I MUST REMEMBER TO ALWAYS TAKE MY CAMERA....

It now feels like we are getting much more down to the wire.  That means the things we had planned to do are having to be scheduled  carefully.  This morning it is off to church and then to tour some sites with wild flower as well as the Botanical Gardens.  I enjoy flowers but they are very special for Donna.  The good thing about the Botanical Gardens is that we can eat lunch there.

Things are still fairly slow for tourists in Israel right now.  There are lots of reasons.  I have asked for any other jobs so that we can keep occupied in a useful way.  So I have been able to take most of the wood railings off and now have two coats of varnish applied.  I hope to do the last coat tomorrow and won't take long to get them on the next day.  There are a few hundred feet that had to be done.  Above are a few pieces drying in the sun.

One of our guides is a real character.  He set me up with a Chinese group.  Our Chinese speaking guide was off that afternoon.  Caesar had already discovered that the translator was very limited.  I knew I was in trouble when I started by saying " My name is Gordon and I am a volunteer from Canada."  He looked at me and said "what"?  It did not get much better.  I felt badly but did the best I could.
One afternoon a couple came from the States.  There were to have been 15 in the group.  No one was jumping to take them so even though I was not the next to be guiding, I said I would be glad to take them.  The man wanted to know what kinds of people come to the Garden.  He looked a little worn out and it was not that he looked desperate for a meal but leaning that way.  He introduced himself and his wife as the owner of one of the NBA teams.  He told me the team but I had never heard of him.  We had a good tour and I had a very good opportunity to share the Gospel with them at the Tomb itself.   That night I checked on line to see about him.  He could afford supper as Forbes lists him worth 1.8 billion.   Great to be able to share with rich and poor.  I was also given two groups by the Director  that I guess would be called VIP.  One was for a group of Church of England.  I found out after that one of the men had made a commitment to Christ after the tour in the worship time.  Wonderful to have a small part.  I also had the leader and his group of Baptist pastors from England.  He is the head of the world baptist body.  I don't know anything about the group but they were a good bunch to guide.

Between the last sentence , we have been to the Baptist church on the west side of Jerusalem.  They had a small team there from Moody Bible Institute.  After church we kept walking toward the Knesset to find some gardens with wild flowers.  We ended up at the Botanical Gardens.   Other then a couple of beds around the restaurant  the flowers were not planted yet.

I am sorry Donna, I know the picture is not the most flattering, but that pizza was all hers.  I did end up helping a little. We had a great lunch and a very good long walk.

On the way back we crossed King George street at the same time as 4 mounted police.
.  The one is off and it is not every day you see a horse left in Jerusalem so the rider can go to the cash machine

To the right  is part of the Botanical gardens.  We ate outside.  It is hard to see but the sparrows are all over the table and finishing off the salad of these two Israeli women.









Last night our volunteers went out for our weekly supper.  We were in an Armenian tavern.  It was down below the streets in the Old City.  A most unusual place with dozens of very large antiques.  The place was loaded with ancient stuff.  The meal was very good.  Saturday evenings are my time to try to stave off red meat deprivation.  I wish I had taken the camera as it was most unusual.  This week will be shoe shopping for Donna.  She can not rush at it but she has been going to the window of the same store for 10 weeks so I think she is just about ready to get the Neot shoes.  We are also trying to figure out how much food we need to buy as we have less then two weeks.  Anything left over we can pass on to other volunteers that will be still here.  No sense though in doing too much shopping.  I hope I still get to eat the last few days.

There is a very complete list of things we are required to clean in our apartments before we leave.  They give us a day or two at the end.  Some of the things we would not be doing at home.  We think we will start on the list soon.
I went out a couple of mornings ago and decided to take pictures of all the things that I point out as I am guiding.  Maybe some time at home I will have a chance to "guide" using the PowerPoint and the same talking points.  Donna must have snuck up on me this week as she took this picture when I did not know she was there.

 We start at Skull Hill and move our way down to the tomb.  We are to be done our part in no more then 30 minutes.  It can be hard if the group is slow moving on the paths and take lots of pictures.  Then they may ask lots of questions.

 I am sorry that my little "friend" is a bit hard to see.  He is in the center of the picture on the flat rock.  It is a coney.(hirax)   They live in the rocks.  This guy comes out any time it is sunny as he likes to warm himself.  Trouble is, he distracts everyone just at the crucial point in the presentation.  Read about him in Proverbs 30:26

The picture to the left is of the famous Golgotha.  General Charles Gordon decided in 1883 that this could be the place of the skull.  The picture on the post is from 120 years ago.  Just to the right of the pole and above is what can now be seen of the left eye socket.  I know a picture like this does not do justice but if you come over you can see for yourself.






I know I have taken you all over the last week in terms of time.  Yesterday we went for another walk in the afternoon to an area where Donna had been told there were the beginnings of the wild flowers.

The field had many of the anemone and it was worth the long trek.



Again I would want you all to know that we feel extremely safe in Israel.  We live among a Palestinian neighborhood without any unkind reactions.

It is a very divided country.  Many parts of the land have Palestinians with Israeli citizenship.  The Palestinians living behind that concrete wall in the top of this picture know a different life. They can only travel to this side with a special permit.  It allows them to come for specific purposes and most have to be back the other side by 10pm.

I hope this will post.  Blessings from gord and donna