By Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey

Dean and I really fretted about leaving our two-year-old behind to go to the Holy Land. The journey was halfway around the world and in 1994, cell phone technology was still pretty pedestrian.

Would we ever get to talk to her?

She would grow so much while we were gone. What if we missed one of her firsts, or she didn’t recognize us when we get home?

These were all legitimate concerns as we boarded our flight that would take us on a journey of a lifetime although we were yet unaware of its impact. 

Next stop…Tel Aviv.  Yes, we missed our child but what a gift.  When you travel to this truly Holy Land, the Bible becomes three-dimensional.  You begin to understand more fully the depth of the scriptures.  You never read the Bible the same way again. 

An added gift for me was the timing.  We returned just days before Holy Week.  I remember preaching on Maundy Thursday and being brought to tears – I had walked where Jesus and the disciples walked.  I understood the intimacy of the Upper Room.  I knew what was coming.  I had been to the Garden of Gethsemane; I had been to Golgotha.

You have an opportunity to experience your journey of a lifetime in January 2025.  I, along with several other pilgrims including members of the ordination class, invite you to join us January 28-February 7 as you too have the opportunity to become a character in the Biblical story as it unfolds before your very eyes. 

For more information go to: Holy Land Journey
or contact Robin Rodriguez in my office at .