2011 Holy Land Pilgrimage

My visit to the Holy Land was uplifting, profound, and inspiring. 

 

Standing at Mt. Nebo, I was filled with wonder and humility.  “Can this be real?  That I am standing where Moses once stood?  That I am looking at the very same sights that Moses looked upon, The Land of Milk and Honey and the Jordan River?  Would I believe if I were told that the land across this barren, desert-like valley would be the land of milk and honey?  Probably not, unless I had strong faith as Moses.”   At Mt. Nebo, I felt a need to strengthen my faith in God, to be closer to Moses’ faith. 

 

Israel was much “greener” and lusher than Jordan; Israel could be a land of milk and honey, indeed.  

“What a blessing it was to be able to imagine the miracles of Jesus in Galilee!”  I could visualize His miracles, standing where He might have stood, while touching the things He might have touched.  Two ladies were praying aloud in a language unknown to me at the rock (pic A) at which Jesus had dined with His disciples after His resurrection, Mensa Christi (pic B).  When I saw crumbled notes of prayer-requests inserted in various cracks on the rock (pic A), I wished that I had brought a note of my prayer-request, which I later placed in a special crack on the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem (pic C).

 

A                                          B

C

 

 

I felt inspired to rely on Him more by being at the Mount of Beatitudes (Tabgha), the synagogue, and Peter’s mother-in-law’s house in Capernaum; and by imagining Jesus preaching the sermon on the Mount, feeding the 5000 with five loaves of bread and two fish, healing the sick and Peter’s mother-in-law, and walking on the water of Sea of Galilee.  “That cross in the middle of the sea must have been the spot where Jesus stood,” I thought (pic D).

 

   

D

 

 

It was such an incredible feeling to pray to God with my hands touching the rock upon which Jesus was crucified, the stone bed where His body was laid (pic E), and the empty tomb!  “Indeed, He is risen!”  How different the small tomb was from what I had imagined!

 

    

E

 

 

The last event of our trip, a communion service at the Garden Tomb, was heart warming because it was held in a place where our Lord lived, did His ministries, and died for us and was risen.  What a way to conclude the Holy Land Pilgrimage!

 

Now, the Bible “stories” in the Gospels come alive to me because I can feel His presence a little more closely. “Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity for me to have joined the 2011 FBC Holy Land Pilgrimage!”