July 15, 1973 was a Sunday. The morning was crammed with things to do. We went to the birthplace of John the Baptist; the Israeli government offices; the Mount of Olives; the Garden of Gethsemane; and the Israeli Museum. Outside of the museum, there were a group of school kids waiting to go in. One little boy was getting picked on by his classmates. I identified with him, as I had the same problem growing up. I told the kids to line up, and I would take their picture. While they were waiting, I got the persecuted boy to stand by himself, and I took his picture. I just wanted to give him a good feeling. I hope he got through life okay. We went inside the museum and saw the Dead Sea Scrolls.
We left the museum and went to a church service at the Jerusalem Baptist Church. It was small and adjacent to the Baptist Book Store. Sandra bought a large wooden camel for the folks back home, and I carried it. It was pretty heavy, as it was solid wood, but it was a nice piece. Our last stop took us to the Upper Room. It had been a full morning, and we were looking forward to an afternoon of rest.
Even though the Arab stores were closed on Sunday, we didn't feel safe outside the hotel on our own, so we stayed inside. I wrote some postcards. The girls used the time to sunbathe and wash clothes. In the evening, our "friend" from the government came by to get our report. We told him that several people from the neighborhood were friends with Sam, Omar and Sam, and that perhaps they needed to be checked out too. We told him about feeling like prisoners, but tomorrow we would leave Israel for our next stop in our tour, and maybe our night would be one were we could get a little sleep before leaving early the next morning for Tel Aviv. Maybe.
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