Hello all!
I apologize in advance for not posting any blogs for a couple of days. We have been very busy walking around the old city of Jerusalem, going to Bethlehem and seeing other churches and sites around this amazing area. It is such an interesting land, and today I went through the Tower of David Museum, a place which tells the history of this place from the time of the Canaanites to the present. It was an enlightening time, which helped to realize how very complicated the history and background of this city is!
        Since my last post we have visited Bethlehem and the church of the Nativity, Manger Square, the Shepherd's Field; We watched the Jews walk through the streets of the Muslim Quarter to Temple for Shabbath and witnessed some rock throwing and a little bit of tension, but overall it was just a weird interaction of cultures. We went to West Jerusalem last night to a sports bar called, "The Lion's Den" that was trying to be very "US-like". They had burgers - since they keep kosher, there was no cheese for the burgers, but mine had a fried egg on top! We watched the Reds get beat by the Pirates, but the OSU/Wisconsin game was not on until about 2:00 a.m. last night, so I had to find out the score when I got up.
        This morning we worshiped with the English speaking congregation at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, a church built by Kaiser Wilhelm in the late 1800's. The clergy couple who serve there now is from Ohio - Marty and Angela Zimman - I used to be a colleague in the Springfield area with Marty's father, Pastor Bill Zimman, and Marty also is friend with Pastor Bill Diehm, my colleague at St. John Lutheran in Oak Harbor. It was a great worship time, and we enjoyed some fellowship over tea afterward. Wednesday evening we may go to a member of the church's house for a fellowship gathering  - volleyball and potluck - on the Mt. Of Olives.
        Tomorrow morning we are arising very early for a busy two days: we drive to Qumran, the place of the Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls, to Masada, and to the Dead Sea. Of course, we all plan on floating on the sea there. We will go over into Jordan and travel to Petra, staying tomorrow night at the Petra Guest House. On Tuesday, we will "do Petra" - we have heard that there is a lot to see and a lot of walking involved. I was there 26 years ago, but I do not remember everything involved.
        Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. We are all feeling safe and secure wherever we go, although when we walked through a busy market yesterday, Jim (who was in back) emerged with all of the  zippers on his backpack undone and $100 missing. Hoping that is the worst thing that happens!!
Peace- Ralph

The spot under the altar of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem where they believe Jesus was born.

Sitting outside with some new, young Jewish and German friends.

Some of the boys that followed us around the Batala Refugee Camp in Nablus.