Graves Family Travel

This is believed to be the traditional "upper room" where Jesus shared the famous last supper with the disciples.

A bit more walking through Jerusalem before we arrived at King David's Tomb. This is a very short visit, as it's an active place of worship for many orthodox Jews. This is the last video of the day as we make our way out of the city.

This is a tour of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Many believe this is the place where Jesus was crucified and buried, which is why you see so many people jammed into this place. (It was incredibly busy!) I don't personally hold this view because Golgotha and the Garden Tomb seemed far more likely based on the facts, the physical evidence, and the Biblical story. But even so, this church has LOTS of history, and I've always wanted to see it in person. I got the chance when we had some free time, and so here's the video!

We are walking through Jerusalem headed to the section of the city where Jesus was judged by the High Council. We got caught up in a bit of a traffic jam during the walk, and I was temporarily separated from the group. It happened SO FAST! Thankfully, Pastor Dave was quick to catch my absence and came back looking for me. We close this episode with Moshe explaining the history of the Antonio Fortress.

A walk through the very skinny streets of Jerusalem, along the Via Dolorosa, and ending at the Old City Bazaar where we were able to get some lunch and a bit of a rest.

This section includes a stop at the Tomb of Absalom. We get to learn what an "ossuary" is used for, and also get a really good look at a VERY old section of the Jewish cemetery. We continue our walk down the hill, with a final video sweep looking back up the hill where we came from. This episode ends with a good close up shot of Jerusalem's Eastern Gate, and also some old Christian graves at the base of the hill below the gate.

Frannie explains the purpose for the underground pools. We also watched a presentation in a really cool underground "theater."

We descended into the tunnel along the Western Wall of Jerusalem. This is a LONG video, so grab something to drink and maybe a snack, and enjoy this trek through history. When we finally exit into the sunlight, we are in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem.

Our hotel gave us a room to meet in for our final get-together. We sang some worship songs, led by Abigail Spear, and then Pastor Chad wrapped up our entire visit with some encouraging words.

We are visiting the famous Garden of Gethsemane, and the "Church of the Nations" that shares the same garden space. This place is quite literally right across the road from the Jerusalem city walls. When visiting, you can see how Jesus could pray here, and then be arrested by the soldiers who had just come out of the city.

Pastor Dave led us in a communion service after we had visited the Garden Tomb. We even got to enjoy another group singing worship songs.

While shopping at the open market, I took a few minutes to enjoy some coffee at the Aroma Coffee Shop. I give a first-hand impression of the local sights.

We were not allowed to do heavy video in this area, so I opted instead to run a slideshow of our photos. There are a couple of snippets of video at the beginning and the end. This is a very moving site in the history of Jerusalem.

Moshe took us to the Jerusalem Museum where we got to look at the very large model of Jerusalem. It shows the city in great detail, in such a way that you can look at large sections simultaneously.

Here, we are heading into the underground passageways that will take us to the place that is currently believed to be where Jesus was condemned by Caiphas and the High Council. We also see the "Game of Kings" etched into the stone walkway - a game that was played by Roman soldiers.

Moshe brought us to a Christian Family's gift shop, where they deal largely with fine woodworks. Moshe told us that this family still prays in the original Aramaic language, so he asked Brother Elijah to pray the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic for us. Then we shopped!

A very short video showing the Lion's Gate of Jerusalem. Pause the video to read the sign on the wall, and take a good look at the ancient doors on the gate!

A clip overlooking Jerusalem from the top of the Mount of Olives. We begin our walk down what is called "The Palm Sunday Walk" with a couple of stops along the way. First Moshe explained the history of this particular roadway, then we stop in a section of the huge Jewish cemetery.

Pastor Chad teaches from John chapter 5. This is the story of how Jesus healed the lame man who had been ill for 38 years. This video was taken at the very pool spoken of in these scriptures.

A short walk through the Muslim Quarter as we head for the Pool of Bethesda.

I did not catch this gentleman's name, but he gave us a historical background on Jerusalem, the approaches, and specifically the Western Wall.

Frannie gives us a really good history lesson about the pool. Then Pastor Dave followed that up with teaching from John chapter 9. This is the story of Jesus healing the blind man right here at the pool where we are sitting.

Frannie gives us the history on these places, and we begin our descent into the underground areas.

We climb down into Hezekiah's Tunnel and view the dark tunnel. This tunnel can be walked through when the water is not running quite so high. So, we took what's known as "the dry route"... the Canaanite Tunnel. We emerged further down the valley on our way to the Pool of Siloam.

Moshe called another of his friends... Frannie came and gave us a very in-depth tour of the City of David, Hezekiah's Tunnel, and Warren's Shaft. Interestingly, Frannie came from Tennessee to live in Israel. She speaks fluent Hebrew, and often read passages to us from her Hebrew Bible.