HOTM 2007 Reunion!

Dear History On The Move Tour Participants:

Gloria Edwards (see your directory for address and phone number) has graciously invited us to her home for a dinner and picture reunion on Friday evening, May 11th, at 7:00 PM. We will miss those who are not in the southern California area or who may have a schedule conflict. Since Gloria is providing the main pasta dish, those whose last name begins with letters A – R should bring a salad, and those whose last name begins S – Z should bring a dessert. RSVP regrets only and directions will follow.

We look forward to seeing some of you. Regards,

George Giacumakis, Ph.D.
Director of the Irvine Campus
California State University, Fullerton

Powerful video

Greg M. sent a link to a powerful video highlighting the Messianic movement emerging in Israel. Because they are working with a church that has played a strategic role in encouraging believers in Yeshua, it peaked his interest. You'll notice right way... the video was done in Hebrew. It was braodcast all over Israel. Thankfully, there are English subtitles.

I passed it along to George – he recognized several of the folks immediately… check out the e-mails below. What a story!

EMAIL from GREG
Enclosed is a link to a program that ran on Israel's main TV station during Primetime News. Subtitles have been added for your English speakers out there. God is moving and this is amazing coverage for this land to show
Messianic believers in a good light.

Isreali News Report

Dr. GEORGE’s REPLY
The first family on the video is the Ronen Family at the Finnish Christian Kibbutz Yad HaShmona. If you remembered that Hal Ronning’s Israeli name is Johanan Ronen, then that identifies the head of the family as his son. Daniel Ronen (Hal’s son is veterinarian) is the father of the family that is shown observing the Shabbat Dinner. Note that he identifies himself as a “Messianic Jew” and not a “Christian.” He also appears later in the video as well, since he is one of the heads of the Messianic Jewish Kibbutz. Regards, George.

Here’s the full link –
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6244392868781886952

Photo Gallery - HOTM 2007

C'mon by and see my collection of photos.

PHOTO GALLERY

Ken

Easter Sunday at Home

It was a different Easter Sunday for those of us who traveled together to Israel and Italy this year. We stood in St. Peter's Square just before Palm Sunday. Just a week, later, well, take a look.

None of us will forget leaving the open square in the Old City (Jerusalem). We wandered back into the open space just outside the contested place of the crucifixion: the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It's an ancient basilica, a patchwork of spaces and symbols and domes and archways and mosaics, all attempting to portray for the pilgrim some sense of what happened here. There are steps to simulate the climb to Golgatha, and a supposed slot which served as a stand for the cross upon which Jesus died. It's an eerie mixture of fact and fiction, spirituality and mystery, with an oppressive air of dark suffering.

Just as we made our exit back onto the narrow alleyways of Old Jerusalem, our guide, Hal, from under his broad rimmed hat, kept in place by a knotted lanyard, shouted from the rail – “He is not here! He is risen!”

It’s a fitting memory for us believers on this Easter weekend.

We stood in St. Peter’s Square barely a week ago. This weekend, that same space was filled to capacity with tens of thousands of folks drawn there by some sort of spiritual longing. Are they looking in the right place?

I’ve posted some photos. It’s a beginning. There will be more. Stay tuned.

Jerusalem Photos (196) Bethlehem Photos (52)
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We're Homeward Bound!

Here's our last group shot... in Florence.

FROM: London
We've arrived in London... and we are about to board our final 11 flight to LAX. We've said good-by to those who are on their way to other destinations.

We should be on time... 2:55 PM, LAX British Air.

Vatican City

Here's a group shot from Vatican City. St. Peter's is behind us. The Swiss Guards stand at attention. More text to come. Click on the photo for a larger image.

Roma!

Roma!

Today, we toured the magnificent remains of the nearly two thousand year old Coliseum. There’s a surprising (for us, anyway) link to our Jerusalem visit. When Vespasian launched the construction of the mammoth arena, it was in celebration of the suppression of the Jewish revolt. Roman soldiers transported slaves and booty from the spoils of a destroyed Jerusalem and surrounding cities. The remnants were used to build the mighty stadium. Perhaps some of the stones from the Temple in Jerusalem now support the ruins of the Coliseum… a cruel irony.

This is but one of the many discoveries jumping off the pages of history as we tour the city of Rome. We got our first look at a Michelangelo original – Moses in the Chapel of St. Peter’s Chains. Later, we wandered deep below ground level to observe ancient Christian gravesites in the Catacombs.

We’re still waiting for the delivery of two lost pieces of luggage. An annoyance for sure; but it hasn’t dampened our spirits. Scott and Terri Last have joined us, as have Steve and Lana Giacumakis. Both couples are adding a lot to our group; joining right in.

Tomorrow – Vatican City. It’s Palm Sunday week – pilgrims are pouring into the city.

Thanks for keeping up. More to come.

Late night in Tel Aviv

Greetings on our last night in Israel.

It’s been an unforgettable week… the stories are piling up. We’ve barely had time to keep a sketchy journal. After four days in Jerusalem, we learned our way around – from the Mount of Olives, down the hill to the Garden of Gethsemane then up to the Lion’s Gate. Just inside, we sang worship songs and hymns in the pitch-perfect acoustics of St. Anne’s and up the hill down narrow cobblestone streets of the Via Dolorosa. The Archeological exhibition at the ancient Herodian Wall (the South West corner) gave us a sense of the sheer enormity of the construction effort – and then the sheer horror of the crushing Roman defeat of the Jewish rebellion of 70AD. Following the Western Wall north, under the city down tunnels deep beneath ground level, we got as close as one might to the spot where the Holy of Holies was restricted to an annual visit by the High Priest. We watched as hundreds approached the Western Wall with round-the-clock fervent prayers for the restoration of God’s presence in that place.

The last two days took us out of the city to Qumran and the community of the Essenes, then north through the Jordan River Valley and the ruin at Beth Sh’an where Saul and his sons had the corpses put on display in humiliation. It opened the door for David’s reign. The kibbutz at Galilee hosted us for the night, and in the morning, we boarded a quaint replica of a first century boat. We crossed over to Capernaum on a picture perfect day; read passages from the Gospels that came alive on the spot. We followed the steps of Jesus when he found his disciples, among them fishermen from these shores. Then over to Nazareth and up to Mt Carmel where Elijah faced the prophets of Baal. There, we met with Vonnie and Greg at the Mt Carmel Assembly. We got a glimpse of their work with a gathering of Messianic believers making a profound impact on their international community. We finished the day off at Caesarea, where Paul sat in prison for nearly two years; finally appealing to Rome; where he was sent for trial.

We follow his journey to the same city in the morning. Early morning. We depart the hotel for Ben Gurion Airport at four in the morning.

Still more to come.

Ken

More Photos from Jerusalem

Check out the additional photos posted from Jerusalem.

Greetings from Jerusalem

Click on PHOTO

We just finished our third day in Jerusalem. Our guide Yohanan (Hal) led us through the Old City and beyond. We've seen the Shrine of the Book (Dead Sea Scrolls), the International Christian Embassy, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ Church (Anglican) and the Western Wall. We visited the Holocaust Museum and then up to the Hebrew University for a panoramic view of the Old City. We traced the Via Dolorosa, the traditional walk up the cobble-stone streets of Jerusalem where Jesus is thought to have carried the cross to Calvary. We sang hymns in St Anne's Church and viewed the archaeological digs outside the city walls and then inside by the Pool of Bethesda. In the mornings, George starts our day with an orientation. We celebrated Sabbath supper at the King Solomon Hotel.

Vonnie and Greg Michels joined us - Greg shared the traditions of the Sabbath meal. We are learning and growing, and enjoying the company of fellow travelers.

More to come!

Greetings from Israel

Greetings from Israel!

After a twelve hour lay-ver on London, we arrived safely in Jerusalem at 7:30 AM after a Tel Aviv arrival of 5:30. You can imagine the time zone blur for our thirty adventurers. Already today, we visited the Dead Sea Scroll Museum and the Old City model… and we are settling in at the King Solomon Hotel.

Here are a couple photos. We’ll share more as time and connectivity allow.

Ken

Contact information while in country

We're getting close to departure time. We had a great meeting on Saturday night. If you missed it, be sure to contact George to get the information distributed that night at the Thengvall House.

Download Hotel Contract information.

Here's a little more detail from George...

IMPORTANT: Baggage in LONDON - We had told group that they would have to take all their bags/suitcases (for security reasons) to the Holiday Inn Hotel at Heathrow for the day on March 21 and then bring them back to Heathrow for the night flight. Wrong! Tell the participants to pack and check in their large bags/suitcases to go from the USA all the way to Tel Aviv, Israel. They only need to take their carry-on bag to the Heathrow hotel for the day.

TOURING LONDON - For those who wish to tour during the day on March 21, here isthe suggestion of the ASA Agency of London: "For those who wish to goto London, they recommend that they take the underground from Heathrow into London. There is a fast one and a regular train, and the fast one is more expensive. But others may wish to go to a town that is closer to Heathrow - "Ealing" - which is fun to walk around." Please send this information to the group and post it on the website as well.

Shuttle Information

HOTM SHUTTLE INFO MARCH /APRIL 2007
GO FLY CONF. # GF 93401
From Richfield Community Church, Yorba Linda, CA

MARCH 20th PICK UP TIME- 2:15 pm
19 tour members to LAX;
British Airways flight departs at 6:20pm.
COST TO LAX PER PERSON - $13.00 (includes tip)

APRIL 3rd RETURN PICK UP FROM LAX
Return British Airways flight to LAX about 3pm
15 tour members from LAX
COST FROM LAX PER PERSON $15.00 (includes tip)

PICK UP AND DROP OFF SITE
Behind Thengvall House at Richfield Community Church, Yorba Linda, CA
Please have someone bring you to RCC, for you should not leave your car parked in the RCC Lot during the two weeks on tour.

Shuttle company is GO FLY - 1-800-994-6359
We will have 2 vans each way (a 10 passenger and a 9 passenger van to Lax). On return there will be 2 - 9 passenger vans from Lax. The vans are booked under name of George Giacumakis.
Contact person is Henni

One person in each van will collect your money and pay the driver. Please have exact change.

Questions? EMAIL GEORGE

HISTORY ON THE MOVE TRAVEL TIPS

HISTORY ON THE MOVE TRAVEL TIPS from George and Joan
(Hopefully this will answer all or most of the questions you may have regarding clothing, weather, food, laundry, etc.)

CLOTHING
No bare upper arms (shoulders) or above the knees when visiting religious sites.
For spring weather, plan to take easily layered clothes
A small folding umbrella is recommended
Good, comfortable shoes or sneakers (rubber soles are best).
Pack as lightly as possible. The weight limit to check in is 65lbs. (see note at bottom) Carry-on weight is 15 lbs.( In 2007 some airlines will be changing this to 50 pounds for check in bags.)
Pack a change of clothes in your carry-on
Pack your medications in your carry-on
Pack enough clothes to last 7-10 days

WEATHER
Similar to So. Cal.
It could rain-highly possible both in Israel and Italy
Temps can vary between 58 to 75 degrees during the day, depending on what country we are in.
Evening temps can be as low as 40 degrees.

ELECTRICAL
For the ladies-take a travel hair dryer and curling iron(if you use these) that are convertible to 220V current.( Most travel appliances are). You would still need an adaptor plug.

For the gentlemen-elec. razors should be convertible to 220V also. Verify that yours is. You will need an adaptor plug.

We recommend you purchase an adapter/converter kit which will take care of most every country. You can even get these at Target or Walmart.

CAMERA
If taking a digital camera with rechargeable battery, be sure it also takes 220V. Verify this in your booklet that comes with the camera. You’ll need an adaptor plug for this also.

LAUNDRY
Hotels offer laundry service for a fee. They do not have do it yourself available. They do have a line that pulls out over the tub for what you may want to wash by hand.

You may want to take a small amount of detergent(powder) for hand washing. Do not take liquid.

Small clothespins with a hooked end are good to take along.

We have 4 nights in Jerusalem—Th.,Fr.,Sat.,Sun
We have only 1 night at the kibbutz. They have a washer and dryer for guests to use.
We have 1 night in Tel Aviv –Tues.
We have 2 nights in Florence and 4 in Rome – Wed. Th. Fr.(Rome)/ Sat. Sun. (Florence)/ Mon. near Rome airport.

FOOD
Hotels provide breakfast and dinner buffets with a wide array of fish, meat, cheese, fruit, vegetables, cereals, eggs, bread, rolls and so on.
Drinks, other than juice and coffee at breakfast are extra.
(This includes bottled water.)

Bottled water is available to purchase everywhere.

Lunches are not included. We do always stop somewhere, if you desire to purchase lunch or a snack or drink.

We often take a trail mix with us, divided in small snack bags. Granola bars are also good to take, or dry fruit.

The airline will feed us. Meals and snacks are provided.

MONEY
We recommend travelers checks in small denominations. $20 and perhaps some $50. One dollar bills are accepted most places for small purchases. You may want to take $20 in ones. ATM are widely available also.

Change your money at the airport. They usually have a fair exchange rate. It will also keep you busy while waiting for your luggage.

VISAS AND PASSPORTS
No visa is needed ahead of entry into Israel or Italy.

Always carry your passport with you. You definitely need a passport to get into any country, including back into the USA.

PLEASE NOTE: MAKE SURE TO PACK LESS THAN 44POUNDS INTO YOUR
CHECKED BAG. OUR FLIGHT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND ITALY IS CONSIDERED TO NOT BE INTERNATIONAL AND THUS HAS A LESSER WEIGHT RESTRICTION FOR CHECKED BAGS. INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS ALLOW 65 POUNDS. YOUR CARRY ON SHOULD WEIGH NO MORE THAN 14 POUNDS DUE TO THIS FLIGHT RESTRICTION. YOU WILL BE ALLOWED 1 CHECKED BAG AND 1 CARRY ON.

MEDICATIONS
Follow new security rules for liquids. Otherwise, carry with you.

We suggest you take with you over the counter meds for sore throat, colds, cough, diarrhea/constipation.
For sleep (for those of you who have difficulty on the plane) try a benadryl with
Tylenol. (ear plugs might help also).

Questions? EMAIL GEORGE

Travel Team Directory

We had a good group turn out for more orientation and a light supper. We're introducing our BLOG site... The directory of travelers is on-line... check it out (password required) and let us know if you find any errors. Let's keep in touch.

Travel Team Directory

NOTE - If you had trouble downloading... I had a little password glitch. It's been fixed. Try it again... it should work. (You may need to hit "refresh" when you get to the documents page.)

Our next meeting is planned for Saturday evening, March 10th - at RCC's Thengvall House.

Ken

HOTM Room List

We've compiled a list of travelers and we are making it available to the travel team only. To download the file, you'll need the password. If you don't have the password, send an e-mail to Ken or George.

ROOM LIST

Welcome to the blog site

We're pleased to report that all the available places on our tour are filled. We've assembled a first rate gathering of travelers. Our journey is something of a pilgrimmage. We will visit many historic sites - many are focal points of faith. Our world view will broaden. Our inights will multiply. We'll be in the company of fellow believers. The Bible will be our guidebook. Stop by often. Leave your comments.

Ken