Jerusalem: The Old City

The border crossing from Jordan into Israel was a difficult one with long delays and security checks. As soon as I had crossed into Israel I managed to find a taxi with a few people going the same way and it dropped me off close to where I wanted to go in the Old City. I was about a week ahead of my schedule so assuming that the hotel I had booked in East Jerusalem might not have a vacancy, I walked along the narrow streets looking for alternative and cheap accommodation.

The Old City is a fascinating part of Jerusalem with it’s narrow stone alleyways and busy street vendors. The city is divided into four quarters (although not equal in size) perhaps formulated as a solution to minimise ethnic and sectarian tension: the Jewish Quarter, the Armenian Quarter, the Muslim Quarter and the Christian Quarter. The city is alive with religious activity and commerce — most of the commerce being focused on exploiting the religious sentimentality of foreign pilgrims and tourists. Yet regardless of this commercialisation, you still get the clear impression that you have walked into the centre stage of world history — and that significant things are playing out in the unseen realm just as much today as at any time in in the past.

It’s difficult to tell what part of the city would have existed as it was at the time of Christ, but as you walk up the narrow streets it’s not difficult to imagine that you are walking in the footsteps of Jesus — possibly even walking on the very stones that he walked on. As I walked I was scanning for a place to stay and my back-pack was getting heavier with every step. I was eager to find a quiet, peaceful place to rest and as I looked up I saw a sign, “El Arab Youth Hostel” and speculated that this might be a cheap place to stay until I found more appropriate lodgings.

…as you walk up the narrow streets it’s not difficult to imagine that you are walking in the footsteps of Jesus — possibly even walking on the very stones that he walked on.

All I wanted to do was sit down, get a drink and wash my bag of dirty clothes, so the standard of accommodation wasn’t going to fuss me much. I ascended the narrow flight of stairs to the reception and found that $5 per night was quite acceptable, so my first port of call was the laundry, where I placed 2 weeks worth of dirty clothes into the machines.

As I sat in the foyer and waited for my clothes to go through the process of washing and drying, I noticed that the receptionist was reading a book. Partly motivated by boredom, partly by curiosity — and party due to the fact that I had been travelling alone for the last 3 days and really just wanted to talk to another person — I decided that I would try and make conversation.

“What are you reading?” I enquired. The girl on reception, Alessandra, I estimated to be in her early 20’s, a beautiful Italian girl from Milan who spoke reasonably good English. She was working part-time at the Hostel to support her exploration of the Holy Land. “Oh, it’s the Bible” she replied. I had assumed that she was reading a novel so it wasn’t the answer I expected to hear, so I asked the next obvious question: “Are you a believer?”

Her reply was very honest. “Well, I don’t know. I see so much religion here in Jerusalem that I just want to understand it more”.

“Are you a believer?” Her reply was very honest. “Well, I don’t know. I see so much religion here in Jerusalem that I just want to understand it more”.

Such clear opportunities to share your faith don’t often come so directly and I took her frank openness regarding her spiritual search as an invitation for me to engage in a conversation.

“I’ve had many experiences with God… would you be like to hear about some of them?”, I offered. Her response was immediate. “Yes”, she said, putting the Bible down and giving me her undivided attention.

Over the next couple of hours I shared with her some of the many miracles that the Lord had done in my life and she sat listening to every detail and asking questions. Occasionally our conversation was interrupted by people coming to book in and check out, but after each interruption our discussion resumed where it had left off. Rarely had I seen such spiritual hunger in a young person and I sensed that if I were able to talk more with her privately without interruption, that she may be soon ready to believe and surrender her life to the Lord.

Amidst the various noisy interruptions, which often consisted of loud, alcohol crazed, chain-smoking youths running past, I began to feel like a fish out of water. I was very tired and just wanted a quiet place. I decided that I would call the original hotel in East Jerusalem and see if they had a room available, which thankfully they did. So when my clothes were all clean and dry and got ready to leave. I asked Alessandra if she might be willing to continue our conversation when her shift was over and she enthusiastically agreed.

By the time we continued our conversation it was getting late, nevertheless it was apparent to us both that God was doing something special. I could see that Alessandra was being driven by a personal need to find a peace that had eluded her. I also saw that the devil had been pursuing her in a very specific way, which gave us something else to pray about. Eventually, we had covered every relevant issue and it came down to a choice… was she ready to follow Jesus? Her answer was a definite “yes”, so we prayed together, confessing things to God, asking for forgiveness and asking Jesus to come into her life and to fill her with the Holy Spirit. That night God welcomed another daughter into his family and I am absolutely sure that angels rejoiced.

I returned to my hotel with the undeniable conviction that the whole purpose for which I had come to Israel had been fulfilled.

After escorting Alessandra safely back to the hostel, I returned to my hotel with the undeniable conviction that the whole purpose for which I had come to Israel had been fulfilled. I was lonely and had a long journey to America still ahead of me. I had lost all desire to spend time exploring biblical sites (many of which I had seen before on a previous visit) and compared to the holy event that had just taken place, there was nothing more holy that I could do or see but to get on with my journey and get back home as soon as possible. I left for the United States the next day.

Weeks later when I arrived back in Australia there was a letter from Italy waiting for me. Expecting it to be from Alessandra, I was surprised to discover that it was actually from her mother, who shared the full story of God’s gracious intervention in their lives. Only then did I learn that at the time I met Alessandra her parents didn’t actually know where she was. After a family tragedy she had travelled abroad like a prodigal daughter and her parents were distraught with worry and concern. Being part of a catholic charismatic community in Milan, the believers had upheld Alessandra in prayer the whole time, praying that God would send someone into her path to help her find the way home. After Alessandra’s encounter with the Lord she contacted her parents and made immediate plans to return home to Italy, where she gave a full account of our encounter of how she met me. Alessandra’s parents, full of thanks to God and gratitude to me, invited me to come to Italy — an invitation that I did accept the following year. That’s another story…

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What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Matt 18:12 – 14

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