Weeklong tour of Israel and its many Biblical sites amplifies the Word.

Set foot in Israel and your Bible immediately turns into a picture book.

All photos by Rick Lubbers / Living Stones News A weeklong tour of Israel culminated in a three-day stop in Jerusalem (pictured here from the Mount of Olives). Several of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in this cave in the Qumran region. Rick Lubbers enjoys a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee during his recent tour of Israel.

After traveling on the Sea of Galilee, it’s easy to “see” Jesus Christ and His disciples sailing across it.

Climb Mount Carmel and it doesn’t take much mental effort to visualize Elijah building an altar to the Lord during his duel with the prophets of Baal and Asherah.

Stepping into the Jordan River helps you envision Jesus wading into the same water and being baptized by John the Baptist.

Walk into the Garden of Gethsemane and you become another witness to the somber events that took place there 2,000 years ago.

Seeing the myriad Biblical sites that Israel offers gives the Bible an added dimension, a measure of “newness” when reread.

My recent trip to Israel was a life-changing, faith-boosting and soul-stirring trek following the steps of Jesus.

I had the privilege of touring Israel from Sept. 13-21 with seven other men and women who share the Christian faith and work in faith-based media.

From the moment we landed in Israel and got off the El Al airlines 747, we were swept away on a whirlwind tour of the Holy Land as guests of the Israel Ministry of Tourism.

We spent one night in Tel Aviv, two in Tiberias on the Sea of the Galilee and the final three in Jerusalem. Our days were a blessed blur of touring as many significant sites as daylight would allow.

Jaffa

Known as Joppa in the Bible, this Mediterranean Sea port is where King Solomon imported cedar trees from Lebanon for the temple. Jonah also sailed out of Joppa to avoid God’s mission for him in Nineveh.

The apostle Peter stayed in Joppa as well, raising Tabitha from the dead and receiving the vision of the unclean beasts on a sheet. According to accounts in the book of Acts, Peter stayed for a while at the house of Simon the Tanner.

We saw a house in Jaffa that local tradition claims is the site where Simon the Tanner lived and the rooftop where Peter received his vision. We cannot know this for certain, but it is still a humbling feeling to walk the streets of a town rich in Biblical history.

Caesarea

Built by King Herod the Great (73-4 B.C.), Caesarea was another port town, but with an important difference — it was designed to be a Roman city, complete with a market, an aqueduct, government offices, baths, villas, a circus and pagan temples.

An impressive archeological dig has uncovered many parts of Herod’s grand city, including the remains of an amphitheater, various statues and his palace.

Although considered to be a pagan town by the Jews, Caesarea played a significant part in the Bible. It is where Peter spoke at the house of the Christian centurion, Cornelius, and the Holy Spirit was poured out to those who heard the
message. Caesarea is also where the apostle Paul pleaded his case for King Agrippa before being sent to Rome as a prisoner.

Mount Carmel

Our tour included a stop atop Mount Carmel, site of Elijah’s battle royal with the prophets who served Baal and Asherah. We visited a church believed to be the site where those events happened.      

Again, we don’t have definitive proof of that, but it was still humbling to stand in the vicinity of Elijah’s great stand for God.

The mountain is chockfull of rocks and stones that would have given Elijah plenty of building material for his altar. Standing atop Carmel also offered a breathtaking view of the local countryside.

Nazareth

The hometown of Jesus needs no introduction. It truly was an honor to visit the town where Jesus spent most of His life.

While there, we toured Nazareth Village, which is a recreation of how life would have looked during the time of Jesus. Actors play the roles of carpenters or shepherds as visitors view sites such as an olive press, well, houses and a synagogue.

Another stop in Nazareth included the Church of the Annunciation, an absolutely gorgeous building that some Christians believe is built over the site where Mary was told she would give birth to the Messiah.

Caesarea Philippi

Not to be confused with the seaport Caesarea, Caesarea Philippi was located a couple dozen miles north of the Sea of Galilee and would have been considered a pagan city by the Jews. Some of the largest springs that feed the Jordan River are located near there.

It is in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi where Peter declared Jesus to be the Messiah, as recorded in Mark 8:27-29.

“Jesus and His disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way He asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’

“They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’

“‘But what about you,’ He asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’

“Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ.’”

We toured many ruins from the city once dedicated to the god Pan. Towering above those ruins is Mount Hermon, which is where some Christians believe the Transfiguration took place.

The Sea of Galilee

Measuring 13 miles long and eight miles wide, the Sea of Galilee might stretch the definition of the word “sea” just a bit, but the Biblical history that freshwater body holds could fill oceans.

Taking a boat across its historical waters conjures images of Jesus and His disciples sailing there. Our group sang a handful of hymns during our ride on Galilee as a way to celebrate the many miracles Jesus performed and the many parables He told while using the towns and hills surrounding Galilee as the base of His earthly ministry.

During our tour of the Galilee region, we visited Capernaum, where the ruins of an ancient synagogue are believed to stand above the remains of a house of worship Jesus may have used. We also saw churches that commemorate the feeding of the five thousand, the Sermon on the Mount and the healing of the demon-possessed man.

Jordan River

One of my favorite moments came during our visit to the Yardenit baptism site along the lower Jordan River. We joined Christian pilgrims from all over the world to see the river in which Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.

A majority of our group made the decision to be baptized in those waters. A pastor who was  part of our tour, Pastor Toney Salva from Pittsburgh, performed the baptisms and asked each of us three questions prior to our individual submersions:

1. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?

2. Do you believe that Jesus is the path to the forgiveness our sins?

3. Do you accept Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life?

After answering yes, we were each baptized. It was an amazing experience to reaffirm our faith in the river where Jesus began His ministry.

Jerusalem

Seeing the city of Jerusalem for the first time evokes a flood of Biblical nostalgia. It is both a powerful and humbling experience to see the city David made the capital of Israel, the city that Jesus wept over before His arrest, trial, Crucifixion and
Resurrection there.

Jerusalem is an old friend that embraces you and doesn’t let go.

While spending three days there, our group visited many places significant to Jesus during His time there, including the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. Other stops included the Western Wall (also known as “The Wailing Wall”) of the Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — a church that many Christians believe was built over the spot where Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead.

Returning home

Like any vacation or highly anticipated trip, my trip to Israel seemed to pass in mere hours, not days. But I don’t have to travel very far to revisit the Holy Land. Every time I pick up my Bible and read God’s Word, I can sail again on Galilee, walk the streets of Jerusalem, climb Mount Carmel or pray in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Pastor and writer Lloyd Mattson, 88, uses the Internet and e-mail to publish his Godly wisdom and insights to readers.

It’s the dead of the night in Duluth, Minn. In a soundproof, cozy room, complete with books, recording equipment and snacks, 88-year-old Lloyd Mattson taps away at his computer. His son, Kevin, and daughter-in-law, Tena, sleep in another part of their home, undisturbed. They are accustomed to Mattson’s nightly stirrings.

Paul Walsh / Living Stones News/address> Lloyd Mattson of Duluth, Minn., started Hole News as a way to fill the “holes in his nights.” Now his e-mail ministry is enjoyed by more than 200 people across the U.S. and the world.

Mattson calls the hours of sleeplessness his “holes in the night.” These holes started developing back in December 2002 when Mattson’s wife, Elsie, fell and injured her spine, severely limiting her mobility. Friends and family converted the Mattsons’ attached garage/family room into a handicap-accessible living space, and Kevin and Tena moved into the house to help Mattson take care of Elsie.

Mattson became a full-time caregiver for the next five years. As he tended to Elsie’s needs, the days and nights blended together, upsetting his natural sleep rhythms.

“I slept when she slept — never long at a time,” Mattson wrote.

But he did not complain.

“It was my privilege,” he said.

Elsie had been the “love of his life” since they met on a blind date at Bethel Junior College in St. Paul, Minn., and married in 1942. She had been his patient, loyal, Godly partner as he pastored six churches, worked in camp ministry and wrote, edited and published books. She did not complain when money was scarce, when they lived in drafty parsonages, when Lloyd traveled and she was left alone to care for their five children, or when they moved from state to state.

Elsie also fully supported Lloyd’s retirement dream of writing and publishing his memoirs, Alaskan adventures and other projects through their nonprofit at-home ministry called Wordshed Mission.

Over the years, Mattson had written more than 20 books, and they had given away thousands of books or sold them for pennies above their publishing costs. After Elsie’s accident, Wordshed Mission was put on hold as Mattson devoted himself to his wife’s care.

Elsie’s health continued to decline and, in 2007, she was admitted into the Chris Jensen Health Care Center in Duluth. In his memoir, “All the Days of My Life,” Mattson wrote, “When the hard time came to tell her that Chris Jensen would be our new home, she added, clearly and simply, ‘and our new ministry.’”

In mid-December 2008, as his beloved wife of 66 years grew weaker, Mattson began sending a nightly group e-mail to a dozen family and friends to keep them posted about Elsie’s condition. After Elsie died on Feb. 14, 2009, Mattson continued to write his nightly e-mails, venting his grief and filling the inevitable “holes in the night.”

By then, his e-mail list had grown to 30 people. The 30 people shared Mattson’s e-mails with friends. Soon there were 50, then 100. At some point, Mattson began calling his nightly e-mail the Hole News. No one was more amazed than Mattson himself when his e-mail list continued to grow.

“Spontaneous combustion, I call it. I still can’t account for it,” he wrote.

In an e-mail, his longtime friend, Bob Gilmore, explained what draws him to Mattson’s writings. “Lloyd Mattson, maybe without his knowing it, is showing me the ropes for living the last third of my life,” he wrote.

Today, the Hole News has 245 members from coast to coast and around the world.

“The Hole News has given me the biggest congregation I have ever served,” Mattson wrote.

Mattson continues to draw and hold the attention of a widely varied “congregation” that includes friends, family, complete strangers, members of the clergy and atheists.

The Hole News also appeals to many age groups. Jeannine Sawall, a 44-year-old friend of Lloyd’s granddaughter, became part of the “Hole Gang” after her mom passed away. “His daily e-mails were filled with encouraging and wise words; words my heavy heart was in need of,” she wrote. “I have been continually blessed ever since.”

Mattson’s blog entries are eloquent, but never predictable. With tongue-in-cheek and the Scriptures to back him up, he tells of his weekly “ministry” to the widows at the Chris Jensen home, including his former high school sweetheart, Barb.

His entries contain unique observations about nature and the Bible, referring to them as “God’s two books.” He encourages people to study both of them.

“God gave two books, and those books know no conflict,” he wrote. “The creation speaks intuitively of God’s power, majesty, beauty and order. The Bible speaks of God’s care for mankind and the creation.”

Mattson writes about the ironies of growing old — both the joys of having old friends and the sorrows of losing old friends. He refers to death as a promotion, but with his vigorous good health, it may be awhile before the 88-year-old receives one.

“On Tuesday morning, dear Dr. Nisswandt worked me over, my annual physical,” he wrote. “I may have to change doctors: She never finds anything.”

With his background in broadcasting, it is only natural that Mattson records his blog entries, making them available to a few blind members (whom he affectionately calls his Three Blind Mice) and anyone who prefers the audio version.

His entries are full of insights, humor and deep theological thoughts, yet there is a simplicity in his faith that he claims comes with age. Whether he’s attending Emmanuel Baptist Church in Duluth or his Presbyterian church in Tucson, Ariz., he has no patience for the denominational differences that cause squabbles among Christians.

“When you get old, you quit fussing,” he wrote. “I live in that tune from childhood, ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’ I love my friends, my churches north and south, and my folk religion. I covet for everyone the peace that daily sustains me, a peace that transcends religion.”

To read the Hole News or join the Hole Gang, go to www.holenews.org.

The Hole News is also available via e-mail. Mattson welcomes your calls at 1-520-309-0178, or you may e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text4179 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //-->\n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Through God’s intervention and guidance, the Braeuners have owned and managed The Riverside Motel and Mallards’ Landing in Hayward, Wis., since 1995.

“Was du nicht willst das man dir tut, das fug auch keinem anderen zu.”

Corinne Scott / Living Stones News/address> Elisabeth and Horst Braeuner have owned and operated The Riverside Motel in Hayward since 1995.

That sentence in the German language basically means to “treat other people the way you would want to be treated.” But German-born Horst and Elisabeth Braeuner, owners of The Riverside Motel and Mallards’ Landing in Hayward, Wis., take it a bit further and believe “it is better to treat others better than yourself.”

This Biblical philosophy has guided the Braeuners for the past 16 years as they have managed their family-friendly motel. Elisabeth said they don’t just check people in and check them out, they make their customers’ stay personal.

“We visit with the people,” she said. “We ask where they are going and who they are visiting. We have many reunions. We’re a great place for a reunion.”

Paula Gallagher of Southern California recently sent the Braeuners a thank-you note after a family reunion: “Thank ya for taking care of me and my big family while we were in Hayward. We all miss being there. Now we are all spread out again. … God bless ya both. Love — Paula Gallagher.”

Hayward’s motto is “Where Dreams Come True.” Horst, 68, and Elisabeth’s, 60, dream of owning their own business came true in 1995 when they purchased The Riverside Motel, peacefully overlooking the Namekagon River/Lake Hayward and within walking distance of downtown Hayward.

The Riverside Motel, consisting of 10 rooms, was built in 1953 by Harry Watral. In 1970, five larger rooms overlooking the river were added. After the Braeuners bought the motel, they added six deluxe German log cabins overlooking the Namekagon River and named them Mallard’s Landing.

Elisabeth said these cabins were designed and custom built in Germany and shipped to the United States. Two German carpenters constructed the cabins in Hayward, and Horst built some of the wooden furniture. Mallards’ Landing opened in January 2000, offering hotel amenities in a more rustic, natural environment, but still within the city limits and walking distance to downtown.

“We recently converted Mallards’ Landing log cabins to six condominium cabins and four waterfront building lots,” Elisabeth said. “The cabins are now offered for rent or for sale.” Summers are the busiest time for the Braeuners. People come from all over the U.S. and overseas. However, Hayward’s many events and local attractions fill the motel year round. Just one event, the American Birkebeiner, which is made up of several ski events, draws about 10,000 skiers.

“People come to the Birkebeiner from as far away as Australia, France, Czechoslovakia and Germany,” Elisabeth said. “It is a great celebration, very organized like clockwork with many
volunteers. All the town turns out to cheer the skiers.”

The Braeuners, who attend the Hayward Wesleyan Church, seek to apply Christian principles to their daily decisions. They said there are challenges every day in a business — little ones and big ones — and it takes faith to meet them and learn from them.

“We are not perfect,” Elisabeth said. “We don’t have it all figured out. We don’t hit people over the head with the Bible.”

Horst said he grew up in a Baptist church in Germany and attended the youth group there.

“When I came to Chicago in 1964 for an adventure at age 21, I stayed with a family from the German-speaking Baptist church that sponsored me,” Horst said. “I was baptized in 1965.”

Horst took a leave of absence from his job and went back to Germany to marry Elisabeth. She came to the U.S. in 1977 and attended the Baptist church.

“I had a Catholic background,” Elisabeth said. “Horst introduced me to his Baptist friends, and I saw a difference. I decided to believe Jesus died for me.”

The Braeuners believe the reason they came to own The Riverside Motel and Mallards’ Landing is the promise that “God provides.”

One of the reasons Horst first came to America was to have his own business. He said he always wanted to own a small hotel or motel. Prior to running the motel in Hayward, the Braeuners owned The Old World Craft Shoppe and Galerie in Barrington, Ill. One of their customers urged the Braeuners to travel to Hayward to a visit a woodcarver who made beautiful carvings with a chain saw. Elisabeth said they made the trip to Hayward, found the woodcarver and purchased a bear for their store.

“While we were in Hayward, we inquired about how much it would cost to own a motel there,” Elisabeth said. “We discovered The Riverside Motel but didn’t have the money to buy it.

“My husband said the only way this would work is for the owner of The Riverside Motel to trade for our business in Barrington.”

That’s exactly what happened. The owners traded The Riverside Motel for the Braeuners’ craft store in Barrington. And, as it worked out, the truck that moved the motel owners to Barrington was used to move the Braeuners to Hayward!

“Because of the way everything came together, we believed the promise that God provides,” Elisabeth said. “With His help, we had come this far, and looking back, it couldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

The Braeuners have The Riverside Motel and Mallards’ Landing for sale. After 16 years in the motel business, they would like their Sundays back. They have no plans after that other than staying to train the new owners.

The Riverside Motel

Address: 10429 N. State Road 27, Hayward, Wis., Phone number: (715) 634-2661, Website: www.riversidemotelhayward.com, E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text74042 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //-->\n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mallards’ Landing

Phone number: (715) 634-0910, Website: www.mallardslandinghayward.com, E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text58508 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //-->\n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

George Voss of Hayward, Wis., doesn’t let his disability keep him from serving God through the Goats for Grandmas program.

Six years ago, George Voss had a stroke. 

The stroke affected every part of his body except his head, which he can move. He can also talk. Voss has lived at the Water’s Edge skilled nursing care center in Hayward, Wis., ever since.

Submitted Photos Being  bed-bound hasn’t stopped George Voss from serving God or helping others.  A group of women in Zambia, Africa, show off the goats that were purchased for them through the Goats for Grandmas program at $25 each.

But being disabled hasn’t deterred Voss, 54, from raising money to buy 123 goats at $25 each for grandmas in Zambia, Africa. Forty-two percent of women in Zambia have AIDS. The women who are dying of AIDS give their babies to their mothers to raise. But the  grandmas need the goats’ milk to feed the babies.

When Voss first heard about the Goats for Grandmas program from Jim Burmeister, his friend for 40 years, his heart was touched.

Voss immediately wondered how he could help.

“God told me to give the goat’s milk to the babies,” Voss said. “A child can drink goat’s milk to get nutrition and to be healthy.”

Voss, who sold insurance and worked in the Hayward Bakery before his stroke, has become a fundraiser for Goats for Grandmas. He is not afraid to ask everyone who comes into his room, “Will you please buy a goat?”

“People come through the door,” Voss said. “I pray for them and they give money for the goats.”

Voss also raises money for goats through an intense  letter-writing campaign. With the help of volunteers, he writes  letters every day of the week to celebrities, basketball and football players and actors. He has received checks from several, even one from London.

Voss said his wife of 31 years, Julie Ann, “goes crazy because I write so many letters. She says I go through stamps like water.”

A member of the Hayward Wesleyan Church, Voss is able to attend church services and also receives support for the goat  program from the congregation.

“One time at church I told Pastor Mark Wilson that I needed money for 20 more goats to reach 100,” Voss said. “By the end of the day, we had 106 goats.”

Wilson said Voss has a very  special mission and touches the world from a very small place.

“He is an important part of my life,” Wilson said. “He is my prayer partner, and when I travel and give speeches at meetings, George is praying for me. He is able to travel the world through prayer and through his mission with the goats. He is a missionary, and he has a beautiful heart for God. Everyone knows and loves George.”

Voss praises God as the giver of everything. He said if it wasn’t for God, he wouldn’t be here.

“God keeps me going every day,” he said.

To hear Voss talk on video about his fundraising mission, go to Wilson’s blog: http://revitalizeyourchurch.blogspot.com/search?q=george+voss.

Other people have conducted fundraisers to help Voss buy goats for grandmas. Bill and Marilyn Juen, also from the Hayward Wesleyan Church and in  cooperation with Lynn’s Custom Meats and Catering in Hayward, held a brat feed fundraiser. They raised enough money to purchase 10 goats. Wilson’s son, Les, who is the leader of Found Broken, a Christian rock band, played a benefit also to raise money for the cause.

“I give Jim a lot of checks that come in the mail when he comes to visit every Sunday,” Voss said. Burmeister sends the money to his daughter, Jody Hayton, who has been a missionary in Zambia for 16 years. Her husband, Bob, buys the goats and distributes them to the grandmas. Burmeister said the distribution is often done during a Bible conference in a  village when about 20 goats have been purchased and then are given out to the grandmas.

Burmeister, who has tried to raise money for goats through other avenues, said that he hasn’t been very successful.

“The Lord used George in the nursing home to take care of the goats,” Burmeister said. “It’s a God thing all the way. I’m  overwhelmed that God used George in his position to take over raising money for the goats.”

Voss became a believer in Jesus Christ through his wife, Julie Ann, when he was 36 years old. He said life has been good since.

“God is the master and the  planner,” Voss said. “If it wasn’t for God, I wouldn’t have anything.”

If Voss can do what he does from his bed in a nursing home, why can’t we do something on the outside to help? 

If you would like to help George Voss buy goats for grandmas, send a check for $25 per goat to: George Voss, Water’s Edge, 11040 N. State Road 77, Hayward, Wis.,  54843.