It's time to begin unpacking some of my pilgrimage with you--and where better to begin than at the beginning? After 14+ hours of flying from Denver to London and London to Amman, Jordan, I arrived to find that my luggage didn't! This was a practically stretching experience for me, as I needed it to arrive within 24 hours, or I'd be sans clean clothing for the next two weeks (there's no way Israel would let an unaccompanied piece of luggage cross the border). Thankfully, my suitcase arrived at the last minute the evening before we left Jordan--and I was very grateful to God, believe me (and so were my traveling companions, I'm sure...).
Our pilgrimage began in a most strategic way: across from our hotel in Madaba lay the famous Madaba map, the oldest map of the Holy Land, a mosaic from the mid-sixth century AD (see picture above). Viewing the map, we learned that it is actually more of a pictograph, teaching stories from the Old and New Testaments. What was so perfect was that this mosaic laid out for us the whole Holy Land and gave us a wonderful orientation for the next two weeks. Furthermore, the Madaba map reminded us that the Holy Land isn't just Israel, but it's also Jordan, Palestine, and even Egypt and parts of southern Lebanon! We were set to begin our pilgrimage in the footsteps of Moses, Joshua, and the Israelites. Exciting beginnings!
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