Bill arrived in Jerusalem on Saturday afternoon, and after a meal and a short nap, we visited a local congregation with one of the Caspari workers. When we arrived, she said, “Oh! I forgot this is a Hebrew-language service!” After a bit of scrambling, an interpreter was pressed into service for us and one or two of the other visitors. It was wonderful to sing Scripture-based worship songs in Hebrew (we punted our way through the transliterations), and the pastor’s message was similar in nature to the sermon I heard at another congregation last week. In short, the essence of the messages were “Prepare yourselves by placing your hope fully in God, because we are heading into dark days in this land and region.”
After the service, we had some great conversations with several other English-speaking Jewish believers about their experiences here in Israel. It’s challenging here, but each one affirmed that they knew God had led them to return.
Yesterday, Bill and I had a day in the Old City. We visited and prayed at the Western Wall, and then participated in a tunnel tour that has been dug under the length of the Temple Mount. It was one of the most remarkable tours we’ve ever taken. Afterwards, we wandered around the Jewish Quarter, and sat in the square outside the Hurva Synagogue people watching. We ended our visit there with a trip through the Crusader-era Tower of David museum/archaeological dig. All of Jerusalem was crawling with soldiers here for security and to participate in various Memorial Day/Israeli Independence Day celebrations.
Below, you’ll find a few pix of our adventures:
One kind of watchman on the walls of the Old City |
I can not think of a clever caption, but I bet you can. |
Everywhere. |
Jewish women praying underground near the site of the Holy of Holies. |
In the Tower of David, you can see round rocks used as projectiles during some of the Crusader battles nearly 1000 years ago. |
Cool tour wish I wad there.
Maybe someday you'll be able to join us!