June holds a special anticipation for 76 excited people who have listened to God's calling on their heart. On Tuesday June 9th, 76 people will eagerly step off the airplane and place their own two feet on the very land that God chose to be His home. Israel! God chose this land... His Son was born here and was crucified for me and you here! Please keep this faithful group in your prayers this month (specifically June 8-15) while we ask God for travel mercies, good health and for an open heart and mind so that He can reveal Himself to us with no inhibitions. For some, this trip represents a life long dream coming true...some are looking for healing, answers, guidance, a closer relationship with Him...for whatever their reasons, I know that God will definitely show them the scriptures in 3D and the Bible will unfold and become more clear and more meaningful then ever. Hearts will be touched, friendships will be made and lives will be forever changed. Thank you for your prayers!

Kim

LeSEA Tours

It's sad to say goodbye...

What an intense week this has been! Such a rollercoaster of emotions daily. Whether you've been here one time or many, Israel will do that to you. This was a special trip with special memories that each one of us will keep in a special place forever. Your pictures, your new friends and most importantly the scriptures will remind you where you have been – and what you have experienced this week.

The Holy Land.

I know for me the drive back to the airport is with a heavy heart and though I've made the trip before, this time was no different. I know I'll never be the same... And as I sit here on the plane preparing myself to go back to the daily routine of life, I pray that the experiences you have lived this week have and will continue to draw you into a closer relationship with Christ.

I encourage each of you to share your love for this land with everyone you know. Israel needs us and we need Israel. I am personally so very honored to be a part of this great ministry, to be able to share and experience the land of the Bible with you.

Shalom my friends,

Kim

Here are some pictures from the week...

The view of our hotel from Mount Scopus.

When we returned to our hotel one evening there was an Orthodox wedding outside on our roof top. It was an amazing site and very cool to watch.

You've just got to come here and see the sun and how it comes up over the desert to shine on this incredible city of Jerusalem.

After my "sunny side up" cooked to order egg at yesterday's breakfast, I decided to go for an omelet today! Our first stop was to an overlook of the city in front of Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. A magnificent view and the guides took the opportunity to point out the highlights of the city. We also took the group photo here. Don't we all look great? You could be in your own group photo in November...there is still time to sign up!

From Mount Scopus to the Mount of Olives... we traveled the short distance and most of us went crazy with picture taking! This is the place where Jesus will return on this earth!! From the Mount of Olives we have a tremendous view of the Old City with Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock as well as the Eastern Gate where Christ will enter the city when He returns. We walked down the hill to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was praying and was arrested by the Romans. The olive trees give us an idea of how the garden would have looked when Christ prayed there 2,000 years ago.

We then boarded the bus again to travel past the Kidron Valley where Abshalom's tomb is on our way to Mount Zion where the tomb of King David and the Upper Room is located just outside of the Zion Gate of the old city. We had a great time of prayer and thanksgiving remembering that this could be the place where Christ had the last supper with the disciples and where the Day of Pentecost took place!

Then, what I consider one of the highlights of the tour, the Garden Tomb! This beautiful and serene place is located just outside the Damascus Gate of the Old City in Arab East Jerusalem. Outside the walls there are loud busses, people and noise but inside the garden it is peaceful. We viewed the hill called Golgotha where Christ was crucified and the tomb where we believe Christ rose, yes, it is still empty, Praise God for His resurrection! We had communion with Pastor Al and we sang in praise and worship. It was a moving experience.

Dinner was again at the hotel and we were all blessed by LeSEA Broadcasting's Middle East correspondent, Brian Bush, who shared his impressions of living not just in Jerusalem but also in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City followed by some time for questions and answers with the group. Brian is TALL!! And a great blessing, we all enjoyed hearing just what it is like to live in this ancient yet modern city.

This actually is one of the last times the group, as the entire group will be together on the tour. Tomorrow is the optional tour to Masada and some people will stay in Jerusalem for a free day of relaxing by the pool, walking in the streets of Jerusalem or some all important shopping. A few of us took the opportunity to visit famous Ben Yahuda street after dinner, an eclectic place of cafés and shops with thousands of people strolling on a wide promenade.

Tomorrow sadly is our last day for the June 2008 tour! Late tomorrow night the group returns home with great memories and experiences from the Holy Land. Many people approached me tonight with questions about our November trip. They want to come back in November! It's so exciting to be here!

Why aren't you here?

Sorry...still no pictures - but don't give up, I'll figure it out soon!

This morning, after our now "usual" Israeli buffet breakfast - including a cook to order egg stand – (sunny side up for me please!) we boarded the air-conditioned busses for our trip to the West Coast of Israel, the Mediterranean.

As we travel down Highway 1, the main road connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv we see many farms and forests along the way - many of these trees were planted by LeSEA Ministries in honor of Dr Sumrall who founded LeSEA Tours more than 40 years ago! How awesome is that? In November our tour members get the privilege to continue the tradition and plant a tree personally – we've been doing that in November for about 12 years now!

From an overlook, we can see the ancient port city of Jaffa, a place where shipping both in Jesus time as well as the Crusaders was very important and we then headed up the coast, right along the Mediterranean Sea. Many high tech companies are located here such as Microsoft, HP, Intel and more, it's amazing to see the prosperity of this great, yet small nation.

Very soon we arrive at Caesarea, once the capital of the Roman Empire! The ruins are incredible to see with the amphitheatre, the racing track, the foundations for the homes and governors headquarters, truly it was amazing how this was all built thousands of years ago. Today, Caesarea is home to multi million dollar homes that line the only 18 hole golf course in the country! (Yeah, I could live here.) What a contrast of the Roman times and today.

Next stop... Mt. Carmel, where the prophet Elijah called down fire from Heaven to prove the awesome power of a living God. The view from the lookout is of the valley of Armageddon- where the final battle will take place. It's amazing and again with those goose bumps!! Every army that every fought Israel came thru this valley...and the Bible is clear what will take place in the future here...

After Megiddo and a thorough tour of that 'tel' with its great history... we went to Nazareth where we can see the place where Jesus lived as a child and grew up with Mary and Joseph. In Christ's day, there were only about 400 people living in the village, today it is a bustling city of over 70,000!

It was a long day – but so wonderful. What a blessing just to see how God has His hand on this great nation. We are back at our hotel for a wonderful evening of much needed rest.

Tomorrow, once again, the city of Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel!

I'm having some trouble with my pictures... but come back soon – I'll add them when I can get some technical assistance! (Help Norm and Mike!)

Today we started out the day as usual with the wonderful Israeli buffet breakfast at our hotel and boarded our busses for the two hour drive to Tiberius. Two hours...but the time just flew by!

After about one and a half hours, we stopped at Beit Shean, the site of one of the most historical and archeologically rich discoveries in Israel. Wow is all I can say... This was a Roman town that was completely destroyed, covered and discovered just a few years ago, it is an incredible monument to a past civilization with great remnants of the old city. The group enjoyed walking around discovering areas of the city.

Next we continued on to Tiberius where we boarded a wooden boat for the traditional boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. The landscape has not changed much so it's easy to imagine Jesus walking on this water! After sailing for about half an hour, the boat stopped, the water was still and Pastor Al Nucciarone talked about the miracles and ministry of Jesus in that area. When he was done, Ronnie, our chief guide, proceeded to tell us all the facts about the sea (facts like... it's the lowest fresh water lake in the world at 600 meters below sea level), the boat docked at Capernaum where we boarded our busses again for a short ride to the Kibbutz En Gev. We had quite an experience eating wonderful St Peter's fish lunch!

After lunch, we finished our touring of the northern part of the Galilee with visits to the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus ministered the sermon on the mount, Tabgha, where Jesus performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes, and another visit to Capernaum where there are great ruins of a synagogue that dates back to the first century - it could be one where Jesus lived and ministered!!!

Now... the highlight of the day, and possibly the whole tour for many people, was the baptism service in the Jordan River. What a great experience! It must have been about 90 degrees outside but I still had goose bumps! Around 80 out of our group of 100 participated in water baptism with Pastor Al officiating. It was a moment that will not be forgotten...

Our busses then journeyed again back to Jerusalem via the Jordan Valley Road where you can see Jordan and the Mountains of Moab, along with the Jordan River and a great entrance back into the city of Jerusalem with a warm dinner waiting for us.

A long but wonderful day for all of us; can't wait for tomorrow and our trip up the coast along the Mediterranean Sea!