Jordan Day 19, June 30

An amazing Sabbath spent in Jerusalem. We walked from our hotel the the great synagogue in West Jerusalem. An interesting service completely in Hebrew, with Torah kissing and chanting and singing. Very different from what I am used to and thus a great experience. I must say I enjoy sitting with my dad and male friends in church, whereas in this synagogue, as with many I am sure, the women sit upstairs away from the men and, in my mind, from the service.

After stopping by the Adventist church headquarters of Israel, we walked back to the old city and meandered. It was just inside the Jaffa Gate that I found these scattered on the ground. Figs. Lots of them. And I was reminded that Christ cursed a fruitless tree not far from here. But this tree was throwing caution to the wind and the ground was littered with figs. A blessing for the day.
We stopped in at a quaint little church called St. Anne's and in the same area is a little place known as the Pool of Bethesda. Here people were healed and cleansed. And here is the group, tired and dirty, but loving the journey. Dustin, Ryan, Walter, Amanda and Rachel.And here is what the pools look like now. Not so wet, not so healing. More like a wreck of a city in a desert.
The cream of the day however was the awe of sitting on the Mount of Olives watching the sun set. To see that shining sphere drop past the horizon. lighting up the Dome of the Rock, the city walls, the trees around us was awesome. We sang some songs and read some scripture and I think we all left that hill reminded that God is coming back and a new Jerusalem is on the way soon!