Wednesday, July 14

It is a beautiful, cool night in Jerusalem as we sit in the garden of St. George’s. I just talked with all my daughters via Skype and tried to call my mom as well but have not reached her – probably a trek to Walmart. I will try again later.

We went to The Garden Tomb this morning to water the flowers and finish our work in the apartment. We finished and it looks really nice, ready for the volunteers coming to move in for their allotted time. We also did some compost sifting as we have done most days.

We took some time for quiet time and prayer at the tomb as we do every day. There is a stone with the scripture below inscribed.

“Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulcher was nigh at hand”. John 19: 40-42

Even though this seems like a very logical place for Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection and even though it looks like you have just stepped back into Bible times when you are there – the most important thing is what is written on the now added wooden door to the tomb – “HE IS NOT HERE HE IS RISEN”. It is a wonderful wonderful place and I wish all of you could come here. It is a wonderful place to worship and be thankful. There are wonderful people here who work and volunteer. It has been a blessing to get to know each of them.

We worked until lunch and on the way home we stopped at Pizza House, the little Arab pizza place. I had pizza for lunch and Scotty tried their hamburger. I don’t know why he keeps trying – you cannot get a good burger in Israel. I won’t even try.

This afternoon we took it easier as our feet were begging us to give them a break. We did walk a little in the area we are in and visited the Jerusalem Prayer Center again. We met another one of the missionaries here, Carmella, who is in charge of prayer for the Jews. She has offered to take our group coming in February on a prayer walk. Very nice lady, married to Brian who we met the other day. We enjoyed talking with her and her sharing her heart about this land. They are from Missouri.

Carmella suggested we try the Legacy Hotel for dinner. We weren’t really hungry but wanted to see the view she had told us about so we went up to the dining room on the 5th floor and had iced coffee and juice. It was a lovely view of the area and we enjoyed sitting on the balcony enjoying the surroundings and watching a hockey game on a court below as well.

We also stopped at Abraham’s shop and bought a few things to support him. His business has really been slow this summer. His wife came by and we met her for the first time. We will continue to pray for these wonderful Arab friends as they have become close to our hearts over the years.

Our dinner tonight was Jericho bananas, pita bread and some peanut butter we purchased at a nearby store. It was wonderful. Jericho bananas are small and sweet. We saved the pita bread from breakfast. Yum! Thank you Lord for your wonderful provision!

Pray for us tomorrow. We are planning to go to Haifa to visit Scott & Miriam and family. It is Moriah’s 1st birthday and they are having a party. When she invited us we didn’t think we could go but now we think it will work out and are considering just staying in Haifa the remainder of our time here rather than coming back to Jerusalem. Now, whether to rent a car or take the bus – that is the decision we must make. Pray we make the right one.

Tomorrow we will go water the flowers and Scotty, Richard and Sergey are going to clean up some at the base of Skull Hill (Golgotha). It is out from the fenced in garden tomb area but that little strip of land is owned by the garden tomb as well. It is behind an Arab bus station actually. You can see this area well from inside the garden tomb complex. This may be our last tasks at the garden tomb. They have appreciated our help and it has been a blessing for us. I will let you know tomorrow what we decided to do.

If we do stay in Haifa I won’t have as much internet access so the blogs may be shorter as I may have to type on my phone.

Blessings and Shalom