Of Footprints and Footsteps . . .
 
Walking through Israel and Palestine was quite the experience - an experience of learning, of growing, of praying, of listening. Following in the footsteps of Jesus does not bring value from making your own footprint, or stepping in a place where Jesus might have been. It comes from who Jesus was and what He did while on earth.
 
Walking the Via Dolorosa, the way of suffering that Jesus journeyed to Calvary while carrying the cross on which He was crucified for us was a powerful experience - not to look at each station, but to reflect on the pain, the difficulty, but especially the love that was a part of that walk.
 
Climbing the rock face of Mt. Arbel, and looking out over the Sea of Galilee and the town of Capernaum, or the hillside where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount or turned 2 loaves and 5 fish into a meal for 5,000, meant more when thinking about Jesus drawing away to a solitary, lonely, or high place to pray as Mark and Luke describe it in their gospels. What would Jesus have prayed and thought about in His times of intercession?
 
Hiking up the Mount of Olives and re-living the last days and hours of Jesus' time on earth - featuring intense prayer and the knowledge that the end was very close. Jesus retracing the steps He took only days earlier when the parade atmosphere of Palm Sunday brought an entirely different experience.
 
Journeying down an abandoned marketplace road in present day Hebron with Israeli Defense Forces monitoring our exploration and realizing the Prince of Peace still needs to bring peace to a conflicted land and people.
 
Each walk, each hike, each experience was part of the lessons that God had planned for us, and especially for me personally. Paul Boice, member of Fair Haven and RCA Director of Communication, and I will be sharing and showing what it was like to be in Israel and Palestine as we spent time with our RCA missionaries Rev. Marlin and Sally Vis. Your invited to join in this conversation and explore our trip on Wednesday, November 5 at 7 PM in the Library.
 
You can also check out my short camel ride on the blog of Rev. Nate DeWard, pastor of Church of the Living Christ in Fremont, MI who also was a part of our group. Click on this link: http://www.clcfremont.org/Israel_Trip/Blog/Entries/2008/10/7_Jerusalem_and_a_Camel.html
 
Thanks to all of you who prayed for us while we were in Israel! It was a great time of walking with God - in relationship with Him, in time in His Word, in experiences that enlarged my heart as a follower of Jesus Christ.
 
Together in the Cause,
 
Tom De Vries