Hi Everyone!
I hope that you all are doing well. Today was such an exciting day in Israel! We have had the opportunity to visit several places where Jesus performed many of his miricles. Currently, we are staying at hotels located on the Sea of Galilee!

Day 4 is complete! It was packed full of crazy awesome experiences and I am so excited to share a few of my favorite moments with you. Today we had the opportunity to visit sites where Jesus performed some of his most famous miracles, hike Mt. Arbel, and eat falafel for the first time!

There were so many cool moments today. It was so surreal being in the same places as Jesus was so many years ago and I don't think that it has completely sunk in yet. I was most impacted today after our hike up Mt. Arbel. The hiking terrain in Israel is super challenging and it gets really hot(it's not actually hot according to our tour guide, Ronan)! I can't imagine what it would be like to be here in the summer. Mt. Arbel is one of the most beautiful places I've been to and it was worth the climb to get to the top! When we got there we had a devotion talking about how this was the "hill" that Jesus went to after feeding the 5,000. It was really convicting to realize how much effort Jesus put into getting alone time with God. The hike to Mt. Arbel was one of the hardest things I've done and Jesus did that just so that he could be alone with God. It was a really good reminder to be mindful and intentional about seeking out time to spend one on one with God each day.

This trip to Israel was actually my first time flying! It was a super long flight but I LOVE Israel so far. I think that it's really cool that as you drive through the country, the scenery changes very quickly. You can be driving through the desert with very few trees and shrubs and then 30 minutes later be driving through mountains filled with endless varieties of vegetation. I also really enjoyed getting to visit the beach for the first time! We got to visit the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. I'd say that my first time traveling out of the country has been a success so far and I am so excited to continue this adventure!

This trip has already changed the way that I read the Bible. It's been really cool to read my Bible each night after we're done for the day because I'm already getting so many mental pictures of what those things look like and it's exciting to see the Bible come to life. I can't wait to share what I've learned with the kids in my youth group so that hopefully they can get a better idea of what the God is telling us through His Word. I've also enjoyed learning the history of the stories and different facts about the Bible times that I completely overlooked before this trip.

Thank you for reading about all of our adventures so far. We can't wait to keep you updated on what we do tomorrow!

Emily Tate, Heartland Intern