by Olivia Kelley
Day seven was our final day in the Holy Land. We woke up extra early to pack our bags and have breakfast before doing our last bit of filming in the morning. The film crew had permission to shoot at the Garden Tomb before it was open to the public. This is the site where the protestant church believes Jesus was buried after he was crucified. We arrived in the morning and went inside to film in front of the tomb. This was the last bit of A-roll we needed to wrap up. We finished early and had time to explore the garden area and stand inside of the tomb while it was quiet and empty. It was a peaceful moment for the entire crew to share together on our last day.
When we finished up there, we went back to the hotel to grab the rest of the team. The plan for that day was to follow the path to the cross. We began at the Garden of Gethsemane. This is the place where Jesus prayed the night before his death and where he and his disciples slept. We had a service there together and took a few moments to go off on our own and pray.
The next stop on the agenda was in the old city. We walked the Via Dolorosa, which is the path that Jesus took to the cross on the day he was crucified. There are 14 stations outlined on the path. We stopped at each and read the passage that goes along with it while sitting in the churches that sit atop each spot. We sang a short song and then moved along.
The final stop on the Via Dolorosa is, of course, the spot where Jesus died. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre sits on the spot where the Catholic church believes Jesus was crucified and buried. We entered into the massive crowd — it was more packed than rush hour in a New York City subway — and stood in line for about an hour to touch the spot where it is believed Jesus’ cross was put in the ground. The spot is a deep hole in a rock that we reached down into to touch the bottom. Even though it was crowded, this was definitely a special moment for us.
For our final stop on the trip, we returned to the Garden Tomb — the religion students on the trip hadn’t
had a chance to see it yet. This time, it was more crowded, but we had a chance to hear about why the Garden Tomb is believed to be where Jesus was buried from one of the workers. We also had a small service together and sang a few songs while we sat in the garden. The last thing we did was take communion together in the garden and embrace each other. There were some tears, but a lot more smiles from everyone. We had completed our pilgrimage in the Holy Land and it was truly bittersweet. We went back to the hotel for dinner, before saying our goodbyes to our tour guides, and getting on the plane that would take us back to the U.S.
