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This is a sad time for me. The group has gone back to the States. We have become mespacha (family) and I miss them. I especially miss the children that we had on the tour. They were such a delight and it was so rewarding to see them fall in love with Israel!

We have been touring Jerusalem this last week—seeing places we read about in our Bibles: The Western Wall, the upper room, the southern steps, and the Dead Sea area. The pilgrims are constantly surprised at how peaceful Israel is.

Do I think there will be a war this summer? This is what I tell everyone who asks: “I do not know; I am not a prophet. God is in control. I know we win and that is good enough for me.”

One of the highlights of the summer tour is the dig. We went to the caves at Maresha, outside of Jerusalem and dug in one of the 5000 man-made caves. They date back to the 2nd century B.C. and the Jews of that time built their businesses underground where it is cool in the summer and warm in the winter. They figured out that if they cut thru the 6 inches or so of limestone, that there was a chalk-like rock below that they could chisel out and use. They would take the limestone and build their homes on top of the caves.

When the enemy was closing in on them, they destroyed their homes by throwing trash and the remains of their homes in the caves. So, what we are digging in is their trash. Not to worry—if someone looked at your trash they could figure out a lot about you. Ian Stern was our archaeologist—quite an honor for us. He is one of the premier archaeologists in Israel and is a friend of ours. You have probably seen him on the program.

So, we go in these caves and take the dirt and put it in buckets, hoping that we find something while we are putting the dirt in the buckets. Then we haul the buckets of dirt up and sift for hidden treasures. My little group consisted of Michael (10 years old) and Johnny (19). We found a bread seal pottery shard in our sifting! Quite a find and Ian was really excited.

The spiritual highlight of the tour is the visit to the Garden tomb. Everyone sees for themselves that “He is not here, He is risen.” We take communion there, with Zvi giving the blessings in Hebrew and sing “Because He Lives.” Nothing else needs to be said.

Will and I left the group at the view of Bethlehem and headed for my B&B in Baka. We also had another pilgrim with us, Liz. Liz is staying on to help with Bridges for Peace as a volunteer. We get to the B&B and head to my room when I notice a smell coming from the room across the hall from me. Seems they are redoing the carpet in that room. I go back downstairs and tell the guy (he is new and I do not know him) about the smell. He says it will be gone when I get back from dinner.

So, Will, Liz and I head for dinner and sushi. We finish, take Liz to her apartment, and then Will and I head for Baka. When we get there, my friend Ohed (he is usually there in the mornings) greets me with “go get your son; we have had a fire.” Yep, the room across from me had indeed had a fire. So, up the stairs we trudged through the water on the carpet. My bag was on the bed with no damage. Thank you Lord! Really, my main concern was for my makeup. Clothes, I can get anywhere, but makeup is a many-year process to assemble!

I called Susan at Immanuel Tours and had another hotel room within 5 minutes. They are just the best land agents. If you are coming to Israel, I encourage you to use them as your land agent.

It is Friday morning. I have walked to Will’s from my new hotel. It is now about a 15 minute walk rather than the 6 minute walk I had at my B&B. But, it is OK. I get to enjoy more of the cool morning. I am finishing my Levitt Letter article and getting ready for Shabbat.

This entry was posted by Sandra on Friday, June 15th, 2007 at 2:50 am and is filed under From Israel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.