jerusalem

Ecclesia with Breaking Bread Journeys: Jerusalem Old City, Garden of Gethsemane, Holocaust Museum, Bethlehem

Today was my 6th and final day of shooting for Ecclesia Houston on our Holy Land tour with Breaking Bread Journeys. Our day began with a visit to the Church of St. Anne in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City and the adjacent ruins of the Pool of Bethesda and an ancient Byzantine Church. We then made our way just east of the Old City to the Garden of Gethsemane and the church beside it, The Church of All Nations. Next we arrived at the Holocaust History Museum for a profoundly moving experience. After that we crossed back into the West Bank for a visit to Bethlehem. There we enjoyed shopping for handcrafted olive wood products made by local Palestinians. Also in Bethlehem we feasted on an unforgettable lunch of local cuisine and then made a quick visit to the Church of the Nativity. Not pictured: we concluded our amazing week with a traditional Shabbat dinner in the home of a local Jewish family who were very gracious hosts. This concludes my blog series for the Ecclesia Holy Land tour. It’s been a very enriching experience for all on the journey. Thanks for following along!

Ecclesia with Breaking Bread Journeys: Jerusalem Old City, Garden Tomb, Jerusalem Wine Expo

Today on the fifth day of Ecclesia Houston’s tour with Breaking Bread Journeys, we were up early to beat the crowds in the Old City. We enjoyed eerily empty passageways in the Muslim Quarter as we made pilgrimage through the Stations of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa. Our journey on “The Way of Sorrows” ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. We then made our way to the Armenian Quarter where we learned that the quarter traces its history back to the Armenian pilgrims who moved to Jerusalem in the fourth century. Next on our schedule was a tour of the Garden Tomb, a rock-cut tomb in Jerusalem which was unearthed in 1867 and has subsequently been considered by many Christians to be the site of the burial and resurrection of Jesus. We ended the evening by enjoying wine tasting at the Jerusalem Wine Expo featuring 40 of Israel’s best wineries. Here’s some of what I captured along the way.

Ecclesia with Breaking Bread Journeys: Jericho, Mount of Temptation, Qumran, Jerusalem

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.