Old City of Jerusalem

Today the T1 class made our first trip into the Old City of Jerusalem and went the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This is the church that has both the place where Jesus was crucified and where he was buried and raised from the dead. We were also blessed with the opportunity to do the stations of the cross with the Franciscans. There were probably about 250-300 people who made the walk with the Lord during his passion. It was quite the experience. We took numerous opportunities to pray for all of you. You were all on our minds and in our prayers during out spiritual walk.

One of the things that really struck me was just how crowded, noisy, cramped, and smelly that walk was. We also walked it later in the day at 4:00 PM so we were already beat down by the heat and exhaustion of the day.

During the walk, shop keepers were still busy and life continued around us. We even had a Muslim chat over the loud speakers, making it difficult for us to hear the prayers over the walking loud speaker. During this time, many of us recalled how stressful it was and how difficult it was to stay in the moment. We were torn emotionally and feeling a little short at times. I was praying and reflecting during this time on how this must have been just as it was when Jesus walked this same path (except the call for prayer). With that in mind, were able to enter into the walk in a more profound way with Christ.

You are all in our prayers as we continue to walk,

God Bless,

-John