Technical Difficulties

Hey everyone! We apologize for the delay on getting our pictures posted. We have over 500 great pictures and we can't wait to share some of them with you...However, we are having some trouble with our computer. We will post them as soon as we can!

Leaving the Sea of Galilee

This morning we are leaving the Sea of Galilee and heading for the Dead Sea. We have been without internet for the past 4 days and just happened to stop at a museum that had free internet!

We wanted to put your minds at ease that we are both doing well! We will be posting lots of pictures of everything we have done as soon as we can! We love you all!

Touring Jordan

Hi All!
No pictures this time since I am using the community computer in the lobby of our hotel. But, here is what we have been up to...

Tuesday night, we crossed over into Jordan from Israel. Praise the Lord for no problems through passport control!

Wednesday, we walked into Petra (like on Indiana Jones)! It is one of the 7 man-made wonders of the world! It is an entire city carved out of a mountain side! It was so beautiful. We took lots of pictures so I will try to post them asap.
Last night, like Wes mentioned, some of the girls went to a Turkish bath. We thought it was going to be like a spa with massages but it was what it says it is... a bath. It was definately a memory! (Girls, I will fill you in later!)

Today we went to Herrod's palace where John the Baptist was beheaded and to Mount Nebo, where Moses looked into the Promise Land! On Mount Nebo, Dr. Allen preached a sermon from Numbers 20, Deut. 34, and Hebrews 6. It was such a blessing to be in the place where what we were reading took place!

The game plan for the next few days...
Tomorrow we are touring Jarash, Jordan and then heading back into Israel.
Then, the next four nights we will be staying in Nof Ginosar, Israel, touring Galilee.

Again, thank you all for your prayers! We are having a great time and look forward to talking to you soon!

Journey through South Israel

This is a picture of our guide, Yoni. He is absolutely awesome! He currently lives in Israel with his family; however, he is actually from NEA (for those of you who are not from Arkansas that would be Northeast Arkansas). He is a great tour guide and a solid believer. He is standing by a horned altar.

This is a picture of Jen and I sitting at the foot of the Holy of Holies at an ancient worship sight at Tel Arad. Incredible! Arad is mentioned in Numbers 14 and Numbers 21. I encourage all to read the great story.
This is us after we had just climbed out of a massive canyon in the Valley of Zin. The beautiful hike was estimated to be approx 800ft. Once at the top, the view was amazing. Somewhere in this area is where Moses might have gotten water from the rock.
Obviously, this is the two of us riding a camel!! Yes, I was driving from the backseat. Oh, ignore the length of my jeans... they look like "high-water" jeans, but they're not... really.

After the camel ride, we spent New Year's Eve in a Bedouin tent. They provided a full Bedouin hospitality presentation that was excellent. As you can see in the picture, our Bedouin friend was kind enough to include a couple guys from our group (left, Greg Gaumer; right, John Wohlgemuth) to help him play traditional Bedouin music. We ALL selpt in the Bedouin tent on the floor without heat, pillows, mattresses (you get the point). Hopefully, a few weeks/months from now it will be remembered as a pleasurable experience.

We are now in Petra, Jordan. I am posting this blog becuase Jen is actually with several other ladies at a Turkish bath. Not sure what is included, but I'm sure it will be a memory! I'm sure she will post soon with another batch of pictures.

To God be the glory,

Wes and Jen

We made it!

We made it to Israel last night and could hardly believe our Day 2 was already over! Our time here is going so fast! Our travel went very smooth in comparison to Wes's experience last May. We did have a little trouble getting through passport control once we arrived in Tel Aviv. It involved security and interrogation but I will spare the details so my parents don't start too worry any more than they already are! HA!

We started traveling this morning after a good nights sleep in a very nice hotel! Our first stop was Beer Shava were we saw an ancient well, an exact replica of a horned altar (where the everyday unbroken sacrifices were performed), the ruins of a city gate, and walked through a cistern that dated back to 586 B.C. We had 3 other stops: Arad (Numbers 21), an area of the wilderness of Zen (Numbers 20), and Av Dat, where we saw a Nabatean temple and church plaza.

Today's highlight for me had to be walking through the wilderness of Zen. While we were there we climbed to the top of a cliff. It was so beautiful. We took lots of pictures and will post many of them when we can. We love you guys!

On our way to the Holy Land!

The long awaited trip to Israel has finally arrived! Thank you for your prayers and support that have helped us get to this point! We are so blessed to have family and friends that love us like you do!

We are currently waiting for our flight at DFW. So far, everything is going smoothly...except that our flight has been delayed about 30 minutes, which could cause some excitement with our connecting flight. It is comforting to know that God is always in control.

This is the first of many Israel posts. So, stay tuned!

Van Buren's Christmas Light Show