphoris, which today is an archeological site and in Jesus' day was the bigger town beside Nazareth. It is believed that Jesus may have worked here before His ministry began. 

It was really cool to see the ruins of this town and hear more about what life would have looked like in Jesus' day.

The theatre in Sepphoris

Our disciplemaking takeaway from our talk here was:

Small things have big significance when they are part of God's redemptive plan.

We talked about how we must always begin with the assumption that God is at work - because He is! And then we can be asking ourselves: what is God doing and how can I join Him?

In what small ways is God asking me to be faithful in joining Him in His work? Learning Czech is a long process filled with many unseen hours - but learning Czech is being faithful in what God has asked me to and I'm excited to learn it well (well, maybe more accurately, I'm excited to speak it well!). And building relationships with people in my community is a long process filled with many little moments but I'm excited to do that so I can share God with those around me.

A traditional lunch!

 After our time in Sepphoris we went to neighbouring Nazareth and started with a traditional lunch. The food was incredible, and throughout the entire trip it was fun to eat meals with and spend time with friends who are serving across central and eastern Europe.

In Nazareth they have a village set up so you can see how life would have looked like in Jesus' day. 

So we saw shepherds.

And a carpenter.

Hannah making wool.

And this lady making wool - and what was used to dye it. Being someone who loves to be crafty I particularly liked this! It was all so fascinating. We also saw how they pressed grapes and olives (two very different processes).

Our guide for our time in Nazareth village.

Our disciplemaking takeaway from the Nazareth village was:

People God uses always have weight below the waterline.

We thought about the people we see God use in the Bible and how they were faithful people who feared God, and had godly character. Without weight below the water a boat will just be forced along by the wind. So what areas of godliness is God asking me to grow in so that I will not just be blown along by circumstances?

Our third stop of the day was the Nazareth precipice, which could be the location of where the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus, and tried to push Him off the mountain, but He "passed through the midst of them and went away."  The valley the Mount overlooks is also the site of a few battles in the Bible - including Gideon and Saul. 

The disciplemaking takeaway from here was:

Without faith it is impossible to please God.

In Mark 6 we read that Jesus couldn't do many miracles in Nazareth because of their lack of faith - they were not without information about God, they were without faith. I want to be someone who not only believes in God but also believes Him - believes that He is who He says He is, and that He can do what His Word says He can do, and that I am who He says I am.

Israel: travel and day 1

The trip started with a day full of travel - I was not sad to be leaving the snow in Czech! I had a 4am, four-hour train from my hometown to Prague and then went through the pre-check-in security necessary for a flight to Israel. It was when we checked in that we heard our flight was delayed by six hours. It was a long day! But we safely arrived at our hostel in Tel Aviv at 1am... and promptly went to the beach to dip our toes in the sea.

Dave sharing with us on top of Mount Arbel.

Wednesday was the day everyone was flying in and we headed back to the airport to meet everyone. From the airport we went to Mount Arbel and after our wonderful guide for the trip, Andre, gave us some background information, Dave spoke.

The theme of the teaching of the trip was disciplemaking and it was so good to have the JV President teach us on location. In most of the talks there was a disciple-making takeway and the one for Arbel was:

The engine of movement is disciplemaking with your eyes on Jesus.

The Sea of Galilee from Arbel.

Throughout the trip we also memorised the Great Commission, and it's possible the Great Commission was given to the disciples from this place (all we know is that they went to a mountain in Galilee):.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Matthew 28 v 18-20 

The mustard plant

We spent the first three nights of the tour in Tiberias, which is on the coast of the Sea of Galilee.

Home again and an invitation

After three weeks on the road (minus a twenty-seven hour turn around between the Baltics and Israel), having my morning cup of coffee here on Thursday felt oh-so-good. It feels so good to be home again!

I returned pretty tired in some ways (a day of travel, including buses, a plane, and a four hour train, on two hours sleep will do that) but refreshed in so many other ways. I returned to a little bit of crazy work-wise but also really excited to jump back into life here.

I feel like I'll be processing my time in Israel for the next... well, very long time! But I don't want to fail to capture my time there in this place just because I'm still in the midst of processing. So for the next week or so you're cordially invited to travel with me as I blog my way through the days of our trip.

The big picture is: I'm so grateful ...

... for a God who gives incredibly good gifts

... that I belong to a missions organisation that cares for and equips its missionaries so well, 

... for the wonderful people I experienced Israel with, 

... that God kept us all safe, 

... and that my brain and heart are full as I continue to process all the things I learnt and heard from Him during my time in that place.

I'm excited to share glimpses of all of this with you! 

Burning Bulb

I have less than thirty hours at home and a long list - today so far I have unpacked, done laundry, and repacked, gathered my tax paperwork for the accounted, done my February ministry expenses, finished some work tasks and generally got my life in order in the midst of these three crazy weeks.

So I'm just spending a couple of minutes but I wanted to capture what a joy and privilege it was to be at Burning Bulb with 160 youth leaders in Estonia. Estonia is the coolest country I know and it was incredible to get to know more Estonians, and see glimpses of what God is doing in that nation. 

One of the most exciting things was seeing 17 year olds who are leading the youth ministries of their churches. To hear about the things God is doing in them now - can you imagine what He will be doing in and through them a decade from now? And how He will use them to change this nation?

It was an incredible weekend and worth the less than 30 hour turn around before this next adventure!

A few days in Riga, a night in Tallinn and now Burning Bulb!

It was so good to spend a few days in Riga with Katka! We both were working throughout the week but we were also able to take time to go and walk along the beach! It was a little strange to walk on a beach that had snow! But it is the Baltic Sea, and it was very cold. It was a beautiful day! 

On Thursday I left Riga to travel to Tallinn. The bus ride is over four hours long but it was so good to read. When I arrived Shelby and I were reunited at the little flat we were staying in. We found a place on airbnb and, because Casey was there too, it worked out cheaper than any hotel and it was in a great location! 

We spent some time wondering around Tallinn before Casey arrived from flying in from Czech. We then went in search of dinner and found a little British-esque gastropub that served a great burger! And after dinner it was really fun to hang out and watch a movie. 

Today started with a great breakfast (oh the perks of staying in a little flat and cooking). We then walked to a bus stop where a co-worker picked us up in a white van, with blacked out windows and that set the tone for our adventure..

We then went to an underground storage area that looked a little like we might be picking up guns... in reality it was just a lot of sound and tech equipment.

After a snowy drive we arrived in the place where the conference is! So set up began - including putting up a lot of curtains to create a good stage space.

After all the set up that we could help with was finished some of us had some time - which was great to settle into our rooms and catch up with people. We then had a team meeting and it was just so exciting to pray together and talk through some of the big things of this weekend.

Tonight conference began - there are around 150 of us here this weekend. We had dinner and our first main session. Estonians are probably some of the coolest people on earth and it was a joy to experience them worshipping God in their beautiful, beautiful language.

The main sessions this weekend are on making bold moves for God and how living our faith out boldly would change our faith, our lives, and the lives of those around us. We have translation for the main talks so it was good to hear Innar share tonight.

Tomorrow is a full day - two main sessions, plus seminar time. Please pray for those serving in the main sessions (in the many ways - from the main speakers, to the tech people, translators and worship leaders) and the seminar speakers you can see below!

I'm so excited to learn what God has for us this weekend!

Day 3 of the Baltic Academy!

The last day of the Academy began with the last main session where we got really practical and talked about personal productivity and methods and tools we can use to get things done, and get the right things done!

After that we had another seminar slot. It's a blurry photo but it was on working with volunteers - realities and myths around volunteers, how to recruit people to serve in our ministries, and how to keep them there! It was really good to get really practical in this area. 

I've mentioned before that the attendees at the conference were younger than we were expecting. This is partly because most people leave to Riga to continue education once they finish high school. This means it is the sixteen year olds who are leading their church's youth ministries! So I also talked about how to recruit older people to your ministry, and the beautiful things that can come from that.

One of the reasons we took the Academy "on the road" was so we could get really specific and talk about local contexts. So throughout the conference teams were given time together and on the last day they were asked to present their vision and goals for their local ministries. Oh, it was exciting to hear these people share their hearts. And exciting to pray and think about what God will do through these faithful people.

Being up here was a great excuse to meet with the Latvia camp team and we did a lot of laughing! But we also talked through a lot, answered questions, and shared dreams. I like these people a lot! 

After the meeting Shelby and I were staying with Katka, who moved a few months ago from serving with JV in Czech to serving with JV in Latvia. Katka showed us around her city and it is a beautiful one!

I loved this door - do you notice the inscription above the door?

It's been pretty cold up here! The last time I was in Riga it was July and I was up here visiting camps (and taking my car to the mechanic!). Katka was actually with me and I remember sitting here, by the river, as we talked for the first time about what if God was leading her here. Such a fun memory! Although I cannot imagine sitting here as I look at this photo!