Eyes on Jesus

How very good it was to wake up in Israel this morning! And of course, even more of a blessing to wake up to share the morning with these two.

We had a couple hours before we had to be back at the airport to meet up with our JV family, so took a walk down to the sea to enjoy our first view and the sunshine.

The rainy season is over here in Israel and it will be sunshine all week while we're here, and until October when the rains will come next.

After having come from more snow and cold at home in Czech, this is super nourishing.

Six years ago we were here with Claire...seemingly a lifetime ago! How sweet to share this trip with her as an adult who now serves with us in JV.

We stayed as long as we could, soaking in the sea salt of the Mediterranean and the fresh air in Israel.

But soon we were back at the airport and on our bus with everyone, headed for the Sea of Galilee!

We have JV teammates with us from Slovenia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech, Hungary, Serbia, Latvia, Estonia and Slovakia, as well as JV A-team members from the US, a guest from Colorado, a friend from Latvia, and long time friends of ours from the US who live in Istanbul!

It's going to be a great week together.

Our first and only stop today was on Mount Arbel, above the Sea of Galilee.

Here, Dave set the foundation for our week together by talking about what fuels a movement of God: disciple making with your eyes on Jesus. We'll be talking about that all week!

It was absolutely beautiful up there, looking down over the region of Galilee where Jesus spent so much time in the early years of his life and ministry.

This is also a very likely place where Jesus brought the disciples and gave them the "Great Commission" after he was raised from the grave. Imagine that there were just 11 guys in this spot who heard Jesus say, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

It's amazing to think that they did just that, which resulted in all of us being here today!

Looking forward to all that's ahead of us for the rest of this week.