As spring approaches, many ministries are announcing their Holy Land tours. They all claim it is the trip of a lifetime. I hope you don’t mind if I share some memories of my trip.
I was stationed on the Greek island of Crete, in 1964, when our chaplain announced the annual Holy Land tour. The cost was reasonable because we were already so close. I talked two of my Christian buddies into going and we were the only Protestants in a group led by the Catholic chaplain. The group also included some military dependents.
We made connections in Athens, boarding a plane bound for Beirut, Lebanon. The cab ride from the airport to the hotel in Beirut was like being a passenger in the Indianapolis 500. We spent one night in Beirut and we were able to tour that beautiful city before it was virtually destroyed by war.
The next three nights we spent in a hotel in old Jerusalem. The ancient city was controlled by Arabs at that time, but things were relatively calm and they welcomed us and our money with open arms. Of course the Catholic chaplain took us to the Stations of the Cross on the Via Delarosa and all of the shrines built on the traditional sites of Jesus’ birth, crucifixion and resurrection. We also saw the ruins of Jericho and swam (floated) in the Dead Sea. I made the mistake of shaving that morning and my face burned like it was on fire from the salt.
It was all very interesting, but kind of like visiting a series of museums. I was reminded of some Bible verses as we went along, but it wasn’t until the three of us found the Garden Tomb on our free afternoon that I fully realized where I was. I shared the thrill of the empty tomb like Mary Magdalene, Peter and John. I connected with Jesus more deeply than I ever had before. It was not yet a major tourist attraction. As a matter of fact, we were the only ones there and we didn’t want to leave. It was after sunset when we finally walked back to the hotel.
The final leg of our journey was a day and night in Cairo, Egypt, which included a camel ride to the Sphinx and a pyramid. Cairo was very peaceful and tourist friendly back then, but the three of us managed to stir up some trouble. We had spent all of our money on souvenirs in Jerusalem, so we were just window shopping when the merchants started haggling and lowering prices. Each time we said we had no money they thought we were being tough negotiators, but when they reached their final price and we still refused they became angry. I’m sure we heard several Egyptian curses as we quickly retreated to the hotel.
I took three rolls of color slides (108) on that trip. Those slides of Beirut, Jerusalem and Cairo which included me in the Dead Sea and riding a camel with the Sphinx in the background were destroyed recently when my basement flooded, but I still have those precious memories in my mind and my heart after all of these years. It really was the trip of a lifetime.