Arriving and Day 1: Joffa

Our trip took us via Turkish Airlines from O’Hare in Chicago to Istanbul, Turkey where we raced across Terminal A and B to be cleared by Israeli security officials to board our plane to Tel Aviv. I can’t say enough good things about Turkish Airlines – they are very professional, courteous, and they have the best food I’ve ever eaten on an airplane!

We started off our first day bright and early with a trip to Joffa or as most people reading the Bible probably know it as Joppa. This is the place where Peter healed and raised Tabitha from the dead in the book of Acts.

Our tour took us to the Church of St. Peter which is run by a group of Franciscans. The Church is featured with several altars, beautiful stained glass windows, and my favorite part, it is outfitted with a modern sound system and a screen and projector. Covid has changed media needs in numbers of churches, even some of the most historic ones.

We are staying in Tiberias in the Golan Hotel and there are some pictures below of the hotel, view from my room of the Sea of Tiberias (Sea of Galilee), and some pictures of the Church of St. Peter in Joffa.