Imagine for a moment that you are sitting in a boat on the Sea of Galilee where Peter got out of the boat to walk to Jesus on the water.
Now imagine being a college student experiencing these events and many more in Israel.
Walking Where Jesus Walked
Shelley Pearson • Feb 24, 2023
In early January, five students from the Northland Region (all from Minnesota) joined 27 other college students from around the United States for FCA’s first-ever partnership trip with Passages Israel. Each one is now forever changed.
Passages leadership believes that “There is no substitute for walking the land where Jesus walked and traversing the paths of the patriarchs, kings, prophets and the first disciples. The origins of both ancient Biblical faith and of a present-day nation—rich with culture, diversity, beauty, and challenges—are in Israel . . . Introducing students to Israel will help them strengthen the foundation of their Christian faith and give them the tools they need to lead.” This goes well with FCA’s desire to raise up lifelong Christ-centered leaders who will influence the world for Christ.
Walking Where Jesus Walked
70% of each Passages trip is exploring Biblical sites like Capernaum, Jerusalem, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, En Gedi, the Dead Sea, and Mt. Precipice.

Keziah’s favorite biblical site was the Garden Tomb. She said, “I enjoyed going to the Garden Tomb and finding it empty! Jesus is alive. We were able to take communion at this site, and it was humbling to know that we are in the general vicinity of where Jesus died and became the body and blood.”
For Katie, it was the “Sea of Galilee: This is the first moment that the reality of where I was sunk in. I was touching the water that Jesus walked on. I was filled with gratitude as I envisioned the Bible stories coming to life right in front of me.”
Eden loved standing on top of the Mount of Olives, then walking past the Garden of Gethsemane, down the same road as the Triumphal Entry, and through the gates of Jerusalem where they spent the day taking in many sites.
Noah said, “Caesarea Philippi was impactful because it was where Peter confesses Jesus to be the Messiah and Jesus tells Peter that He will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail. It is also where he later rebukes Peter saying, ‘Get behind me, Satan.’ Seeing the reality of the situations where they took place was awesome.”
Finally, for Jonathan, it was the Southern Steps of the Temple Mount where 3,000 were saved on the Day of Pentecost. No one knows the exact spot where many biblical events took place, but historians are positive that the Southern Steps were the location of Pentecost with baptisms occurring nearby.
The students visited numerous places of biblical significance from the birth and death of Jesus to significant places of his ministry. They even visited the old City of David and the tunnels King Hezekiah built in the 8th century BC to survive a siege by the Assyrian army.
Israel Today
The other 30% of their time in Israel was spent learning about Israel and the surrounding areas today by hearing the perspectives of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Israelis, and Christian and Muslim Palestinians and visiting some of the areas of conflict. Often, these happened in the same day. For example, Bethlehem lies in Palestinian territory. The students passed a security checkpoint, stopped by the wall separating Palestine from Israel, listened to the perspective of two Palestinian Arabs, and then drove the few miles to the place where it is believed Jesus was born. They quickly learned to wrestle through these current events mixed with the biblical significance of areas of conflict.
As Jonathan took it all in, he said, “The two biggest things that stood out to me were how developed Israel truly is [third in the world for technology companies, etc.] and how amazingly they have responded in the past 70 years to thousands of years of antisemitism. The country they have built is extremely impressive and growing fast.”
Eden realized how divided the area is as there has been conflict with every nation surrounding them. Noah realized that there is no “side” to pick when looking at the conflict but good and bad on each side. Similarly, Keziah said, “Israel needs prayers. There is so much conflict going on from all sides of Israel. As Christians, we need to be able to unbiasedly serve the needs of people instead of doing something for political gain.”
All this was driven home the day the students traveled to the Israeli community closest to the Gaza Strip. Gaza is controlled by the militant movement of Hamas. Hamas launches missiles into the community several times each month, and residents have only 15 seconds to get to a bomb shelter. Each home must be equipped with a bomb shelter, the school is a bomb shelter, and there is a bomb shelter under the playground.
As the group stood by a bomb shelter near the wall, they were very aware of the Israeli tower mounted with an automatic gun and a Palestinian guard watching from his tower just a little further away. This is the daily life for those in that community, yet they had well-kept homes with beautiful flowers in their yards, and children were heard laughing and playing like any other place. Katie was shocked by the normalcy of life there. She said, “I realized how much I take certain securities and liberties for granted.”
The students were challenged to pursue truth and take nothing for granted.
Life Change
Passages Israel knows that a trip to Israel will change those who go on the trip. This was certainly true for Keziah, Eden, Katie, Noah, and Jonathan. Each one is forever different:

Keziah: “This trip has changed how I view the Bible both contextually and geographically. I will always be able to picture these sites in my head and hear Dany's [their Jewish guide] voice telling me the amazing stories at each place.”
Katie: “This trip beautified Christ for me in a way that I have rarely experienced. ‘Seek and you shall find.’ What I found in Israel made me fall in love with Jesus so much more. I feel as if I have more of an urgency to share the Good News, knowing that I stood in the places where Jesus walked and saw physical evidence of His being. This trip grew the everlasting flame in my heart; it changes the way I read my Bible, changes the way I love the Lord, and changes the urgency in which I disciple people back home.”
Eden (short and sweet, but says it all): It has changed the way I will read my Bible forever!
Noah: (not as short and sweet but so impactful): “I am better equipped to inform others about the truth of the Bible. I know where these places are and . . . have a better idea of how to answer their questions in relation to the topography. Personally, each and every day, I feel myself echoing the prayer of the apostles in Luke 17:5, “Increase our faith.’ My faith is stronger because of this trip, and I am thankful that the Lord reveals himself in history then and still does now. The fact of the matter is that we saw the tombs and they were empty. Christ is Risen!”

Finally, Jonathan: “This trip will encourage me to give EVERYTHING to Christ all of the time. There are Jewish people who convert to Christianity and are hated by their families for it. I want to pursue that level of boldness and faith in my life, following their example.”
Connect with us:
Subscribe to Blog:
