Israel: Golan Heights and Goodbye

The past couple of days have been split between preparing for our trip to Kenya and exploring the Golan Heights.

The blog will be shifting gears from 'tourist' mode outlining places seen and things learned to a focus on  things learned through people & relationships.  While different places are interesting (and certainly the history in Israel is fascinating), the things we most value as a family are the relationships formed.

Marla has lived on Kibbutz Afiq for over 30 years, raised her family here, was volunteer coordinator when we were volunteers years ago, and has been an absolute delight the past week.  She helped us get re-acquainted with the Golan, gave us history lessons, brought us up to date on the many changes to the kibbutz and Israel, offered first aid to a little boy who busted his eye open (AJ), helped us get things that we needed for our trip to Kenya, and basically was the wonderful person we remembered her being.

Our Kibbutz Mom, Marla

Wednesday night (April 17) we had dinner with Marla and her daughter Kinneret who is now an independent woman working for abused women as well as with kids with autism.  We had such a great time getting to know her (she was just a little kid the last time we were here) and were just so impressed with her spirit.  She even took a turn taking AJ out to run around the mall area we were at (everyone took a turn and it got us through dinner as he was VERY busy that night!)

Earlier in the week (April 15), the girls and Rachel were hard at work on skits, music, dances, and projects we will be doing in Kenya for the Vacation Bible School we are leading there.  We will be working with 450 kids the second week we are there.  The first week we thought we would be working with 50 of the junior and high school kids who would be assisting us with the skits etc with the 450 younger kids the next week.

Monday we got word that we needed to plan on 150 junior high and high school kids being with us the first week.  YIKES!   Total unexpected shock...but we prayed about it and realized this was probably an opportunity to grow with a requirement of God showing up to make things work.

The girls were in high activity mode adding skits, figuring out how to work with that many kids etc so I put AJ in the 'carry' backpack and went hiking down a trail beneath the Syria House

I asked Marla why the Syria House had just been left alone versus putting something there (cafe, guest house etc)....and she said the engineers wouldn't touch it for liability concerns.  No one knows how it was built, what kind of weight the roof could support etc.  There is a cost to tear it down.  So, it has just been left alone.  I'll admit, it is a bit cool to walk through knowing this was a former Syrian Army officer outpost which has now been in Israeli hands for 46 years.  The trees are starting to take over and bust into the foundation on the near right corner.

There is a trail off to the right that circles down under the Syria house and curves to the left in the valley and down to a natural spring which feeds down to the Sea of Galilee.  There are signs like this all around this trail which is a significant motivating factor to staying ON the trail!

But the cows don't see to care about those signs and fortunately were more spooked of AJ and me than any potential mines.  I do wonder how many poor cows have been blown up over the years grazing in the Golan.

We got to the natural spring which seem to just pop right out of the mountain.  These old, old steps leading down to the spring which were no doubt used by some people long ago to get water.  These steps were NOT put in by people at the kibbutz. I have no idea how old the steps are but the sure looked old.

We crossed the little stream and started heading up the other side of the valley and heard a BIG animal in the brush.  We couldn't see it....just heard it (probably a cow), but figured 'better safe than sorry' and turned back.

Took this shot on the way back as the sun was starting to set....

Another cow...

And the sunset...

April 15 was Independence Day in Israel.  Happy 65th!   I figured since that day is tax day in the USA, I would always remember Israel Independence Day, but Marla told us the date shifts around each year based on the Jewish calendar (a bit like Easter moves around).

The fireworks display on the kibbutz was like a high quality amateur production....like things that you would buy at a local fireworks stand, not the gigantic commercial cannons shooting things off over big cities.  I thought it was well done.

I'm wondering what other independence days will will run into.  We were in Australia on 'Australia Day' which is similar to the 4th of July in the USA and this week celebrated in Israel.  We shall see...

AJ was so tired after this day that we caught him sleep ing in the middle of the night like this...

Marla brought AJ some chalk (as well as 10 play cars = AJ loves Marla) and Sarah did a nice self portrait ;)

Gamla

On Tuesday morning we decided to take a break from preparing for Kenya and headed out to Gamla, a Jewish city from the time of Jesus that was an early focal point during the Jewish rebellion which was smashed by the Romans 66-70AD

We hiked down as a family to the site (steeper than it looks and longer than it looks as well since this first shot was taken well into the hike)....

About the rebellion and the battle....

Roman catapult used to smash the walls of Gamla

Conquering tourists....

Looking back toward the Golan, you can see a beautiful waterfall...

It started raining...

But we pressed on to the summit with AJ hanging tough...

At the summit of the ancient city of Gamla....  As seen from earlier pictures, 3 sides of the surrounding terrain fall away steeply from where the city was built.  It was like an island city built into this rock outcropping.  In the distance you can see the north end of the Sea of Galilee and Capernaum (Jesus' headquarters during his ministry)

It was super windy and cold at the summit but S really wanted this picture out farther than the other pictures, so Daddy and S headed out there.  Love the look on my girl's confident face...

Info on history of Gamla in picture below.  What isn't included here is something of more recent import.  Marla was on the committee in the early 1990s fighting to keep the Golan Heights as a part of Israel.  The prime minister at the time had publicly said he would be willing to give back the Golan to Syria in exchange for a peace treaty and recognition by Syria.

Marla and others from the area moved into action.  One of the major things that was done was a hunger strike (water only) for 42 days to raise awareness and protest what was being contemplated.  That hunger strike was done at Gamla as it is symbolic as a part of Israel (see below).  The campaign succeeded as the political winds changed and there has been no talk of giving the Golan Heights back since then.

Spies attempting to surprise me....but I saw their backpacks first!   This is the mikveh (ceremonial bath) right next to the synagogue.

The synagogue...important because it is one of the oldest synagogues found in Israel but also proves that this area (the Golan) was a part of Jewish history and Israel of old.  Thus, the hunger strike happening here.  Notice the hill in the background....that is looking back to the Golan Heights and is where we hiked back to.

The study next to the synagogue with the modern day thinkers...

These 3 took off from the summit a bit early and stayed on the high ridge of the city while the rest of us took the pathway down.  We have trained them well as they remembered to go to the place where they had last seen us and that is where I met up with them.  So, got some good pics of this group as well....

Where the Romans smashed the wall and entered the city.  Nearly every Jewish resident died that day.

In driving around the Golan the past couple of days I am struck by the beauty of the land.  It is a bit surprising as the Golan Heights look like mountains when you are down on the Sea of Galilee but once you get on top of them, they are like the plains of Indiana.  I was wondering about Israel and how it would feed its population as it continues to grow....and the answer is the rich, abundant farming land on the Golan.

Next message will come from Kenya.  Prayers appreciated as this next part of the trip is definitely not a picnic.  The girls will be challenged by what they see in the slums.  But with challenge comes growth.  Please pray that all goes well for our family.

Til next time, God Bless