Israel: Part IV--Sea of Galilee

We were really lucky to spend three days in the Sea of Galilee area. Beautiful, green rolling hills and valleys, lots of farms, and the sea itself. At 8 miles wide and 13 miles long, we would call it a lake. It's also the second-lowest lake in the world (behind the Dead Sea) at about 600 feet below sea level. Our hotel was a resort called Ein Gev, right on the eastern shore, and our bungalow had it's own patio that opened out onto a grassy area before meeting the seashore. When we finally got to swim in it, it was cool and lovely with a little bit of scum (pollen) floating on the top. The sand was made of tiny seashells.

The places we visited while we were there: Capernaum, the Mount of Beatitudes, Nazareth, all three of the tributaries of the Jordan River, which empties into the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights, Tiberias, and we had a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee.

The Church has three branches that meet in Israel: Tel Aviv, the Jerusalem Center, and Tiberias, on the western shore of Galilee. We got the opportunity to visit the building the Church has recently purchased and remodeled for the chapel. One interesting bit about Israel: people don't generally own the land on which they build their homes and businesses. The land is owned by Israel. But somehow, the Church owns the land that building in Tiberias is on. We don't even own the land where the Jerusalem Center is, but we own that piece on the shore of Galilee. This is what it looks like:

It's a remodeled home. The people who owned it previously had pretty much trashed it. When the family came back to see what the Church had done with it, they were amazed. It has a balcony, seen below, and the view from the balcony is stunning.