OUR THIRD SUNDAY IN JERUSALEM

It is Sunday afternoon and most of you are still sleeping in Canada.  Let me go back to Thursday.  It was our day off.  Hannukah lasts 8 days and we were already into the first few days.  It finishes at sundown today.  It commemorates the 8 days that Israel was able to have the oil last that should have only lasted one day.  This was the time needed during the Maccabeas, to have new oil consecrated.  So it is like the 8 days of Christmas .  There is even  gift giving.  When we went shopping on Thursday. We had to buy some special donuts made for the holiday.
Of course the sign says buy 5 and one free.  - so it was a bargain.  We had Weglos over for supper and they helped us eat them.  On the way out  of the Old City today we saw some soldiers sitting with a nice box of more donouts.  I asked if he was sharing and he actually wanted me to take one.  I didn't but he was very willing to have me take a picture.

While I am at it, I will show you a couple of the kind of Hannukah lights most of the homes have on the outside of the house or in the windows.  Since last night was the start of the 8th day, all the candles are lit.

It is getting much easier to know our way around the side streets.  Even though the Old City is like a maze, we don't get lost.   Would you have ever picked out the building below as a grocery store?  It is in the basement, but nothing for us to recognize unless we had gone with someone else

We are doing better with food.  Donna has learned  what the oven temperture is most likely to be.  If you saw my picture, you would realize how much I am suffering.  I am on red meat deprivation.  Well we have had hamburger a couple of times.  But then if you saw the meat  below hanging in our butcher shop, you might want to go without red meat.  I put the picture in for the sake of our 9 grandchildren. 

Saturday night we decided to go down to the Western Wall to see all the lights.  There was a good number of people and lots of army with fences across the big plaza area.  We found out Prime Minister Netenyahu was coming to the wall.  We waited some time and were getting cold so started off- but too late.  The army shut off every entrance/exit.  A few minutes later, lots of security.  Then  the SUV's and finally 4 identical very large Audi's with all the back windows blacked out.  They did their thing.  Two of them backed under a part of a building for the Prime Minister to get out in safety.  They do not want you to know in which car he is riding so they shuffeled the cars around and eventually went out as fast as they could with all the twists and turns in the area. 

For those of you concerned about safety here, there is no sense of any issues.  Donna has the afternoon off on Tuesday and will go on her own about half a mile to the grocery store.  All the ladies would do the same.  Police and army are very present. As a matter of fact, this vehicle fitted for trouble sometimes parks at the end of the driveway that leads to the property at the Tomb

Not your typical police car back home.

This morning we went to East Jerusalem Baptist Church.  We will likely attend it on a regular basis.  It is Palestinian.  The pastor lives in Bethlehem and he and his brother started the Bethlehem Bible College a number of years ago.  Some mornings, he cannot come if the security limits those coming out of theWest Bank.  He is an older man and we enjoyed meeting him.  A number of people in the church from the US and other places,.  as well as the Palestinian believers.  Much of  their ministry is to Muslems in other places including Bethlehem.  They had a supper for Muslems last week with about 1000 to the banquet.  They had an evangelist and about 200 raised their hands that they wanted to accept Christ.  I don't know what that would mean for them and how they will do follow up.  Several in the church work with the poor and sick.  One of the men works to get the lame wheelchairs.  I gave them the webpage for Gleaners.  And another big need is medications.  I have been offered opportunity to preach in this church.  It is all in English.

Israelis sometimes come on thier own or in groups to the Garden Tomb.  They may come out of curiosity or deeper interest.  Some seniors groups tour around places in Jerusalem.  This week I was assigned a group of 60.  I really enjoyed the group.  I did not know how easy it would be as they have different interests.  We do get to share what we believe the Garden could all be about.  So that means talking about the crucifixtion, burial and resurrection of Yeshua.  When we were at the tomb, one lady asked me about some verses I had quoted from the New Testament and wanted to see them.  I got a New Testament and showed her.  When I offered it to her to keep she shared that she already had a Bible.  In front of 6 others in her group she told me that she was the only Christian in the group.  Really good to see her take what must have been a bit of a hard stand.

Groups are slowing down.  Still lots of Indonesians and Nigerians.  You can pray already for the weather on Christmas day.  We are not open other then for a 10 am service.  This week a tour operater phoned to say he will be bring 325 Nigerians for the service.  And we could have maybe 100 others???  All the seating will be on outdoor benches and it could be fairly cold.  Nigerians already wear one hat on top of the other in this weather.  So I will report more on that I am sure.  If it all happens, I am sure it will be the most lively Christmas service I have ever attended.

Blessings for now.  Gord for Donna