Garden Tomb

A couple Thursdays ago with young adults we went to the Garden Tomb and had a private tour. The young adults pastor's wife is a tour guide there. When we arrived there, we walked as a group because it is Arab territory and the girls did not want to walk alone to there, we had a chance wonder around be ourselves. It was fun to walk around. It felt like a very big playground. I told the friends I was with that I wanted to play and one of the guys Michael said well why not there are no adults here. So we all had a good laugh.

Then we had the tour. I really liked that when we started the tour the first thing said was that this may not be the actual place but we can remember what happened. So we started at the of the skull.A guy found it about 120 years ago and thought it looked like a skull as the excavated they found skulls that had been crush by rocks and feet and ankles with nails still through them. The bones were found at bottom of the hill. The other reasons that it could be is that it is right on the main road between Jericho and Bethlehem, so people could have walked by and scoffed at Him.

Then we went to the garden area. We were told that the garden would not have looked like this, but it was most likely a vineyard. Under the ground in that area was found a large cistern for watering a garden. I believe that it has been dated back to the time of Jesus. Also in that area was found the biggest wine press in Jerusalem or Israel, I forgot. But that shows that a man of great wealth owned the land at the time of Christ.Then we moved to the tomb. there were many earthquakes so the stone probably jumped out and was broken. The tomb itself dates back to the time of Jesus. It has a soul window, for ventilation, and for the soul to escape from heaven. The tomb itself is a tomb rather than a cave so it was dug out of the wall, which again points to wealth. A tomb is made from to part the places where the body is laid and a weeping area. The weeping area in this place is twice as big as in other tombs of the time which also points Outside the tomb is the ruins of an old byzantine church. By the what is left they can tell that there were areas for baptizing people there. Right outside the tomb is a track for the stone to have run on. The stone was never found but it is believed that at the time of the crucifixion of great wealth. Most tombs you walk in and you can see into the tomb side and this one you do not. Here you walk in and then have to look to your right. In the place where they lay the bodies, they would already have places prepared and once they knew how tall the person was they would carve out a place for the feet. In this tomb only one place had been used.

It was a very interesting visit. It was neat to have all the background to the Bible as well as the history of the place.

Another Holiday

Sorry it's been so long since I wrote last. I have been very busy or occupied so I ran out of time to post. In fact right now I should be in bed but I will make one littlish post. Sometime last week was Jerusalem Day. It was the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem with Israeli rule. So, in Israel they apparently never get rain in May. On Jerusalem Day it poured. There was thunder and lightning, hail, and downpours that flooded parts of Jerusalem. On Sunday I learned that only Jerusalem got rain, there was no rain anywhere else in Israel. So we (Prayer Tower) are believing it as a sign of the Lord pouring His Spirit on Pentecost.

But here are some pictures of the crowds outside my Hostel on Jerusalem Day. Apparently they all gathered outside here and then marched down to The Kotel (the Western Wall). But it was insane. There was a lot of dancing and singing. And many many people. My favorite picture is the one of the stoplight surrounded by people.

I promise I will post more tomorrow because it has been an amazing week.

Dead Sea

Today I went to the Dead Sea with a group of friends I have made at the Hostel. We did not go to a common nice beach but we had fun. It was a blast floating in the the water. Because it is very easy and a workout as well. Plus if you look at your hand in the water you can see like this oily film. We had fun.

The first picture is of the Dead Sea and across the water is Jordan.

The second picture is Mindy, Aaron, and I floating just as we are about to get out.

The third picture is my pride and joy. It is my battle wound. As we were trying to get in the water. We walked out as we would normally walk into a lake. However, because what we were walking on, hard salt or quick sand type stuff. So as I was walking in I cut my foot on the hard salt. Actually I received many small cuts on both feet. It doesn't hurt, but when I got out of the water It bleed like crazy. But it never hurt.

That is what I did today as well as make myself look like a lobster.

Israeli Student Riot

It is all over. I am fine. No one I know got hurt. Only one person I know is missing, but that is because he was stupid enough to go partake in the riot.

Israeli students protest in Jerusalem today about tuition increases. Apparently it tripled in price this year. I don't know all the details. What I do know is that different parts of town were shut down do to the protests. In some areas riots broke out. One way the police "control" "coral" them is by pushing them back to where they should be and apparently at the beginning of the day some people fell down and were severely injured.

Then tonight on my way home from Young Adults we found out that they were stationed right out side the Hostel and one of the guys lives in the building next to mine. So we walked home and then we got close and we could see this massive group of people. He escorted another girl to his place since she would be unable now to catch her bus since the street was closed. I went up stairs and watched. The people in blue are the normal police. They provided the general barrier by the sidewalk and the students sitting in the street. Then there is are the police you don't mess with and they are in grey/green. They went in and pulled the students out from sitting down. When I was watching it took waves of this to get the students out of the middle of the street. Then they pushed them up to the sidewalk. At which point the grey/green officers held the line and the blue police backed up. Then with in 10-15mins it started to rain and everyone slowly left.

The interesting thing to me was how the police went in. When some of them were making the wall, they linked arms and walked through. But they worked together. It was not just one person going in and taking on the crowd. They did it as a team. And even though it is not opinion of most people here I think. I have a great respect and honor for these police men and women. Something just stirred inside me as I was watching it. My western friends are just hoping that the USA papers don't spin to make the Israeli police look bad. But we will see what happens.

Cooking

This is the mess I made while cooking for the first time in a month. I made pasta tuna salad. I am so proud of myself. I just don't know if it tastes good because it has to chill first.

So today I talked to Hilda and I am going to lead the Tuesday night watch for goodish. She had called me last night to find out if I wanted to lead this mornings watch but I didn't get the message in time. But it has been a good day.

Comforting Confirmation

Tonight I went to Succot Hallel. I arrived a little late. But interestingly, that is what God wanted. By being late I was able to take a bus with a friend and have a quick chat. Once I got there I got a phone call so I walked outside so I ran into another friend and we had a go chat and prayer. Then I finally was able to go in and stay. One of the ladies that was there is another dancer. And in my opinion a very good dancer. I still feel like I am a novice. So when there is a person whom I think is better then me I sometimes have a hard time entering into dancing worship. It was also possible that I wasn't suppose to dance yet. So I sat or stood for most of the time. Then there came a time of intimacy and during times of intimacy I find that is when I want or need to dance the most. So I found two flags that I felt I should use. I danced and I flagged and I didn't care who watched. In fact I stood in the middle of the room. Then at the end of the watch I was helping her clean up and she came and told me that my dancing in the middle was beautiful. So I am still moving forward in knowing that I do what I am called. If that makes sense.

A Public Watch

Today, today what to say. Well, it was a good day. I woke up in time to get to part of the morning watch however the bathroom was then full for the next hour. So I got up and planned on going to the 8am watch. I started walking there and then realized that that watch is for the Church leaders so I came home and slept. However, I then slept into part of the noon watch. I sat there going should I go or not I will be late. Well finally I said I need to go so I took my laundry to the cleaners then I got to the prayer tower for the last half hour. But the last half hour was amazing and it flowed into the next half hour of the following watch. Just a burden for the nations came out. Then I was sitting in reception checking my email, when Donna came and asked if I would like to lead the evening watch. I hemmed and hahhed for a little bit, because a friend had sorta invited me to dinner but nothing had been confirmed. But I said yes because that is what I came to this country for, not to eat (hee hee). So Donna was happy. Then I caught a bus for Succot Hallel. On Tuesdays they have a watch for the One Thing Conference.* That watch was amazing. I spent most of it writing down a dream I had last night that the Lord brought to my memory. Then I caught a bus back to town with just enough time to eat dinner and get to the Prayer Tower for the evening watch. And actually during Succot Hallel the Lord let me know what the evening watch was suppose to be. So I get up there. I have about 10min and have time to prepare myself. I ended up singing as well with Cedric, which I said I could do. I mean I love singing to the Lord. So I opened the watch and it just went. I was very glad that after I said something that I felt on my heart that someone else came up and read a scripture that confirmed my word. So it was a good night. The Spirit flowed and it was sweet. So tonight I lead a public watch, yeah!

*If you feel like you should, please keep the One Thing Conference covered in prayer. It is suppose to be just as powerful for Israel and the nations as The Call is for the USA. Plus, I feel like it is going to be a spring board for The Call. Since Lou is going to be here and just the words I have heard that the Lord has given this conference. I think that this conference might impact The Call. So please keep it covered in prayer as well.

The Little Things

This last week I was a little annoyed/sad because I didn't feel like I have many friends here. And I kind of felt like I was annoying the few I have. I had wanted people to invite me and call me. So Thursday rolled around and I went to Young Adults. There were almost all new faces for me. At the end of the night I got a couple of new phone numbers and people got mine. And we planned on getting together for a movie after service on Sunday. That was all good but in the back part of my mind was still, I feel like a tag along. Well Sunday rolls around. I then realized that my call phone had died. So I charge it. Once it was charged I found that I had a text message from a girl I met on Thursday, Bethany. She messaged me in Hebrew so I had Mietal down at the front desk translate it for me. And I found out that she had asked me to join her Saturday night. So I messaged her back and said my phone died. She called back and asked if I would like to hang out with her before service. (YAY, people want to do stuff with me and she initiated it.) Her bus didn't get in until just enough time to walk to service. But the point was she wanted to hang out. Then I got to service and I saw Jacky. I finally had her birthday present and she was excited. Then she asked if I had gotten her emails. I said no. But she had been inviting me all week to something that was going on this weekend. So even my friends that I thought I was annoying were trying to get a hold of me. So, again God gave me just a little glimpse of how much He loves me that even the little things He takes care of. Was just mind blowing.

Then this evening as I was leaving the building I met Bethany by the elevators. And we went out to dinner and chatted. We got to know each other. It's fun and nice to have people to talk with that understand what you are doing or going through. So God is good.

Holy Sepulchre

Yesterday, I went to the Holy Sepulchre again. I went with 2 people I met from Canada, Nikki and Aaron. They hadn't been able to find the Holy Sepulcher and I knew where it was and I hadn't been able to find the Western Wall and they could get there. So we went together. I still didn't like it, but I was not as bothered by it as I was last time. Whether that is good or bad I don't know.

The first picture is from the outside. The little stairway next to the doors on the right I believe was part of a watch tower built by the crusaders. The next picture is of where the cross was. The people crouched down are touching the stone or hole where the cross was. To the left behind the people is the rock the "was" broken from the earthquake after Christ died. It is a Greek chapel. The next two are the stone of unction, where Christ's body was prepared for burial. And the last one is the "grave" of Christ. They have dug out the cliff. I still have not gone in there. The line was extremely long yesterday. So, that was different.

Then we walked to the Western Wall. We were unable to take pictures though because it was Shabbot. But the place was very full of people. The men's side especially had a lot of people in it. It was different as well, being there again. It could just be that so many there to pray that presence that I felt last time wasn't there, or something like that that I can't explain.

But it was a good day. And it was very nice to have people to go with. We went out for dinner tonight together. Again it was nice just to have people to meander around with.

Weather

It has been freakishly hot here the last two days. Even sitting inside a building I have been told to drink plenty of water. And not many places have air conditioning. To give you a clue I was told tonight that it was somewhere around 35' C ( which is 93' F). So it isa hot and it is some weather pattern from the dessert and it doesn't cool down at night either. So I would guess it is around 24" C right now (75' F) and humid. I am wrong I looked it up and it is 81' F feels like 80" F and 34% humidity. So yeah, and the sun isn't even out. The sky is covered in xlouds or sand all day. And apparently it rained mud earlier today. I slept through it but it is crazy. So I hope you appreciate your weather.

I love you all. G'Night