Christmas carols have a special ring to them this year as I prepare to travel to Israel, Palestine, and possibly Jordan on December 28, returning January 20.
"O Come, All Ye Faithful" invites us to Bethlehem to behold Jesus.
Hold on, I'm coming! (unless there's violence that causes a close of the border crossings).
I will begin with a ten-day tour led by the Reverend Dr. Jakoba Vermaak of Wilshire Presbyterian Church. Our group will include 22 Americans, an Israeli archaeologist and tour guide, and an Arab-speaking bus driver. Imagine Tours & Travel is making all the arrangements.
Cost is $3495 for ten days including airfare and taxes, hotels, breakfast and dinner, and guides.
Then I will spend two more weeks on my own, staying for ten nights at Ecce Homo Convent built on the spot where King Herod's palace was and where Jesus was interrogated and flogged. I haven't figured out the last three nights, but I hope to get to Petra in Jordan and to spend another day or two around Nazareth or Capernaum (near the sea of Galilee).
Thank you to my sister, the Reverend Emily McColl, for letting me know about Ecce Homo Convent ($69 per night) and for her many travel tips! She has been twice before.
I'm hoping to practice my conversational Hebrew, having taken classes for about ten years.
And of course, also hoping to see Jesus... somewhere.
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