Nazareth and Ibillin updates

 

Painting window sills

 

 

Tomorrow is our last day in Nazareth and Ibillin, and we will be very sad to leave. A conflict has escalated during our time here, and our presence has been accepted as an act of solidarity by the people we have met and interacted with.

 

In the last few days we have painted more classrooms in Ibillin (will add to this tomorrow).

In Nazareth, another five people from the group have taken part in recreating first century life in the Nazareth village (see picture of Ian below, and more to come). Fortunately, unlike the first five to work in the Village, the second set of five haven’t had to shovel donkey manure. The second group at the Village busied themselves digging and weeding, working in carpentry and sitting on rocks by the cistern pretending to be women chatting while waiting for shepherds – and other first century potential suitors –  to come by to draw water.

At Nazareth Hospital, the team have had to work “small miracles” to complete painting the final wards in the medical section, working around hospital staff and patients. Each day, the group had to strip the floor, wash it, seal it, and polish. Simultaenously, they had to clip out and re-seal all the shower alcoves. And each ward was finished in a day, ready for hospital use. The team painted three wards.

In other work completed, the group cleared the slope next to the school of nursing, and painted: windows in the nurses’ upper corridor; all the external doors on the old residence building; the doctors’ room; and two senior staff offices.

Jordan River

Our previous leg of travel (mentioned briefly in the blog below), took us south-west of Nazareth to Yardenit (the baptismal site on the Jordan River). Our journey continued to Beit Shean, which sits at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and the Jezreel Valley. And then to Megiddo, which is on a hill made of 26 layers of the ruins of ancient cities in a strategic location at the head of a pass through the Carmel Ridge, which overlooks the Valley of Jezreel from the south. Megiddo was a site of great importance in the ancient world, as it guarded the western branch of a narrow pass and an ancient trade route which connected the lands of Egypt and Assyria (via Maris).

Greetings from Glen to Marg, with love:
Roses are red
Violets are blue
A word on the blog
From Margaret will do