Jerusalem Holy Sites

Wow! Tomorrow is my last day in Jerusalem… if all goes well that is. There is supposedly a nationwide federal workers’ strike that is supposed to start at midnight tonight and last all day long. If the workers’ go through with it, parts of Israel will be without electricity and the Tel Aviv airport will be literally shut down. Not the best news for us, since many of us are scheduled to fly out tomorrow evening. Danielle just smiles and says, “Welcome, to Israel. This is our world — a world of uncertainty.”

The food — that wonderful food I kept telling you about in the earlier parts of this trip? It’s getting old! (smile) I mean it’s still good and all, but I have to force myself to go eat at meal times now, where as earlier in the trip I was more excited. I think part of it is because of our schedule. I have mastered the art of “scarfing”. So many days, we have had literally just minutes to swallow down our food before going on to the next thing. That, and the fact that I long for steak, potatoes, and soft drinks galore, is why Israel’s food isn’t as “fun” anymore.

I have enjoyed this trip thoroughly and can’t believe my good fortune after talking with several other convention goers that haven’t had the same amazing experience that I have had. Yes, the schedule is full, the tour is sometimes grueling and physically draining, the buses are a little cramped, the weather can be a little hot and humid, but the experience of being in Israel, for me, far outweighs all of these other minor insignificances. I’ve barely noticed them — at least not until the end of the day when I am wiped out from sheer exhaustion! LOL!

Part of me longs to be home, too. Deanna tells me that Kella cries for “Daddy” whenever she is sad and that makes me about want to get on the plane right now and fly home. I miss Deanna and the girls a lot and look forward, so much, to my return. I have missed Destiny, too. The worship at the conference was good, but in my book, doesn’t compare with the passion and zeal of our team back home. I do want to take home some of Tommy’s new songs and teach them to the team.

At the last service this morning, Pastor Jack had a commissioning service including times of worship, messages from Glen Burris and Mike Larkin. They had a short time of focus on the youth movement, which of course, was meaningful to me. And the whole conference ended with a convention-wide celebration of communion and Pastor Jack blessing us. We even got to keep the olive tree communion cups!

I can’t remember if I had mentioned before the boxed lunches that have been delivered to our buses after convention the last three days. They were “okay”, but I’m glad we’re done with them. Not enough meat for a guy like me. Tomorrow, we are on our own again for lunch; this is the fourth time I think. Something that wasn’t mentioned very clearly in the travel information before we came. The food and drink around here is kind of expensive and I think everyone’s cash is running kind of low.

The touring today took us to all sorts of different places. We started at Mount Zion at the place of Peter’s denial and the literal pit that Jesus was thrown into after his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemene.

Just outside the church are the stairs that Jesus walked to get to the Garden before His arrest.

From there we went to old-Jerusalem and visited the upper room, which was very moving. Each group, as they entered and found their place, started singing and worshiping.

In the basement of the same building, we visited the tomb of David, where some Jewish school kids and their teacher were praying.

We walked from there through the Zion Gate and into the Jewish Quarter. Daniel showed us the Cardo, or main walkway, from the ancient city and also parts of Ezekiel’s ancient wall. Just before entering the Zion Gate, we stopped and chatted a bit with Israeli soldiers. This particular group of soldiers were from all over the world.

Here we are going through the Zion Gate…

…and walking in the Jewish Quarter, along the ancient Cardo.

We were moving so fast that it was hard to find someone to take pics of me today. I don’t think I made it into one of them (Side note: I prefer pics with people in them, even if it is “just me”). That’s kind of a shame, as the next place we visited was another part of the retaining wall (an archaeological park) and the Southern Steps. The wall was HUGE and the stones used were MASSIVE! Daniel pointed out some very faint ancient graffiti that quoted scripture.

After our visit there, half went shopping (AGAIN) and the other half went back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner — that was me. I’ve been showering twice daily because of the heat. Once in the morning and once again in the evenings after our return. Tonight, I opted to have dinner and then go back to the room and pack up for tomorrow’s never-ending travel day.

We’re actually scheduled to tour most of tomorrow (some of the most exciting stops yet!), get dropped off at the hotel at about the regular time, eat, clean-up, check-out, and then get shuttled back to Tel Aviv at 8:00 pm-ish for our return flight to the States. We’re all praying that we won’t be stuck in the airport, waiting around because of the strike.