Sunday Oct.16, 2022, by Daren Barstad

Began day hearing call to worship early, then ringing of church bells – another reminder we are in the holy city. Holy to many people in many ways. We had the as usual delicious breakfast buffet and bit more leisurely start to day, allowing more time to visit. We left for Christmas Lutheran Church, a beautiful church also associated with a K- 12 school. The church was built by Germans in 1864 and contained beautiful stained glass windows with German translation of scriptures on them. High domed ceiling was decorated with Arabic Calligraphy. We and another American group were given bulletins with English translation of couple songs and liturgy. W e were encouraged to join along. The service was conducted in Arabic but we felt very welcome. After church Pastor Isaac invited us downstairs for coffee. We celebrated a 10 year old boys birthday by singing Happy Birthday in English as rest of people sang it in Arabic. It is the unexpected events that have made our trip so special and yet so common world over. We hurried off to change for trip to Bedouin camp.