Holy Land Visit Provides New Perspectives for African-American Pastors

  "I don't know why God keeps sending me here, but I know there is a mission",   stated Reverend Yvette Massey  of the Warren Memorial Church  during her recent visit to Israel, the third visit for Massey.

Reverend Massey arrived in Israel with 9 other African-American pastors on a hot day in the middle of July, and most of the pastors didn't quite know what to expect.  Aside from Reverend Massey, only one other pastor had ever been to the Holy Land, and the rest knew what they had read in the newspapers or seen on television: Israel is a place where there are wars, terrorist attacks and numerous Christian holy sites. 
 
But when their trip ended, there were significantly different views.
 
Reverend Derrick Harkins, the spiritual leader of the 19^th Street Baptist Church, the oldest African-American Baptist congregation in Washington, DC, described his tour as a two-dimensional experience. The itinerary provided him with "the chance to understand Israel in its everyday context. This added a dimension and texture to the trip that was so meaningful."

 The pastors' three-day seminar was sponsored by Project Interchange, a non-profit, non-political group which offers visitors around the world the opportunity to experience Israel and come to their own conclusions about the country, its people, issues and achievements.  A key goal of the group, which was established in 1982, is to challenge the common misconceptions and provide participants with the knowledge to share their new views with others, forge new cooperative initiatives and make policy decisions based on their newly deepened understanding of Israel.

 The itinerary, which emphasized the multi-cultural fabric of daily life in Israel, included visits to Wolfson Medical Center, Al-Qasemi College and Ono College, where the Christian leaders met with Director Doron Haran and learned about diversity at work.  For Reverend Debra Massey of  Warren Memorial Church in Atlanta, GA, the visit to the Yemin-Orde boarding school which houses youths at risk, was one of the most impressive stops on the program.  She was very surprised by what she learned from Dr. Chaim Peri, the director of the school.

 "This visit gave  me new insight into Israel," she said.  Israel is a place that offers hope, where you can learn. People think it is not as civilized as us, but it is."

 In Nazareth, in addition to their tour of the Basilica of the Annunciation, the pastors enjoyed home hospitality and met with a group of Christian residents and the Bishop Boutrous Marcuzzo - learning first hand about issues facing Christian communities in Israel.  They also met with Ghassan Manasra discussing religious minorities from a Muslim perspective. The importance of including religious values in the reconciliation process was certainly not lost on this group. Other important holy sites visited in the Sea of Galilee region included Capernaum and the Mt. of Beatitudes, the site of Jesus' famous the "Sermon on the Mount."

  In Tel Aviv, the clergy met with Rabbi Melchior, who discussed interfaith efforts towards reconciliation. For Reverend Hawkins of the 19^th Street Baptist Church, this spiritual reality also provides a different aspect to his ministering.

 "There is an appreciation of the long-term commitment to peace, no matter what happens, and it seems that there is a commitment to keep going back to the process to try to work it out.  At a very real profound theological level, this gives people a lot of strength in their everyday lives. We all have challenges but we can't give up."

 The trip was also a chance to hear the broad array of perspectives from Arabs, Palestinians and Israelis and to really understand what Reverend Hawkins called "the incredibly complex fabric of the region."

 Reverend Harkins, a first-time visitor to Israel, was overwhelmed when he entered Jerusalem for the very first time, a city he teaches about and preaches about but had never seen. Driving up the highway towards the historic city of gold was "a lifetime experience and deeply profound."

 Reverend Massey, whose church group has yet to come, says she will be back.  And so will Reverend Harkins. He plans to share his recent experience in Israel and the Palestinian Territories on Travelujah, the first Christian social network focused on travel to the Holy Land.  He also plans to bring his congregants,- and he's committed to never doing a "cookie cutter" tour, but rather a multi-dimensional experience created by Travelujah where he will be able to meet with spiritual leaders and others, and where his participants would have the opportunity to learn more about both the ancient and the modern.

"I couldn't go back and not incorporate all the holy sites without understanding Israel in its present context and not meeting and enjoying all the people that live there."