Jerusalem!

We headed up to Jerusalem today! On our way north, we stopped at the Ahava factory for a short film and shopping of Dead Sea products. Learn more: http://www.touryourway.com/ahava-factory-visitors-center-dead-sea.html

When we arrived in Jerusalem, we stopped and visited Mt Herzl and the Herzl Museum.(https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/mount-herzl). Our first stop was the grave of lone IDF soldier Michael Levin from Pennsylvania, not far from The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry’s international headquarters. When Michael was alive he would speak to the attendees of this tour and was close to some of FOI’s staff. Michael did not have to travel to Israel and serve in the IDF, he chose to come. He is considered a national hero and his grave is the most visited in the cemetery. The people of Israel pay a tremendous price to live in peace. Learn more here: https://lonesoldiercenter.com/

Next, we visited The Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum. This was a very emotional time for all of us on the tour. We walked the avenue of the righteous that memorializes the gentiles that risked their lives like Oskar Schindler and Corrie ten Boom.

As I am sure you can imagine, the memorial was extremely sobering. Thankfully, at the end of the tour, we were given a message of hope and reminded that the Jewish people have a home again here in Israel. To be in the State of Israel, where the Jewish people are able to live, in their ancient homeland, having faced unimaginable persecution is a testament of God's protection. His chosen people continue to survive and now thrive here! Learn more: https://www.yadvashem.org/

We checked in to our hotel and enjoyed our first dinner in Jerusalem but our day was not done. Afterward, we went to the Western Wall and toured the Western Wall tunnel. Here we walked down in the tunnels and saw the foundation on the ancient Western Wall from 2,000 years ago. Learn more: https://english.thekotel.org/western_wall_sites/western_wall_tunnels/

Our Team
Blog author: Steve Conover
Executive Vice President 
The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry

Photos: Becca Stover