I’m shooting for Ecclesia Houston on our tour with Breaking Bread Journeys. Today’s expedition took us to the ruins of the world’s oldest city, Jericho, where we saw excavations of its ancient walls and towers. We then rode the cable cars up to Qarantal to wander the narrow passages of the Greek Orthodox monastery nestled in the mountain’s cliffs. Pastor Chris Seay read to the group Luke’s account of Jesus’ temptation on the mountain where we stood. Next we learned more about the Dead Sea Scrolls at the location of their discovery in Qumran and walked through the archaeological site where evidence of the Jewish Essene community is presented. The afternoon brought us to Jerusalem where we took a walk into the Old City through the New Gate just after sunset. While in the Old City we had a chance to wander in the labyrinthine Church of the Holy Sepulcher. To conclude the evening’s itinerary we made our way southeast across the winding alleyways of the Old City to the Jewish Quarter. There we came upon the Western Wall, the only surviving part of Solomon’s Temple. High winds that stirred up dust and sand made for interesting atmospheric conditions throughout the day.