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• Shalom Israel shalom
Shalom
Israel shalom
Pastor Rykie Steyn knows his Bible thoroughly and he knows Israel well,
having lived there for many years and led 80 pilgrimages there prior to
ours.
Roy Snyman tssf, on his 8th visit, brought deep insights and some of
the quietness we Anglicans need. The two gave us the background to
every place we visited or passed. For some on the pilgrimage
it
was the first time of acknowledging the need to know our Jewish Root to
really understand why Jesus said and did certain things. It was a time
of spiritual awakening, learning and growth.
Pic: O happy band of pilgrims - from
our diocese the pilgrims were:
front - Eric Kleb, Mother Zelma CR (Hon member of the diocese) and Roy
Snyman tssf (our co-leader); next row - Cathy Davies from St
Margaret's, Eleanor Oosthuizen from St Paul's,Ruby Zauka from St
Timothy's and Sandra Domingo from St Mark and St John; behind them -
Sheila Knipp, Freddie Rank and Janice Louther from St Mark and St John,
Rykie Steyn (co-leader) and Jen Gill (half hidden) from St David's in
Bushmans River Mouth; Back - Ken and Frankie Simpson from All Saints'
in Kabega and Ant Gill from St David's.
The
editor reports on Israel
What an incredible, inspiring and awesome land is Israel! The people
– Jew, Palestinian, Bedouin, Arab, Westerner – all
together
and living, for the most part, in harmony. Please read the two short
pieces about George and Fawzi.
We travelled the length and breadth of most of Israel and with the help
of Rykie and Roy tssf, we learnt a great deal of the history and life
of the people through the ages. Rykie’s knowledge of the
Scriptures and joy in the Lord brought everything to life.
My plated, pinned ankle didn’t stop me going up Masada by
cable-car and walking slowly along the top, absorbing the atmosphere
and taking in the vibes of the place … some went down to the
two
lower sections of Herod’s palace.
To get to Masada we’d travelled through the Jordan Valley,
through Bet She’an, where King Saul and his son's bodies were
hung on the walls, through the wilderness of Judea and over Gilgal to
Jericho and Ein Gedi. Gideon, blind Bartimaeus, the tumbling walls,
Zaccheus, David cutting the King Saul’s cloak all came
alive.We
also visited Qumran - the place of the Dead Sea Scrolls, past the
Mountain of Temptation, then up to Bethlehem, Joseph’s Grotto
and
the Grotto of St Jerome (of the Vulgate translation of the Bible), to
the Shepherd’s fields and Jerusalem.
Our pilgrimage ended in Jerusalem, which was good as we’d
travelled by way of Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus grew
and ministered. We had crossed the sea in a boat and stopped in the
middle for a time of worship and prayer, followed by a wonderful time
of silent meditation. We’d visited the Mt of Beatitudes,
Tabgha
(the place of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes), the Church
of the Primacy,
where Peter was
reinstated (feed my sheep), Mt Carmel,
Capernaeum and Yardenit where some of the Durban group were baptized
and many of us renewed our baptismal vows. Of vows, five couples
renewed their marriage vows in the church in Cana over the place where
Jesus turned water into wine … and the wineshop keeper gave
us
all a glass of wine (or grape juice for those who preferred it) after
the visit.
Finally, Jerusalem! We stood on the Mt of Olives and looked across at
the Old City of Jerusalem and noted all the important places. We
visited the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of all Nations
containing the stone where Jesus wept in agony. We did the stations of
the cross in the busy, commercial, narrow Via Doloroso. We went to the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but were blessed mightily at the quiet
Garden Tomb looked after by English missionaries, where we had a
Communion Service together as a mixed tour group.
We also visited Yad VaShem and cried for the over 6 250 000 Jews, and
the millions of others, who died in the holocaust of World War ll.
We
returned home exhausted but jubilant from a very blessed pilgrimage
and a feeling that every Christian should make sacrifices
to enable
them to visit the Holy Land at least once in their lifetime.
St
George's Monastery
At the bottom of a very steep path! Cathy Davies, of St Margaret's
wrote of her visit, "There were so many precious moments during the
short time we spent in Israel:
- the Judean desert with its magnificent scenery transported me back to
Biblical times; the visit to St George’s Monastery
– the
quietness of the hills with only the sound of the goats scrambling
along high up on the ridges –
the absolute stillness made me so aware of where I was – in
Israel, the birthplace of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
- St Anne’s Church, the first stop of our walk along the
Stations of the Cross, was incredibly moving."
 Masada
 Pic: Among the ruins - Cathy Davies,
Janice Louther and Sheila Knipp from St Mark and St John and Mother
Zelma CR.
Eleanor Oosthuizen of St Paul's
wrote, "I was very blessed during the
pilgrimage. Being in the Holy Land to celebrate my 60th birthday on
Masada, where I had always wanted to visit, was a wonderful blessing,
and visiting Bethlehem, where our dear Lord Jesus was born, was
special. It was a wonderful pilgrim trip for me."
Pater Noster Pic: (right)
  The
Dead Sea
Pics: "The Lord be with you" - Even in
retirment priests don't stop using the
greeting! Eric Kleb relaxes in the Dead Sea at Ein Bokek. As do Ruby
Zauka of St Timothy's and Mother Zelma CR (below).
The  Upper Room
Pic: Listening to the reading - Janice Louther, Eric Kleb,
Freddie Rank and Rykie Steyn.
Freddie Rank of St Mark and St John said, "The trip was exhausting,
especially for an unfit person like me, but, the beautiful, peaceful
mountainous land of Israel has left an indelible mark on myself and
most of the pilgrims.
Some of the highlights for me were:
Social – We met and travelled with lovely people, Anglicans,
as well as others.
Spiritual – The river Jordan,
The boat trip on the Sea of Galilee
The Church of the Beatitudes
Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus
The walk along the Via Dolorosa
Physical (Architecture) –
Ruins in Caesarea ,Haifa, Masada
and St George’s Monastery
Although, not detracting from this wonderful tour under two great
guides and spiritual leaders, there were two low-lights (for want of a
better term) – The visit to Kunetra where Israeli security is
so
tight and the separating wall in Jerusalem."
 
Falafals and fish
Pic 1: First taste - Sandra Domingo,
Janice Louther and Sheila Knipp taste the traditional lunch of falafals.
Pic 2: Boney Maloney? - Jean von Witt
of Mossel Bay braved a St Peter's fish which is very boney.
Hear our pain
The
Christians in Bethlehem, as in Bethany, are in pain because the
wall has separated them from loved ones, friends and easy access to
work. The wall means extra expense for them and businesses have had to
close because of the lack of passing traffic. 
Pics: 1) Our driver Fawsi; 2)
George our guide in Bethlehem
Closed
Bethany home because of wall
Our driver, an Israeli citizen and brother Christian, has had to lock
up his home in Bethany and move his family to a small apartment in
Jerusalem because the wall has blocked the short route to work. This is
a great expense and is hard on the children. He shared some of his pain
with a few of us as he spoke of the hardship the wall has
caused.
Only if peace comes
will Bethlehem flourish again
George Saadeh was our guide in Bethlehem and iindaba had a few minutes
to interview him before he took the pilgrims to visit the birth place
of Jesus.
George is a Palestinian Christian, as are 40% of the population of the
town. He says, “Christians and Muslims live together and work
together in harmony, but the only way for this town to flourish again
is for peace to come.” People have become very poor since the
wall and border post have made access between Jerusalem and Bethlehem
more difficult. “The extremists are just crazy. We all need
to
sit and talk and bring peace. We rely on tourists as there are no
factories in the area.”
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iindaba
Editor: Frankie Simpson
Layout / design : Frankie
Email: iindaba@anglicandiocesepe.org.za
Tel/fax +27 041 360 6808
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iindaba is the vehicle for sharing
your parish news with the rest of the Diocesan family.
Please send contributions and photos to the editor.
Deadline for contributions:
6th of the month prior to publication
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