Day 06 - Galillee: Galilee Boat Ride, Ancient Boat (Ginosar), Beth Shean, Mount Gilboa, Ein Harod

We started our day with worship together on a beautiful morning overlooking the Sea of Galilee at the beach. The theme this morning, “God is with you”.

So we hopped on the bus and headed off to Bet She’an. After a short hike overlooking the mountains in several directions, we arrived at the ruins of an Egyptians governor’s house from the 12th century. Our guide taught us about the history of that area. Pastor Michael shared from the book of Samuel about King Saul and how he failed God’s direction. The lesson we learned was “partial obedience is disobedience”.

Next we hiked over to an amazing view of a Roman Decapolis. While it was a very impressive area of massive ruins including a huge amphitheater, we were reminded that Jesus taught us that a simple life is better than a life of self-indulgence and worship of idols.

Next we went to the Springs of Harod which were incredibly beautiful and ran down into a huge natural pool of deep aqua blue. Some of us enjoyed swimming while others enjoyed the gardens together. Gideon was in this area and we learned from his example of obedience to God how he defeated an army many times the size of his with only 300 men God had helped him choose. The lesson emphasized here being that “it’s not about you, it's about who is with you”.

Then we went to the opposite side of the Sea of Galilee from where we started and were shown a fishing boat that had been discovered in 1986 and was used during the time of Jesus ministry and had been painstakingly preserved.

After that we got on board a boat and headed out onto that same sea for an experience we we always remember. We sang songs of praise to God after Pastor Michael shared his teaching from the Bible about the experiences of Jesus and His disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee.

Being here in this land with such a strong group of believers continues to inspire and strengthen us.

Matthew Hayden