February 24

We have enjoyed worshipping at Good Shepherd Baptist Church here in Nazareth near our apartment for the past two Sundays.  Even though we do not understand many of the words used, the worship experience has a fervor and intensity that is holy and moving.  Pastor Afif and his wife Mimi have done a great job in first planting this church 15 months ago and then in leading the people.  Most of the congregation are new believers.  Afif is a real evangelist with a great pastor's heart.  He lives just a few doors down from us so we have enjoyed their friendship and we get together from time to time just to visit.

We are planning another road trip this week to visit Mt Carmel, Megiddo and Mt Tabor.  But before I get ahead of myself, let me back up and finish sharing about our road trip this past week. 

We stayed in a kibbutz about 30 miles north of Nazareth.  Kibbutz Inbar was established about 20 years ago by 10 single Jewish immigrants from Moscow.  Their main business is running their lodging operation.  Our room was clean but really small and sparse.  But the food was excellent and our host did a great job of assisting us.

On the second day of our road trip we went to the ancient city of Akko (Acco, or Acre).  This city sits on the only natural harbor for the entire area along the Mediterranean Sea.  It was originally called Ptolemais after King Ptolemy of Egypt.  It has been conquered and lost by the Egyptians, Greeks, Arabs, Crusaders, Turks, Mamluks and others.  It was a Crusader bastion until they were defeated by Saladin.  The ancient sea wall remains as do many of the original buildings of the Crusaders.  You can sense in the city a real spiritual darkness. 

We traveled up the coast to the Lebanese border and visited Rosh Hanikra.  This area provides a spectacular view of the coast line.  The cliffs are a soft limestone and through the years the waves have carved caves and tunnels into the stone cliffs.  We rode a cable car down to the cliff and grottoes.  The sound of the waves spashing into the caves was deafening.  An incredible experience.!

The next day was a really special day as we circled the Sea of Galilee!  We traveled to Chorasim and hiked through one of the oldest intact synagogues in Israel.  Then we visited the location where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount.  While visiting that church I heard a group speaking in Indonesian!  We engaged in a brief conversation and learned that the church is from the same city where I lived forty years ago!  One of my favorite spots along the Galilee Sea is called Tabgha.  This church commemorates the feeding of the 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread.  It is a simple yet moving chapel with an ancient mosaic under the altar which is built over a stone outcropping reportedly of the location where the miracle took place. 

From there we traveled to the ruins of Bethsaida.  It was moving to walk along the path to the ruins and turn a corner and stand in front of what remains of the gates to the city.  We could imagine what it was like when Peter, Andrew and Philip lived here. 

We finished up our sightseeing at Kursi which is a National Park in the area where Jesus healed the Gadarene demoniac.  On the way back to Nazareth stopped at a restaurant in the En Gev Kibbutz.  Had an incredible grilled St Peter's Fish.  Great trip and the most amazing thing--I actually found our way back to our apartment driving! 

Looking forward to our next trip!  Please continue praying for the people we are meeting during our walks through Nazareth.  Our favorite vendor in Souk greeted us on Saturday with an intense question and conversation about mercy and grace and God's forgiveness!

Blog Post for February 22

We have had quite a week.  Our plan has been to take periodic road trips to other parts of Israel.  This week was our first.  Avis has a car rental place here so we took off for three days in a bright red Mitsubishi.

On Monday we traveled to Nain, where Jesus raised  the widow's son in Luke 7:11-15.  Two interesting notes about Nain.  The directions to the village said go to the McDonalds and turn right!  Can you believe it?  Then once we entered the village the church celebrating the miracle sits in the shadow of a mosque.  We could not enter the church because of construction. 

Next we took off on a 28 kilometer ride along the Gilboa Ridge.  Mt. Gilboa was the site where Saul and his sons were killed in battle.  It parallels the Jezreel Valley and every turn was filled with incredible views and wildflowers!

We traveled down the Ridge to the ancient city of Beth Shean.  This is the location where the bodies of Saul and Jonathan were taken and hung on the city walls.  A classic example of a Roman city.  A key city in the Decapolis in Jesus' day.  On the hillside they have discovered twenty layers of sediment that include ruins from a Roman fortress, and Egyptian governor's home and a fortress built by David and Solomon!  Incredible sense of biblical perspective and context.  To know that on this spot Solomon guarded this valley.

We spent the night in a Kibbutz north of Nazareth, but that is another story and another blog. Coming soon!

Saturday morning I will be speaking at the mid-year meeting of the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel. Will be a great opportunity to meet the pastors and church leaders.

We appreciate your prayers.  Pray for the financial challenges facing the Seminary.  Pray for the people we have met and have shared with.  Pray for the pastors and churches in Israel.



February 17 Blog Post

One of the more recent biblical sites in Nazareth is Nazareth Village.  It's the recreation of a first century Galilean farm setting.  The guides do a great job of connecting the various aspects of the setting with stories and teachings in the life of Christ.  When we walked into the  main office we discovered Mike Huckabee and Pat Boone had a tour group there!  They walk you through a setting with shepherds, wine press and olive press.  Then you walk through the home of a carpenter and a weaver before settling in a replica of a Nazareth synagogue.  Really interesting stuff!  We were here two years ago, but this time we could take it at a more leisurely pace and stayed for lunch.  Great meal of lentil soup, hummus, hyssop, cabbage, pita and chicken with fruit and a date spread for dessert!  We were going to take the bus out to the location but along the way we met an older gentlemen who said he would take us there walking.  Elias was named after the prophet Elijah and comes from a Christian family.  He must have been over 85 years old and kept asking us if we were walking okay!

Tomorrow we are taking a three day drive around Upper Galilee.  We will be seeing Mt Gilboa Mt Tabor Nain, as well as the ancient ruins of Beth Shean and driving around the Sea of Galilee.  We will be staying in a bed and breakfast in a Kibbutz not too far from Capernaum.  Should have some great photos and stories!

Today we worshipped with the Good Shepherd Baptist Church which is walking distance from our apartment.  Though we did not understand much of what was being said, the worship was powerful and through the music there was a deep sense of the presence of the Lord.  Most of the members are new believers and they had a joy and a sense of fellowship that was contagious.  Pastor Afif has become a friend.  We will plan on coming to church here often.

Every couple of days we go down to the market in the Old City--Souk and eat sweets and drink tea and coffee.  It is a fascinating place with winding alleyways lined with shops and vendors like these women selling vegetables.

Well we have almost completed two weeks here and are having a wonderful time.  I will close with one more photo--a sunset shot from near our apartment to remind you to pray for the people of Nazareth that they would come to know the Light of the World!

February 14 Blog Post

Today they are supposed to install our router so we can have wifi from the apartment!  That will make communication much easier. 

Yesterday was a wonderful day of sightseeing and building relationships.  It was a beautiful sunny day so we walked up to our friend Michael's spices shop to visit.  In the course of conversation he called a friend and the next thing we knew we had a taxi to take us to the Mount of Precipice.  The location where it is  believed that a mob took Jesus after He spoke in the synagogue in Nazareth reading from Isaiah 61.  It is an incredible 360 degree view of the Jezreel Valley.  We could see Mt Tabor, Afula and a wonderful overlook of Nazareth.

Synagoge where Jesus spoke.  It is a Greek Catholic Church today.  Floor from the 4th century and the walls and ceiling from the Crusader era in the 12th century built on the foundation of the old synagogue

Mt Tabor

Upon our return a pastor we met called and invited us to his house for lunch.  Afif is a wonderfully passionated church planter and evangelist.  His church, The Good Shepherd Baptist Church was started about 17 months ago.  The membership is about 60 with mostly new believers.  Afif is a student at NETS and has a passion for church planting and evangelism.  He also has a ministry in the Negev among Bedouins.  He has invited us to go with him!  We are really excited about that opportunity.

Pray for Afif in his ministry and in his studies at NETS.  Pray for his wife Mimi who is a teacher and a student.  They literally have no time off.  Local funds are limited for their work.  Truly precious godly servants of the Lord.

View of Nazareth from Mount Precipice.  Our apartment is near the top of the hillside in the middle of the picture.

February 10 Blog Post

We are still without WiFi in our apartment so I have to wait until I get to the Seminary to get online. Hopefully we will get WiFi this week. We continue to have a wonderful time here in Nazareth. Here are a few highlights of the past couple of days.


We walked down to the Souk (local market). In my last blog I had pictures of the empty streets, we it was not that way on Saturday.

People were extremely friendly and many wanted to have spiritual conversations. Almost all were Moslems, but very free and open to conversation. One shop keeper told me as he held up the Koran and the Bible, “People go to the mosques or they go to the churches, they read their holy books, but they are bad people. I believe that we must be good in our hearts.” When I responded about how Jesus enables us to be good in our hearts the man grabbed my hands together and said “God bless you!”

Along the way we met a very extroverted and animated guy named Azmi.

He made an incredibly sweet pastry ball filled with honey. When we took our order of pastries and sat down in an open air coffee stand to eat and drink coffee and tea, lots of people in the market came over to greet us. We chatted, laughed and drank coffee and tea for over an hour. Wonderful time!

Here is a view of Nazareth from outside our apartment

Went to the village of Tu’ran outside of Nazareth for a Friday evening service. The placed was packed about 100 people mostly young people. Pastor Saleem and his wife Endira were gracious and deeply spiritual people.

On Sunday we went to the Local Baptist Church of Nazareth. We will probably attend here often. Much larger crowd with a large number of professionals.

After church Bryson and May Arthur took us to Tiberias for lunch. We ate at a Chinese restaurant right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Wow! Hard to eat just imagining the biblical stories that occurred right around us. We then drove to Capernaum to visit the area where Jesus spoke in the synagogue and where Peter’s mother-in-law lived. Here is a picture of Bryson, President of the Seminary and me in the synagogue.

Peter’s house

We have completed our first week in Israel. It has been a great week of settling in and adjusting. We plan to rent a car this next week and make a 2-3 day excursion around Upper Galilee.

February 7 Part 2 Blog




Incredible day!

Azar and Lynda at a Falafel shop in the Old City of Nazareth

Azar Ajaj is the Vice President of the Seminary. He took us on a walking tour of old Nazareth, where he grew up. He went to school at the Nazareth Baptist High School. Today they have over 1,000 students and is open to all faiths but maintain a distinctly Baptist flavor through required Bible classes and chapel.

We then walked the streets of the old market in Nazareth—Suik. Since it was later in the afternoon most of the shops were closed. We will have a lot of opportunities to visit here.

Just before entering the Suik, we stopped at Mary’s well, dates back to Jesus’ time. Note you can’t drink the water now.

Nazareth is known for the Basilica of the Annunciation, where it is believed that Mary lived and the angel came and announced that she would give birth to the Messiah.



As you walk the streets of Jesus’ hometown you are continually aware that this is a community built on the ability of three religions to live together peacefully.

Received my first assignment today. I will be writing an article (booklet) giving an outsider’s perspective on the Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary and the context of Nazareth with the tension between Jews and Arabs, Arabs and Christians and Messianic Jews with Christians and Jews and Arab Christians with all of them! Quite an undertaking. Tomorrow is the Shabat (Sabbath) we plan to take one ourself!

We appreciate your prayer for us!

February 7 Blog

Greetings from Nazareth!  Our wi-fi is not working yet so am borrowing access at the Seminary.  No photos today!

I will send a longer update in a few days.  We have had a wonderful time.  The people of Nazareth are wonderful.  Let me share a few examples and ask you to pray for them.  Our first morning we went for a walk and found a small grocery/fruit stand.  Wonderful oranges, clementines, bananas and more.  Met the owner, Said.  He asked where I was from and when I responded America he said "America good.  Arabs crazy!"  I responded "No Arabs good too."  He smiled.  Kissed his thumb and pointed up to the sky.  Then he said "Welcome to Nazareth."  Then we met Michael who runs a spices shop.  He spoke wonderful English and it turns out he lives in our neighborhood.  He would not let me pay for the spices we bought and said "Welcome to Nazareth neighbor!" 
We have had a delightful time meeting people and settling in.  Our apartment is perfect.  Very quiet and secure.  One of the Baptist pastors lives just below our place.  So we have begun to have a network of local people who have offered to assist us. 
Today we are taking a walking tour of the old city of Nazareth.  Saturday we are going out to a village for worship.  I will be going to Tel Aviv soon to work out teaching at a Filipino Church along with one of the professors from the Seminary here.  Should be interesting.  I have been introduced as the New Testament professor!
This is still rainy season so we have had to work around rain showers.  Today is clear with blue skies.  As I type I am looking across the hillsides of Nazareth.  An incredible place to live! 
Will update more later and will include photos.  Thanks for praying for us. 

February 3 Blog Post

From the Mount of Olives overlooking the Temple Mount in Jerusalem



In just a few hours Lynda and I will board a plane in Harrisburg and head to Nazareth, Israel.  We are so grateful to Dr. David Waltz and the Executive Board of the Baptist Convention of Pennsylvania-South Jersey to be given this incredible opportunity.  I am also grateful that Barry Whitworth is my partner in this ministry and will take care of things until I get back along with Makenzie and Iva! 

We will be partnering with Dr. Bryson Arthur and Rev. Azar Ajaj and the Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary.  We hope to learn alot from our fellow believers there and help anyway we can.  We also plan to do some tourist stuff.  After all we will be living in Israel!  Someone asked me the other day about concerns about being in the Middle East etc, and I said, "But at the end of the day, I am living in Jesus' hometown!"

We will arrive in Tel Aviv at 3:05 p. m. Monday which is 8:05 a. m. here.  We will then head directly to Nazareth and to our apartment.  Our friends in Nazareth have arranged a small apartment for us, that has a washing machine and wi-fi! All the comforts of home!

Please pray for us.  Pray that we will be alert and sensitive to what God is wanting us to learn.  That we will be sensitive to opportunities around us and will be a positive contribution to the work of Christ in the area.

From time to time we will post updates on our activities and travels along with pictures.  If you would like to follow our adventures check out www.stansnotes.blogger.com from time to time. 

Picture of Nazareth

Thanks!  See you again when the snow melts!

Stan and Lynda Smith

Nazareth, Israel