Today has been the most meaningful for me on this trip so far. After waking up to another buffet breakfast and Lee wearing a yamaka, we headed out to the east of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives. This is the place where Jesus came from on Palm Sunday as he walked and wept on his way into Jerusalem. It is also the place where the ascension took place. Here in the Holy Land, there is a church erected for each and every significant event. At the top of the Mount of Olives, there is the Church of the Ascension, as you walk the road of Palm Sunday into Jerusalem, you pass the Church of Tears. It was amazing to me how close all of this was. The walk into Jerusalem from the top of the mountain would only take about 10-15 minutes!
At the top of the mountain, Lee and Meriah decided this was the perfect spot for a duel person camel ride. Lee did a great job of pointing and directing in his best Hebrew accent…we think the camel only spoke Aramaic.
On the way into Jerusalem we stopped at the Garden of Gethsemane. This was a high light for me. One of the trees there dated to the time of Christ and would have stood there when Jesus was in the garden. The is a church built there with a large rock in it that is believed to be the spot Jesus prayed and the blood came from his sweat. What a cool place!
From there it was off to Bethlehem. Bethlehem is not under Israeli rule, it is in the Palestinian territory so we had to go across the boarder again. Army personnel boarded our bus with a machine gun and tried to look real tough…then let us go through.
The next stop was at the Church of the Nativity where we got to go into the cave where it is believed Jesus was born. This was probably the best part of the day. Walking through the door was so cool, Richie and I did it again but in limbo style…when will we ever grow up!
To end the tour, we went to the shepherd field and went into the cave that the shepherd stayed the night the angels announced the birth of Jesus. The distance is only 5-10 minutes from the birth site. Things are much closer that you’d think.
Tonight, after supper, we went on a night walk through Jerusalem for about and hour and a half. We walked the Jerusalem Wall and made our way to the Jaffa Gate, Damascus Gate and the New Gate. It was cool to see the nightlife in Jerusalem.
My body is tired, feet are sore and we have a huge day of walking tomorrow. We will be going to the Old City of Jerusalem and walking the Via Dolorosa and visiting the Wailing Wall along with many other sites. Need some sleep!
4 comments:
Was Lee wearing the dreaded Yamika air freshener too? Did Vicky not pack him enough undies either? He might really be in trouble after riding the camel. I've heard they have a scent all their own.
Holy smokes you're having a blast! I'm jealous. I admit it. I'm sure your parents are wearing the first pair of long underwear they've ever had to wear in their life since we're in single digit weather here. I see you're suffering, too. Oh, and Jadyn has pneumonia and my furnace went out last night, just in case you're wondering about the Cummins Factor being alive and well. The good news is Jadyn's on drugs with a new neb and the furnace is now fixed. Not sure why I'm telling you this on the blog but the other option is calling you and as you said, you need sleep.
Wow, Tigners riding camels, pastors doing the limbo, endless breakfast buffets, the girls under packing- sounds like your typical Hillcrest youth trip.
It's been pretty uneventful around the office, so Ben and I inaugurated the 1st annual winter office games. Ben took the first event yesterday- competitive nacho eating at the Q. I evened things up today with 'superior playlist competition'- my list included Third Eye Blind and Rob Thomas- Ben played Neal Diamond and songs from his internationally renown high school choir. In honor of your pending trip to the Jordan River, tomorrow's event tests who can hold their breath the longest in the baptismal.
Seriously, it's cool to see the pictures and hear about your guys' trip. Keep us posted.
I held my breath the longest in the baptismal! Wheee! Don't read into that (no wheeing took place). My favorite part was floating in the baptismal (like on the Dead Sea). It must be all the residue on the tub from Doug's monthly bath in there.
Anywhoo...wish I could be there with all of you!
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