The Garden Tomb

The Garden tomb may very well be my most favorite place in Jerusalem so far. The people that run it are here because they love Christ. It's really quite remarkable, they have such firm faith and enthusiasm it's inspiring! The volunteer tour guides clearly love to tell people about Christ and do what they do to proclaim that Christ lives! They don't charge for their tours and they don't get caught up in the "did it really happen RIGHT here" business. Their goal is to show the people of the world an EMPTY tomb. People can't come here to Jerusalem to find the burial grounds of Jesus Christ. Because "He is not here, for He is risen."






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Location:Outside the Old City walls

A Splendid Day

This is the entrance to the Jerusalem center. I actually took this the first day that we arrived but I thought it would be neat to show you the architecture. This whole place is built with arches and I love it! Well today we went to the Western Wall and it was probably my most favorite .... Well.... Actually that's really hard to say, but I REALY loved it! We weren't allowed to bring cameras because we were going for the beginning of Shabbat in Friday night. I wish we celebrated the arrival of the sabbath like they do, singing, and some dancing, and a lot of heartfelt prayers. They let us join in with their celebrating and we were even able to sing some of the Hebrew songs because we had learned them in class. I love it here, every day is packet full of new experiences. But what makes it so much easier to be out here so far away is due to the support that I have from home. Thank you. I love you.


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Location:Jerusalem Center

Under the JC

   The excitement of today is that President Hiyat took us on a tour under the Jerusalem Center! I thought that was pretty awesome, hardhats and all :) He guided us down and told us all the technical workings of the buildings and explained how incredible the architecture and systems of this place is. It certainly made me appreciate what goes into the building more AND he let us each write our names on the walls and pipes within a "memorial" room, soooo my new goal is to inspire a younger sibling to come study here and then find my name among all the others :)

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The LIBRARY!

I found the most spectacular library ever today! It's filled with books on Jerusalem, Israel, Palestine, Near Eastern History, biblical commentaries of the prophets, and everything one could possibly hope for on related subjects (not to mention that the books themselves are pieces of art and our housed within the stunning architecture of the Jerusalem Center. Well, it's a good thing I like it there so much because I certainly spend enough time in it. I'm looking forward to all the homework assignments that will help me learn all those things I've been dying to know.

Location:Jerusalem Center

The Homework Begins

I've got quite a lot of reading to do tonight, good thing I LOVE IT! Its all really interesting material and I'm looking forward to having a better understanding of everything that these texts books have to teach.

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The Shepherds Field

This is very likely the field where the shepherds saw the angels announcing the Christ Child's birth. The hills behind the field is where Bethlehem is! It's such a lovely place, this was my favorite of all our stops today on our field trip.


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Location:Overlook of the shepherds field and Bethlhem

Call to Prayer

We found a cozy hospice that works as a great place for lunch as while we spend the day exploring the old city. The awesome thing is that it has wifi so I can send pictures. I recorded the Call to Prayer so hopefully I can get the video to upload so you can hear it, cause its awesome:)

Location:Austrian hospice