Discover the

Holy Land, Deepen

Your Faith

Insp

ira

tio

na

l Jo

urn

eys

Request your FREE

Israel music DVD today!

www.yourfreeisraeldvd.com

Inspirational Journeys

3

click here for editor’s message

ON THE COVER“i’ll Never Be the same” p. 4By amy moliNero, Vice PresideNt aNd PuBlisher

Pilgrimage p. 6Rediscovering her faith in the Holy LandBy stePhaNie thomPsoN, edmoNd, oklahoma

into the Judean Wildernessp. 10He followed in Jesus’ footstepsBy gary sloaN, NeW york, Ny

Where every stone tells a story p. 14 A Guideposts editor’s journeyBy adam huNter, editor

iN EVERy issuEfoods from the Bible p. 18A taste of Israel at your dinner table

hidden gems of the holy land p. 20Sights worth seeing

Inspirational Journeys

Insp

ira

tio

na

l Jo

urn

eys

14

THIS pASt yeAR I took a trip that changed my life. I went to Israel, a land that I had always dreamed of visiting. It turned out to be even more wonder-ful than my dreams. I discovered so much there—a

rich ancient culture, a vibrant people and the very roots of the Christian tradition I was raised in.

“I’ll never be the same”

A note from our publisher

AMY AT THE THE GArdEn ToMb In JErusALEM a short drive away andXer iliquiscing etum zzriureet ad-ipsum augait laorem iriureet veliscidunt nim vel dolenim inim zzriusci erilisi. luptat. obor sequipit lobore

By amy moliNero, guidePosts Vice PresideNt aNd PuBlisher

2

A note from our publisher I was asked to write a blog for Guideposts.org chronicling my trip. I was nervous at first. I’m a publisher, not a writer. yet what I experienced in the Holy Land was so inspir-ing, the words just came.

I saw the ruins at Cae-sarea, the Garden of Gethsemane, the tomb of Maimonides. I woke up early enough one morn-ing to catch an amaz-ing sunrise over the Sea of Galilee. I visited an ancient Jewish village, where I milked goats, made my own pita bread and rode a donkey. I floated in the Dead Sea. And let’s not for-get the food, the incredible dishes of the Middle east, recipes handed down through hundreds of generations.

When we travel we bring home with us a part of the world, and Israel lives in my heart. I can’t promise a trip to the Holy Land will change your life but I can promise you will never be quite the same.

cross cHurcH a short drive away and er iliquiscing etum zzriureet adipsum au.

5

Insp

ira

tio

na

l Jo

urn

eys

16Pilgrimage

I went to the Holy Land expecting to see the sights. I discovered so much more

7

TAke tHe tRIp or lose the deposit. that was my choice. I’d signed my husband and me up for our church’s

tour of the Holy Land secretly hop-ing it would save our marriage. I thought going together to see plac-es that were so rich with mean-ing would renew the meaning—and the romance—in our relationship. But we didn’t get that far. A few months before the trip we got divorced.

By stePhaNie thomPsoN, edmoNd, oklahoma

sAcrEd sITEs Stephanie rides a camel at the Mount of Olives; the Wailing Wall; and on the banks of the Jordan River

Insp

ira

tio

na

l Jo

urn

eys

8

Could I really afford a sightseeing junket now? Did I want to travel with a busload of people I hardly even knew? the others were mostly older, long-married couples, and being with them would only make me feel more alone. But our pastor and his wife practically insisted that I come.

“I’d have to have a roommate,” I told them one Sunday, “someone who could share expenses with me.”

“We know just the right person,” the pastor’s wife said. they introduced me to kelly Bass, a petite blonde in her late thirties, just a couple of years older than me. kelly’s husband had to stay home to run their business, so she was glad to room together. “this

TWosoME Stephanie, with Kelly at Hebrew University (left) and at the Gar-den Tomb (below). The Dead Sea (above)

9

trip sounds like a dream, doesn’t it?” she said.

kelly and I sat together on the plane. She had her Bible with her and had done lots of reading about what we would be seeing: Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Dead Sea, the Wailing Wall, the Sea of Galilee. I envied her faith, but more than that I envied the way her life had come together. She saw the trip as a pilgrimage, a kind of spiritual prepara-tion for her next adventure, starting a family. “I want to use this time to really grow in my faith,” she said. I didn’t tell her that my dreams for the trip had al-ready been dashed. Someone so happy with her marriage, so excited about

her future, couldn’t possibly under-stand how hopeless I felt.

Our first stop was Jerusalem. Our guide took us to the marketplace downtown. Walking the narrow cob-blestone streets, looking at the old buildings awash in the bright Medi-terranean sun, I kept thinking about how this was where Jesus and his dis-ciples had walked. A hundred Sunday school lessons seemed to come alive. Was it in a house like that that Jesus had hosted the meal where he broke bread and blessed the wine? Was it down this street that people had waved palms and spread their cloaks before the Messiah?

kelly and I went into a jewelry store

Guideposts Inspiration VacationsCome with Us to the Holy Lands!

Guideposts, in partnership with Travel with Spirit, invites you to join us on an 11-night cruise to the Holy Lands, October 17-28, 2011. Our editor-in-chief, Edward Grinnan, will be the host for this remarkable journey. You’ll travel round-trip from Is-tanbul, Turkey, to Israel, Egypt and Greece, visiting some of the most sacred biblical sights. To register or for more infor-mation call (888) 518-7571 or (714) 442-9931, or visit travelwithspirit.com/guideposts.

Insp

ira

tio

na

l Jo

urn

eys

1

Insp

ira

tio

na

l Jo

urn

eys

110

Into the Judean Wilderness I was going to follow Jesus – alone

2

Into the Judean Wilderness

THe pROteStS Of an angry donkey pulled me from sleep and remind-ed me how far I was from home. Slipping past my

sleeping roommates to the hotel win-dow, I caught my breath. A dozen bril-liant hues of gold and orange spilled from the rising sun to give a crowning halo to the city of Jerusalem below. In a few moments the golden Dome of the Rock was ablaze with reflected light.

As Clyde and David stretched and yawned behind me, the city was also coming to life.

this was a dream come true. I was here, in the exact spot where cen-turies of drama have unfolded. this is the city king David called home; here his son Solomon built a splendid temple. Jesus made his final earthly journey to this city. Now, looking to the stark magnificence of the Judean desert stretching far into the distance, I knew that I too had a journey to take.

By gary sloaN, NeW york, NeW york

Insp

ira

tio

na

l Jo

urn

eys

12

my own final earthly journey. I only knew that somehow it was some-thing I must do.

Actually, the journey I was planning for this day had begun years before, back in New Castle, Indiana, where I grew up. It started with the first mo-ments in my life when I sensed that there was an all-powerful and all-loving God.

ouR fAMILy was a close one and my mother was a very godly woman. ear-ly on she taught the

four of us boys to turn to God when we were in trouble. One of my earli-est and strongest childhood memo-ries was of seeing my adored brother, eight years older than I, kneeling by his bedside at night to pray.

prayer for me became a reality when I was seven years old and experienced the first real crisis of my young life. My cat penny had disappeared. We searched everywhere for the scruffy white kitten with the black ears and shiny green eyes. After three days it seemed hopeless. I tried not to show my brothers that my heart was break-ing. Alone in the dark-ness of my

parents’ bedroom, I remembered my mother’s words: “Never forget, Gary, God answers prayer.”

Right then and there, I fell to my knees. “Help us,” I blurted out to God. “We can’t find penny. you see every-thing and you know where she is. you can send her back. please do.” that done, I relaxed. Now I’m going to look out the window, I said to myself, be-cause I know God answers prayer

I looked out the window and there, in the backyard, was penny. I opened the white-framed window and she came running. As I felt the glossy fur against my cheek, my gratitude to God was as great as my confidence in him.

By the time I reached high school, however, that simple faith had faded. If someone had asked me, I probably would have said I was a Christian, but after a while I wasn’t sure what that meant. eventually I went to Wheaton, a Christian college in Illinois. I liked my studies, and I quickly got involved in swimming and band, and college politics as well. “Hi, I’m Gary Sloan, and I’m running for freshman class president,” I said, going from door to door in my dorm. “I think it’s really important for our class to emphasize

13

the spiritual side of our lives.” I meant what I said, but somehow “the spiri-tual side” no longer had the clear-cut meaning for me that I’d known as a child. that was the price one paid for growing up and living in a complicat-ed world. Inside, I yearned for greater understanding.

things went well. I won the elec-tion. I dropped band to concentrate on swimming. I was hoping for the Olympics. On the surface things went well in my spiritual life too. everyone on campus knew me as a leader of prayer meetings.

then I heard about a summer quar-ter in the Holy Land. And here I was, unbelievably, having finished the course work, overlooking Jerusalem!

“Hey, brother! Good morning! praise the Lord!” Clyde beamed.

My roommates were up now, show-ering and going for break-fast. Clyde and David were upperclassmen, and I liked both of them. Clyde, the old-est, seemed perfect. tall, blond and tanned, he came from California and had a smile for everyone.

Halfway through this trip, I’d begun to feel that I was not only in the aca-demic Olympics, but in the spiritual Olympics as well. We all searched the

A GUIDEPOSTS editor’s journey through

the Holy LandBy adam huNter, associate editor

Where Every

storystone

Tells a

Nazareth It’s an awesome feeling to be in Israel, a place where it’s hard to walk anywhere a prophet, savior or other biblical hero hasn’t walked be-fore. Like the city of Nazareth, where I found myself on the first day of my weeklong tour through the Christian religious and historical sites of the Holy Land, hosted by the Israel Min-

istry of tourism. It was my third time to Israel—I first went when I was 14 with my family—but every time offers new and enriching experiences. this trip would be no exception.

I’d imagined Nazareth would look like it did in the movie The Nativity Story, which we featured in GuIDe-pOStS a few Christmases ago. But In

spir

ati

on

al

Jou

rney

s

14

click here for more

2

Where Every

storyTells a

FIrsT sToP Poppie fields caption to come

LocAL FArE Dinner in Tiberias

that Nazareth was nowhere to be seen among the apartment buildings topped with satellite dishes. then we drove up a hill overlooking the city, and arrived at Nazareth Village, a first-century hamlet recreated by biblical scholars. Here, a woman dressed in a Roman-era tunic—fittingly named Mary—cooked us a traditional lunch over an open fire: pita bread and lentil soup, with salads, apples, dates and honey—fruits of the area’s farms.

Our guide to the village demon-strated an olive-oil press, explaining how the first few drops of oil produced are called extra virgin. to Jews of the first century, our guide said, it was holy. Sweeter than the rest of the oil, it was reserved for anointing the high priests. It didn’t smoke when burned, so it was used to power the eternal

flame kept lit in the temple. I’m Jew-ish, and I never knew that.

Sitting in the synagogue, recreated to the last detail, including a roof built of mud and straw, I imagined myself back in time. My fellow tourists, lis-tening to our guide, became the people of Nazareth, learning from our “rabbi.” the modern city faded away.

galilee I woke up the next day in a haze. Overnight, a white cloud had settled over tiberias—a city on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee and our base for exploring the area. the region’s gorgeous views were ob-scured. But as we sailed around the Sea of Galilee in our charter boat, one member of our group, Bonnie, gave a devotional reading that put things in perspective. “even though In

spir

ati

on

al

Jou

rney

s

16

unsInKAbLE Floating in the Dead Sea

PrAYEr PoWEr at the Wailing Wall

the sun is out of view, it is still there,” she said. “And so it is with God.”

the crew raised an American flag alongside an Israeli one to welcome us. then the music started. the cap-tain and his first mate sang traditional Jewish folk songs and led us in a spir-ited hora, a circle dance not normally performed on rocking boats. I know the hora well: It’s the typical dance at Jewish weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs (a Jewish rite of passage). But sharing it with people who had never danced it before gave me a thrill.

Back on the road again, I could fi-nally see the beauty of this region. I gazed out the bus window at the lush green valleys and rolling hills, the date palms and mango trees, green-houses and grazing cows. On top of the Mount of the Beatitudes, where

Jesus gave his famous sermon, we sat in a garden filled with chirping birds and colorful flowers, listening to our group organizer recite Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” the hazy sky made it easier to block out anything modern in the valley and imagine it as it was so many centuries ago.

the dead sea We drove down south the next morning through the Jordan Valley toward the Dead Sea. I watched the farms and greenhouses slowly disappear, the green hills be-come rocky, barren cliffs. to the east, in the distance, the large salty sea sparkled, teasing thirsty travelers with undrinkable water. today, spas line its shores. We stopped at one to see what makes this barren spot of desert such

17

Insp

ira

tio

na

l Jo

urn

eys

18

taBBoule salad1/2 cup fine bulgur1 cup boiling-hot water2 cups finely chopped parsley 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint2 medium tomatoes1/2 seedless cucumber3 tablespoons fresh lemon juicesalt & pepper

Directionsstir together bulgur and 1 table-spoon oil in a heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over, then cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand 15 minutes. Drain and transfer to a bowl and toss with remaining ingredients.

Foods from the bible

A taste of Israel at your dinner table

2

T HeRe IS HARDLy a biblical chapter that does not con-tain some allusion to food. wRiure faciduisi. Sis augue

velessit volor augait aliquip eugait adit veros ad min hent enit lam eu feu faci-dunt atum nim veliquisi.

Ibh eu faccum ing et adit nulputpat aut am er ipismod tate mincipit ipsusto exer se feugiam in ulla commy nim ing ea feu feugait irit autat non ut ulput vel inim vendionse min utat luptat dolor aut at. ut praesequisim il ipit, quatio dolore con ulluptatum irit.

grilled st. Peter’s fish6 small tilapiasalt1 tbsp. white wineDash of thyme1 pat of butter

DirectionsLight your grill and set it at its highest heat setting. Let it heat

up for at least 20 minutes or so.season the fish well with salt and pepper or your desired dry seasonings. Place fish on a piece of foil, cut up vegetables and place on top of fish. Add white wine, thyme, and butter.

Looking for a unique experience?

These natural wonders, historical

treasures and spiritual sites are a little off the beaten

path—and well worth a visit

Hidden Gems of the

Holy Land

Insp

ira

tio

na

l Jo

urn

eys

20

on THE sHorEs oF THE sEA blue-washed doorway Duisl ex er sisi. Olortie tem inis nos dolumsa ndiat.Ut la feuip ea feuis num del do

odolenim deleseq uatincil dit ad dolutat loreet, secte faccum quisci blan exeriusto deliquat alit volorperci enim velit, sequatio corper ad tisi blaortinit inim zzrilit full of natural wonders, 30 kilometers north of

Hidden Gems of the

Holy Land21

Insp

ira

tio

na

l Jo

urn

eys

22

THE ruIns oF nEGEv blue-washed doorway Duisl ex er sisi. Olortie tem inis nos dolumsa ndiat.Ut la feuip ea feuis num del do odolenim

deleseq uatincil dit ad dolutat loreet, secte faccum quisci blan exeriusto deliquat alit volorperci enim velit, sequatio corper ad tisi

blaortinit inim zzrilit full of natural wonders, 30 kilometers north of Eilat

2

Insp

ira

tio

na

l Jo

urn

eys

24

A TYPIcAL bLuE-WAsHEd doorWAY natural wonders, 30 kilometers north of Eilat. When we travel we bring home with us a part of the world, and Israel lives in my heart. I can’t promise a trip to the Holy Land will

change your life but I can promise you will never be quite the same. Ut la feuip ea feuis num del do odolenim deleseq uatincil dit ad do.

25