43
Group’s visit to Holy Land is a spiritual experience
By LINDA M. LINONIS
BOARDMAN
Two ministers participated in a pilgrimage to Israel and brought back photos, souvenirs and memories that will last a lifetime. It was easy to speak of where they went and what they saw, they said, but expressing what it meant to their faith was more difficult.
The Rev. David Joachim, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church, 119 Stadium Drive, and the Rev. Steve Cramer, pastor of Long’s Run Presbyterian and Trinity Presbyterian churches in East Liverpool, recently met at Westminster to reflect on the trip to the Holy Land. The trip was Oct. 28-Nov. 6 and took 11 hours by plane from Newark, N.J., to Tel Aviv, Israel.
Articulating about the spiritual experience presented a challenge for both clergy. “This is where God came to earth,” Pastor Joachim said. “No written words can explain it,” Pastor Cramer added.
Pastor Joachim said he “always wanted to go to Israel.” He had attended seminary with the Cramers and knew them through that connection. The pilgrimage involved 20 people including Pastor Joachim’s son, the Rev. Kyle Joachim of California, and the Rev. Mr. Cramer’s wife, the Rev. Meta Cramer, who is pastor of Salem Presbyterian Church. Pastor Cramer has visited Israel five times and his wife, four times. This was the first for Pastor Joachim.
In addition to the group’s tour guide, Pastor Cramer was able to add information. “Our tour guide was able to fit two weeks into eight days,” Pastor Joachim said.
Pastor Cramer said their tour started at Migdol near the Sea of Galilee. The group stayed at a hotel in a kibbutz located near the water. Pastor Joachim brought back some shells and a stone from the beach. The group also ate at St. Peter’s restaurant nearby. “We had fish from the Sea of Galilee,” Pastor Joachim said.
In the same area, the tour group visited Tabgha, where “tradition says the feeding of the 5,000 occurred.” He noted there is a fourth-century church is located there.
Pastor Joachim said he walked up a nearby hill above a cave and spoke to the tour group. “The acoustics of the place were amazing,” he said, noting he spoke in a normal voice but was a distance away and the group could hear him.
At Kof Ginosaur, Pastor Cramer said a drought in the 1980s exposed an ancient wooden boat that had been preserved in mud. “Scientists studied it and said it dated to the first century,” he said of that boat now preserved in plastic. “It’s called the Jesus boat because it is typical of boats that would have been used at that time.”
Pastor Joachim said he was surprised by the terrain. He said it was more hillier than he thought; and that made him realize how travel was difficult in the time of Jesus. “There are probably 18 excavations of sites going on all the time,” Pastor Cramer said.
Pastor Cramer pointed out that Israel is nine miles at the narrowest point and about 120 miles at the broadest. “It probably the size of northern New Jersey,” he said. Road signs also are in Hebrew, Arabic and English.
The group also visited Capernaum, where Jesus spent a lot of time and where Peter’s mother-in-law lived. “There is graffiti there from the first century,” Pastor Cramer said.
In Nazareth, the group went to a well, older than the time of Jesus and the only water source. “Ancient tradition says, but it is not in the Bible, that the annunciation to Mary happened here,” Pastor Cramer said. Nazareth is now a modern city with more than 100,000 people.
Meggido is an interesting site because remains of an ancient city form a tell, an archaeological mound. It is known for its historical, geographical and theological importance. The Greek name was Armageddon. The Book of Revelation prophesies that Armageddon will be the site of the end-time battle between God and Satan.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is located in the Old City of Jerusalem and is a major pilgrimage center for Christians. “What’s amazing is how many languages you hear,” Pastor Joachim said.
In Bethlehem, those on the pilgrimage visited the Basilica of the Nativity dating to 323 A.D. and a subfloor reveals an ancient mosiac. “Tradition has it there is where Jesus was born,” Pastor Cramer said.
He continued that an intriguing tidbit involves the reference of kataluma, a Greek word used twice in the New Testament. Mentions are the Upper Room where the Last Supper took place and in the Nativity story.
In the time of Christ, Pastor Cramer said, a family home had three levels, the lower level was for animals, middle for the family and upper (kataluma) for guests.
He said it bothered him that Mary and Joseph “could find no room at the inn” because Joseph was of the House of David and his family would have made room for them. Possibly other relatives were in the guest level, the kataluma, but the family offered the lower level stable where the animals were.
“To me, this makes sense and ties the story together,” Pastor Cramer said. “Jesus’ story began and ended in the kataluma.”
“Visiting here brings a new depth and reality to Bible study,” Pastor Cramer said. “Everything is a deeper experience here [Israel]. I have a deeper faith that is hard to put into words.”
“I just kept thinking that we were walking where He once walked,” Pastor Joachim said. “This is where Jesus lived. ... Visiting here makes your faith more alive.”
Pastor Joachim is retiring from Westminster Presbyterian after 22 years of service. He will be involved in Baton Rouge, La., mission trip in February to rehab flood-damaged homes.