Well, we're almost ready....

Hello friends and family!

Here is the first real posting of our journey, "Learning from the Lands That Have Nurtured Faith."

Well, I think we're going to make it. We head to SeaTac tomorrow, with six large suitcases loaded to the brim, and our allowed carry ons, too. This sounds like overkill, except that the response from the congregation was wonderful for our book and school supply drive. Randy and I weighed the materials when we brought them home Sunday afternoon. The picture is above. We weighed between 110 and 115 pounds of materials! So, we've been "distributing" that among the suitcases. Thanks for a wonderful response, and I know that Nora Kort and her staff at the Arab Orthodox Society headquarters in Jerusalem will be thrilled to receive all of your items for their youth programs.

So far, the heaviest suitcase is 65 pounds (the limit is 70). It has a lot of the children's books in it. The next heaviest is 60, and it has my dig tools, and the bulk of the school supplies. Next is about 40 pounds, then Susannah's reflects the most common sense at about 20 to 25 pounds. We haven't weighed the last two yet, and they carry the bulk of the computer/camera/electronic equipment. Who needs to weigh everything anyway?

We have a stopover in London for about 11 hours on our flight. If all goes according to our best wishes, we will be able to take the tube from Heathrow to spend some time in the British Museum. Susannah hopes we can see Egyptian things. Randy and I are hoping for some other items that are semi-related to the overall trip. Then, maybe we can buy some McVitties biscuits and catch our flight into Tel Aviv. We are scheduled to arrive in Tel Aviv at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday morning (Israel is ten hours ahead of us, so that will be 7:30 p.m. on Friday night, Bellingham time). We are renting a car at the airport. It is supposed to be a Fiat "Spice." I guess that means we'll be transported around the Holy Land for two months by Divine Fiat (ha, ha). It seemed to work well for Philip in last Sunday's lesson from Acts 8.

We will not be able to check into our guest room at Kibbutz Ginnosar until 3 p.m., so we will probably drive up to Caesarea Maritima, where I dug ten years ago. Randy and I are anxious to see what has been uncovered since we've been there! Also, we know where there is a good sandwich shop (next to an old excavated and reconstructed Byzantine plaza with seated statues of a couple of caesars...emperor types, not salads). We also know where the popsicle and juice stand is, if it's still there! Then there is the amazing beach filled with artifacts in the sand along that beautiful clear blue Mediterranean Sea. My plan is to catch a nice nap there before we continue up to Galilee for our eleven day "headquarters" at Kibbutz Ginnosar.

Hopefully we'll be able to find a good internet cafe in Tiberias (about 10 miles from the kibbutz), and fill you in soon on what actually happens en route.

Until then,
Grace and Peace,
Mary, Randy, and Susannah