One more door opened!

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Another impressive place in the German Colony, on Lloyd George Street, is the big convent of the Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo.
Solid, locked gates are always a challenge; but yesterday I gathered my courage and rang the bell of this intriguing place.
No one spoke on the intercom, no one buzzed me in.
I just looked at the top of the ST. CHARLES (GERMAN) HOSPICE gate  and said into space:  "Hello . . . ?"

I tried the door and lo and behold a nun in white was standing there, and she said "Guten Tag."
I asked her about their policy of renting rooms to tourists, in case I have guests in the future.
We went inside to the desk and she gave me a card, told me the rates, and apologized that I could not see the place because renovations are going on now.

Below I offer you information copied from the guest house website.
It is sad to think of the German nuns and monks of Jerusalem having been interned during World War II, here in this convent; but we were a British Mandate then, and the British did what they thought they had to do.

It was in 1893 when the first Sisters came to the Holy Land and opened an infirmary and a dispensary in the German Colony, Jerusalem. These were the beginnings of St. Charles Convent. Apart from nursing the sick and old people, the Sisters took care of orphans and homeless children by offering them shelter and giving them a good education. In 1905 the Sisters could move into their new convent building, the original part of the present St. Charles Convent. In 1934 the first Holy land pilgrims were given accommodation and were offered meals for groups and from this source of income could be financed school, boarding and shelter for poor children.

World War II entailed hard times for the German Convent. All German Sisters in Palestine as well the Benedictines of the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem were interned in St. Charles Convent. In addition, British officers occupied a number of rooms. After the war, the Sisters took on another work of charity; they offered shelter to German Jews who had survived the Holocaust in concentration camps and had emigrated to Israel.

In the years to come St. Charles Convent saw an ever increasing flow of pilgrims who wanted to visit and worship the Lord in Jerusalem, the heart and origin of our Christian faith. The traditional hospitality of the Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo makes their guests feel at home in the peaceful atmosphere of the house and in the friendly and comfortable rooms. Apart from their various activities the Sisters run a kindergarten and a pre-school class in the building next to the convent.

- 50 Rooms

- Full Board

- Dining Room

- Parking also for Buses

- Soft Drinks

- Chapel

- Elevator

- Garden

- Heating

- TV only in Salons

- Public Telephone

- Payment in Cash

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(A post added to Toby's Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.)

Unused for 30 years

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Shalom again!

I walked along some Jerusalem streets today in the German Colony and Bak'a.
Streets with names like Bethlehem Road, Hebron Road, and Emek Refa'im.

Whenever I see a normally-closed gate open, I duck in to have a look.
So it was today.  The vehicle entrance of the big Electric Company substation was open!  Yay!
What a beautiful old building!

Read the lovely story of how the first power station in Jerusalem (built in 1928) was brought back to life!

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(This "Unused for 30 years" post is for ABC Wednesday U Day.)

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British humor?

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I started to tell about the new murals inside this Christian cemetery a few weeks ago.

Its address in Jerusalem's old German Colony is 41 Emek Refaim; one possible translation of the street name is "Valley of Ghosts."
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Many of the gravestones have biblical quotations, especially from the Psalms (but I'm saving those for PsalmChallenge meme).
Some, the more modern ones, have sentimental words like "See you soon, darling," or "We miss you," or "Gone home."

But my favorite is the home-spun wisdom on former British soldier Johnny Shortlidge's stone:

"WE DO WHAT WE GOTTA DO AND THEN WE GO."

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This post goes to Our World Tuesday, to Signs, Signs, and to the growing and fascinating new cemetery meme Taphophile Tragics.

A messianic mural in the making

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You don't really expect to see much new when you visit a small cemetery begun at the end of the 19th century; so when I stopped in to the Alliance Church International Cemetery in Jerusalem's German Colony in November, I could hardly believe my eyes.

A grand mural painting was underway!

Most days the tall gate is locked on this place of final repose of Christians, Messianic Jews, internationals, and people refused burial elsewhere.
I took advantage of an open moment when a woman came out; the gardener allowed me in and when I asked him about the mural, he said that was the artist who just left.

Back home, I found their website which explains it thus:

[In 2009 a Wisconsin woman, Patricia Solveson,] announced to us how the Lord laid it on her heart to donate her talents to the cemetery. As the Lord would provide, she would put together an assisting work team and periodically visit Jerusalem to paint a biblical mural on our "unfinished" cement walls. The mural would begin with Genesis and continue through Revelation and tell the prophetic story of "God's Sacrificial, Salvation Lamb".

This webpage, with photos, interprets each Bible scene of the mural in a messianic way.
They call it "The Jerusalem 'Wall of Life' ministry project."

Tall enough to need a scaffold.

Here you see how part of the 300-foot wall is being prepped for painting.
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"Over the years, neighboring construction projects have caused some of our historic stone walls to be destroyed and replaced with unsightly, unfinished cement walls," the website explains.

It seems like artist Pat couldn't wait, got ahead of herself and skipped over to the end of the Christian scriptures to what looks like her favorite scene, Revelation 1:13:
"and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest."
This portrait is not yet finished.
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In future posts I'll tell more about the interesting history of this place and of those buried here.
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I want to contribute this post to some new memes--Monday Mural and Taphophile Tragics (for those who like to wander through graveyards), and also to our old favorite Our World Tuesday.
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