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JERUSALEM?Many Christians would cherish the opportunity to travel to Israel and visit the places where our Lord Jesus Christ walked, taught, died and rose again. Such a trip, which some say is akin to a spiritual journey, takes much prayer, money, and preparation.
Unless, of course, you’re a Southern Baptist TEXAN reporter and you get a mid-afternoon call that goes something like this:
Editor: “Hi, Bonnie. I have a proposition for you.”
Me: “Sure. Whatcha got?”
Editor: “How would you like to go to Israel? You don’t have to pay anything. The Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT) is sponsoring a press junket and I can’t go so I thought I’d ask you?. And I need to know this afternoon if you can go.”
Me: “Uhhh.”
Such was the beginning of my whirlwind tour of the land of our Lord. I made the list of 12 evangelical writers and broadcasters invited on the trip. By March 6 our party was en route to Tel Aviv, all but one of us being a first-time visitor to Israel. The entire trip was a sprint to see as much as possible in as little time as possible, racing against an unseen clock that would time out before we, as reporters, could confirm that the tomb was, indeed, empty.
Atop Mount Carmel (Actually, atop the gift shop of the monastery whose monks tend the site) I briefly reflected on one of my favorite Old Testament stories: Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal. The tourist-condensed version went something like this: “God 1, prophets of Baal 0. God wins. Everyone, back on the bus!”
There is so much of spiritual and historical significance to see in Israel that one could easily lose sight of them by focusing on the schedule. But in the end, I was thankful for that bus and our very able and long-suffering guide, Rivka Cohen-Berman.
Those whose business and pleasure it is to organize tours to Israel recommend first-time travelers not on a press junket utilize the experience and money-saving expertise of tour agencies or well-established individuals who regularly host travels to Israel.
To make the most of your time in the Promised Land, Joe Diaz, a U.S. regional representative for IMOT, highly recommends traveling with a tour group. First-time visitors can just concentrate on enjoying the sights and experiences without concerning themselves with the minutiae, delegating day-to-day details of transportation, food, and accommodations.
Although some people would rather not travel with a group, the trade-off of solitude for convenience and a lower price could make a bus ride with strangers-soon-to-be-friends more palatable, especially if you think you might return to Israel. And, Diaz said, Israel is one of the most frequently revisited countries. Those who make frequent trips with a tour group are then better suited to travel on their own or with a smaller group of family and friends. But for an introductory visit, it’s much more affordable when you go with a group.
“The guide alone is $300 a day,” he said.
Tony Derrick, president of Ideal Travel and Tours in Dallas, said the costs are shared by the group and therefore go down as the size of the group goes up. One tour bus can hold 50 passengers, but ideally, he said, the number in a group should be between 20-30 people.
“Most of our clients are first-time and probably only-time [travelers to Israel],” Derrick said. “They want to see and experience the things they’ve read in the Bible. This is a pilgrim journey, a completion of their biblical education.”
With that in mind the tours are arranged to stop at many places where the stories of the Bible unfolded.
The president of Pilgrim Tours, David Nyce, concurred that traveling with a tour group provides the best opportunity to educate oneself about the land of Jesus. The company caters to predominantly Baptist and evangelical groups and the devotionals given at each site add to the depth of spiritual and academic knowledge that a traveler takes home.
Leading the way on all bus tours are guides trained and certified by the State of Israel. They can be Jewish, Arab, or Christian. Each adds his own unique perspective to the trip?within prescribed limits?offering new information for repeat travelers who will most likely get a different guide on a return trip. Pilgrim tours, though, has an established relationship with a pool of guides who are Messianic believers.
Although all tours require travelers to be in good health?there is a great deal of walking, climbing stairs, and, on occasion, squeezing through ancient water ways?some groups go off the beaten bus path in order to feel the parch of their throat after days in the desert and the grit on their face and hands from digging for long-lost civilizations.
Jim Sibley, director of the Pasche Institute for Jewish Studies and associate professor of Jewish ministry at Criswell College in Dallas, takes regular trips to the country as part of ongoing archaeological projects associated with Criswell College. A group is leaving in May for a two-week project at a site near Qumran, the region where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.
Sibley said there will be some opportunity for sightseeing but most of their time will be spent on archaeological work.
For those who want to go even farther off the bus path can hike the lands of Scripture with GTI Tours. A hike leaves mid-April led by Houston-area pastor Brian Haynes, a Southern Baptist. The company coordinates study tours throughout the biblical lands. Travelers have little more than a backpack and a Bible.
“It’s intense,” Haynes said. “I think I teach 50 times in 10 days. The hikes are brutal?it’s physical, spiritual, emotional.”
But Haynes added, he has never had a more spiritually rewarding experience in his life.
That’s worth getting off the bus.
