Holy Land Pilgrimage Arrival Sunday November 4 th, 2012

Arrival For my own sake of organization, I will call our actual first day arrival. The next (or second) day will be called Day 1 in the organization of photos and powerpoints. We went straight to the hotel to eat and rest.

We landed in Tel Aviv at 3:40 PM (Nov 3 rd ) local time.

Bus immediately took us to Bethlehem in Palestine.

On our way, we drove by Emmaus.

This was also the site of the Ark for 20 years.

1 Samuel 7:2 It was a long time, twenty years in all, that the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim, and all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD.

Kiriath Jearim means city of the forests.

We also drove by Ramot where Samuel is buried.

On arrival, the day was spent and the sun was setting. I never realized the wide range of landscapes in the Holy Land – Hills, trees, plains, deserts, valleys, etc. The sun was setting en route to Bethlehem.

First Day We went right to hotel and pretty much right to bed. This was a great way to deal with the jet lag. It was dark when we arrived. The following pictures are actually from the next day.

We stayed at the Jacir Palace Hotel in Bethlehem, Palestine.

Jacir Palace Hotel The Jacir Palace was built in 1910 by Suleiman Jacir, a Christian merchant and mayor of old Bethlehem. In the 1930’s, he went bankrupt. Eventually, it was sold to the British who made it a prison and then a school. In 2000, Palestinian investors bought the palace and expanded it into a hotel.

We did not use it, but sure would be nice.

No real bugs in area so open windows had no screens. Cats freely roamed everywhere in hotel at night.

Across the Street from the Hotel

Early the first morning… I found the elevator of the one tower and took it to the roof of the palace where one could get a great view of modern Bethlehem. The elevator buttons at the top were broken. I had to take a service elevator down. In the service areas, I saw cartoon figures warning staff to keep doors locked so thieves, monsters, and masked terrorists with guns and knives could not come in.

View from roof.

The Jerusalem Cross Shows how Gospel went out from Jerusalem. Smaller crosses represent Gospels going out into the world. Used by early Christians to identify pilgrimage sites.