Shephelah ha ha ha

Recently we took a trip down in elevation from the Judean Hill Country of where we are staying to explore the "Shephelah" or lowlands of Israel.  We arrived first at Beth-Chemesh and the Sorek Valley, which is where Samson lived most of his life.  We got to take some fun pictures with us fighting one of the guys in our group who had a donkey's jaw bone and was fending us off with it.  

Next, we made a stop atop of a hill in Azekah that was overlooking the Elah Valley.  This was a significant site primarily because this was where David fought Goliath.  We got to read the story from 1 Samuel 17, take a few pictures and then continue our way south.  Later in the day, we would come back to the Elah Valley and reenact the battle of David and Goliath with our own students and ancient Israelite sling.

We then climbed around in some tiny caves that the Jews had dug in the time of the Great Revolt around 130 AD.  It was fun to crawl back into these secret rooms that the Jews had created to hide from the Romans.  After messing around in these secret passages, we ate lunch at an old Roman Colosseum just down the road.  

After lunch, we made our last stop at the site of Lachish.  This was one of the last fortresses standing in the nation of Judah.  Although it was overrun by the Assyrians under Hezekiah, it was later built up only to be ran through again, but this time for good, by the Babylonians.  We got to walk around the ruins of Lachish and then make our way back to the Moshav.  

All in all, it was a beautiful trip with plenty of scenery and biblical insights that I am afraid that I do not have the time to get into (even though that is probably the most important part about being over here!).  Anyhow, I miss all you guys and love you all!  Hope you are enjoying the Lord and striving to be a good steward of His Gospel!