GIM

31 December 2008 Must post this before saying goodbye to 2008!

Dr Meera shared with me her thoughts on the trip. I find her sharing very informative and inspiring. I have asked her permission to post it on my blog and she has kindly allowed me to do so.

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

The light bulb went on inside me. The Lord was saying to me "I will meet you in Galilee." I had been praying about visiting the Holy Land for some time. Since I retired I had wanted to visit, but the Intifadah prevented it. For the past few years a number of friends had gone there so I knew the time was right regardless of what we see on CNN or BBC. I asked Choon whether we should go and he quickly replied that we should -- which surprised me. But wait a minute.. had not the Lord spoken to me? When He says 'go' it means that He knows the path ahead. So that afternoon I called up the travel agent and although it was past the deadline to register for the tour she agreed to include us. We were to leave in exactly one month time from KL. Our Malaysian passport states that it is not valid for travel to only one country in the whole world Israel and that was the place we wanted to go to. But the government gives a special permit for Christians and Muslims to go to Jerusalem for pilgrimage. A few days later when Choon told Dr. Khoo that we were going on this trip, he too wanted to go, so we had company because the main group was a church from KL.

We were excited and we prayed and trusted God that when He tells us to go He will be there to help us, despite of aches and pains. I told Choon to be prepared by reading the gospels as we were going "In the footsteps of Jesus." He went one step ahead by not only reading, but making notes. We also read the song of ascents (Psalm 120-134) which were said by pilgrims those days when they were on their way to Jerusalem for festivals.
We planned to get a friend to stay with my mum but she said that she would like to go and stay with my cousin and family in KL.

Two weeks prior to leaving, I caught a sore throat, fever, cold and cough. I slept in Ivan's room, coming down only for meals. In spite of washing my hands scores of times a day, 5 days later Choon caught the bug and later Mummy. Dr. Goh had given Choon some antibiotic to keep for when we travel in case of any infection. When Choon took it, he got a severe rash all over the body. That's one more antibiotic to add to the growing number that he cannot take. Through all this, I had doubts and wondered how we would make the trip. Each time I cast these doubts to the Lord and kept telling Him that He was the one who had given us the green light to go on this trip, so He had to be in control over these illnesses. At one stage Mummy said that she would not be able to travel to KL and asked me to call friends to stay with her as she felt that her eyesight was suddenly getting dimmer. I was about to panic when God reminded me that the problem was because we had given her Piriton (anti histamine) which was making her groggy. When I stopped giving it to her, she felt fine and was able to travel to KL with little difficulty. A miracle.
We drove to KL 2 days earlier, so that Mummy could get used to the house there and I had to teach the maid how to handle her hearing aid every morning and night. The taxi we had booked to take us to the airport, suddenly was not available. Fortunately my relative agreed to take us very early in the morning. I told Choon that it seemed as if everything was stopping us from going and for me, that was an indication that we were going to have a fabulous time there. The pilgrimage we took was "In the steps of Jesus." There are many tours for Christian groups, some going to Old and others to New Testament sites. I was eager to walk the steps which Jesus had taken.

On 30th September we arrived at KLIA and met Dr. Khoo and Carol there. They are really seasoned travelers as they came only with small luggage which did not have to be checked in carried as hand luggage. And I thought I was travelling light!!

We took the Y3bekNCTOH airlines for a 7 hour flight to Tawkeht. Yes, I had never heard of this airline before and in case you are wondering it is Uzbekistan Airlines to Tashkent (in the Uzbek language). About a third of the passengers were coughing away. It was the flu season in Malaysia and I prayed hard that neither of us would get an infection. Only when we returned we realized that if we had not got the infection before we went, we would have caught it on the flight and that would have ruined the trip. A miracle. On the flight, announcements were made in 3 languages of which one may have been in English I'm not sure!! I couldn't understand more than a couple of words they said. The stewards and stewardesses had no smiles. What surprised me was that the flight (airbus) was full. Where were all these people travelling to? How was it that so many Uzbeks were in KL returning to their homes? I don't know. Tashkent is along the silk road. The airport is old and probably built by the Russians a century ago. Security was tight even for us in transit. One guy had to take off his belt and his pants fell down!! What drama!! I looked at the sachet of sugar on the flight and was amused to see the word 'shakara' which is the Malayalam word for sugar. During a part of the flight, the sky was cloudless and for half an hour I only saw mountains with no green at all. The river was dry and there did not seem to be any houses. May have been over Afghanistan and no wonder it is easy for people to hide in such places. The second leg of the journey was a 5 hour flight to Tel Aviv.

We arrived in the airport and I was surprised that it was almost empty. It was Rosh Hashana the Jewish New Year. At the baggage area I saw the sign Luton a flight must have just arrived from there. I felt a connection!! Ben Gurion airport is 15 Km from the city so we quickly went to the hotel. The room was so tiny that we have to be very careful to avoid knocking into each other, but it was very clean. I stood on the bed to see clearly a picture of Anne Frank on the wall with pages of her diary in the photo. I was trying to read the page forgetting that it would have been in the Dutch language. The book I had read decades ago was a translation into English.
Our hotel was only a block away from the Mediterranean Sea so the next morning we had a glorious view as the bus took us all along the beachfront. Being a holiday, many were swimming in the sea and plenty more on the beach even at the relatively early hour of the morning.
Tel Aviv is a modern city built besides Jaffa (Joppa) which is the Muslim section. On the map it is Tel Aviv (Yafo). Signboards seem to have different spellings of cities. I often saw a signboard with one spelling, a few feet away from another with the older spelling like we see in Malaysia. Road signs are in Hebrew and Arabic. Names in Israel have great significance as we know from the Bible. The meaning of Tel Aviv struck me as a great name. Tel = hill. Aviv = spring. Hill of spring. The hill is not what we usually think of. Here the word 'hill' means layers of civilization and denotes the past. 'Spring' denotes new life the future. So when they think of Tel Aviv -- they think of the past and the future. I thought that's a great name.

The currency is the Shekel which is equal to about one Ringgit - easy to convert. The geography of the land is interesting - from the snow capped Mount Hermon in the north (the only ski slope) to desert. They said that 75% of all the different terrain in the world is found in this tiny country. You can go from desert to greenfields in just a few minutes. Our guide Boaz, is a Jew and the bus driver a Muslim. Petrol is expensive like you pay in England. They get it from Norway and Mexico. Surely they will not think of getting it cheaper from their neighbours!! None of the petrol pumps were the companies we are familiar with.
Jaffa is called Joppa in the Old Testament and is 3200 years old. There is a huge fish somewhere to remind them of Jonah. Peter was praying in Joppa when Cornelius sent for him and then he became the first gentile convert. From the St. Peter's church we had a glorious view of the city and the deep blue Mediterranean Sea. Inside the church was much like those we see in England. As I was sitting and meditating in the church I looked up at the dome and saw 2 keys like a X. Immediately I had a rhema word that God was giving me the keys of the kingdom and "whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19). God was so real that I left the church light hearted. Outside, there was a fig tree and many tamarisk trees Abraham had sat under one of them. The fig tree was not the same variety I had seen in California.

We took the coastal road to Caesarea (pronounced as Caesar ria and not as I had thought like the Caesarean section). Beautiful drive beside the Med. Sea. There were many ruins in this city but 2 of note. One was the open air theatre beside the sea. It could seat about 3000 people and the stone seats were placed in a semicircle. We had a good view of the stage with the sea behind it. The guide asked someone to go to the stage and sing a song while we were seated far from the stage on one of the topmost row of seats. John volunteered to sing. As he sang "Amazing grace" we were amazed that we could hear every word as if we were in a closed theatre with good acoustics. At once I understood how Jesus could speak to 5000 people without using any mike and they could hear. I had always wondered about it. Usually when we are near the sea, sounds get muffled but here it was very clear. The other ruin was the palace of Pontius Pilate. There is a stone inscription referring to Pontius Pilate, the Procurator (governor) of Judea in AD 26-36. Historians were thrilled to find that block of stone with the name still visible.

We then drove up Mount Carmel. It is about 25 miles long, flat on top and not very high (I think about 1000-2000 feet high). On top is the Carmelite monastery over the site where Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal proving that God is the true God. While the pastor read that story in the small chapel, I suddenly felt the awesome power of God. I had read that story many time before, but being at the site enabled me to feel the story. It was different. The altar of the chapel is made of 12 stones not sure whether they are the real stones used by Elijah or not. Nearby is the cave in which Elijah hid from Queen Jezebel. Made me realize how human Elijah was, despite the miracle performed earlier. The view of the Jezreel valley (Armageddon valley) below with the many hills is a spectacular sight. Nearby is a Druze village. The Druze is a group which split from Islam and their faith is handed down to the generations orally. No book for them to follow. Coming down from Mt. Carmel, the road looked as if it was going right down into the Med. Sea. What a glorious sight, the descent to Haifa.

PART II

NAZARETH means 'crown'. It was a very small village during Jesus' time but now it is crowded with traffic congestion. The population is 70% Muslim and 30% Christian. It was the end of the Muslim fasting month and a holiday for the Muslims and the Jewish New year so the streets were crowded with holiday makers some greeting us with loud 'nie how'. Most of the members of our group are Malaysians of Chinese origin. At least they know how to greet us in Mandarin. The road we took was very steep and must have been the only one in the village long ago. We saw Mary's house over which a church is built. The only part of the house remaining was like a cave. Further up the steep road is Joseph's house. No wonder he fell in love with Mary. They were neighbours living on the same road!! His house has an underground room, which we could see but not enter, where the carpentry was done. I was thinking of how he would have been driving nails into the wood there in his home and years later they drove the nails into the wood through his hand and feet. How ironic.

SEA OF GALLILEE was where Jesus started his ministry. We stayed in a kibbutz hotel situated on a hill near the city of Tiberius. We were shown around the kibbutz which has 700 people staying. At the centre is the synagogue, a community area and all around are the houses. The people work on their farm, furniture workshop, in the hotel run by the kibbutz or in town doing whatever work they like. All their income goes into the common pool. Each family gets an equal share of money depending on their family size. I loved this place and I think I can live in such a place if possible. There are 3 doctors living in the kibbutz, one of whom is a Paediatric cardiologist. He/she will ultimately get the same amount o f money from the common pool as the farmer or labourer who works in the hotel. It is something like how the disciples lived in the book of Acts chapter 2. At night the view from the kibbutz is fantastic to see the sea shimmering with the lights of the neighbouring cities like jewels on the crown. In the hotel room, the plug for making coffee had a sign which said 'off on Shabbat'. Did they automatically shut off the plug on the Sabbath or was it a reminder? I'm not sure. My room was on the ground floor and the sliding door opened onto a patio (where one could have coffee) and then straight into the garden. Early morning I saw two men ploughing the ground and planting vegetables. I was totally mesmerized with the place.

Two other incidents during our trip about the Shabbat (that's how they pronounce the word Sabbath) were amusing. Both were in Jerusalem. We saw many orthodox Jews wearing their top hats, long coats and tassels coming out of their shirts. In Malaysia we do not see these types of clothes as there are no Jews here. One lady in our group asked one gentleman wearing those clothes whether she could take a photo of them together. He politely declined that it was Shabbat and photos were not allowed to be taken on that day! In our hotel we were wondering why the lift stopped on every floor even though there was no one waiting in any of the floors. Later we got to know that on the Shabbat the orthodox Jews are not allowed to press the lift button as it is considered as work. In order to avoid doing so, the lift automatically stops on every floor on that day of the week. Fortunately we were on the 7th floor and so it was not too bad. Wonder what happened on very high floors. None of the buildings in Jerusalem are very tall but what happens in places like New York where there are sky scrapers? I wonder. They are very strict about these rules. In a way it is a great discipline for them.

The Sea of Galilee is actually a lake and has different names – Sea of Tiberius, Lake Gennesarat or the Hebrew name used now is Lake Kinneret. It is 20 X 12 miles situated 700 feet below sea level. Since it has a tropical climate we saw banana plantations, mango trees and dates around the lake. I saw many small trees with large fruits. No wonder it is called the land of milk and honey. The mustard plants had been harvested. We were told that in spring the whole hill is filled with mustard plants. The seeds are not the same as the ones we have here. They are yellowish brown, a little flat and looks like fenugreek seeds. Now I understand why Jesus said that the mustard plant would grow to be very big. The ones we have here are only 1-2 feet high. So the mustard we have is a different variety than what we found there. Boaz, our guide was very good. He often asked questions or say part of a verse and ask one of us to complete it. On the first day he learned the names of about 5 of us in the group, including mine and after that all the questions were directed to one of us by name. So we had to be on our toes to answer his questions. "What did Jesus say about having faith as a mustard seed?" Boaz asked me. When I replied "I can say to this mountain move and it will move" I had another rhema word from God. Yes, I knew that whatever mountain was looming over our lives, we could speak to it and it would move. During the last couple of years the mountains in our lives have been large.

The Mount Beatitude church is built over the site where the 'sermon on the mount' was preached. It is octagonal to represent the 8 beatitudes. We sat in the garden overlooking the sea and had our devotions. It was a dull morning and just as we began to sing "Shine Jesus shine" the sun shone brightly on us. What a thrill. Nearby is where the miracle of feeding the 5000 took place. Amid the ruins is a mosaic piece with the loaf and fish symbols. All these places we visited, all over the country, have been built and torn down during the different periods – Byzantine, Muslim, Crusaders and Ottoman periods. So in each spot we can see the remnants of these different times. In many places, right beside a church is a mosque.

We went down to the Sea of Galilee and I found black stones at the edge of the lake. It was nice to dip my feet into the lake. The ground was stony. This was the place where, after the ascension, Peter was asked by Jesus 3 times "Do you love me?" They caught a great harvest of fish and then had 'ikan bakar' there for breakfast. I was wondering whether the black stones were the ones used to bake the fish!! No, they were volcanic stones after a volcano erupted in the Golan Heights long ago. All around the lake are small villages and towns. It's easy to understand how Jesus went around from place to place in the area around the lake.
We were fortunate to have a boat ride on the lake. It was a boat similar to the one which the fishermen those days would have used but larger to accommodate large groups. As soon as we entered the boat, one of the members of the crew whipped out a flag – the Malaysian flag. What is pleasant surprise. When he began hoisting the flag we had a bigger surprise hearing our national anthem. This was the photo opportunity of a lifetime – seeing the Malaysian flag flying alongside the Israeli flag. Never had we seen the two together – no diplomatic relations between the two countries. So the cameramen had a field day.

We had a short devotion while in the boat on the lake and the pastor spoke of having a deeper life in Christ. "Don't be happy in the shallow water. Go deeper in your relationship with Him," he said. It was another rhema for me.

CAPERNAUM. The original name is Kafar Nahum. Kafar = village. Naum = Nahum, the prophet. So it means village of Nahum. This is where the ministry of Jesus began. There are the ruins of the synagogue and near it is Peter's house. This morning when I read Luke 4:38 "Now he arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house…." I at once can picture the places mentioned and so it is exciting to read the bible. Outside the synagogue, under the olive trees, were a group of people having a bible study. If they were speaking English I may have joined them. Unfortunately it was in another language.

RIVER JORDAN is the only river I saw in the country. It starts in the snow capped Mount Hermon and flows into the Sea of Galilee and flows out of it to the Dead Sea. There is one spot on the river where baptisms are held and one member of our group was baptized in the river Jordan. Near our group was a large group from Indonesia about 50 or more being baptized. Everything is commercial and even baptism costs US $10 for a towel and a certificate!!! How they make money on the tourist industry. I'm not sure whether this is the location where Jesus was baptized or only an easily accessible site on the Jordan River. When I put my feet into the river there were hundreds of fish touching my feet. Were they trying to nibble at my toes after smelling my dirty feet? I'll never know. It reminded me of the fish spa.
Lush vegetation grows around the river banks and it is so different from the desert regions we were in earlier. Half of the river lies in the country of Jordan so we can see the cities on the river banks which belong to that country.

CANA is a small town where Jesus performed His very first miracle – changing the water to wine at the wedding feast. We went into the house which hosted that wedding. What remains is an underground cave with a few rooms. As in other places a church is built over that house. Choon and I reaffirmed our marriage vows in the chapel of that church together with a few other couples in our group. So it was one month short of our 36th wedding anniversary that we said the vows again. This church is a place where many couples from all over the world do so. It was a significant moment for us to have this unique opportunity to do so. It's something I'll cherish always. We brought back memories with a bottle of wine made in Cana. Although we are not wine drinkers, how could we pass up this opportunity to get wine from the miracle town.

PART III

On our way along the Jordan Valley we saw the lush green vegetation with different crops all along. We passed through the Jezreel Valley which is also the place where the final battle is to take place according to the book of Revelations. In this area they have unearthed 20 layers of civilization. Amazing. Many, many battles have been fought in this valley. We walked through a tunnel underground. This was built by King Ahab in the Old Testament. Those days the well was outside the city walls and the women had to go there daily to collect water for their families. The king wanted to make it safe for them to collect water especially when the enemies were always trying to contaminate the wells and get the women. So he dug an underground tunnel from the well which was outside the city gates so that the water could be channeled to an area within the walls of the city. This made it safe for the people. An excellent idea-- by a wicked king that's how he is known in the Old Testament.

JERICHO. The city of Jericho is in Palestine. Our guide, being a Jew is not allowed into Palestine. So he had to get down just outside the city. So now we knew why our bus driver was a Muslim. If he too were a Jew we would not have been able to go into Palestine to visit Jericho and Bethlehem. As we entered, there was the usual security block. No one checked our passports as we entered the country. The bus driver said that we were pilgrims from Malaysia. As you know, Malaysia is well respected by the Palestinians. However we could see the difference between the two checkpoints the one manned by the Israelis and the other by the Palestinians. The Israeli soldiers were very alert, stood as if there was danger everywhere and had their guns ready to shoot if needed. The Palestinian soldiers a few 100 meters away were sitting and chatting away. It did not feel like an entry into another country when we saw them. They were probably bored with their work!!!

As we entered we could see one particular building with numerous bullet holes in their walls. It must have been one of the houses which they were targeting.
At the entrance of Jericho was a sign saying "Jericho, the oldest village in the world, 10,000 years." It is actually at the fringe of the desert and is an oasis. We went to see the most famous tree. The one on which Zaccheus sat on when he wanted to see Jesus. They claim that the sychamore tree we saw is the actual tree from the time of Jesus. It really looked old and gnarled, with its branches well spread out. It was protected by a fence and a board had a write up about the story of Zaccheus. Wherever the name of Jesus was mentioned on the board (4-5 times), the name was crudely scratched out by some vandal. The reason was obvious. The food in Palestine was something like our biriyani. Going back into Israel was again through the checkpoints of the two countries. Long queues with the taxis jumping the queuejust like in Malaysia!

On the way from Jericho to Jerusalem we saw many desert places where the Bedouins were living. They are nomadic but I'm not sure why they choose such desert places where there is not ever one green plant on the ground. On the hills around their camps we saw strange horizontal lines all along the hill. Later we found out that those are where the mountain goats walk. The lines have been made by the goats' path. There is an old Bedouin Inn which they believe is the inn in which the Good Samaritan sent the victim of the robbery in the famous story told by Jesus.

BETHLEHEM means house of bread. Beit =house and there are many towns starting with Beit (Later changed to beth). Since the Intifadah and later because of Hamas, the number of Christians is dwindling here. Of a population of 29,000 only 8000 are Christians. The rest are Muslims.

The town is busy with shops filled with people. It was quite congested. Many of the shop owners kept calling us to buy their wares. The road was steep to the church.

The nativity complex is one of the oldest churches in the world still in use today. It comprises 3 churches side by side they share common walls. You have to stoop to get in. Were people shorter than me those days or was it a way to keep the cold out? I don't know. The oldest was built in 440 AD and still being used. The Greek Orthodox Church is stunning with about 100 incense burners hanging from the ceiling. All the churches I've seen have only 1 or 2 of these burners. This one had so many like I've never seen before. Going down a few steep steps we come to the place where Jesus was born, marked by a 14 pointed star. The points signify 14 generation from King David to Jesus. Near it is the manger. Not what we see in the Christmas cards but more like a feeding trough for animals, made of stone. The Armenian Church was next door and they were having a service in their language. Although we could not understand it sounded good. The 4 priests wore black but just before the end of the service one priest brought a red and gold cloak and put it on the chief priest. Wow. Looked majestic. The third church is the Catholic Church which we always see on BBC/CNN showing the Christmas service from Bethlehem. It's the one we used to see Arafat attending with his wife on Christmas day service. It was built more recently maybe last century.

Bethlehem celebrates Christmas over many weeks. In the Catholic church it is on December 25th, the Armenian Church celebrates on 7th January and the Greek church on 18th January. So it is almost a month long celebration.

When we enter and leave Bethlehem, at the border checkpoint is a huge wall about 20-30 feet high. I'm sure you would have seen it on the news channels. It was built by the Israelis to prevent the famous stone throwing by the Palestinians. Those days whenever we saw the news about the Israeli Palestinian conflict all we saw were those people throwing stones. Someone remarked that they learned it from David killing Goliath with the stone. Only now it is a reversal of roles. Goliath was a Philistine thought to be the ancestors of the Palestinians. Maybe they think they can kill the Israeli with one stone!!

Anyway, that wall has stopped the stone throwing. I was amused by what I saw on the wall. On the Israeli side were beautiful murals of scenes of Jerusalem. The Palestinian side was full of graffiti mostly elaborate drawings. Two of them caught my eye. One was a detailed drawing of a lion with very large nasty looking teeth biting an innocent looking bird. You have to interpret it in whatever way you want. The other were the words "Thou shall not steal still applies." The reality is obvious. On top of the wall is full of bits of broken glass with its pointed part sticking up. We used to have those types of glass on top of walls in Bombay when we were young. It keeps the unwanted people away unless they want cuts on their body.

JERUSALEM is the jewel in the country. It is 3000 years old with 350 historical sites of the Jews, Christians and Muslims. It is the place for pilgrimage for people of these 3 religions. The Arabs live in east Jerusalem crowded, congested and not well kept. The Jews live in the west clean, spacious and well kept. There are many hills in Jerusalem but for us the 3 mains ones we went to see were the Mount of Olives, Temple Mount and Mt. Zion.

Mount of Olives has many churches built over the important sites. One church is built over the site where Jesus is believed to have taught the disciples the Lord's Prayer. The courtyard is large and has huge ceramic panels 5-6 feet long with the Lord's Prayer written on them. There are more than 100 of these panels written in different languages, including in Malayalam. I was surprised to see more than a dozen languages which I had never heard of. Which countries do they belong to? Then I realized that most people who have never been to India would not know of the many languages there are in the country. Wonder how many people outside India know of Marathi or Gujerati or Telugu? So the same goes to languages of other countries.

The small chapel over the ascension site is tiny. The only thing left from the time of Jesus is what they call 'the footstep of Jesus.' It is believed that He ascended from that spot. It is a small rock. That's all. We were trying to look at the rock and I was thinking that this is not His footstep but just a rock on which He may have stood. Choon took a photo of that rock and lo and behold when he looked at it in the camera he could see the face of Jesus on that rock. Something like the Christ in the snow picture. It was his epiphany. He was really thrilled about it.
Not far from this place is the largest Jewish cemetery in the world. Very well kept and orderly laid. From there we get a magnificent view of Jerusalem, the various hills and important sites. "Ten measures of beauty were given to the world. Nine were taken by Jerusalem" says the Babylonian Talmud. You have to see it to believe. The hills around remind me of the Psalm 125:2 'As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever.' Julita was tired and she sat on the wall while listening to the guide. He mildly rebuked her and said that sitting with your back to Jerusalem was bad luck. Sounds like Feng Shui Jewish style.

After that we walked the Palm Sunday path, which is the route He took on the day He entered Jerusalem. The road is a steep, downhill walk with a majestic view of the Kidron Valley and the other hills. As its name suggests, the Mount of Olives is full of olive trees. Some of the trees have 1000s of olives on them. Yes and we ate olives for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Olives is an acquired taste which we Malaysians had difficulty with at first. Choon became an expert olive eater by the end of our trip. Many things are made of olive wood as souvenirs. It is a light coloured wood something like the rubber wood.

That night we attended a cultural show of song and dance. The main singer sang all types of songs and they did Jewish and Arabic dances. The singer then asked the audience from which part of the world we all came from. There were shouts from every corner of the hall as they mentioned the countries names. There were more than 30 countries as far flung from the east and west. Many were from South American countries so she replied them in fluent Spanish and sang a Spanish song. When someone mentioned Faroe Island, the singer had never heard of it. In fact, until Pr. Kevin went there with the Doulos and wrote about it in his newsletter, I too had not heard of it. Someone shouted Malaysia and she immediately responded with 'Selamat malam'. What a thrill to hear a Jewish lady in Jerusalem speak Malay. The only song I knew was 'hava nagila' which we used to sing as kids. We had learnt it from the radio.

Ein Kerem is on the outskirts of Jerusalem. It is the village where Zachariah and Elizabeth lived. To get to the house was a very steep climb up the hill. We panted and puffed to walk up. At the bottom of the climb was the spring from which they got their water supply. I was wondering how Elizabeth would have climbed the road daily carrying the water for the family. In those days it was the work of the ladies to get the water from the well or spring. There was no way for those people not to be physically fit with all the walking especially the hilly terrain. When Mary visited Elizabeth it would have been a 150 mile journey for her from Nazareth. That's with no car. Just imagine their difficulties. So if your petrol price is high and have to take public transport just remember those times and thank God for the blessing you have.

The church built over Z & E's house has the original stone with the edict given by Herod to kill all the babies less than 2 years of age. I felt creepy seeing that stone with the writings on it. I always pictured in my mind, Zachariah as very old and decrepit looking. In the statue outside the church he had a royal look in his priestly clothes.

The visit to King David's tomb on Mount Zion was a surprise for me. It is covered in satin with separate entrances for men and women. So we only saw one half of the tomb although we peeped through the curtain to the men's section. We saw a few Jewish ladies reading the Torah and weeping at the tomb. Just above the tomb, in the same building, is the Upper Room where Jesus had the last supper and also where the disciples waited after the ascension for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I had no idea earlier that this important room was above David's tomb.
Our visit to Gethsemane or the olive grove where Jesus was betrayed was an emotional one for me. The grove is a lovely setting for quiet and meditation. It is full of olive trees. Eight of those trees which are fenced to protect them, are the original trees from the time of Jesus or as Boaz put it those trees saw Judas betray Jesus with a kiss the most famous kiss in history. Those 8 trees really looked oooold. The tree trunk is very thick, gnarled and yet there were new branches coming out of them. On the other side were the younger trees and we had our morning devotion there. It was very peaceful and serene. Yet we could feel the emotion of that hour when He prayed and later was betrayed. As we entered the church, I wept thinking of that dark hour. For a brief moment I went back in time. The church is built by an Italian about 100 years ago When we enter, it is very dark to feel the darkness of that hour. The lights are only placed as you go up to the front. The church was jam packed with pilgrims from all over the world. I heard so many languages being spoken, although I did not hear anyone speaking English. I guess those from the English speaking countries go there at different times of the year.

PART IV

The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem is the only pilgrimage place for the Jews. Security is tight to enter like at any airport. There are various instructions before the check point, one of which says, "Rabbis confirm that the metal detector does not violate the Shabbat." I guess this may have been one more contentious point for the orthodox Jews, before this clarification. The wall is the only part left of the original wall of the Temple of Jerusalem. The temple was destroyed a few years after the ascension of Jesus and in its place stands the iconic Dome on the rock with its beautiful golden dome which you would have seen many times in the news. It is the third most sacred mosque for the Muslims after the ones in Mecca and Medina. The place near the wall has thousands of Jews reading the Torah, praying and weeping. They stick their prayer petitions into the cracks in the wall. At the end of the day all those pieces of paper which drop to the ground are buried. When they complete their prayers they walk backwards do not want to back the wall. There is a sign which says 'the divine presence is always here.' I said a prayer for all those Jews who were there that they may know Jesus as the Messiah.

The city of Jerusalem is large and only a part of it is within the walls of the city. The wall has been rebuilt but some of the city gates are blocked. As we entered the St. Stephen's gate was the pool of Bethesda. This was the pool where many invalids would lie in wait for the bubbling of the pool and the one who went in the first would be healed. Jesus healed the man who was paralyzed for many years when he came to this place. The original columns and the aqueduct can still be seen amidst the ruins. Next to it is the St. Anne's church. It was built in the 12th Century and has fantastic acoustics. Boaz asked us to sing and pause after every line to hear the echo. Although we had sung hymns and songs of praise at many places, in this church the 24 of us sounded like the voices of 100 angels. It was fabulous to hear. The engineers those days were really good to be able to build it.

On the most important visit in Jerusalem, Julita told us that she would not be able to walk that day because of severe pain in the knee. All the earlier days of walking had taken its toll on her joints. But this was the most important day and how could she miss it? I called her, together with a couple of friends and we prayed over her. Then I told her that she would be able to make it that day although we had to walk a long distance. She reluctantly agreed. John was the 'angel' who walked with her and encouraged her all along. She completed the route and that was a miracle. I have great memories of that 'angel' who was so selfless and took the trouble to help her. God is our refuge and strength and He does so through human 'angels'.

The highlight of the visit to Jerusalem is always the walk called the via dolorosa, the way of sorrows. This is the path which Jesus took on the day He was crucified. It starts at the place where it was pronounced that He would be crucified. This road goes through the souq (bazaar) so that the people of the town would know who was being punished. The souq is a crowded place with hundreds of stalls selling all kinds of things. In those days there was no radio or TV news so the latest news was always passed on by word of mouth through the crowded streets. It was easy to picture how Jesus would have been spat at, hit, insulted and kicked by those who passed by the market. Walking that path was a very emotional journey for me. I once again stepped back in time to more than 2000 years ago and could get a feel of the emotions of that time that of the crowd, the women who were with Him, the soldiers and others. Every Friday the monks and nuns have a processional walk carrying the cross along this way. At the end of that path were very steep steps taking us into the Holy Sepulchre Church which is built over the site of the crucifixion. There were hundreds of people there. Very crowded. Everyone was eager to see that site. We just spent out moments in contemplations amidst that mass of people. The air was thick with emotions. After seeing the movie "Passion of Christ" and now walking the via dolorosa, I will read that passage of the bible in a different light.

The garden tomb is a beautiful, serene place with lots of trees. The stillness of the air brought peace to my mind. We had to stoop to enter the tomb and a few of us can be in it at any one time. At the entrance is the groove where the stone would have been. The stone is not there. I always thought the stone would have been like a big ball. In fact it is like a large coin round and flat. The groove is about a foot wide so the stone would have been about 3 feet high (the height of the entrance) and a foot wide. We had a devotional service there and saw many groups from different countries having their communion service. What an ideal place for meditation. From where we sat we could see the hill with the skull like features which was why it was called Golgotha (skull). This was also the same place where Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac and the angel told him to stop and he then saw the lamb and sacrificed it instead. That was a picture of the Lamb of God being sacrificed on that same mountain. It is called Mt. Moriah in the Old Testament but the name was later called Golgotha.

In those days when a stoning was to be held by the Jews, they would bring the accused to the cliff on this or similar hill. One of the witnesses of the crime would push him off the cliff and below would be the crowd of people. Another one of the witnesses would throw the first stone and later the crowd would join in.

I came away the garden tomb with a sense of peace. The tomb is empty.

BETHANY is only 2 miles away from Jerusalem but by road it took us a long time. It is the place where Martha, Mary and Lazarus lived. We went into the tomb of Lazarus. It was a steep flight of steps and then a very low tunnel of about 4-5 feet in length before entering the tomb itself. Only Choon and I and a couple of others went right inside. It was not easy getting in. I was wondering how Lazarus got out when Jesus called him out of the tomb. Later I found out that there is another entrance to the tomb which is walled off because a mosque has been built next door.

QUMRAN is where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. It is very hot there but we were able to see the ruins of the place and the caves where the scrolls were hidden. There are 70,000 pieces of parchment many of which have not been deciphered as yet. The book of Isaiah is the only one which is complete. The writings were very well preserved and I was amazed that it looked as if it were written only a few years ago.

DEAD SEA is about 1300 feet below sea level and is the lowest inhabited point on earth. It is huge, probably 5 times larger than the Sea of Galilee. It is the most amazing experience for me to float on the Dead Sea. It is not possible to swim because the moment you put your face in the water it will automatically bob up. Once you float it is very difficult to get up. When I try to put my feet on the sea bed it would bounce up. What difficulty to get out!!! What fun!!! I thoroughly enjoyed it both in the evening and very early in the morning. If the water gets into the eyes it will sting and there is no way but to get out and wash your face. That is a struggle -- as I said, it is difficult to get out of the water, more so when the eyes are stinging. Even those in our group who are afraid of swimming in the sea were able to float, due to the saltiness. The sea bed if full of crystals of salt the size of a pea to that of a marble. As I rubbed my feet on the salt crystals it was like reflexology and it gave me a good feel. There is a big cosmetic factory near the Dead Sea and they make their products from the salt, clay and minerals found there. I found it very expensive but the owner told us that it was founded by her grandmother and was good for wrinkles and skin problems. Since most in our group were senior citizens, they were very keen to buy the stuff for wrinkles. However Dr. Khoo did a survey of the owner and sales persons and found them having wrinkles too! So he quickly concluded that the product doesn't work. I saw a Dermatology clinic there and was told that people from all over the world come there especially for the treatment of psoriasis and other chronic skin ailments.

Our trip to the Holy Land was over and I left with a heavy heart. On the way to the airport we stopped for a drink at the Elvis Diner. The owner must be an Elvis nut. There were about 1000 pictures of Elvis, 6-8 live sized statues and only Elvis songs heard in that place. Everything there had his name on it including the sachet of sugar!! I When I bought a drink, the mug had his picture and guess what we could take back the mug.
I really hope that this was not the first and last time I visit the Holy land. I would definitely advise you to go there when you are still young and strong. It's a pity that all the old people who have difficulty walking seem to be the bulk of pilgrims. So once again go when you can still walk strong.

Against all odds Choon was able to successfully make the trip with the extraordinary strength God gave him. Even in the weeks prior to going, he had little strength. Prayers were answered. Our spirits renewed. We have overcome. A miracle only God can do.
"It is no secret, what God can do, what he's done for others He'll do for you.." is the song in my heart.

GIM

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