How It All Began

(All those appearing in this post have given their permission, and I didn’t even have to pay them!)

I’m not exactly a world traveler. I’ve only left the U.S. mainland for my wedding in Hawaii, Puerto Rico and a few cruises to The Bahamas and Mexico. So, when my passport gets stamped as I travel to Israel next month, it will be a first!

How did it happen then, that my first big trip abroad would be to The Holy Land? Well, it all started three years ago, here.

When my husband and I found our way to St. James UMC in Little Rock, we knew almost immediately this was where God wanted us to be. The Senior Pastor at the time, Siegfried Johnson (Sieg) was from Pine Bluff, like us; and we had lots of connections. Plus, the church had so much of what we wanted, it just felt like home.

One of the many things I admired about Sieg was his knowledge of The Holy Land and the Hebrew Language. He was about to lead another group to Israel that coming May, but if you know anything about the TV business you know you’re not leaving the country for two weeks in May! It’s ratings and severe weather season.

We soon joined an adult Sunday School class led by Dr. Scott Stern and found out the class had long term plans to visit the Holy Land with Sieg in 2019. Immediately, God told me, “Go.” And so three years later, I’m going.

Scott and his wife, Cindy have since become dear friends of ours. Scott was raised in a Jewish family, and his knowledge of Israel and its culture is also amazing. I’ve already learned so much in our weekly Bible class.

So, what began as a small class travel group back then has grown a bit. We now have 50 travelers (Sieg calls us pilgrims) from St. James and another 33 from Christ Of The Hills UMC in Hot Springs Village, where Sieg is now pastoring.

And a bigger group means two buses traveling our way through Israel. The Sterns have graciously agreed to co-lead our group along with Sieg and his wife, Sherry. Yep, she’s a Pine Bluff girl, too. 👍

This will be Sieg’s 14th trip to Israel. A pilgrimage he says “adds texture to the text” of The Bible. Here he is on The Teaching Steps at The Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a place where Jesus walked and likely preached during his ministry.

The thought of standing there soon with The Johnsons, The Sterns and 78 other pilgrims is awe-inspiring. We’ll also stay in beautiful hotels on The Mediterranean, The Sea Of Galilee, (you know I love a beach!) and in Jerusalem. Here are Scott and Cindy on their previous trips in 2013 and 2015.

Our tour company is EO (Educational Opportunities Tours). I’ll talk more about them in my next post, but here is their website if you’d like to take a look at this and other trips they offer. http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/#eotours

Oh, and hair dryers & curling irons in Israel? It’s a whole different thing. We’ll get to that, too. Please let me know if you’ve traveled with a group to Israel and how was it? Our conversation group is growing.