Caesarea & Tel Aviv Explored by International Christian Tennis Association Pro Team!

Welcome back!

It’s been a pleasure having you come along on our excursion through the Holy Land.

After finishing up our fabulous days in Galilee, we (me-Rachel Snelen, my twin- Melody Snelen, Emma Hustad-our Fellowship of Christian Athletes mission partner, and my mom- Joy) made our way to Tel Aviv, where our ITF Pro circuit tennis tournament was being held.

Our big stop on the way to Tel Aviv was Caesarea.

This place is mentioned many times in Acts- one of my favorite books of the Bible.

In fact, the apostle Paul was actually imprisoned here.

We stopped at an excavated palace built by King Herod.

It was an enormous palace located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

We arrived in Caeserea early afternoon while the sun was shining brightly over the sea.

The suns rays projected a comfortable warmth.

Once we entered the palace, we started running around, trying to fathom how big it was.

For a moment we knelt down in a grotto and thought about what it must have been like to be a incapacitated prisoner…just because you were a Christian.

How brave and courageous the apostles had to be!

Their life examples are truly extraordinary!

We thank God that they were willing to sacrifice earthly comforts and conveniences to spread the Gospel…for the sake of you and me!

We walked in the sand along the beach shore and collected some rocks and seashells.

As we continued walking further, we came upon some large rocks that led out to the palace wall remains.

We climbed barefoot over the boulders until we made it to a section of the wall where we could sit for awhile.

It was such a special experience.

Openly talking with each other about our lives and our individual, undeniable Faith in Jesus was simply amazing.

The Mediterranean Sea was so calm and peaceful.

I truly savored this moment.

Not many people get the blessed opportunity to visit the land where God chose to send His son to save the world.(John 3:16)

I will always be highly appreciative for all the outstanding blessings God’s granted me…this journey being one of them.

Just spending quality time with my sis and mom was splendid.

Now add to the backdrop; a sparkling sea, the sound of the gentle waves brushing the rocks, the glistening sun as it prepares to set and a peace in your heart that passes all understanding…now that’s a blessing!

The splendor of God is seen in his beautiful creation.

Not in the old dilapidated buildings and man made structures…but in His abundant creation which he made for you and me to enjoy, together!

We finally managed to continue driving on toward Tel Aviv as the evening was setting in.

When we arrived in Tel Aviv we found an empty tennis court (which is very rare) at the Israel Tennis Center and got some hitting in.

Our matches are tomorrow!

Be sure to check back for more postings…see you then!

International Christian Tennis Association Tennis Team Explores Galilee and Mt. of Beatitudes!

WOW! Here we go again on yet another fabulously adventurous day through the astonishing land of Israel.

We were all so eager to get the day started that we easily overlooked our complete lack of sleep.

God gave us each plenty of restful rejuvenation as we went about our 4th full day.

Our adventure throughout the Galilee region started at Tabgha.

This was the area where Jesus fed the multitudes of people with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

We visited a local monastery located on the mountainside where this remarkable miracle took place.

A friendly priest took us to a peaceful section of the monastery and shared some insight about the outstanding events that took place here.

We read from the Bible, shared our thoughts and sang old hymns.

It was such a pleasant, inspirational morning.

As morning turned to afternoon, we headed to the Mt. of Beatitudes.

This is where Jesus gave the illustrious sermon known as the Beatitudes.

“1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:1-12.

As our minds and hearts were expanding with new revelations, we lost track of time.

We totally forgot it was lunch time, so it’s a good thing we brought some snacks.

We munched on some nutritional bars and a package of tuna that we brought from home…yummy!

There was a small fruit stand by the side of the road where we bought some delicious bananas also.

They were tiny, but very sweet and tasty.

I recommend you try some when you’re in Israel.

We also made sure to stay hydrated with plenty of fluids during our trip.

No one likes to be around a cranking, dehydrated person.

Well, our day continued and we explored more and more.

Just driving around was a pleasure.

Seeing the majestic mountains and scenery made my appreciation for God’s handy work intensify even more.

After seeing so much of God’s beauty in His chosen land, I can’t agree more with Psalms 14:1 where it states–The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

It’s absolute folly to believe in anything other than our Intelligent Designer!

So, with a deep assurance of the one true God, we drove along with smiles on our faces and laughter in our hearts!

More Soon!  Rach

ICTA Christian Pro Tennis Team Explores Galilee!

Hey again!

Thanks for joining me for another marvelous day through the extraordinary land of Israel.

If you’re just picking up on this blog, my name’s Rachel Snelen and I had the outstanding privilege of visiting the Holy Land with my twin sis, Melody, our mom Joy Snelen, and our missions friend, Emma Hustad.

We made quite a team as we adventured through God’s chosen Land with very little knowledge of our schedule or what would take place…we just took God’s lead!

To begin our journey to Galilee, we first needed to pick up a rental car.

The small vehicle we had reserved was out of stock, so we were given a much larger car for the same price. That was indeed a blessing, as we all have long legs and could use the extra space!

(Joy, Mom!, driving in Israel)

By God’s grace, we managed to navigate safely and accurately through Jerusalem and arrived to the main highway to Galilee.

During our over two hour drive we were highly observant and hungry to absorb all we were seeing.

Our attention was frequently drawn to the mountain sides as we noticed the many herds of sheep scattered throughout the terrain.

It reminded us of our essential need for The Good Shepherd (Psalm 93)…someone to protect us from danger, one to “herd” us in the right direction, someone to be patience with our ignorance…it’s all completely relevant.

(Notice the “Sea Level” sign, do you see any water around?)

As we continued our drive, we noticed a cute, well dressed camel sitting by the side of the road. We had heard you can ride one for a small fee, so we pulled over.
We approached the camel with apprehension at first, knowing that they have a reputation for spitting.

However, the owner assured us that “my camel does not spit.”

And he was right. This camel was super friendly and even smiled for pictures!

We each took turns taking a “joy ride” on the camel… we felt just like the wise men searching for Jesus!

 

We arrived in Galilee early afternoon, then grabbed a bite to eat at a local Kibbutz ( Hebrew for “communal settlement”- a self sustaining community) nestled along side the Jordan River.

While sitting overlooking the Jordan River, we read from Matthew 3 and Mark 1:1-12 where it talks about the baptism of new Believers and the Divine baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.

Although we were aware that this wasn’t the exact location where the baptisms took place, this river is still very significant in Biblical history and it was a great pleasure to visit this site.

While in the gift shop at Yardenit (a baptismal site on the Jordan), Mel and I struck up a conversation with a guy working there.

We found out that he was a self described “Jewish Atheist.”

He was a well informed individual (even knowing a considerable amount of Biblical history…in fact, seemingly more than most Christians I’ve talked to) and has traveled internationally to learn about different cultures.

Although he was a bit obstinate at first, while we shared our Faith with him and why we’ve chosen to believe in Jesus, by the end of our conversation he had softened up and began listening…he even accepted a Christian book we gave him.

He said we were different than other American Christians and he wanted to listen to us. He also said he’d read the book we gave him.

He said he can’t stand the American Christians because he feels they are Christian only because their parents are and they seem to never think for themselves.

He also candidly explained to us how intellectually stunted American young people are.

In his words, all they do is live off their parents money, play video games and don’t think for themselves.

That might be a cynical stereotype, but there is some observed truth behind his assessment. We’re just glad we got to break down those barriers with him and displayed something “different”.

After that interesting stop, we headed to a friend’s house in Galilee.
Our friend then took us to some wonderful locations bordering the Sea of Galilee (aka Lake Kinneret).

We watched the phenomenal sunset illuminate the sky with a glow that celebrated God’s greatness!

It was a fitting moment to… “stop and consider God’s wonders.” Job 37:14

As the sun set, it marked the beginning of Shabbat (The Jewish Sabbath day of rest begins on Friday evening and ends on Saturday evening).

For the evening meal, we were invited to attended an Erev Shabbat (evening of Sabbath) meal with a family of Jewish Believers. We all sang together, ate (a lot!), talked and enjoyed our fellowship with one another.

This concluded a marvelous day!

I will write more as soon as I can!

Rach