Here is what Deacon Larry has posted  the first few days in the Holy Land.  For pictures and further updates, go to https://www.facebook.com/SaintPeterChurchandSchool/

Day 1 in the Holy Land with Deacon Larry. Our tour doesn't start until tomorrow so we ventured on our own walking to the city of Old Jaffa. This is a seaport just south of Tel Aviv. You may find this hard to believe but there is a St. Peter Church in Jaffa. I will post a few pictures once I upload them from my cell phone. Beautiful Church managed by the Franciscans. We also visited an art studio with a small sculpture of St Peter sleeping with his head on a rock and one of the keys to the kingdom laying nearby. See attached picture. Tonight we had our kickoff dinner at the hotel where we sampled some of the local cuisine. Also met up with the 40+ members of our tour.

Day 2 in the Holy Land with Deacon Larry--this morning we officially started our bus tour. First stop was at Jaffa or Jappa. We had visited this site on our own yesterday and found we had missed some interesting points. The first is the house where Peter had cured Tabitha (see Acts 9:31-64). This is also the site where Peter had the vision that Gentiles should be considered part of the Christian faith at the home of Simon the Tanner. From there we headed North to Caesarea. This was the city that King Herod built on the Mediterranean Sea to gain prominence with Caesar and Rome. A magnificent city that was unearthed after hundreds of years being hidden under the sand. Stopping for lunch a Megiddo we then took a walking tour of the fortress built on a high hill to protect invaders from reaching Jerusalem. This is also the site where Armageddon is believed will occur before Jesus' second coming. Our final visit for the day was at Mount Carmel where Elijah shows up the 400 prophets of Baal (see 1 Kings 18:17-37). There is a Carmelite monastery built on this site today. Final stop was our hotel in Tiberius overlooking the Sea of Galilee (beautiful view from our room). Will be posting pictures from my phone later. We are truly enjoying the sites and tasting a variety of food local to Israel.

Day 3 in the Holy Land with Deacon Larry--today was another wonderful and event-filled day. We started at the Sea of Galilee where we saw the remains of a 2,000 year old fishing boat that was discovered in the Sea of Galilee. It took 10 years to recover it and we saw a video that documented the recovery and preservation of the boat. The question still remains as to whose boat this was but really showed how the boats were constructed back then. Then we took about a 2-hour trip on a large fishing boat that took us up and own the lake. It really brought to life many of the Bible stories of Jesus and the apostles' time spent on the lake. Next we headed to Nazareth to see the Church of the Annunciation (breathtaking) which is believed to be built on top of St. Joseph's workshop. We also stopped at the site of the Wedding of Cana. It is a church build on top the where the wedding is believed to have taken place where Jesus turned the water into wine. Our last stop today was at the River Jordan where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. There were a number of people being baptized there and for those of us already baptized we took our shoes off and waded into the river (much smaller than I envisioned). Tomorrow we are head to Jerusalem. Will be posting pictures from today in a separate post.

Day 4 in the Holy Land with Deacon Larry--today was a very full and exciting day. We started at the Church at the Mount of the Beatitudes and had a chance to dip our toes into the waters of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus would have been preaching from. Next we traveled a short distance to the site of the Multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Another beautiful church. From there we went to the church of St. Peter's Primacy where Jesus instructed Peter "to feed my lambs and tend my sheep. The gospel stories really come to life at all of these sites. Next stop was the fishing village of Capernaum which was Jesus' hometown during his 3 year ministry. There is a Franciscan church built above what is believed to be the house of St. Peter. Lunch was at a nearby restaurant called St. Peter's. I highly recommend the grilled talapia. After lunch we had a long bus ride headed toward Jerusalem with a stop at the ruins of Bet She'an with its fine Roman and Byzantine relics. Just outside of Jerusalem we stopped on a hill top to view the ancient city. Simply amazing.