The sites in Israel and Jordan are sacred to Christians,  Jews and Muslims. Persons of any of these religious persuasions should try to visit this area at least once in their lifetime. 

When we booked this trip in early 2008, approximately nine months in advance, relatives and friends wondered even then whether we would be safe in this conflict-prone region.  But, like many areas of the world, which have strife from time to time, world travelers just have to take the plunge if they want to visit these sites.

One day before we arrived in Israel, the Israeli government opened a military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza region. We were already in London en route to Israel when this happened. 

Nevertheless, we proceeded with the trip and are glad we did since, at almost all times, we were at least 25 miles from any conflict or missile strikes.  Each day in the newspapers and media in Israel, the area of conflict was well-defined.  Our only potential problem was when we were in northern Israel in the Golan Heights area near Lebanon and Syria.  If Hezbollah in Lebanon had opened a second front against Israel while we were in the north, it would have been a problem.  Fortunately, this did not occur. In spite of our good fortune in that area, this did not keep relatives and friends from being petrified during the entire time while we were on the trip.

It was a very moving experience to walk and pray in the footsteps of Jesus and other Biblical figures in the Holy Land.  In addition, we acquired a far better understanding of the historical conflict between the Jews and Palestinians in the area.

If you can make this trip, we highly recommend that you do so both for its spiritual and historical knowledge benefits.

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