Nazareth & the Jordan River

Our next stop was lunch in Nazareth. Driving to the city, we traveled past a rock quarry. Our guide pointed it out and drew our attention to a "diving board" at the top. Now this stone mountain must have been as tall if not taller than the Arch. Remember when Jesus read the Scripture in His home town, then rebuked them for unbelief, unlike the widow and Naaman? "And they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way" (Luke 4:29-30). We do not know if this is the sight, but it's a rememberance anyway. Nazareth is fully Muslim. It is high on a mountain. It's homes are built on terraced layers in the mountain with one right next to another. Massive amounts of homes are built on the edges of these terraces. It is a virtual sea of stone and plaster covered cinder blocks. The streets are very narrow and packed with cars. Imagine this, six huge tour buses zig-zagging the streets of San Francisco and you have one of our adventures of today. Part of our entertainment at lunch was watching the buses turn around and park after driving in on a one lane road into a small cul-de-sac. Lunch was delicious - as usual - then off we were again down the streets of Nazareth barely passing cars and buildings - Dave said there was about two inches between our bus and a car. The drivers are fantastic and there are no scrape marks on any of the buses. Incredible.

Off we went to the Jordan for baptisms. Many people were baptized. The Jordan is a packed jungle on both banks with a tall fence on either side protecing intruders from entering. The site is a commerical baptism sight that is concrete and has a hole for stepping down into the water. None of us stayed to watch the baptisms because of the crowds and the time involved. We did get to see the river through the fence.

That is all for today. By the way, we found out why there are buildings here with windows and no glass. Muslims live in houses that are for their entire family to occupy. The first generation gets the bottom floor, the oldest child the next, etc. It is more cost effective for them to build the entire house of floors at once instead of adding on. So these top floors are unfinished and empty. Makes for a lovely home!?!

Thank you again for all your prayers. We love you all!
Hello Nathan, Amanda, Abigael, and Anastasia! We send you our love and hugs! God bless you, - don't forget to handstack! xo's
Love, Scott and Debbie