When we arrived in the Holy Land just a couple of weeks ago, one of the first things our guide said to us was, “Welcome to the land of Immanuel!” Of course, Immanuel means God is with us, and that certainly turned out to be the case as we made our latest journey. If you’ve been following us, you know that Faith Connections Travel just returned from the Holy Land three days ago. If you’ve been praying for us, we are deeply grateful and will testify with conviction that it made a glorious difference.
Traveling these days involves navigating some procedures that we have not had to deal with before. However, we determined that this was no cause for fear but for faith because we rightly believed that this pilgrimage was something that God would bless. After all, the tagline of Faith Connections Travel is, “Stepping Out in Faith,” not “Retreating in Fear.” And step out in faith we did as a smaller-than-usual group but a nonetheless amazing band of believers ready to experience something special from God. As expected, we left as friends and came back as family.
All things considered, the way was smooth, the red carpet was definitely rolled out for us, and we had many of the sites we visited entirely to ourselves. By the time we arrived in Jerusalem toward the end of our pilgrimage, we were seeing more tour buses and groups here and there. That’s good news for those who depend for their livelihoods on travelers coming to visit—both tourists and pilgrims. While we enjoyed the lack of any lines, waiting, or crowds at popular sites, in our hearts we are glad to see the industry coming back and hope that the country continues to open and to make travel easier for international visitors.
God was with us every step of the way. We felt God’s presence, experienced God’s blessing, and grew spiritually through many of the places we visited and the insight we gained. Our guide George put in another mic-dropping, show-stopping effort. We learned a lot from our brother in Christ, and my appreciation of his expertise only grew as I took in, along with the group, the volume of information and wisdom that he shared. Yes, it is the land of Immanuel. And for this group of Faith Connections Travelers, it was without a doubt a place and a time of God with us.
