Day 10 - Bet She'an and the Jordan River

Tim checking out some ruins

We packed up our things and said goodbye to the Emmanuel community, who hosted us in Tiberius, but not before sharing Sunday Mass with them. We celebrated the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and loaded up the bus for our trip to Jordan.

Ancient Roman? No, just Nick.

Before crossing the border Dr. Martin took us to one last ruined city: Bet She'an. Again there were several layers including Ancient Israelite, and Egyptian. But the most impressive was the late Roman city, with a massive theater, bath houses (which included ancient indoor plumbing), and truly monumental pillars.

Then we crossed over the Jordan River into the country of Jordan. We've only been here a few hours and I think many of us are reeling from culture shock. You see, much of the Israel we have seen is a kind of mix between European and Middle Eastern culture, but Jordan is the Middle East. After just a few minutes of driving we felt the shift from the fertile crescent to the desert. And still the bible is coming alive in new ways.

Chris praying on Jordan's bank.

We saw several Bedouin tribes in tents, much like the wandering Israelites. Our bus had to stop at one point to let a shepherd boy, no more than 10, and his flock cross the road. And we visited a Baptism site on the Jordan River where we renewed our faith by praying the Creed.

We are settled in for the night in the town of Madaba. More from Jordan tomorrow!

God bless!

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