Day 6

After breakfast this morning we met together at the front of the hotel to start our day of sightseeing in the city of Nazareth. We got on the bus and then got off without driving anywhere. We were to go to the Church of the Annunciation where legend has it that the Angel Gabriel spoke to Mary about being with child. Our bus driver, Talib, told us he knew a “shortcut” and it wouldn’t take long to walk there. And, he was right. It didn’t take long…but it was the wrong church! We walked to the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation….not the church that had been planned for us to go to. But, there was a positive side. There was a well in the church courtyard that was one of at least two known as Mary’s Well, said to be where Mary drew water for her family. We had a nice little walk back to the bus and were driven down the road a short distance. We then had a short walk up the hill to the large Roman Catholic Church of the Annunciation. There are a couple of sanctuaries within this church. The main floor of the church is built around a cave at the altar location that is traditionally the site where the angel appeared to Mary. There was a small mass being observed. We then went up the stairs to the Church of Joseph the Carpenter. It also was quite beautiful. Apparently, under these two buildings are signs of another church that, I understand, was built in the Crusader’s time period.

After leaving the church we drove not far to the YMCA in Nazareth. Located at this site is Nazareth Village, a re-creation of a village such as would have been in the time period of Jesus. The site is located right in the middle of Nazareth but had never been developed. It is on the side of a hill and is owned by the Scottish Hospital on the hill above it. Apparently a few years ago it was recognized that the land had been terraced, and some of the rock areas were recognized to be the sites of an old quarry and an old wine press. It has since been developed into what it probably was to begin with….a farm in the ancient village of Nazareth. Buildings have been built that would have been similar to those in the village. There are volunteers who dress as in biblical time and re-enact threshing wheat, shearing and caring for sheep, weaving wool, etc. There are also volunteers who take tour groups around. It has become such an authentic place that short movies are shot there. In fact, there was a camera crew there today from the 700 Club shooting some scenes for a Christmas special. The school children here are required to learn about Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. They come to this village as a field trip once during elementary and once during secondary school. Our guide was named Lisa. She was very knowledgeable and interesting to listen to as she described the different buildings and aspects of the village. She and her husband are from the States and for a time were NIVS volunteers in Israel. They have lived here for the past 9 years and work with the church and the village as Tentmakers. It would be fun to work and volunteer here but we don’t quite have the right appearance. I’m positive we are too fair-skinned. We then ate lunch at a nice restaurant at the YMCA.

After lunch we set off for a road trip to Haifa and Mt. Carmel. The trip took about ½ hour. When we got to Haifa we went to the top of a mountain on the coast line of the Mediterranean Sea. Probably the closest we’ll ever get to that sea! After a little bit of a drive along the top of the mountain we finally arrived at the site of where it is said that the Prophet Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to see whose god was the real God. There was a nice little chapel there and a great place to overlook the whole valley.
After a brief time there we headed back the way we had come to the city of Haifa. After reaching the bottom of the mountain we drove to the Haifa Church of the Nazarene where we helped the church people set up for a late afternoon children’s festival and Jesus Film showing. Here Amanda, Lindell and Kay met us from Jerusalem. After the film we had a good time eating supper with our church family there. We said our goodbyes to Phillip and to Amanda who had to drive back to Jerusalem. Lindell and Kay will be with us the rest of the trip. We also got on the bus and headed on back to Nazareth to our hotel for the night. The weather was really nice today with a cooling breeze, great day for sightseeing.