Though this testimony is a wee bit long, I promise you’ll be inspired after taking just 10 minutes to read it! Last week I took my very first tour of Israel…and what a blessing that both my boys were able to join me!
I was scheduled to make the trip several years ago. However, for some sovereign reason God prohibited me from going until just last week. Perhaps He providentially postponed my plans to allow me to share the lifechanging experience with the two men I’ve done my best to raise to love Jesus?
Left: The road Jesus walked in Jerusalem on the way to His crucifixion.
Now, I’m obviously not the first Christian to marvel about how literally walking where our Savior and Lord walked so powerfully brings biblical truth to life! That said, from the second we touched down in Tel Aviv it was extremely obvious that God was uniquely working to refresh my confidence in His call for my life.
As our Romanian-American-Canadian Christian group entered Ben Gurion International Airport, our leader cautioned us about select Israeli customs agents who can make entering the country difficult. Suffice to say that was a bit concerning!
Upon approaching the booth, I was asked a seemingly loaded question: “Are you also a pastor?” Intrigued, I answered, “Yes I am.” The stern customs agent simply responded with, “Have a nice visit.” Praise God for His grace and favour!
And with that, our 6-day pilgrimage of the Holy Land began! Here’s a brief summary of our sight-seeing schedule:
We walked up the Mediterranean coast in the footsteps of Peter to Caesarea, where Cornelius was baptized. We visited the archaeological site of Caesarea Maritima, where Herod the Great built a royal palace and Paul preached the gospel to Agrippa in 58 A.D. to be imprisoned. That night we stayed in Tiberias overlooking the Sea of Galilee.
Left: Paul’s prison in Caesarea Maritma.
After walking along the sea of Galilee, we went to Cana where Jesus performed His first miracle. At Capernaum we visited the ruins of an ancient synagogue where Jesus preached, and we went to the Mount of Beatitudes the site of His Sermon on the Mount. Afterward, we went to the site of the miraculous catch of fish and enjoyed a boat trip on the Sea of Galilee.
Left: Yours truly teaching a Bible study at the site of the Sermon on the Mount.
We went to Nazareth where Jesus spent His childhood and adolescence, and then the Jordan River where John the Baptist ministered. We then visited Bethlehem and the proposed site of Christ’s birth before retiring to our hotel for a Bible study about the day.
Left: Standing at the Jordan River.
We drove to Jericho, the site of Christ’s temptation in the wilderness and we also saw the fallen ruins of what’s believed to be the oldest walled city in the world. We passed by Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, and then we visited Ein-Ghedi where David hid from King Saul among the caves in the cliff. We also visited the ancient fort of Masada before swimming in the Dead Sea before staying overnight in Bethlehem.
Left: The site believed to be the Mount of Christ’s Temptation.
We started with a sombre visit to the Jerusalem Holocaust Museum before climbing Mount Scopus and heading up the Mount of Olives, the location of Christ’s commissioning of His followers in Acts 1 and His subsequent ascension. We then went down to the Garden of Gethsemane, stopped by the Wailing Wall beside the Temple Mount, and then visited the City of David.
Left: The Holocaust Museum in Yad Vashem, Israel.
Our day started at Bethesda, the place where Christ healed the man who’d been crippled for 38 years, and we also visited the Pool of Siloam. We then entered the Sheep Gate to walk the way of the cross before we saw the possible crucifixion site of Golgotha and the likely resurrection location of The Garden Tomb, where we shared communion together.
Left: The McKenna men (Caleb, Cory, Joshua) at The Garden Tomb.
What a whirlwind tour of God’s special space where “His-story” literally began! But above and beyond the multitude of historic sights and sounds of the Holy Land, the highlight for all three McKenna men was hearing Jesus in Jerusalem.
Amidst all the gospel-less religion hustling and bustling around Old Jerusalem, it was so encouraging to discover that an evangelical Christian organization controlled the proposed locations of both Golgotha and The Garden Tomb.
Further, it was a Christian brother from the U.K. named John Sutcliffe who very faithfully made the most of this prime real estate for the purposes of preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. I was so inspired that I couldn’t help but record a video sharing a few words of my own!
Click below to watch the gospel videos.
CLICK HERE to watch John Sutcliffe at Golgotha
CLICK HERE to watch Cory at Golgotha
CLICK HERE to watch John Sutcliffe at The Garden Tomb
CLICK HERE to watch Cory at The Garden Tomb
After “John the evangelist” so faithfully shared the message of the cross at Golgotha and then the reality of Christ’s resurrection at The Garden Tomb, I thanked him and introduced myself as a fellow evangelist from “across the pond”.
As we mutually encouraged each other to press on in preaching Christ, suffice to say that it became evident that our shared citizenship was more “Heavenian” (Phil. 3:20) than Canadian or British!
CLICK HERE to view the entire photo album on our Flickr page.
But the God at work story didn’t end there! You likely heard that a Houthi missile struck near the Tel Aviv airport the morning of May 4 injuring nearly a dozen people. Would it surprise you to hear that we were scheduled to fly out of that same airport that same afternoon? What a wild way to end such a wonderful week!
Well, knowing that God works all things for the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8:28), after our flight was cancelled, we prayed that God would open a door for us to find another flight as soon as possible so we could get home!
As we stepped up to the only available airline booth in hope of securing seats, we were deeply encouraged to discover that the service agent was a fellow Canadian! What are the chances that someone born and raised in our own home and native land would be working for Israir Airlines in Tel Aviv? One hundred percent with God in control!
Not only did our new friend from Canada find us seats, but she even went the extra mile and found us premium seats with extra legroom.
While we were deeply thankful to the Lord for His gracious provision of our flight, please pray for the Barbu brothers from Romania, as they were the only 2 group members who were unable to find a flight and are still currently stranded in Tel Aviv.
In closing, thank you for your prayers for me and my boys on this life-changing trip together! In my personal and pastoral opinion, every Christian should invest in visiting Israel if they are able and also hear brother John share Jesus in Jerusalem.
Because He Lives,
