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What a month. The prep, the trip, the return. Team Israel is back. I've missed writing more than you've missed reading, I'm certain, but suffice it to say that I'm grateful to be back in my corner to serve you. The PrayFit Devotion returns after the longest hiatus in our history.

Before we resume our regularly scheduled fitness devotions - where we put one foot in front of the other in the area of humble, bodily stewardship - I want to simply share the purpose of our mission as well as a few of my favorite images of the trip.

Among so many other things, we visited the Dead Sea, and we witnessed an unbelievable panoramic view from the top of Mount of Olives. We walked down the Palm Sunday Path, visited the Garden of Gethsemane, the Church of All Nations and The Western Wall. We walked the Via Dolorosa and visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We visited Nazareth, spent time in Capernaum where Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish. We were baptized in the River Jordan and took a boat out onto the Sea of Galilee for a time of prayer.  And then...

...we knelt where our sins were forgiven.

Suddenly anything I will ever write will fall gloriously short of those seven words. We still can't put into words what we've seen, where we've walked and what we've touched. We will never read our Bibles the same way again.

As many of you know, we were there to serve in the ongoing reconciliation camp, "Musalaha." Nineteen years ago, Musalaha (which means reconciliation in Arabic) was established by Salim J. Munayer in Jerusalem when he acted upon his vision to see peace between Israelis and Palestinians. What a wonderful man and family. We were honored to be in his home and we’re humbled to be at his service. As to what our purpose was while there, Salim calmly and confidently said, “Be a light in the darkness, build relationships, change the world one child at a time.” We tried to follow his lead.  

And so, thanks to those of you that prayed for us and a very special thanks to those that gave financially to our trip, allowing us to go. Please enjoy the journey in pictures. We have a roll of nearly 5,000 images, but here are some of my favorites.

This is me, smiling and exhausted from crossing ten time zones, hoping that for a few minutes you enjoy our memories.

- Jimmy

Team Israel, pictured here with Musalaha founder, Salim.

Traditional, celebrated birthplace of Jesus.

You'll notice this emblem often in these images. I've grown to love it. It's called The Jerusalem Cross. I will write about it in upcoming entries.

The doorway into The Mount of Olives. Again, you can see the Jerusalem Cross. I'm wearing one around my neck today.

The entrance into the Garden of Gethsemane

My love, Loretta, standing near the garden. This olive tree is estimated to be nearly 5-6,000 years old. We know with absolute certainty that this tree was there the night Jesus prayed, wept and was arrested.

Traditionally known as the Wailing Wall. (Currently, this is called "The Western Wall".)

The entrance into the Holy Sepulchre; the church above the hill of Calvary.

Encased in glass is part of the hill of Calvary. We were able to reach into a small portal and touch the rock. Imagine?

An ancient cemetery just outside the city and surrounding the Mount of Olives.

The Via Dolorosa. For years, I've sung the song "I walked today where Jesus walked" and for the first time in my life, it's true.

Jerusalem Cross and a cat. I loved taking shots of doorways and alleys. You should see my entire camera roll. (I should be a photographer.)

I took this while walking the streets of a 3,500 year-old city, called Nablus. This is located in Palestinian occupied territory where we served the kids. Unbelievable poverty.

Probably the most remarkable church I've ever seen. Built above Mary's home where the angel Gabriel appeared to her, the Church of the Annunciation is breathtaking. It has no equal.

A few kids in ancient Nablus.

Me and Letta at Jacob's well. The actual well where Jesus forgave the samaritan woman.

Loretta working with her kids on one of the camp days.

Standing at the Mount of Precipice; the place from where Jesus was threatened to be thrown. 

The love of my life and I baptizing each other in the Jordan River. Somewhere along this way Jesus met John the Baptist in the water.

The moment Letta's feet touched the water in the Sea of Galilee.

Probably one of the most impactful moments of the trip, we took a boat out into the middle of the sea of Galilee, turned off the engine and prayed in absolute silence for about 15 minutes. You could hear only the waves against the side of the boat. Imagine, it was here that Jesus calmed the sea, encouraged Peter to try the "other side," where Christ walked on water...

Our last sunrise. This was taken from our room along the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Life is downhill from here.