During
the month of November, Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary and Galilee
Bible College organized three day trips in and around the Galilee Region. These
were led by the Rev Dr Kamal Farah, an Anglican minister who is an expert in the
biblical history and the geography of the Holy Land.
The
trips were organized to include students, pastors and leaders, and 40 of them
took part in the trips. Pastor Kamal gave some very interesting insights from
his vast knowledge of the history of the Holy Land, and also led devotional
Bible Studies relevant to each site.
The
first trip was a visit to the Biblical sites around Tiberias and the Sea of
Galilee, including Tabgha, Capernaum and the Mount of Beatitudes. This trip
covered the teaching and ministry of Jesus described in Mathew 5-12. Visiting
the places where Jesus spent days in prayer, fed the crowds, healed the sick, taught
and preached was very much inspiring.
The
second trip was a local visit to Nazareth churches, recalling the story of the
Annunciation and parts of Jesus’ ministry in Nazareth. From there we drove to Mount
Precipice, a place that overlooks several Biblical sites from both Old and New Testaments.
This was followed by a visit to the Wedding Church at Cana. We then went to the
archaeological site of Sepphoris, the city that Herod Antipas was building during
the childhood of Jesus, and which according to tradition is the hometown of the
Virgin Mary.
The
third trip was a visit to the dramatic cliffs of Mount Arbel, to the recently
excavated site of Magdala, both by the Sea of Galilee, and finally to Banias –
the site of Caesarea Philippi. We managed to combine this trip with a visit to
the local Druze market to buy their fruit and produce.
Many
of those who attended really enjoyed this combination of teaching, prayer,
visiting the sites, some of which were situated in National Parks, and of
learning new things about these special places.
