Ready to board the flight from Vienna to Tel Aviv
Today our group spent lots of time on buses, in airports, and on planes, giving us all time to share a little of who we are, one-on-one or in small groups. We come from all over--from Florida, Montana, West Virginia, Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Ontario. We represent a variety of callings--pastors, teachers, nurses, missionaries, physicians, engineers, speech pathologist, college professor, financial planner, writer...reflecting some of the many ways God gives us to serve and calls us to follow. But we know we are not defined by what we do, but to whom we belong and choose to follow. We are all eager to be on this pilgrimage of faith and discipleship.
We had our first history/geography lesson from Khalil, our guide. He pointed out that because Israel was at the crossroads of three continents (Africa, Asia, and Europe), it has been torn by political power struggles for years--from the Egyptians, the Hittites, the Persians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Crusaders, and Ottoman Turks--right up to the 20th century, placing it at the center of territorial battles, even today.
Pastor Bill introduced our theme verse, Psalm 84:5-7: "Blessed are those who strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage...." As we all gave a sentence on our expectations for this trip, over and over again we heard things like, "I want to see and experience where Jesus walked" and "I want to deepen my faith and see Jesus in a new way." Bill challenged us to see God with all our senses--seeing, walking, tasting, touching these places that played such an important role in Jesus' life, as we follow his path from Nazareth and Galilee to the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem. He also encouraged us to sense Jesus' presence in our lives, making this also a pilgriimage from our heads to our hearts as we follow him. We are eager to place our feet on the path.
~ Lois Konyndyk
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