Thursday, March 3, 2011

A Really Wonderful Last Day


It was yet another beautiful blue sky that greeted us as we awoke this Wednesday morning. Our first stop was the Augusta Victoria Hospital sitting right on the top of the Mount of Olives. Rev. Mark Brown is the Middle East representative of the Lutheran World Federation. He gave us almost two hours of his time to explain to us both the history and the current work at this hospital.



Until the Peace Agreement under the Clinton administration, this was the only hospital that gave consistent and compassionate care to the thousands of Palestinians that live in East Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the West Bank. There are now six hospitals that serve the Palestinian population, each with specialties or emphases. Currently oncology and nephrology for both children and adults and a type of hospice for elderly people are the main focus of their work. It was nice to hear that just recently the USA donated a second radiation machine to the hospital, thanks to a visit from Dr. Biden, wife of our vice president, about a year ago. Countries from around the world have and continue to donate to this house of mercy, and we were proud to know that now we have as well. We appreciated the views we had of Jerusalem from this promontory.

Our bus took us to the start of the Palm Sunday Walk. It is still a definite walk down today. Today there are still many olive trees to the along the path and cemeteries Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths on the left side. You can see Arlyce Riedl on the path. 





At the bottom of the mount is the Garden of Gethsemane. Some of the trees in the garden are very old. We have featured one of the oldest with one of our lovely group members, Myrna Brandt, in front of it. She is much, much younger and prettier than these 2000 year-old trees. 




This was a lovely garden with a beautiful Church of All Nations on the site. It is one of the most restful and peaceful churches we have been in. The stained glass windows do not show the cross so prominently as you look at them, but it clearly stands out in a picture.




Our last stop was the Chapel of St. Anne, commemorating a site thought to be a home of Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anne. This church is right next to what was once the Pool of Bethesda. You may read John 5 for the story. There has been excavation to show the five different pools that once made up this site for cleansing and in this case healing. The acoustics in the worship room here are amazing. We listened to a group from Poland sing an Alleluia verse, then our group answered with the common Doxology, in parts as we could manage. Before we left this garden and chapel, Sweet Sandy Salisbury lit yet one more candle as she sent prayers to heaven for loved ones. She did that at several churches. 

It struck us all that this was the last place on our itinerary that we were going to visit. Some sadness accompanied that thought, although many did not mind that this was also the end of all the up and down climbing we have been doing for over a week now.

There was some time for some last minute shopping before our farewell dinner at the hotel. We took a chance to meet together in one of the hotel rooms after supper so that Mark and I could present each group member with a coveted “Hoelter Award,” each one individual to the person from comments and experiences we had together on the trip. That was fun! 

Ten of us walked the mile or so to the luxurious King David Hotel for one last nightcap together. We had an accommodating waiter who made us quite comfortable. Tomorrow morning Mark and I say a very fond farewell to these wonderful traveling partners.

2 comments:

  1. So how does one win one of the coveted "Hoelter Awards"! How have we not heard of these before?!?

    Glad to hear the last days of your time together were good. I'm excited for your last week together in Jordan.

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  2. AVHospital is one of the signs of hope in the West Bank. The CEO is just one incredible person, and the head nurse is also an amazing guy.
    We were also amazed at the steepness of the walk that Jesus took as he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. It was wet and rainy when we walked down, making just a bit more treacherous.
    Are you continuing your travel in Jordan... to Petra, by chance? That's a magificent site. Be prepared to be exhausted after your visit there is done.

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