Sea of Galilee

Our first night at Tabgha was very nice. Those who woke up early were able swim in the pool to wake up properly. After breakfast we started another church rally. First we went to the beatitudes church which has a very beautiful architecture. The flowers in the garden and the awesome view made it even more enjoyable. We also went to Caphernahum (the town of Jesus) and Saint Peters church. It was very touching to see the places where Jesus lived and bulit his church. After lunch and another jump in the pool we went on a boat ride on the Sea og Galilee. We put on some music, had fun and danced together. When we reached the middle of the lake we stopped the music and the engine of the boat. We gathered and listened to the bible verse in which jesus calmed the storm. After that we stayed silent and thought about the bible verse. It was very relaxing to take in the atmosphere and enjoy another breathtaking view. Then we went to Taghba where Jesus fed 5000 people with 5 pieces of bread and two fish. In the evening we had a special service. Everyone was involved in it. We prepared the decorations, prayers and songs. Also we were able to take part in the preaching. We are happy and feel peace within ourselves, got rid of stress and hope to take this feeling with us when we go back home.

Julian and Natalie

Where Jesus walked

We started our day by leaving Talitha Kumi at 7:55. We drove to Nazareth. We visited 3 churches on our way, the first one was built on a place where Maria saw an angel who told her that she will be pregnant. Then we walked through the old city and visited the synagogue church after that we went to the basilica of the annuciation. It was a big church. It has 43 national mosaics of Mary. Then we drove to the jumping mountain. There we had Manakesh for lunch and we enjoyed the panorama view. It was amazing so we took many photos. After that we arrived in Tabgha, next to the sea of galilee. Some of us swam in the sea and the others swam in the pool. In the evening a few of us prepared the dinner after that we had a big meeting, we talked about our positive and negative experiences.

Karl und Ramez

Jerusalem – a city of many faces

Today we had to get up very early after a short bus drive we visited a service at the church of the redeemer, then we went on a trip with a guide of ICAHD through east Jerusalem. He told us, what the isrealian goverments official reason for building a wall in a completely different place than the border from 1976 is. But seeing all the illegal settlements, hearing about them and the weird location of the wall makes clear that there can´t be a good explanation for all of that. And he told us some things about the organisation he is with and that they stop the destruction of palestinian homes. Inspite of all these bad impressions we had a great party because of Anna 18th birthday. And birthdays have to be celebrated!

Lasse and Stefanie

A roller coaster of emotions

Today was a day full of several diversified emotions.
Our first step today was the lutheran school of hope in ramallah where pastor Imad shared
with us the problems faced by this school being built in an industrial area where a lot of loud noises and bad smells are present. We also had to remember how important education is for new generations. Because it needs a lot of strength to not reply to the conflict of their reality with anger. Around noon we went to visit the graveyard of the former president of palestine which had several symbols all around to resemble the palestinian reality,such as the 3 palestinian flags raised to its side as a reminder of the 3 official funerals he had held in each of France, Egypt and Palestine as well as the moving water in the shape of the letter U used to resemble his movable cascket to explain that one day his wish of being buried in jerusalem will be fullfilled. After that we were taken to visit the great arabic poet Mahmoud Darwiesh in which we also got to see his graveyard and his precious belongings and creative accomplishments.It was impressive how incisive and intensive the words of this man seem. Of course after we saw all these interesting facts we were taken to he city center in Ramallah to see how life inside the so called economical capital of palestine is. After such a long,loud, crowded day in a city like ramallah we had to get through the checkpoint again. A large portion of our group decided to join the palestinians for support and to gain the experience of how the reality of their lives actually is. And in comparison to travelling outside of the country to any other different country we go through security checks but as for the palestinains they are forced to move from one city to another in their own homeland through checlpoints full of obstacles. As sad as this may seem I was very surprised by the mix of emotions that the people were going through and by that I mean fear, anxiety, patience, hope, anger, sadness and recklessness. Three hours of constant humiliation because of the low method of behavior used by the Israelis towards the Palestinians and in this case also us Germans delayed our way back to Talitha. For some it took more time to realise what happened than for others. Just because of the kindness of the Talitha Kumi Team we were having our delayed dinner. Instead of having to spend almost 30 mins to cross a usual checkpoint, we spent 3 long hours waiting for anyone to let us through. Finally after everything we’ve experienced during only 1 day. The best way for us to face what we saw was to end our day with a simple prayer just outisde between the calming trees of Talitha Kumi. Finishing this with a hug and starting something new with another one as well.

Miria and Jude