Our Last Day

This morning Mike read Revelation 21:1-4 which is his favorite passage in the Bible and verse 4 is his favorite verse. “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’” Mike compared his excitement of watching his bride walk down the aisle to the excitement we should have about these verses. He gave a list of things that will be no more: doctors, funerals, missiles, politicians, even broccoli (if you hate broccoli like Mike does).

We arrived at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Museum in the morning. I was excited to return. I had the opportunity to go there during my first trip to Israel on a guided tour. The museum is massive but because of time we had to skipped some things. Before we began the tour we met with Susanna Kokkonen, the director of Christian Friends of Yad Vashem. She shared with us what Yad Vashem does to preserve the history of the Jewish people and educating Christians and the world.

Tito said that Yad Vashem was originally created for the survivors. Yad Vashem means “tomb.” We were given an hour to go through the museum which if you asked anyone in our group, was not enough time. The museum goes from life to life. Before the holocaust, Jewish people enjoyed life and participated in arts and music. After the holocaust, Jewish people are still enjoying life to the fullest. I was struck by the videos of survivors talking about firing squads. We saw the clothes the Jewish people were forced to wear and artwork they made. Tito tells us that Jewish people stayed in concentration camps for two years after liberation because they didn’t have homes to go back to. As the group walked the grounds it began to rain. The weather only added to the somber mood felt by all. Tito tells us about how in Iran they have a convention about how there was no holocaust. He pointed out the ridiculousness of having a convention for something that didn’t happen. Why would people spend so much money for it? He then pointed out that the message of Yad Vashem is hope. We walked through the museum into the light. This is the representation of hope.

Next we make a stop at the grave site of Michael Levin, a lone soldier in the Israeli Defense Force. A lone soldier is someone who comes from another country to fight for Israel. Michael had ties to The Friends of Israel’s ministry. Michael was killed in action. Jim pointed out that we as Christians may say the Jewish people shouldn’t give up an inch of land, but it’s the Jewish people’s children who are the ones that must fight for that right.

For lunch we returned to the Jewish quarter to eat at the Quarter cafe. I had falafel and my first Israeli latke. It was delicious! The Quarter cafe has a lovely view overlooking the Old City and the Western Wall.

As the rain started again, we walked to the city of David. It’s downhill and slippery on a normal day so we walked very, very slow. Because of the rain we missed some of the excavation area. Tito tells us since this is in the Palestinian area, they need to buy pieces of land to even be able to excavate.

We visited the Canaanite Tunnel. Tito told us how David took the city of the Jebusites by going through the waterway. He also explained the concept of Jesus coming down on the donkey. I found it interesting that the donkey is not considered a modest animal according to Jewish history. Jesus asking to ride a donkey meant He was claiming to be king. The idea that the donkey is modest comes from Europe. This again reminds me how many pastors are unaware of Jewish history and Israel. We walked through the irrigation tunnels. It was a tight fit but there was light. On my previous trip we went through the other tunnel that is dark and had water past our knees. I was thankful we didn’t have to walk through water since it was cold.

We then visited The Pool of Siloam it is owned by the Greek Orthodox Church. Afterwards we stopped at the Jewish agency for Israel. We met Yehuda Sharf. He helps the Jewish people make Aliyah (Jewish people coming to Israel). He says we are not “friends” of Israel but we are brothers and sisters. We met two girls who have made Aiyah. One is from Siberia and the other from France. There are people making Aliyah from more than 30 countries around the world.

It has been a cold soggy day and we’re all ready to head back to the hotel for our farewell banquet. For our banquet we met in a private room of the hotel for a special dinner to celebrate our time in Israel. Our guests of honor are our guides Tito, accompanied by his wife, and Roni and our amazing bus drivers Reuben and Shlomo. We were also joined again by Pastor Meno Kalisher and his wife Anat. Our keynote speaker was Josh Reinstein, the President of Christian Allies Caucus who was accompanied by his wife. Jim reminded us of all the places we visited in these last few days and then reads from Psalm 122. Josh talked about prophecy in the Bible that has been fulfilled about Israel. It was a captivating speech, especially after walking and touring this great land and seeing and meeting all the wonderful Jewish people. One of our tour participants, Marc shared with us about his opportunity to serve on The Friends of Israel’s Hesed volunteer trip.

This has been a truly incredible experience! Each of us, whether it’s our first or fifth (or even more) trip, have been changed by the things that we have seen and heard. The land is amazing and I encourage you to go, or go again (and again and again)!

It’s been a privilege to be the mouthpiece for this tour. Whether the blog is a reminder to your time here, a way to keep up with family that’s here, or whatever else, I hope it’s been worth the read! Special shoutout to Jim and Gary and the others who offered to carry my camera bag through the many places we visited. And also to JT and many others who offered to take pictures of me, the camera girl to prove I was here too. Until next year in Jerusalem!
-Catie