The holy sites that we visited, and the memories that I have from my trip to the Holy Land have had a very profound effect on my life.  It is difficult to share stories from our pilgrimage without being moved to tears.  Every gospel reading that I hear now is through not only my ears, but my eyes, my feet (oh! My aching feet!), all of my senses because I have been there and experienced the living gospel – Israel and Jordan.  I feel so blessed; especially in these trying times.

And the gratitude that I have overflows for Michele and Jamel, and Nicholas.  They cared for us like a shepherd cares for their flock.  We had so many very serious situations going on around us on a daily basis, and sometimes a moment by moment basis.  But they handled every obstacle placed in front of them with grace and courage and left me feeling very safe and in good hands.  I guess what was really so touching to me was that they did all of this for us, while sacrificing themselves and their families.  I pray that God will richly bless them!

Our accommodations were wonderful – each and every one.  The food, abundantly served, was so delicious and fresh.  I find myself craving an orange…so delicious!  I never knew how wonderful and abundant the produce is in Jordan and Israel.  My goodness!  Now I understand better the gift God gave when He chose Israel for his people as a land flowing with milk and honey!

Trinity Tour Travels, I truly cannot thank you enough and your team of staff – Bissan, George, Michel, Jamel, Nicholas for the gift that you gave to me on this trip to the Holy Land.  May God bless you and keep you!

Holy Land –
H – Holy ground
O – One true God
L – Love came down
Y – “Yes,” said Mary
L – Land given to the Israelites
A – Ancient history
N – Not obeying God
D – Desert journey

Seeing the locations of Jesus is like taking a vacation, adding in knowledgeable tour guides makes understanding the significance of each location and its place in history truly remarkable. Then, adding in the Magnificent Booklets, prayers with Fr Jim Brown leading the spiritual relevance and Masses, (locations reserved by the tour guides) made this a Pilgrimage. Many can say they’ve visited the Holy Land.

Some can say they toured the Holy Land. Few can say they have experienced a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land which generates a personal connection to Christ.

Hotels:
In Jordan – best food of the three.
In Bethlehem – best general accommodations.

Bus driver and guide in Jordan: Driver -low key but very capable, Guide very informative, friendly and promoting Jordan, put Jordan in a good light. In Israel: Driver, funny, animated, superior driver’ guide extremely knowledgeable and added well to this experience. Strong points: Emphatically both guides were knowledgeable and explained in detail why events in history happened and how the history has affected current events. Also, they explained how the events in the Bible happened.

TIME! So much to see, so little time to see it all. I felt rushed most of the time. Many of us are retired, elderly and a little slower than many people. Also, we get lost easily due to falling behind the group. But having said that, our guides and security guards assigned to us were very diligent in keeping track of us.

Trinity Tour Travels, thank you for making this trip to the Holy Land possible for us. I know God loves us, but now I know how much he loves us. To witness the human effort through the centuries to protect Jesus’ story so that generations to come can know Jesus is so powerful and amazing to me. The trip to the Holy Land was difficult. The long flights, being surrounded by unfamiliar people and places, the long days travelling by bus to all the sites on hilly, winding roads were a challenge for me – but well worth it.

My experience on this trip have blessed me with so much more knowledge and understanding. Thanks To Trinity Tour Travels for making it happen. The people we traveled with, our guides, bus drivers, the security guard in Jordan and pilgrims from Ohio will always be in my thoughts and prayers.

Addendum to Margaret’s reflections

I was touched by the humanity in the Holy Land. In my mind’s eye, I witnessed a kaleidoscope of people and cultures. I saw people from countries from around the world coming to the Holy Land to worship God and deepen their faith. Their ways, different, but their hearts full of love for their creator.

I saw a Muslim housewife hanging her families’ laundry from her rooftop next to the ruins of nearly 2,000 year old Christian homes and churches; a young Muslim father holding his very young baby daughter on his arm, clutching her to his chest and giving her a little nuzzle and kiss on her cheek. I saw bullet holes in the walls of the ancient city Jerusalem from a war with Jordan not too many years ago. I saw places where Jesus performed his famous miracles, where he was born, where he walked, where he prayed and where he died and was laid after His death. I saw the Jews praying at the famous Western Wall and the Ethiopian Christians praying and chanting in their humble and dark cave like church on the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, an exquisite house of worship built by the Byzantines in 1048. I was in many other beautiful churches built in remembrance of our Savior’s life, death and his Blessed Mother.

All these things have made a big impression. This experience was humbling and empowering for me. My faith has been strengthened and I will defend and promote it more than I ever have. It is my sincere hope that religious wars never happen again. The pilgrims I witnessed in the Holy Land were truly there for peace. My Faith has been deepened and will always remember the people of the Holy Land in my prayers.

We all had different reasons for this trip. For me, I was looking to see the Mid-East Countries and experience the cultural differences. Also, I was interested in seeing, touching, experiencing places I have read about and was taught about. Tying sights and history to the Bible in order to get a better understanding of my faith is very helpful. I hope to continue to learn and grow with God’s help.

Trinity Tour Travels, thank you for making this spiritual journey a smooth one, so that the enlightenment this experience offered was easy to discover, without tension of anxiety. My favorite location was Petra and thank you for including this site. Our tour guides were wonderful and very knowledgeable. Their humor and thoughtfulness provided a peaceful journey…they were the consummate hosts. Delicious food, comfortable hotels and buses provides rejuvenation necessary for this ambitious schedule. This journey did not disappoint, and the memories will be forever cherished.

Blessing to you.

May our God be praised and glorified as we give thanks for this awesome opportunity to travel to the Holy Land.

This pilgrimage was anointed from the very beginning in 2018 when Iyad-Eddie- Abufarha approached me with the idea of traveling to the Holy Land through his company, Trinity Tour Travels. I did not feel a bit of doubt or hesitation to begin the process. I feel that it has been Holy Spirit inspired and guided every step of the way. I had a feeling of confidence in leading my very first pilgrimage and a confidence in Eddie as well.

Although I have been to the Holy Land several other times, this was my first time into the Country of Jordan and discovered much there is rich in the history of the Holy Land and is in fact a critical part of what is the Holy Land. I found a great contrast between Jordan and Israel. Jordan is more arid and desert than Israel and seems to be much poorer in it economy.

Staying in Amman was a delight as our home base. The accommodations were excellent as was our guide, Sami and our bus driver “Captain” Amal and our security guard Muhamad, He was a surprise but joined right in with all of us and even showed us some extra tricks for our iPhone cameras. It was a very busy two days going to the sights in Petra to Mt Nebo and Jerash. The history is amazing as are the sights.

Crossing over into Israel security check was interesting but uneventful. I really enjoyed staying in Nazareth and Bethlehem for extended stays. The hospitality was excellent as was our guide and bus driver. They took good care of us and managed the tours day by day so that we were able to see the optimum sites and usually were the first or second bus at the sight.

Having only twenty people in the pilgrimage was an excellent number, not too few and not too many to keep track of and we took care of each other. Only twice did someone miss the group but our bus drive Murad found them and kept them safe till we got back together.

I come away with a fresh appreciation for the Holy Land and all the people there, Palestinian Christians, Jews and Muslims and so many other pilgrims from around the world all there together -in peace- doing the same thing we were. It felt right, although I didn’t have a clue what was being said in Arabic. I found a little book from the Magnificat Book company called the “Holy Land Companion” that I was able to procure for each pilgrim. That was very helpful for our morning prayer time on the bus, for the masses, other prayers and meditations for the different holy sites and the Stations of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa.

Celebrating Mass at the different sites each day was the highlight for me. With a small group it was very intimate and an awesome experience. Everything was set up for us at each place, thanks to the Franciscan sacristans and sisters who took such good care of us. I liked the prayers that spoke of THIS place for each of the holy site Masses. What great memories I have and can appreciate the Prayers at Mass and the Scriptures so much more having been at the actual place the events of Christ’s life took place.

Louay arranged for us to participate in the candlelight procession in Nazareth at the Church of the Annunciation and to personally be involved in the recitation of the Rosary. What a special honor that was.

I can’t say enough about the bus drivers and our guides, Sami and Louay. They are extremely knowledgeable, like walking encyclopedias, and very thoughtful and generous. The bantering between the guides and bus drivers was delightful and refreshing because they included us as well. Being on the ground for only eight days and seeing all that we saw in that short of time was a bit exhausting, but we had plenty of time in the evening to recover. Thank goodness we have pictures to remind us where we were and what we saw. We are an older group and the memory retention isn’t what it used to be. But it is a worthwhile experience we will treasure for a lifetime. I highly recommend Trinity Tour Travels and hope to return sometime soon. I must recover from the 11-hour plane ride first.

Holy Land October 2019

This trip was just amazing!

What I felt

•  Seeing and experiencing the lay of the land where Jesus walked was very humbling.
  Every site depicting and reliving the mysteries of the Rosary was very spiritual. The
  most moving to me, was being able to lay across the tomb of Jesus and thank Him for the
  love He showed and the salvation He brought to us all.
• Capharnaum had an aura of peace which was aided by the Sea of Galilee (sort of like the
  Marblehead Peninsula – only not the same !). You could feel how easy it was for the
  disciples to be attracted to Jesus, His teachings (because of what they foretold) and to be
  his best friends.
• The candlelight procession of thousands of pilgrims in honor of the Blessed Virgin at the
  Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth was very devotional. I’m so thankful to have
  been able to participate. And how special for Fr. Jim and Joan Hudak to lead the 5 th
  joyful mysteries in English. Side note: thousands of people, no pushing, no shoving, no
  protesting, no violence – we have God in our lives!
• Our amazing guides and bus drivers were very knowledgeable of the scriptures (one
  studied theology for a few years contemplating a religious life) as well as the history of
  the Holy Lands dating back thousands of years BC. They showed us a lot of love, were
  very personable and did everything possible to make this a very rewarding pilgrimage.
• Every time I read or hear the scriptures now, they just come alive as I can picture the area
  and can imagine what it used to look like.
• Our group of 20 was a perfect size for comradery, prayer, fellowship and fun. I knew
  most everyone beforehand but developed closer relationships with them and made new
  friends as well.
• I am thankful for Fr. Jim providing us with the Magnificat Holy Land Companion,
  Spiritual Guide for Pilgrims which we used at each site and at Mass. This was very
  helpful in providing spiritual direction and background information.
• I always felt safe for our wellbeing. A few of us had the opportunity to walk through the
  streets of Bethlehem near our hotel talking with the area shop owners about politics (they
  started it :)!) offered them cookies, they offered coffee or gelato, laughing and kidding
  with the teenagers, etc. They just wanted to be loved and to offer love.

What I Learned

• The Protoevangelium of St. James filled in a lot of the blanks.
• I have a clearer understanding of the geographical and political layout between Jordan,
  the Gaza Strip Palestinians, Israel and the West Bank Christian Palestinians. These
  individuals cannot cross borders (without special papers, e.g. tour guides/ buses).
• The terrain was not an easy one for those to traverse 2000 yrs. ago being mostly rock and
  desert, and it’s still a challenge today.
• Israel controls the diversion and distribution of water, adding to the crisis for the
  Palestinians.
• Israeli military have had landmines and UXO (unexploded ordinance) in Palestinian
  occupied territories for years. You need to pay attention to the signs.
• Israel and Jordan are very suppressed areas complicated by the low availability of water
  and lack of resources for trash pickup.
• Christians make up less than 2% of the Holy Land population and work peacefully
  alongside the Muslims.
• You can’t miss the Islamic call to prayer 5 times a day over the loudspeakers throughout
  the cities.
• Individuals may not marry out of their religion and must live at home until married.
• History repeats itself and always will – Christians were overtaken by Islam, who were
  overtaken by the Crusaders who were overtaken by Islam etc. etc. etc.
• An Islamic shrine now stands on the Jewish Holy Temple as in many other places,
  limiting access to Christians and Jews.
• There are about 600 Samaritans in Samaria who still offer animal sacrifices.
• The Franciscans have strived very hard to purchase and preserve many of the Holy Sites,
  that had been taken over by Islam throughout the centuries. God Bless the Franciscans!
• The dates and figs are amazing as is the food, especially in Jordan.
• Peter’s fish has a lot of bones and not much fish.
• It’s a long flight! Wonderful place to visit, but no place like home, especially in the
  USA!

Take Aways

• This very special experience deepened my spiritual and faith life more than I had
  anticipated even though I’ve been to Rome numerous times.
• This was the perfect time of year to go as the weather was in the high 80’s most of the
  time, no rain (unfortunately for them, good for us) and it was over the Jewish holiday of
  Sukkot (Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles). Traffic was lighter as devout Jews
  abstain from all things electronic (including cars), and wait times were shorter.
• Everyone should go if they physical can!