This lovely church in a predominantly Muslim town west of Jerusalem includes a beautiful worship space and lovely singing by the monks and nuns of the Benedictine order.  Our group from Tantur worshiped here on a Sunday morning in early June.

We have visited the Old City of Jerusalem on many occasions.  In the following collages you can see the famous Dome of the Rock as well as other sites.

In the collage below you will see several views of "The Wall," a barrier constructed by Israel to surround the Palestinian territory.  The place where we are staying, Tantur, is also surrounded by a wall.  To get from Tantur to Bethelehem we leave the walls of Tantur, go through a check point where Israeli soldiers check passports and inspect bags, and then proceed through the monstrous wall depicted in the collage.  Beyond Bethlehem the wall turns into a fence. Is it necessary?  Israelis maintain it has prevented bombers from entering the country, but for those who must endure separation from loved ones, olive orchards, and jobs it is a humiliation and hassle, to say the least. 

It is possible to walk on the ramparts of the old city of Jerusalem. Here is a collage of a walk I took around the north side of the city last week.

In this collage you see:

• A Bethlehem bike mechanic
• A Sunday School student at Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehm
• Ben Sloss eating felafel
• Gerald and Truc preparing to celebrate the eucharist at the Garden of Gethsemane
• A tourist
• Pat the Preist from Fond du Lac peering through an opening at the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem's old city. A young visitor to the church tower.
• Pat enjoying a brew at Papa Andrea's  in the Old City.
• Our lecturer on Islam.
  

        On the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee sits this lovely church in a beautiful garden reminding us of the time when Jesus preached his Sermon on the Mount, which contained the beatitudes.  Inside this Church of the Beatitudes one can see each beatitude in the dome.  Written in Latin, the close up tell us that the peacemakers will be blessed, for they are the children of God.

This wonderful archological site on the road between Tiberias and Jericho contains the largest Roman theater in Israel and hot baths in addition to columns along ancient streets.  Although the ruins are from the Roman and Byzantine city of the 1st-4th centuries, the city dates back to the time of the Canaanites and David and even earlier.  In Jesus' time it was one of the ten cities of the Decopolis.

Our trip to the Negev Desert included expolarations of three archeological sites: Tel Arad, Tel Mamshit, and Tel Beer Sheva. At these locations we discovered towns over 5,000 years old, sat in a cave and listened to God's "still, small voice," entered the same gates King David must have walked through, and made our way down into an ancient well.