Israel Day 10

The bus was coined by a previous group as the rolling university and "professors" Trey and Gidon continued to teach us in the rolling university about various prophecies as we made our to Latrun. Latrun is an Armor Corps Memorial site and museum. In 1948 this area was a place of battle. In 1967 it was captured by Israel.

                               

Gidon served in the IDF. 

Next we visited the Ayalon Institue, a secret ammunition factory set up underground. On the surface it was a laundry service and bakery, but underneath it was a secret ammunition factory. The hidden factory was built in just 21 day. They made 10,000 bullets everyday. Those that worked in the factory had to make sure they were clean before climbing back to the surface of the kibbutz, a communal farm or settlement, that this was located on. They also had to have a way to get "sun" so they created a room with UV lights to use while underground. People thought they were working in fields, so this light helped confirm their cover and met their need for light. It was established in 1945 and manufactured ammunition until 1948. Those that worked underground had to maintain complete secrecy. Not all members of the kibbutz were aware of this hidden factory beneath their feet. This place fascinated me.

        

           

  

Our last stop was Bethlehem. Gidon could not go with us here due to Israelis not being permitted to enter. The area is under Palestinian control. We ate lunch at a place with an incredible wall mural, toured the Church of the Nativity, which is thought to be the birth place of Jesus, as well as explored another church with an incredible piece of wall art that showed the family tree leading up to the call of David. We also visited the Nissan Bros. olive wood store. The wood smelled amazing.

                

This is a picture of a picture of the place thought to be where Jesus was born.

Our last guest speaker was Ken Spiro, after he spoke a few of us took our last walk to the wall for this trip. This walk brought a flood of emotions, which we will touch more on in tomorrow's post about going home. Here a few sights from our walk.