The name ‘Holy Land’ means different things to different people. I knew very little about the many competing narratives around this place until my time with Holy Land Trust. What started out as a crazy idea after I stumbled upon the Summer Encounter program online, it gradually turned into one that I toyed with frequently in my mind.
Seven years ago as a 22-year-old living in my tiny American bubble, I heard about a trip going to the Holy land. Intrigued about the pilgrimage of where Jesus walked, I went to that meeting and heard stories of amazing adventures from the Middle East.
Last night over dinner I asked my son’s new girlfriend what was her favourite food? Falafel she replied. I blurted out my first thought. Brilliant, you can come to Palestine with us. The look on her face conveyed a hundred emotions. Fear, caution, intrigue, surprise, and some interest.
When I was in the airport on my way here, I was so nervous that I wrote a Facebook post in an attempt to work through it. I wrote, “And I’m off to Israel/Palestine for a month!
