I Once Was Blind but Now I See.

July 9

Today was definitely jam packed. We started by going back to the Western Wall, except this time we went under it! It was the Western Wall Excavation Tunnel It was really cool being able to learn more about Herod’s Temple. We got to stand on first temple period ground!

Afterward, we went to the Pool of Bethesda where Yeshua healed a man and we went to St. Anne’s church where Catholic tradition says is the home of Mary’s parents. This church was a beautiful place (and sadly, I can’t remember much because there was a really cute kitten that was terribly distracting.) But I do remember going inside and singing because it had wonderful acoustics! We sang Amazing Grace and Bruce, Kaytra, Danielle and Suzanne sang “Wonderful, Merciful, Savior” and I will never forget how beautiful it sounded.

From there we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which was a really interesting place. I wasn’t a huge fan of it. It was just so gaudy! They had huge decorations where traditions says Yeshua was crucified and had a huge ugly tomb where tradition told them He was buried. It was just sad because there are different religions that own the church and none of them can agree over anything and they all argue over everything. That is the exact opposite of what the church should be. It was just very sad.

After grabbing some lunch (pizza!) we went to the City of David! We got to see a neat little movie in 3D about Hezekiah’s Tunnel and then off we went! The water was pretty cold, but you got used to it after a while. It usually didn’t go past your ankles. It was really neat being able to go through and sing songs (as usual!) We even got to be at the place where Solomon was anointed! It was also cool because we got to see an exact replica of writing they found in the tunnel that proved that the way the tunnel was made was people dug from either side and met in the middle!

We came out of the tunnel by the Pool of Siloam where Yeshua healed the man who was born blind by putting mud on his eyes and telling him to wash at the Pool of Siloam! It was crazy to think about the faith this blind man must have had to walk all the way to the Pool of Siloam after "some man" puts mud on your eyes. But it was by his faith that he was healed! We also got to walk on the first temple road which was by the corner of the temple at the western and southern part of the wall. This was the first time that an ORIGINS team got to do this because the road had just opened up, so that was pretty cool! A lot of it was actually in the sewer, but it was still a lot of fun. 

We ended up at the southern part of the temple wall where they still had original stairs where Yeshua and His disciples (and a lot more people!) would have walked up to get to the entrance to the temple! So, that was pretty cool. I mean, there’s not a lot of places where you can KNOW you are where Yeshua was, but this is a place we know He would have been! He preached at the temple all the time! That is where He would have entered! So crazy!

We ended the day by watching a movie with a weird guy who had really bad facial hair and was holding a random lemon. I get distracted very easily, in case you couldn’t tell. 

The end of the night was very hard. It was our last night spending together at the hotel so we had a “farewell meeting.” We played “Never Have I Ever” and beat each other up ;) and then “Four on a Couch” which was tons of fun. Then the tears came. We watched a slideshow of our trip and then we went around and told Bruce all the things we appreciated about him since it was his last year. We also went around and told each other everything we appreciated and learned from one another. I can’t even begin to explain how much this group has encouraged and challenged me. Each and every one of them has taught me something different about myself and have challenged me in so many ways to grow in my relationship with God. It’s very hard knowing that after this trip we’re all going to be in our separate lives again.

Sorry I can’t remember everything in great detail, but I’m writing this back at home after a long plane ride and jet lag. It’s the best I can do without getting emotional all over again!