The last post...

I thought I had probably come to the end of the blog...but here’s one last entry...
As I head to bed tonight ahead of an early wake-up call to head to the airport - this view has brought to mind the simple song/prayer given to us by Rev Hosam on Monday evening...please excuse the quality of the singing - but join in this heartfelt prayer...

The dream team...

Sometimes drivers and guides and leaders can be a case of too many chiefs and not enough Indians - but with Suzie and Mohammed we were a team united together and the whole group benefitted as a result.

From left to right:
Steve, Suzie, Dawn, Mohammed Abu-Laban, Rod

Final Day -Emmaus

Our final stop for the whole pilgrimage was the Crusader Church at Emmaus (Abu Ghosh).
Here we reflected on the times over this pilgrimage that we recognised the Risen Christ walking with us.  I will make no more comment here. Ask those who you know to share their experiences on their return!

Final Day - Nativity and answered prayers...

From the Shepherds Fields we entered Bethlehem and went straight to the Church of the Nativity.

At this point, I want to thank each and every person who has been praying for us as we’ve journeyed this land - your prayers have been answered in many ways every day.

One thing we have constantly prayed for is space to be found each day - and each day we have.  The Church of the Nativity is a prime example.

This’s was the view as we arrived...we had a queue to join against the right-hand wall, but it flowed and moved quite well.  We were all able to appreciate the pictures on the columns (even seeing someone restoring one of them), and we were able to enter the shrine within 45 minutes of arriving

As we left - the queue was 4 times as long...and would have taken 2.5 hours at least...

Final Day...Shepherds

Today was the final day of our pilgrimage together as tomorrow morning (at 6AM) we leave our hotel for Ben Gurion airport and begin our journeys home.

We spent today in Bethlehem — and what an amazing day we’ve had!

First we headed to the Shepherds fields and sang a carol overlooking the plain surrounding Bethlehem.  Having travelled through the checkpoint and past the wall separating Israel from Palestine, it was deeply moving tossing from It Came Upon The Midnight Clear “yet neath the angel strains have rolled 2000 years of wrong...”

Happy birthday!

One of our group had a birthday today - and the hotel put on a cake and Roman candle for her!  Wonderful suprise at dinner!

Schindler..

We always try to accommodate to wishesof the group and individuals within it.  One of our member this pilgrimage lives in Germany and felt she wanted to visit the grave of Oskar Schindler (the only member of the Nazi party who was allowed to be buried in the State of Israel) due to his tremendous efforts in saving of the lives of many ‘essential workers’ in his factory.

We were delighted to be able to facilitate this for her:

Day 8 - footsteps of Jesus

today was the day on our itinerary where we attempt to take the group through Holy Week in one day... Rev Hosam described pilgrimage last night as taking groups to “run where Jesus walked”...we aimed for a gentle trot - but however you do it, this is an intense day.

Thus is also one of those days where I don’t want to write about the experiences people have had - they are too deep and too personal to trivialise by blogging about them.

Suffice to say, as leaders we believe our prayers were answered as we prayed last night that in busy-ness and crowds each person may still find space and peace and time to meet with God.

No more needs to be said by me...here’s (a few) photos:

Day 7 - “and relax...”

Today we had a fun day with very little biblical/scriptural input, but ticked many of those “must-do”boxes while in the Holy Land...

Our first stop today was Masad -the site of an ancient fortress, and a place where we learnt more about Herod the Great as well as getting some fantastic views over the Dead Sea.  In case you’re wondering, the black line in some of the photos indicates reconstruction work - above the black is rebuilt, below the black is original excavation.

After lunch at Qumran we saw the site of the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered

We then had a float in the Dead Sea while Suzie took photos of us individually...individual pictures will be made available to the group on return to the U.K...

I then bumped into this bunch of lowlife...

I can honestly call them that - see!

So I decided to join them!

Day 6 - City of David

the final stop today was the archeological site at the City of David.  This concluded with a choice of dry or wet tunnel to travel through - great fun!

Day 6 - Temple steps

After seeing the most holy site in Judaism, we went to the Temple Mount (Ophel) excavations to a site which when Neil Armstrong visited he called the step he took more meaningful than his first step on the moon...where we gathered around Suzi and heard why...

These steps were the steps pilgrims would use to enter the temple court...and then Rabbis’s would gather their disciples round and teach.  Some of the steps are recent repairs...but others are original and would be walked on (and sat on) by Jesus as he and his followers obeyed the religious laws and worshipped in the temple as recounted in the gospels.

Day 6 - Western Wall

after joining the rest of the group at the Western Wall, we had time to explore this site and observe the ritual and religious practices of various groups.

Men also had access to a library which included a view through the floor showing the further layers of stone to the base of the wall

We did all the right bits of the service...

...but not necessarily in the right order!

Today started with a choice of opportunities to worship alongside the “Living Stones” of this Holy Land - that is, the people who live here and profess Christ as their Lord.

While some went to Christchurch where they had opportunity to worship alongside Messianic Jews, most of the group came with me to St George’s Cathedral for the 930am Palestinian Eucharist:

But at 925am the view in front of me looked like this...so I nipped out and was met by a deacon who immediately ushered into the vestry where Rev Hosam Naoum came and met me and explained that as tomorrow is St George’s day, today was a 1030 United service,  not 930!

Rev Hosam is a lovely gracious man with a true pastors heart...when I explained we were meeting the rest of the group at a set time as the Western Wall, he immediately responded “we do short Eucharist for you now”.

So humbled and blessed to have this opportunity as we gathered as a small group around the Lord’s Table and share bread and wine together.

We were then able to join in the 1030 service for the first two prayers, hymns, and readings - we did all the right parts of the service...but not necessarily in the right order!

Day 5 - Wilderness and into Jerusalem

Despite seeing alternative forms of transport in Jericho...

We decided to carry on by bus from Jericho, and visited Bethany beyond Jordan...the likely site of Jesus’ own baptism...

we then entered the wilderness towards Jerusalem and stopped overlooking the Wadi Kelt (the old route between these two cities, and setting for the parable of the Good Samaritan).

 We then entered Jerusalem via a viewpoint from Mt Scopus and arrived at our hotel in good time for dinner.

Day 5 - Jericho

As we continued down the Jordan valley towards Jerusalem, we stopped at Jericho for lunch (i’ll post about food another day)...and a chance to see the old Tel (the oldest city in the world) and the Mount of Temptation - held to be the place Jesus was tempted as he was shown many kingdoms (from the Mt in Jesus’ day you could see multiple kingdoms surrounding Israel)