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| The Crean's Cell Group |
Friday 2
October – up early again for my flight to Tel Aviv via Addis Ababa
in Ethiopia. While I waited to board the flight from Nairobi, I met
Rebecca who seemed to know a lot about Jerusalem – turned out she
lived there and worked for a US university in a Palestinian
University just over in the West Bank & her subject was Middle
East modern history – boy did I have some questions for her! After
a stop in Cairo which wasn't shown on our itineraries, we arrived in
Tel Aviv. Rebecca and I got to immigration very fast and there were
no lines and no entry form to fill in!
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| Entrance to Guesthouse |
She had a driver picking her
up and so she offered to take me with her if I paid the driver US$30
and he'd take me right to Christ Church Guesthouse (just inside the
Jaffa Gate of the Old City) where I was to stay – can't beat that & once again
God gave me a contact that was both very interesting and also
helpful.
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| Outside Dining Area |
Saturday
3 – had a well-deserved sleep in today and just started to get my
bearings, however, I couldn't go far as I didn't have any local or
US$ money and it was a Shabat (Sabath) so very few of the stores were
open. I spent the day catching up on emails and my blog and doing a
bit of reading. The setting of the guesthouse (the first Protestant church in the Middle East) is quite beautiful & peaceful.
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| Mosaic in Church of the Holy Sepulchre |
Sunday 4
– I was a bit more adventurous today! Went to a nearby mall and
withdrew 100 New Israeli Shekels (NIS)(A$37) and then walked up the
main street (after getting lost for the first time) looking for a
bank to cash my Travellers Cheques – still no luck, but found a
money changer with a reasonable rate. Then walked about 3 km to the
hotel bookshop that Rebecca said had the books on the Middle East
issue but it was closed. Walked back towards the Old City (OC) and
found the Main City Bus Terminal and entered the OC through the
Damascus Gate (it was actually the Herod's Gate). There was a very
heavy Police presence as two people had been shot that morning,
leaving five children orphaned. I got lost many times on my way to
the Western Wall (where I prayed for my family) and the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre, which was ornate and very Orthodox. The image is of a
huge tile mosaic. Had lunch at a tiny restaurant run by two older
Jewish ladies and had a delicious falafel pocket.
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| Jaffe Gate |
After lunch I went on a walk along the southern walls of the OC, starting at Jaffa Gate.
The walls were quite narrow in places but provided some beautiful views of the city.
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| One View from the Southern Wall |
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| The Enthusiastic Congregation |
It was
quite hot so by the time I got back to the guesthouse, I was a bit
tired and sweaty. However, I found that there was an huge event on at
the guesthouse – a Day of Prayer for Peace in Jerusalem which was
being televised live around to world via God TV, which I have never
heard of – it was amazing and very uplifting to see the passion
that some Christians have for the well-being and salvation of
Jerusalem & the Jewish people. After that I attended the regular
Sunday night Anglican service in the garden – pleasantly low-key as
we studied the Psalms of Assent at this time of Sukot (Feast of
Tabernacles).
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