We have one more day here in Petra, and so we made the most of it.
Read MoreWe have had several warm sunny days, drying up the mud and warming up the land. So after lunch today we went for a walk, something we haven't done in ages.
Read MoreWe made our way to the Saray Presbyterian Church in Alexandria to share in worship with Pastor Rizk and the rest of the community there. It is a joy to get to share in Presbyterian worship again. The sermon was in both English and Arabic for everyone's benefit.
Read MoreAfter filming for a while, we attracted the attention of Wall Security, who eventually started to yell at us. While they couldn't exactly get past the barrier to come after us, they did have big guns, so we decided it was time to leave.
Read MoreBy the 1920s, especially under British Mandate rule, the Old City had largely taken the segregated form we are familiar with today: the Jewish Quarter, Muslim Quarter, Christian Quarter, and the Armenian Quarter.
Read MoreHaving been here during the total collapse of Oslo, we remain skeptical that things will turn on the right track. St. Thomas had it right - at least when it came to politics.
Read MoreOne of the two reasons we came to this area is the Convent of St. Catherine's. Since the third century, small monastic communities settled on and around the holy Mount Sinai, fleeing Roman persecution and revering the site of the burning bush and the delivery of the ten commandments.
Read MorePart way into the service, the electricity cut out - frustrations with the local grid continue - so Marthame and Homam preached by candlelight.
Read MoreToday is Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year feast, so the curfews around Palestinian cities are extra-tight.
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It was a long, exhausting day, but wonderful - the schedule gelled well, the group was enthusiastic and pleased, and it was a long-overdue chance to show of the area of Zababdeh that we've come to know and love.
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Ethiopians have strong connections with all three faiths of this land - Mohammed said that Ethiopians were unparalleled among the nations; one of the first converts to Christianity was the Ethiopian eunuch baptized by Philip (Acts 8); and the kings of Ethiopia traced their lineage back to Solomon via the Queen of Sheba (I Kings 10).
Read MoreToday we got an invitation to return to Kufr Yasif, an Arab-Israeli village in the Galilee. We have gotten to know a family there through our good friend Rev. Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel.
Read MoreNews has come out recently that if cease-fire talks fail, Israel plans to hit the refugee camps again. What more can be done, other than ethnic-cleansing? The refugees have nowhere to flee, and even if they could, the spectre of 1948's "temporary" flight weighs on their minds. Fleeing is no longer an option. Staying and fighting is all that remains. These scars will stay a long time...
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They finally reached the other side of the destruction and the waiting taxis, just under the shadow of the most surreal sight in the Northern West Bank - a restaurant in an old airplane under the shadow of a ferris wheel.
Read MoreUnfortunately, our travels for the day are not over. We took a while trying to figure out how we were going to get to Birzeit - one word was that the checkpoint was closed, another was that it was open but yellow-plated taxis would not be allowed in.
Read MoreWalking through the town today reminded us of some of the things that we'll miss. One of them is the sound of the birds (mostly cattle egrets) that fill the trees near the Latin Convent - one of them isn't the risks we take walking under those trees.
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