Some pictures of our day in Jerusalem

Here are a few more pictures of our life in Jerusalem. 
On Saturday night after a busy day, the volunteers get together and 'eat out' at one of the local restuarants.  This past Saturday we went to a restaurant that we had gone to when we were here last time, and Don was excited to go back.  They have Hawaiian pizza, but not the same toppings as we have in Canada.  Because they don't have pork in Israel, they substitute strips of roast beef for the ham.  Don enjoyed every bite.  I had a mushroom fettucine with tomato sauce.  It was also very good.

On Sunday, we decided to walk thru the Old City - going nowhere in particular, just walking up and down the streets.  We eventually arrived in the Jewish quarter where we sat in the square and watched the different people walk by. I should explain that the Old city is made up of 4 quarters - one is the Armenian quarter, one the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter and the Jewish Quarter.  They are all different and yet similiar.  You can often tell the quarters by what they are selling in their little shops.  The Christian quarter will be a little quieter in some areas and I find the vendors are not quite as pushy as the vendors in the Muslim quarter.  The Via Dolorosa goes thru the Muslim Quarter and the Christian Quarter so there are always groups of people on  that route as they stop at the different 'stations of the cross.'  Many of the shops in the Christian quarter will be selling the Catholic rosaries, and more of the olive wood souvenirs of Jesus on the cross, nativity sets, etc.  As you walk up and down the streets you see the stores that sell candy and toys, other streets have bedding and kitchen towels, other streets will have mostly souvenirs, and in the Muslim quarter lots of scarves and clothing for the moslem women.  We usually enter the old city by the Damascus Gate where children are always running around, and the vendors are yelling in Arabic or Hebrew to come and buy their fruits or vegetables.  I'm hoping to get a video of it so you can hear first hand the commotion.   As we enter the Damascus Gate, the women are selling their fresh vegetables.

As we start down the street in the Muslim Quarter

Pomegranates, oranges, lemons and limes for fresh squeezed juice.

Candies, candies, candies - most of them sitting in open boxes

Here are a few of the people we saw as we sat in the Jewish quarter.  Men and women of the army!

Orthodox Jews

Jeiwsh women getting together

This man was asking for money

The streets in the old city

And lots more pomegranates!

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

NOTES FROM GUIDING AT THE GARDEN TOMB ( PART 2 )

• El Salvador, Honduras, USA, Canada, Austria, U.K., Burundi - just some of the people I was able to guide today or in the case of Burundi, spend some time with.
• People came from Northern Ireland - one from Lisburn who had heard of Robert Murdock, our pastor - his name gets around.
• One of the more rewarding moments in the garden is wandering thru when there are no tours ready and just meeting people - today a fellow from Ireland asked me if I would pray for his brother who was struggling - we spent a few moments in prayer together right there near the tomb.
• Day off yesterday we went to Natanya - beautiful beach resort on the Mediterranean and guess what else - an IKEA store.  Glenda was impressed.
• Came out of IKEA to find a note in Hebrew and a phone number on our Garden tomb car. Not understanding Hebrew, I looked around the vehicle and found what I thought was big new dent.  We came back later and told our Director of the dent - he said that dent was there before.  Then one of the office staff translated the note - all they wanted to know was if we wanted to sell our car to them. Sigh of relief.
• Wonderful lady spoke to to us Tuesday evening.  37 years in Jerusalem, raised 4 children here. Two of her kids were injured in the bombing years ago and her husband recently divorced her.  She was an inspiration - telling us that we needed faith and obedience which came with discipline. She encouraged to take some time for ourselves and time for God as busy volunteers but we needed to finish strong and discipline was an integral part of that.
• Just as last time here, it is a wonderful experience meeting and working alongside the other volunteer guides from all over the world - this month from  Australia, Sweden, USA, U.K., Paraguay, Jerusalem, and more.  God has called these men - it is obvious as all have the same servant heart and " get it" when it comes to what is needed here - cleaning bird poop off benches at 6am, counting the day's receipts at 6pm, and guiding, serving communion, working in the gift shop, praying for others, and much more with the right heart throughout the day.  I have gained much from these older, wiser men.

I will be back on the blog with part 3 as the days progress.  Thank you Lord for bringing us here to Jerusalem and thank YOU for praying and thinking of us.

Don Weglo
  

A few random pictures - some of the garden with groups that are here.
The first picture is of the gift shop with our new IKEA book shelves and counters.

A group having a communion service in the "Dell."

Don monitoring people entering the tomb area.  On a busy day we need to monitor people as they enter otherwise some groups will never want to leave.  Although we never want to rush people, we also need to make sure that everyone has an opportunity.

The line waiting to enter the tomb.  The groups with the green shirts and hats are a group from Nigeria.  November, December and January we will see 1000's of Nigerians in Israel.  The government of Nigeria pays for them to come to the Holy Land once in their lifetime.  We're not sure how they apply or how they are chosen but we always enjoy their worship and their enthusiam. 

As I was walking thru the garden, I saw this couple having their own little communion service.  I'm not sure who they are or where they are from.  We often see individuals, couples, groups of 2 or 3, or even families coming on their own.  If we are not too busy with larger groups we will give them a tour, or we now have headsets that they can use that have a recorded message for the explanation of the garden.  Sometimes, if we see an individual setting on their own and they seem to be needing a hug or time or prayer, we will sit with them and pray with them.

Shalom,

I am hoping you enjoy some of the following pictures taking over the last week that we have been here.  The first pictures are of our time at the Gaililee.  Rami and Riki cutting their birthday cakes.  I believe there were over 40 of us from the Garden that had this special outing.

A picture of a "Jesus boat" on the sea of Galilee.  They are called "Jesus boat", as they have tried to make them as they would have been at the time of Jesus.  You go for a ride on the Sea of Galilee, and have a time of worship.  It is a very moving experience.  With the mountains in the background - it is so much like the Okanagan.

The waterfall at the bottom of the 2 km hike down.  Sorry never got any pictures of the hike down.  Concentrating too much on the walk to make sure we didn't go over the edge!

St Peter's fish dinner.  Very delicious - once we took the head off and removed the bones.  Prior to the fish arriving we were also treated to Hummus with pita bread.  Don tried that for the first time too, he never took seconds but at least he tried some! 

I'll send these off and try and work on the next set.  The internet is working quite quickly right now, so will take advantage of it.

Glenda

NOTES FROM THE FIRST TEN DAYS OF GUIDING AT THE GARDEN

• A lady from Nigeria who had been on my tour approached me afterwards.  She had a toque with a Canadian maple leaf on it.  She told me her husband was from Saskatchewan ( her pronunciation added a few letters).  I informed her that my wife was from Grenfell, Saskatchewan and asked her where her husband was from in Saskatchewan.  She said she wasn't sure but he had told her it was close to Niagara Falls. The next Canadian group I guided got a kick out of that.
• I was a little apprehensive that I had forgotten everything after 18 months, but after the first tour, it felt really comfortable and it all came back.  Actually, coming back to Jerusalem was like coming home.
• Had our first ( but not last ) flafel and coke upon returning to the Garden - just as good as I remembered.
• Last Saturday, all the Jerusalem holy sites opened their doors to the locals ( Israelis ) with an invitation to come and visit.  We were pleasantly surprised to welcome over 800 Israelis( mostly non christians ) for their first visit to the Garden - the only Protestant holy site in Israel.
• Tried St Peter's fish for the first time.  On previous tours I just couldn't eat something that still had a head on it when it arrived on my plate - but this time I tried and it was very good, with much more meat on it than I had thought it would have.  I also tried hummus and it was just as Glenda said - I didn't die.
• I tell North Americans that I left Jerusalem last time with a challenge to myself - if I could share in the Garden with 6000 strangers I had never met, I should be able to share more upon my return to Vernon.  It was amazing how many times the word Jerusalem came up over the last year when I was driving people around Vernon at work.  
• Back in Jerusalem, it never ceases to amaze me each time I take a tour, no matter what part of the world the people are from, that for the next 25 minutes I get an opportunity to share Christ with them.
• I was doing just that this week at Skull Hill, the place where we believe Jesus was crucified, and I had just got to the highlight of that segment of the tour, when I say, "It's not  important where He died, but why and for who" - when this American lady who was obviously glued to every word I had said, jumped up and yelled, " Is that a cat over there on the hill?".
• The guides swap stories during the day about some of the questions people will ask when they get to the tomb - everything from " where are the bones?" to "is there only one tomb?"  
• Ran into our guide / friend from the first two tours I went on a few years ago - His name is Roni Winter and he seemed glad to see us - we hope to get together near Christmas.  He is close to Gordon and Donna Reeve, fellow Canadians who are joining us later this month in the Garden.
• We went to the Jewish quarter today just to sit there and watch - it was fascinating.  Glenda took pictures and once we find a faster way to download she will add to the blog.  We will let the pictures tell the story.
• Enough for now - we are truly blessed to serve here. It really feels as if this is the place He wants us to serve at this point in time.

          Don Weglo

First of all sorry for the delay in getting an update to our blog.  We have been having trouble signing in.  Hopefully we will get this sent off without any interruptions.
It is hard to believe we have been here a week already!  We have finally got over the jetlag, and after reading my last entry, I realize how 'out of it' I was.  A few mistakes - hopefully this time it will be better.  We are finally sleeping without waking up at 1, 2 or 3 am and being awake for 3 or 4 hrs. 
Other than Sunday, which is a day off for everyone, yesterday was our first official day off.  We didn't do anything too exciting as the car that we can use was already signed out by another volunteer; so we did a walk thru the old city to get to the post office and then just spent some time reading and resting in our apartment.  It was a very warm day - close to 30 celsius.  I actually went to the sitting area on the roof and got a suntan.  I know some of you are experiencing -20 celsius with the wind chill (sorry Rempel's in Lloyminster and Phillip's in Bonnyville) plus snow.  We are still enjoying wearing shorts, tank tops and flip flops!!  Sure can't complain about that!  Today is a little cooler but still wearing flip flops and tank tops.  As we get further in to November and December it will start to cool down, but right now we are enjoying every moment.
On Sunday, all the volunteers and some staff from Jerusalem went on an outing to the Sea of Galilee area, a hike, and then finished with a fish dinner in the Golan area.  It was a beautiful sunny day!  Again as we went around the Sea of Galilee we felt as if we were back in the Okanagan.  With the lake and the hills around, it reminds us so much of the scenery down by Summerland and Penticton.  After a short picnic lunch, and birthday cake, one of the ladies who lives in Jerusalem celebrated her 50th birthday the day before, we moved on to a national park for a 2 km hike down to a natural pool and water fall.  It was a long narrow path down to the pool, but of course we knew he had to walk all the way back up.  The paths here are not smooth, with well built steps, and hand rails, but full of rocks and natural rock steps.  Some of the steps were not steps at all but big drops from one ledge to another.  Don said if he had known how steep and narrow the path was, he probably would not have done it.  Many times, the path was very narrow and if one had tripped or fell, they would very easily have gone over the edge.  Fortunately, no one got hurt, and because of Don's breathing problem, we took it slow coming up and he was fine. 
We feel in some ways like we never left 18 months ago.  Walking around the neighborhood to shop at the local shops, walking thru the old city streets, walking up to the larger grocery store, everything is so much more familiar and common.  It feels like when we make the trip back to Vancouver after a few months - we know where to go to get what we need. 
We are in a different apartment then what we were in last time.  This one is just as nice and comfortable. We feel very blessed.  I will take some pictures and send them later.
It is hard to put in to words how blessed we feel to be here, to hear worship continually all day as different groups from all over the world are praising our risen Lord.  So many individuals will say to us, how it must be so special to be able to volunteer in such a special place, and we just have to nod as we often get choked up when we realize just what we are doing and what a privilege we do have.  We're always excited when a group from Canada arrives, and as long as Don isn't already leading another group, he gets to lead them.  I'm enjoying my time in the gift shop and noticed right away that they did some renovations since we were here last.  The funny thing is that the new counters and some of the shelving is all from IKEA.  They have an IKEA just outside Tel Aviv.  I've already told Don that we're going to have to go there one day just to see it and see how similiar everything is to what we get in Canada.  The funny thing is that when Shelley moved into her new place in Abbotsford, we made a few trips to IKEA to get book shelves, her bed and numerous other things; and she vowed never to buy another piece of furniture there that she had to assemble.  Well the counter tops are almost identical to what my computer desk is at home, and I immediately recognized alot of the shelves.  It is a small world!!!  And it definitely makes the gift shop look nicer too.
Well I was trying to upload some pictures to put with this blog, but they are taking forwever to upload so they will have to wait for another day. 
We understand tomorrow, Saturday - Shabbat or Sabbath here- is to be a busy day so better get off to bed so we're ready to clean benches tomorrow morning at 630AM.  It does seem to come early but once we're up and out it is not a bad way to start the morning.   The birds are chirping, and the sun is shining.
So Shalom for now. 
Don and Glenda

October 27, 2012
Hello from Jerusalem or should we say Shalom from Jerusalem!
After 18 months we have returned to volunteer at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem.  For those who are new to our blog, the Garden is where we as believers believe could be the place where Jesus was crucified and the tomb where we was placed when we died.  We don't know for sure that this is the place, but there is a lot of evidence saying this could be the place.  For us, it doesn't really matter if this is the actual spot, but we do know that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, his body was placed in a tomb and he raised from the dead 3 days later.  This is what we celebrate and worship.
We left Vernon on October 22, a week later than planned due to Don not feeling well enough to travel.  A bad cold that made his slight case of asthma to cause him grief, made us delay our departure for a week.  We knew that by the way he was feeling he could never do the 5 hr drive to Vancouver to catch the flight, then a 8 hr flight to London, a 9 hr layover at the London Heathrow airport, and then a 5 hr flight to Tel Aviv.  He is feeling much better, and now it is a matter of getting over the 9 hr time zone difference and jet lag.  Today is our 4th day in Jerusalem and we are starting to feel a little more 'with it.'
When we arrived, we jumped right in and started helping out.  Don did his first tour) a group from Canada) on Thurs morning,( (we arrived in Jerusalem at 430 AM Wednesday morning) and I started to learn the new touch screen tills.  Again getting my brain to think in Shekels, and doing exchange rates between Shekels and US dollars or Shekels and Euro, when your brain is still in a time zone somewhere across the Atlantic ocean was a little challenging.  Today after 3 days, I think I've pretty much got it.  Every once in a while, I have to stop and think it through. 
It was so good to be back - it felt like coming home!  Tonight, we walked to our favorite Falafel place for our first (of many, we hope) falafels.  They tasted just like we remembered.  Then we walked around remembering all the places we had been here last year.  Tomorrow we are going with the other volunteers on an outing arranged by the Garden.  It sounds like we are heading up to the Sea of Galilee area to do some hiking, maybe swimming, and a picnic.  It sounds like fun - we're looking forward to getting to know some of the other volunteers that we haven't worked with before.
I will post again in a couple of days but now my body is telling me it is time for bed - I've made it to 10 pm!!!
Thank you again to all who are continuing to pray for us.  We are not feeling any unrest so trust it will stay that way.
Shalom for now.
Glenda and Don