Songbird Sings: Jerusalem University College

welcome to my school!

Jerusalem University College was founded in 1958 and sits on Mt. Zion just outside of the Old City wall. following the British school system, it is titled as a University College because they offer MA degrees but no do have the complete facilities for such schooling.
the school facilities are beautiful! a man wanted to build an English school for boys, but was not able to buy property. instead he built a cemetery on the grounds and used the "extra" land to build a school! wild story! he in turn is buried on the grounds.
at the back of the school still stands the cemetery!

walking around made me think of my Mom who enjoys looking at grave sights. in Fresno, we enjoy visiting the cemeteries around Memorial Day, reading the names and wondering about their lives.

all prominent Protestants were buried in this cemetery. in the 19th century the Protestants were the leading individuals in helping Jerusalem to come out of the dark ages. Jerusalem was the back watershed, no one was interested in being here, and there were some quite important scholars who came over to help develop Jerusalem: the first doctors, hospitals, archaeologists, architects. so a lot of famous people from the 19th century were buried at the cemetery. the cemetery property is now owned by the Lutherans and Anglicans.

one of the people buried at the school is the American author of the hymn "It Is Well (With My Soul)," Horatio G. Spafford. he is the second name from the top on the below marking. he and his family were going to take a holiday in France. He however had to finish out a real estate deal in Chicago, so he sent this wife and two daughters ahead of him on a ship. the ship had a collusion, sank, and the two daughter were killed. his wife was survived and sent a wire to her husband that said, "saved alone." he got on a ship to France and once he arrived, he wrote the hymn.

later in life, the wealthy family settles in Jerusalem for an extended amount of time. they started a compound north of the City to live in community called the American Colony. a group of people from the Spafford's church decided to join the efforts and did a lot of good social work in the City starting an orphanage and taking detailed photographs of the City. a group of the workers are buried together in a communal plot and who are listed on a communal plaque.

on for some more life giving pictures... the school is beautiful! as I mentioned, the school was originally built as a English school for Arab boys and JUC has been there for the last 50 years.

here is the other side of the entrance. all of us students were given a key to visit the school even after hours.

from the entrance, one walks out to a large open courtyard where we eat our lunch and talk with new friends.

apart of this room, where one staff member lives, houses a tomb! the style of tomb is one with a lower ledge and at one time, the staff member used that bench as a bed!