I am happy to report that all of our pastors returned safely to Atlanta after a very long trip from Israel on Friday. Everyone seemed well and in good spirits (although Fred’s ankle gave him problems in the airports). I hope that the rest of the day’s travel also brought everyone to his or [...]
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Saturday (March 14)
Posted in Uncategorized on March 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Pilgrimage Poetry
Posted in Uncategorized on March 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Mary offers this passage of poetry from T. S. Eliot’s “Little Gidding”:
If you came this way,
Taking the route you would be likely to take
From the place you would be likely to come from,
If you came this way in may time, you would find the hedges
White again, in May, with voluptuary sweetness.
It would be the [...]
March 12 (Thursday)
Posted in Uncategorized on March 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Today is our free day in Jerusalem. Some of our pilgrims are visiting the Holocaust Memorial (Yad VeShem) for a poignant remembrance of European genocide against the Jewish people. Other groups will visit museums, tour the City of David archaeological site, pray at the Garden Tomb, and walk the streets of the Old [...]
March 11 (Wednesday)
Posted in Uncategorized on March 11, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Today our band of pilgrims traveled to the Dead Sea region to experience the rugged wilderness.
We began by exploring the ruins of ancient Jericho in the West Bank. Jericho is the world’s oldest inhabited city, with over 10,000 years of continuous habitation by Canaanites, Jews, Muslims, and Christians. It is the site of ancient Christian [...]
March 10 (Tuesday)
Posted in Uncategorized on March 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Tuesday was our day to visit Bethlehem, in the West Bank. We began with a visit to Herod’s palace at the mountain-top Herodion, with its tremendous vistas of the Judean hill-country. We explored its ruins and descended its ancient watercourse.
We then toured the Church of the Nativity, which marks the cave-front stable in which [...]
March 9 (Monday)
Posted in Uncategorized on March 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Today was a busy day of experiencing diverse sacred places that defy easy description. We began the morning excursion with a visit to the Haram esh-Sharif (or Temple Mount), where the holy Muslim sites of the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque sit above the Old City.
The Muslim mosques are excellent [...]
The Notre Dame
Posted in Uncategorized on March 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
We are staying at the Notre Dame of Jerusalem, a Catholic conference center, directly across the street from the New Gate to the Old City. Here is a photo of the view from the roof.
March 8 (Sunday)
Posted in Uncategorized on March 8, 2009 | 1 Comment »
We began our exploration of Jerusalem this morning with a view of the Old City from the Mount of Olives. We walked down the Mount along the traditional route of Jesus on Palm Sunday, past numerous churches and cemeteries, to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations.
After crossing the [...]
March 7 (Saturday)
Posted in Uncategorized on March 7, 2009 | 1 Comment »
We left the Galilee on Saturday morning and drove to Jerusalem. Along the way we stopped to view the archaeological ruins of Megiddo, a fortified city from before 3000 until after 400 BCE and the site of the future battle of Armageddon (Rev 16:16). We explored the ruins and climbed through the city’s ancient water [...]
Entrepreneurial Ideas
Posted in Uncategorized on March 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The group has voted to submit this photo of Laurie, taken by Tiffany, to National Geographic as a portrait of a Bedouin woman. We hope to finance a reunion pilgrimage with the proceeds.
