A Week in Israel: The Top of the Mountain

While we are here for almost one more week, the seventh day in Israel concluded the official tour portion of the trip.  Although most of our days are spent on a bus driving to different tour sites, each day has been quite distinct and yesterday was no exception. 

The Start to Our Day

The day started by hiking to the peak of Gamla. This is not a standard tour site; our Israeli tour guide had not hiked it since 2001. The terrain is rough in places and not everyone in our group ascended to the top. 

Not quite understanding what we were doing during the day, I dressed in a skirt and non-functional shoes. Thankfully, thankfully, at the last minute I decided to bring my old running shoes. I am happy to report I made it to the top; this picture taken at a point where only 5 of the 18 of us dared to go!

The End of our Day

Our day ended with three people in our group getting re-baptized in the Jordan river. The pictures below are the three individuals; before getting submerged in the water, during, and after. I didn't expect to be moved by the experience but I was.

"Baptism is bowing before the Father and letting him do his work." - Max Lucado