Good news! The strike has been post-poned and our flight will go on as scheduled, leaving tomorrow morning at 1:00 AM-ish. The shuttle leaves at 8:30 PM.

Our touring day started right away in the morning, now that the convention is over. Our first visit was the Western Wall (formerly the “Wailing Wall”). I placed a piece of paper in the wall with a prayer on it for the health and prosper of Israel, my family, and the youth ministry at Destiny Foursquare Church back home. I specifically prayed for my youngest daughter, Kella, who has been having some digestive problems since the beginning of the month.

This experience alone was well worth the trip, as were several others during the length of my stay. To pray with my hands on the Western Wall was a very moving and personally powerful moment. Bar-mitzvah celebrations were going on all around and there were Torah scrolls being carried around (and kissed) everywhere. It was an amazing place of intercession! Interesting to note: the video and pictures at the wailing wall turned up with a reddish tint to them for some unknown reason. This didn’t happen with any of the other areas on the trip.

From there, we went and stood in a fast-moving line to get to the top of the Temple Mount — the foundation of where the temple used to be.

Jewish rabbis will not even go up in fear that they may accidentally walk into the Holy of Holies without knowing it. There was a small pavilion-shaped structure where they think the Holy of Holies was likely to be. So, here I am, inside the Holy of Holies…

We entered back into the city area after passing by the Golden Gate, which had been sealed.

Saint Anne church is the traditional church which marks the birthplace of Mary. The cathedral was has way-cool acoustics for a-capella and we took advantage of it by singing two or three songs of worship while we were there. It was a chilling experience.

Just outside of the church, Larry let out the “Pentecostal” in him and shared a message in front of the Pool of Bethesda about grace.

From there, we started on the trail of the Via Dolorosa (Path of Sorrow or “Way of the Cross”). To me, this part of our journey didn’t have so much significance. This is the “traditional” route that Jesus followed from his condemnation by the Romans to the spot where He was buried — according to tradition — after the crucifixion. The path began at the Lions Gate in the Muslim Quarter and ends within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the heart of the Christian Quarter. The path itself was marked with vendors of every sort and the Church was the most religious looking place I had ever been — with shrines and altars everywhere. Definitely not as good of a feeling there as some of the other stops we’ve made.

We broke for lunch at around noontime and had falafel and shawarma. It was a very nice sized meal. And since the air conditioning went out in his store, just before our arrival, the owner gave us all free soft drinks and juice gratis. Here’s a pic of some Israeli soft drink cans and a falafel…

One of the biggest dilemmas of this trip for me was all of the stops that we made for shopping. There were lots of great places to buy lots of fun and interesting items to bring back home. But where does a responsible husband and father draw the line? Hard to tell. I hope I did well! During this time, I had the opportunity to sit down, have an iced coffee, and chat with Daniel about his family and life in Israel. I love the man dearly and am so thankful that we were blessed with who I believe is possibly the most loving, entertaining tour guide in all of Israel. I couldn’t of imagined anyone more suitable to my tastes. Here’s a shot I took with Daniel (on the right) and our bus driver, Abner (on the left) just before we all said good-byes.

By the time we had finished shopping, we had traveled from one end of the Cardo to the other. We exited the Damascus Gate. We basically walked the whole length of the town of old-Jeruslaem. Pretty exciting!

The last place that we visited — probably the most significant for most of us, including myself, was the Garden Tomb. I personally prefered this spot over the Church of the Sepulchre. As the guide encouraged, scripture references agree with the area’s geographical location and archeological finds. If anything, this place was much more welcoming and free of any religious shrines and memorials. It was the most beautiful garden, tended by some very gentle, but amazing volunteers who loved Jesus very dearly from what I could see. I actually walked into the empty tomb, where many believe Jesus was sealed — what an experience!

The best part of our visit here was Pastor {I believe his name was} Jerry’s leading us in a time or communion and worship. What a wondrous place to stay and pray and sing. It was indescribable and I was fighting back tears almost the whole time.

Same goes for the following trip back to the hotel, where we all had to say our good-byes and hugs. Several will be on the same flight as me back to JFK, but several will not, and so we had to shed our tears, exchange addresses, and part ways. Before we did that, though, we all gathered in a circle and showed our appreciation to Daniel, our tour guide, and Abner, our bus driver. A few words of thanks were shared and I was back to holding back the tears all over again.

If any of my group from the bus #5 blue tour is reading this, I want to give my deepest thanks to you for making this trip such an amazing trip for me. It was a little scary coming to Israel by myself, not knowing one single soul on the bus at the beginning of our trip. By the end, I felt not only like I had several friends, but had been adopted by a new and loving family. Thank you so very much!

Here’s a last little video I recorded before packing up my stuff for the last time and checking out of the hotel room…