EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2021 I began a new venture writing a newspaper column titled "Finding Faith" for the Forum Communications Co. network of newspapers and websites. I was asked to contribute to the company's ongoing conversation about faith, lending a Lutheran and fairly ecumenical approach to the discussion. The column was published in several of the company's papers and websites, including The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. This column originally appeared as a "Finding Faith" column on July 21, 2023.
By The Rev. Devlyn Brooks
If as a faithful person you’ve ever considered visiting the Holy Land as a bucket list item, I am excited to invite you on a trip to Israel with me and the church that I serve -- Faith Lutheran Church -- this upcoming February.
Partnering with a historied group travel company, our congregation will take a nine-day journey to follow in the footsteps of Jesus across some of the most storied faith lands mentioned in the Bible.
The adventure will begin in Tel Aviv, and includes travel to Caesarea, Cana, Nazareth, Capernaum, Jerusalem and even Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus.
Included will be experiences such as sailing on the Sea of Galilee, visiting the synagogue in Capernaum, seeing the Mount of Beatitudes and taking a moment for devotions in the Church of All Nations, built over the rock on which Jesus is believed to have prayed the night before he was crucified.
I am honored that the travel agency Collette asked me to guide this trip, and should you decide to join our congregation on this once-in-a-lifetime faith journey, the travel company will work with you to make arrangements to leave from wherever you are at and meet up with us by the start of the trip in Tel Aviv on Day One.
I am thrilled at the prospect of you traveling with the Faith Family that I serve and have come to love. And I can’t imagine a greater honor for a pastor than being able to travel with their congregation -- and friends, of course! -- to experience the land where Jesus walked together!
The good news is that for one inclusive price, the travel company will cover all your trip details, from the air travel, to hotel accommodations, to the itinerary, to even the local guides who will take us around the Holy Land.
As you can imagine with a travel arrangement this big, there is a critical time element involved. While a February trip seems a bit far away, we need commitments from all who are interested by Aug. 27 to ensure that we have all of the travel reservations secured.
For more detailed information about the trip, contact me at my email address listed below. I can send you a promotional video and all of the trip details and registration information.
As we’ve gotten to know each other through this column over these last two years, I’ve grown to consider you an extension of our congregation. And I would be honored if you’d consider traveling together with our Faith Family to the land where Jesus was born, baptized, carried out his ministry and launched the church as we know it today.
Please join us on this bucket list journey to Israel!
Devlyn Brooks is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and serves Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He also works for Forum Communications Co. He can be reached at devlynbrooks@gmail.com for comments and story ideas.
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