Bethlehem

On our day off last week, Don and I took a local bus and went to Bethlehem to see the church of the Nativity where they believe Jesus was born. I had been to Bethlehem the first time I came to Israel, but Don had not been yet, so I wanted him to have the opportunity to visit. We're not positive that this is the exact spot, but we do know Jesus was born in Bethlehem so whether this is the spot doesn't really matter. Of course a huge church is built over the 'believed' spot but looking around and over the hills you can imagine what it was like over 2000 years ago. The first picture is the spot where they believe Jesus was born and the second picture is believed to be the spot where Jesus was laid in the manger.

I went in to one of the olive wood shops and the shop owner wanted me to go upstairs to see this man making the olive wood jewerly. He was a sweet old man and wanted to show me all the things he had made, but Don was waiting patiently downstairs so I couldn't stay. He did do very nice work.

This is the border wall between Israel and Palestine. We walked through the border to catch our bus on the other side. We needed to show our passports but when they saw we were Canadians they just smiled and waved us through.

I thought I would also show you some pictures of the gift shop and me preparing and delivering the communion. We are in the process of upgrading to new tills - flat screen computer tills and not the old machines you see in the pictures. They will also be renovating the gift shop and making it a little larger. Since Don and I have been visiting other places I have compared prices and even though we don't have a wide selection like some other gift shops, the prices here - especially on the books - are very good. They are not trying to make a huge profit, but to cover costs.

Helping a customer.

Preparing communion in the garden kitchen. On a busy day we could prepare over 36 different communions. It is a beautiful place to have a communion service.

Taking the communion to one of the worship areas.

Shalom,

Glenda and Don