I recently experienced a Christian pilgrimage that for many only comes around once in a lifetime. By the good grace of God I was selected from a large pool of candidates to travel and personally experience the Holy Lands of Israel and Palestine with 14 other journalists.

Planning and funding for the tour came from a variety of sources. The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the Arab Hotel Association, the Holy Land Incoming Tour Operators Association and the Arab Tourist Guides Union partnered to developed the itinerary and coordinate the logistics. The trip was financed by the Enterprise Development Investment Promotion program, a three-year USAID funded project which is managed by CARANA Corporation and assists with the development of tourism in Palestine.

With a great sense of gratitude and appreciation I thank the aforementioned organizations for sponsoring this unique opportunity.

This is my third such “familiarization trip” or “Fam” in the past two years. Trips like these are called familiarization tours because they are meant to familiarize journalists with the country, who then themselves familiarize their readers about the experiences. Last year, I traveled to Jordan and, in 2008, I ventured to Greece.

My goal is to familiarize you with my personal experience in the hopes that you will want to consider a trip to these destinations for you and your family. As a Christian, and especially, as a Catholic,  I can attest that these physically experiences are very spiritually uplifting.

One of the challenges of chronicling my trip to Palestine is that there are multiple lenses through which it can be viewed. First of all, there is the historical lens which examines the trip from the perspective of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, a historical narrative I am not qualified to speak about. I’ll leave that to Middle Eastern historians, scholars and other so-called experts. Besides, from the standpoint of promoting tourism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is probably not the best drawing card. However, as I learned firsthand when our bus was detained for more than an hour at an Israeli checkpoint, it is impossible to travel to the region without getting at least a glimpse of what everyday life is like for Palestinian citizens. More on that later.

Another way to look at the trip is from a religious historical perspective. At one time, Christians were the majority in Palestine. The 1922 British Census found that 87 percent of the Palestinian population was Christian. According to the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs today Christians make up roughly three percent of Palestine’s predominantly Muslim population. Father Raed Abu Sahlieh, pastor of the Catholic parish in Taybeh, spoke to the group about the challenges facing Christians in Palestine and his own efforts at achieving peace.

Even smaller than the number of Christians is the few remaining Samaritans. About half of the 712 Samaritans live on Mount Gerizim in the West Bank city of Nablus. We met with Kahen Husni, leader of the local Samaritan community. We also visited the Wailing Wall, one of the most, if not the most, important Jewish religious sites.

And, of course there is also the general travel perspective.

Most people when visiting faraway, exotic lands are interested in cultural and dining attractions, as well as shopping opportunities. I’ll leave that up to the travel writers but I will say that there are ample opportunities to do all of those things in Palestine.

 Throughout this series I will share my travel experiences from a biblical perspective. It was commented on several occasions during the trip that our group “ran where Jesus walked” and because of the short amount of time we had that’s largely true. We traveled to Bethlehem and visited the Shepherd’s Fields, where the Angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds to tell them of Christ’s birth. We also visited the Church of the Nativity, the birthplace of Jesus. We traveled to Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus, where we visited the Church of the Annunciation, where the Angel Gabriel brought Mary ‘glad tidings of great joy’. 

We went to Mt. Beatitude, where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. We saw the Sea of Galilee and visited Capernaum where Jesus lived during his years ministering to the people of Galilee. In Jericho, we took a cable car to the peak of Mt. Temptation where Jesus fasted and prayed for 40 days and nights while being tempted by Satan. In Jerusalem, we visited the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. We also walked the Via Dolorosa (Way of the Cross) and visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Christ was crucified and buried.

Very powerful stuff.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

We also visited some other important biblical sites, such as Jacob’s Well and Sebastia, where John the Baptist was beheaded.

We experienced a lot of stuff in a short period of time and it’s my hope that these articles might ignite in you a desire to visit Palestine and to walk – although a pair of sturdy running shoes would be advisable – where Jesus walked.  

A word about safety – naturally, there were some concerns going into the trip about safety. In fact, in the days leading up to our trip, Israeli commandos raided a flotilla carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, killing nine pro-Palestinian activists.

The attack prompted some in our group to question whether we should postpone or cancel the trip. Thankfully, we didn’t because we would have missed out on a wonderful experience, which was enhanced by the warmth and hospitality shown to us by both the Palestinians.