Day 03 - Ein Gedi, Qumran, Bethany Beyond the Jordan

We left our hotel today and spent some time at our first stop, Ein Gedi. At this site we thought about two biblical pictures; David running from Saul, and Jesus telling us he is the living water. Since we are here in the hot season, we were able to enjoy a swim in the stream of Ein Gedi.

Next, we stopped at Qumran, where the dead sea scrolls were found and we were challenged to think about our dedication to the biblical text.

After lunch we made our way to Bethany Beyond the Jordan where a number of our group members went into the Jordan River to either be dedicated or baptized. This was an amazing day full of memories! Thank you Lord for the new stories that we have to hold onto.

One parent on the trip writes this of the baptism experience today:

"Three years ago, my husband and I, along with my siblings and their spouses, were blessed to be baptized in the Jordan River as a rededication of our lives to Jesus. My grandmother had been baptized there in 1995, and my parents had as well a couple of years before us. It was a joyful experience for us then, but today it was made even more special seeing our kids make the same commitment! It was a joy and honor to be able to watch our two youngest sons, along with our nephews and nieces, be baptized and dedicated in the same water. Seeing the fourth generation proclaimed that they want to live their lives for Jesus was a joy that I can hardly describe! It’s a memory that I know all of us will treasure in our hearts forever! As we say with any baptism, it’s not the water that saves, but what you do in life after you are baptized that matters. Putting your faith in God, being obedient to his leading in your life, living in repentance and obedience, in transitioning to a life that leads to eternal life instead of death is what baptism is all about."