Sunday- A day of worship in Israel

Monday night 10:14 pm (I fell asleep around the 4th paragraph) Tuesday 5:40 am

Dear Family and Friends,

We are at the Grand Court Hotel in Jerusalem, 12 story building with about 45 rooms to a floor. This hotel appears to be a major stopping point for many tour companies. So when you add up the people using the free wifi in our building, you can imagine our frustration when we can only receive or send communication by standing at a hall window looking out to the courtyard. Tonight just as I passed the window, my phone began vibrating with three “What’s up” chats sent while we were in our evening meeting and devotions.

It’s hard to believe we only have two more days in Israel. This has been an experience I will never forget. At every site we see smiling faces of pilgrims from around the world. In many chapels or under the trees each group will sing songs to the glory of God. Our group on Sunday sang the doxology in the chapel of the Ascension , a small domed structure originally a chapel from the 17th Century, presently a Mosque.

Our guild “Gee” made arrangements for our group to attend First Baptist Church, a house church 57 years old with still its original pastor. The message for today was on Prayer.

Normally services are longer than in the States as the songs are sung in English and in Arabic. Sermons are given in both English and Arabic. Today Milligan filled the church! The minister of First Baptist Church began the church and been preaching here for 57 years! What dedication! “God is in control, He will bring about global warming of peoples hearts”

Following church we walked back through the community to the bus location and then on to Jericho. In Jericho, Jesus touched both parts of the social structure of the town. Bartimaeus was poor and blind but knew who Jesus was. Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-9) was a rich tax collector in Jericho who wanted to be in the know. Both received sight physically and spiritually from Jesus.

With only one major road into town both wanted to see Jesus. Bartimaeus begged on this road while Zacchaeus climbed up a sycamore tree to see what was going on (Mark 10:45-52). In the middle of town is a third generation sycamore fig three that could have been the ancestor of that original tree. If it was a sycamore fig, I can see how this was possible to look over the crowds.

We drove by the archeological dig site see above of the ancient city of Jericho. Unfortunately in order to get to the city from Joshua’s time, other cities would have to be destroyed. The photos show evidence of only one civilization out of many.

Our last stop was the Mount of Temptation where Jesus stayed and fasted for 40 days. The area is covered with caves but there is no vegetation. This area so so barren you wonder about the availability of water. On the hillside a church and convent have been built by the Jesuit’s.

As we leave Jericho we can see the Jordan River and just beyond the country of Jordan. I don’t know what it looks like from that side, but beyond this river valley, steep cliffs of Jordan appear very formidable.

At my limit for writing time today. Photos later then publishing this.

Until next post…

Ellen and Linda

PS. In the lobby on Wednesday May 29th at 9:49 am. Here is hoping that this posts. The hotel is almost empty…only 3 buses in the drive.