Day 01 - Shephelah Region: Yad Hashmonah, Gezer, Beth Shemesh, Azekah, Caves of Adullam

After roughly five hours to catch up on our sleep, the adventure began today with a whirlwind. The Bible is coming alive for us in a way that is incredibly impactful, changing the way many of us will read the Word moving forward. Michael has impressed on us during his teachings today that we are discovering the “The Story of the Presence” as we connect the stories of the Old Testament to the their real world locations.

Seeing Samson’s old stomping grounds at Beth Shemesh and where David challenged and killed Goliath in the Valley of Elah has made the old Sunday school flannelgraph stories more real and ultimately more personal. As an added bonus many of us braved the extremely narrow Caves of Adullam to experience what it must have felt like to be David on the run, hiding from a vengeful King Saul.

Michael had said to think of this as a “Spiritual Retreat” and it’s started out as just that - our souls are being refreshed and recharged as much as our hiking boots are being broken in! Now a few more hours of sleep and it’s on to Day 2!

- Grant Lawley