Tourists? Tourists!

This morning a tourist bus pulled up outside the largest church in the village, and out stepped a group of elderly, white tourists, who milled around in the courtyard for a while before entering the church. My interest was pique, so I wondered down and started talking to one member of their party, who revealed that they were from the diocese of Birmingham in England, on a ten-day missionary tour of the ‘Holy Lands’. They had begun in Jerusalem before moving on to Bethlehem, where they were staying in Sheppard’s Fields. (I’ve no idea which side of the wall this is – can anyone enlighten me?) They hadn’t visited the Church of the Nativity though. This morning half of their group, which includes the Archbishop had gone elsewhere, while they came here for the morning service. The guy I talked to also wasn’t sure if they were visiting other churches in the West Bank. I had no idea that this village received visits from touring parties, but I’d be fascinated to learn if this sort of thing happens frequently.

An amusing aside (if you can appreciate my sense of humour): I asked if the service was going to be bilingual, and the guy I was talking to said he didn’t know, but he reckoned the locals who speak English had been actively encouraged to attend.