Last Post From Jerusalem

Tonight we leave Jerusalem, bound for Rome.  But we had an enjoyable day beforehand.  This morning we walked from our hotel to a Baptist Church about a mile-and-a-half away (many churches here worship on Saturday, in deference to Jewish practice).  The service was mediocre but we heard a powerful message from a Rice University Chemistry Professor, a Jewish convert to Christianity who happened to be in town.  He hit it out of the park and of course when a preacher does that it means he "parks" it in your heart.  A great sermon, basic and convicting. 

We attended this church so we could meet Connie's niece, Vicki Brown, who worships there.  Vicki's serving as a nanny for missionaries who are in Israel studying Hebrew.  Ironically, she lives in Portland (63rd and Burnside) and we never see her.  So the three of us came to Jerusalem and had lunch together!  We enjoyed our afternoon, shared experiences and did a bit of shopping in the Old City. 

This evening we had dinner for the last time at our home away from home these past few weeks, the Gloria Hotel.  We also said goodbye to the many new friends we've made.  It was our great fortune to be with such a great group: 40-plus students, professors and hangers-on.  It really is true that love makes the world go 'round and we received a lot of it from these folks.

Jerusalem is a remarkably different kind of place.  In one sense it's like a spiritual Disneyland.  By that I mean that it's so visually stunning, and so overrun with tourists, that it almost seems artificial.  But then you remind yourself that it's the real deal.  The walls of the city really are 5-hundred years old.  The Church of the Holy Sepuchre really does date back to the 3rd century A.D.  The Pool of Siloam really is the one that Jesus visited.  King David really built a palace, half a mile from here.  And Abraham wandered through this very neck of the woods almost 4 thousand years ago.  There's no place else in the world where you can touch so much history.  Above all, it is the launching pad for the gospel of Jesus Christ, still the most important and transformative message every proclaimed to humankind.   

Now we look forward to the next leg in our journey.  It is a bit of a doozy.  We leave at 12:45 a.m. for the Tel Aviv airport, where we will finally experience Israel's rigorous customs procedures.  It's easy getting into the country but we're told it's hard getting out.  Our coordinator from Jerusalem University College says they give you a number from one to six.  A "one" means you're a corpse in your coffin, a "six" means you're Osama Bin Laden (who's also a corpse, come to think of it).  Most people get a "three" or a "four."

Assuming we get on the plane, we will fly first to Amsterdam, then to London, then--and only then--to Rome.  Don't ask me to explain why.  It has something to do with establishing London as our "hub" so that we get a lower fare (our trip back to Portland originates there).  At any rate, we're scheduled to arrive in bella Roma (beautiful Rome) at 4:15 p.m. Sunday.  That's nine hours ahead of Portland time which means 7:15 Sunday morning.  There we have a hotel reservation (thanks to Evelyn Schaefer for the recommendation!) and a day to get our bearings before meeting our friends Monty and Elaine Ledford on Monday, at a big apartment we've rented near Vatican City.