Israel- Bethlehem

Saturday after church we headed out to Bethlehem. While we were driving down the road there we passed by a shepherd with his sheep.

Photo courtesy: Steve

We couldn't help but stop to take a picture. It was interesting to see how the sheep really followed him. We stopped for lunch in a Bedouin tent. It was delicious. One of the foods that I really enjoyed eating every day that I was in Israel was the hummus and pitas. It was fun to have that experience although I'm sure it wasn't an actual Bedouin tent it was a touristy thing to do.

After lunch we stopped at some shepherd's caves in the hills. It would be similar to the caves that the shepherds would have been in when the angel appeared to them on the night of Christ's birth. From the caves we could look down across and see the shepherds herding their sheep through the hills. It's kind of cool to see that the shepherds continue to do what they would have been doing 2000 years ago. (Okay so their lodging might be different, but it's close enough.)

From there we went to the Church of the Nativity. It's the church built over the cave that is the believed site of the birth of Jesus Christ. It's a very ornate church like many of the ones we visited. It was dark with some incense burning. Actually while we were waiting in line to go down into the cave we got to see a Greek Orthodox wedding. Kind of interesting to see. The cave was interesting, in that so many people wanted to touch the spot that is believed to be where Christ was born. It made me thankful for the knowledge that I have that not only can I visit the places that Christ lived, but that he can be a part of my life today. Actually my favorite part of the church was the bell tower outside, with the star attached to the top.