On the road to Jerusalem

Hello families and friends of us Joshua children! I hope you’re having a lovely Sunday worshiping GOD. We are too, in case you were wondering. Today, we left Galilee and headed out to Jerusalem. Our first stop was at Megiddo. This is a tel that has 26 layers to it, meaning 26 different civilizations lived there at different times across thousands of years. Here, we looked at the different kings in the Old Testament and the way they fought their battles. They had the opportunity to trust in GOD and to glorify Him in their battles and yet they decided to trust themselves and buy into their fear. We saw this massive place that was filled with gold and silver. We walked into the horse stables that were able to hold over 300 horses. This is important because these are all qualities that make up a poor king. It means they are hoarding their money for themselves and they have a massive army with chariots and horses. The kings weren’t trusting GOD to win their actual battles, they raised up armies to fight their battles. The main takeaway was to see that the points of our greatest defeat are where we can see GOD’s victory and glory the most.

Mt. Carmel : Extremely windy & I think most of us lost our noses. BUT, the site was beautiful & VERY green! We only stayed for our study & then we left but our study was amazing talking about 1 Kings 18 & just being able to put an image to what Mt. Carmel looks like and the overall location of it.

Caesarea Maritima: We first started the site by WATCHING A VIDEO. Yes moms and dads we legally broke covenant. The video covered the history of this site and then we entered! The first spot we stepped into was the HUGE hippodrome! Three of our joshua students had a foot race (MK, Hannah & Kimmy) and it was full of cheering and laughter. Next we took at stop at the ancient toilets at the Hippodrome. Stone covered and very public.. (dont worry they were not in actual use... they are HUNDREDS of years old). Lastly, we got the chance to sing amazing grace at the theatre along with reciting the Shema. Not a big crowd today in Caesarea but maybe next time. At the end we got the chance to hang out for a half an hour and look around or even go to the Mediterranean Sea! I would say that this was a BEAUTIFUL site and it was 100% one for the books.

Now off to our final destination! Tel-Ho

Currently God is teaching me rest and trust. We are being poured into with information multiple times a day and it can honestly be overwhelming, but God is making it prominent that even though this can easily be tiring and become less about Him. He continues to provide rest and a spot for me to constantly lean on Him in these long wonderful days. I am trusting Him in all the knowledge that He is filling me with along with repeated things that you hear a million times but manage to forget. God is good & being in the Holy Land has been an ultimate gift and a blessing from God.

-Ivanna