Last sunday morning I went on a prayer walk on the walls of the old city.

Bart and Joan Repko have been doing this walk 6 days a week (except Shabbat) for some years now, alternating between each half of the edges of the wall, as you can start from either side of the Jaffa gate and finish just behind the Al Asqa Mosque.  You can get a ticket for 16 Shekels and its valid for two days so you can do the other half the next day, just need to start just inside the Jaffa gate.

The aim is to pray over this city and for the frequently volatile atmosphere here.   Often when we are here we can hear the sound of the minarets (Islamic prayer towers) boom out loud voices from different parts of the city.

These steps are quite hard work especially with the fierce midday heat here and it is quite easy to slip as they have hundreds of years of wear…

My friend Marcel is often on this tour.   Check his blog here.

Stunning views into and out of the old city are guaranteed….

Its quite amazing doing this walk as you get to see over into yards, gardens and roofs of all kinds of places.  People in both Arab and Jewish cultures use their roofs as yards, and usually characterised with satellite dishes, old sofas, solar panels (used to run hot water tanks) and various junk.

Gardens are quite popular, whether its a handful of hanging baskets or something quite a bit ambitious, here this person has their own vineyard, think it belongs to an Arab Christian.  I often see orange and lemon trees too.

The group’s name ‘Never be silent’ is taken from Isaiah 62 : 1 “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.”

See more about the Never be silent old city prayer tour walks here: www.neverbesilent.org/en/