Making Plans...

Welcome to Memorial UMC's Holy Land blog, where you can keep up with our group as we travel to Jordan and Israel and experience the land of the Bible firsthand!

We are so excited about our pilgrimage to Jordan and Israel, and hope that you are excited for us! You may view our itinerary and what we will be doing each day HERE

*Pray for Our Holy Land Travelers!

Our Holy Land travelers will be making their pilgrimage December 4-13. Please be in prayer for them. Below are listed the travelers and their prayer partners:

Rev. Jill Howard- prayer partner Rev. Renee Perkins (Bicknell UMC)

Rev. Corey Howard- prayer partner Cindy Howard

Pat Friday- prayer partner Janet Raines

Steve Friday- prayer partner Aaron Schrader

Carol Waltersdorf- prayer partner Betty Phillips

Donna Shewmaker- prayer partner Mary Ann Boyer

David Pettyjohn- prayer partner Lynn McCool

Deanna Pettyjohn- prayer partner Marsha McCool

Stan Henderson- prayer partner Kris Henderson

As I am writing this, I am greatly anticipating our trip to Jordan and Israel in about 2 weeks! Corey and I have been busy making travel plans, purchasing those last minute travel needs, making phone calls, arranging transportation, and talking about what kinds of things we will see, what we are most excited about, nervous about, etc. Mostly, we are just excited! We will be traveling with 7 other people who will also be experiencing the Holy Land for the first time. I don’t know what they are most looking forward to, but here is my list of top ten things that I am anticipating:

1) Walking the Via Dolorosa

2) Presiding over and celebrating Holy Communion at the Garden Tomb

3) Sailing on the Sea of Galilee

4) Seeing the Temple Mount

5) Hearing the sounds of a busy Jerusalem

6) Seeing the trees in the Garden of Gethsemane that date back to the time of Christ

7) Feeling, hearing, and seeing Scripture come to life

8) Expanding relationships with Memorial people and making new friends from around the world

9) Seeing where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered

10 Walking in the footsteps of Christ and all those who have ventured before

....Oh, and…riding a camel (?)

I hope you will be in prayer for all of us as we are in the Holy Land. We promise to take lots of pictures and tell you all about it. I know that each person will have their own favorite part of the trip and their own story to tell about how the trip has impacted their faith and the way they read the Bible. Bon Voyage!

-Jill