One of the best things about the Holy Land tour my husband and I took several years ago was the chance to totally immerse ourselves in once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
These unforgettable experiences included attending a church service conducted in three languages simultaneously, taking communion on a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, placing our own written prayers along with millions of others in the cracks of the Western Wall, feasting on delicious food, taking a dip in the Dead Sea and even meeting a camel face-to-face.
Above is the kibbutz where we stayed for the first part of our trip. Everywhere we went, we encountered the most amazing food. We visited restaurants with whole tables full of vegetable dishes, like the spread below. Good thing, too, because there were equally large tables full of irresistible pastries.
At one of our stops we got to meet a friendly camel. We were offered a chance to ride a camel, if we wished, but I settled for petting this one. Below, several members of our tour group took the opportunity to wade in the Dead Sea.
The Ancient Galilee Boat, above, also known as the Jesus Boat, is a first-century fishing boat discovered on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Members of our tour group shared communion in the middle of the Sea of Galilee while in a replica of the Jesus Boat, below.
For the communion service on the boat, we obtained the bread and grape juice, pictured below, from a little shop in Cana.
Several times during our trip, I found myself remarking, “This is what Pentecost must have felt like.” At each holy site we visited, we could hear tour groups, like the one above, from all over the world singing hymns or sharing devotions in every language imaginable.
On Sunday our own tour group attended a service at Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, pictured below. A German tour group was also present, along with the local church members. Everyone prayed and sang the familiar hymns in their own languages, so during the service, we could hear English, German and Arabic being sung and spoken simultaneously.
During the church service, we thumbed through a hymnbook in which we found Silent Night in Arabic. Note that the music and text are read from right to left on the page.
The “Pentecost feeling” continued at the Church of the Pater Noster, part of a Carmelite monastery in Jerusalem, where the walls are used to display the Lord’s Prayer in more than a hundred different languages and dialects. Below is the Lord’s Prayer in Hebrew and Aramaic.
Our tour group visited several programs operated by the Lutheran World Federation, including Augusta Victoria Hospital, above, in East Jerusalem. The hospital provides speciality care for Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Quilts like those below, made by members of our congregation, are often sent to this hospital, and we were told the patients truly appreciate the quilts.
A special highlight of our trip was a visit to the Western Wall, below, a Jewish holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has long been a practice to insert slips of paper containing written prayers to God into the cracks and crevices of the Western Wall. It is estimated that more than a million prayer notes are placed there each year. Of course, Pete and I added our own.
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Oh my God that sounds very nice. That will be a great adventure for us when we retire.
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It is indeed a matter of great joy to be able to walk down the lanes which our Lord had once walked through to heal and preach the message of love.Thank you very much for sharing .🙏😊🌹
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You’re welcome!
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🌹🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🌹
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What an experience! Thanks for sharing it. That music part was interesting. I wouldn’t have thought of that, either. Even though I frequently help people with websites that are RTL.
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That must be an interesting experience.
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I never thought about music being read from right to left!!
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It took us a minute to figure out what was a bit “jarring” about the words and music on the pages. Then we noticed where the treble and bass clefs were.
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Y’all are sharp!!
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Oh.
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When I first looked at it, I knew what it was because they had the tune name STILLE NACHT in German, so I tried to sing the melody (under my breath!) to the notation — and got nowhere! Then I noticed the clefs and key signature at the right of the stave, and remembered Arabic reads from right to left — and, like Debi says, it all fell into place.
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I find it quite amusing. I don’t think I could sing music backward, but you figured it out quickly.
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Reminds me of my trip to the Holy Land two years ago in November. It was magnificent. Saw some of these same places.
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We went in November as well. It was definitely unforgettable.
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What a wonderful experience – especially the “Pentecost” experience of worship in so many languages! ❤
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The church service especially was amazing. We all sang the same hymns, only in our own languages. And all said the Lord’s prayer, only in our own languages.
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I did ride a camel once – at the Bronx Zoo when I was five. Never got to see one in its natural surroundings though.
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Afterwards, I remember thinking I wished I had gone ahead and gotten on the camel. But petting him was fun too.
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I think they smell bad as I recall.
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Awesome! Incredible experience
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It was!
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“This is what Pentecost must have felt like.” What an amazing experience! However, what Pentecost felt like can be repeated by any believers who seek the baptism into the Holy Spirit. (See Matthew 3;11, John 20:22, Acts 1:8, and Acts 19:2.)
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So, so beautiful ! Thanks for sharing. The quilts are amazing. 🤗
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Thanks!
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