In November, we had the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream when we traveled to the Holy Land with a group from our home church, Fielder Road Baptist in Arlington, TX. When Paul was in college at Wayland Baptist University, he was a member of a small singing group called the Spirit of America Singers. They were invited to spend 6 weeks during the summer of 1976, entertaining on a cruise ship that sailed on the Mediterranean Sea and visited the Holy Lands and the Greek Isles. One of Paul's dreams has always been to one day take Christy to the Holy Land. This is a picture of us at the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus preached the "Sermon on the Mount" along the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
We were invited by some of our friends, David and Debbie Burk, to join their group as they hosted a trip to Israel, Egypt and Greece. We were excited that friends and fellow traveling Christian musicians, Sherman and Tammy Aten were also able to join us on the trip. This is a picture of Christy, Sherman, Tammy and David as we began our day of touring on the Sea of Galilee.
We knew this trip would also be a great opportunity for us to get to know our pastor, Dr. Gary Smith, and some of the other members of our home church better. Pictured here is Bro. Gary leading our group in one of the devotional times during our day of touring the ancient ruins of Ephesus in Turkey.
The coliseum we are seated in held over 25,000 people during ancient Biblical times.
The ruins of Ephesus where the apostle Paul preached, was one of the highlights of our trip to the Holy Land. The ruins, located along the shores of the country of Turkey, were just breathtaking to see and experience.
Another stop on our tour was in Egypt. Pictured on the left, we are standing in front of one of the Great Pyramids of Giza.
During that day, we also toured the Egyptian Museum and the Great Sphinx but we opted out on riding on one of those smelly old camels, pictured below!
As we thought and prayed about going on this trip to the Holy Land, our desire to visit the region where Jesus walked, taught and lived so long ago began to grow in our hearts. In the last 5 years, there have been many times that we did not know if Paul was going to make it through all of the health issues that he had been facing. For us it seemed almost impossible to make the trip because we were still paying off the bills from Paul's colon surgery and frequent hospital stays while battling ulcerative colitis. You see, we have had friends who planned and dreamed all their lives about the things they were going to do when they retired, but none of their dreams came true because of illness or death. So we decided to borrow some money from our retirement account to make the trip. Our time in the Holy Land was a new beginning for the both of us.
Here we are pictured standing in front of the entrance to the Garden Tomb, just outside of the city of Jerusalem. The Bible says in Luke 23 that after His crucifixion, Jesus Christ was taken down from the cross and buried in a new, unused tomb hewn into the rock at the side of a hill.
On the right is a picture of the "Eastern Gate" entrance, where the Bible proclaims that Jesus will someday return in all His Glory!
On the left is a photo of Tammy Aten, Debbie Burk and Christy in front of the ruins of the city of Corinth, where the apostle Paul worked for 3 years in the 1st century AD. During the 3rd century BC, Corinth was the largest, richest and most pleasure-loving city in all of ancient Greece.
On the right is a photo of the "Wailing Wall" in the old city of Jerusalem, one of the most sacred sites to the Jewish people in all of Israel. It is a remnant of the ancient "Western Wall" that surrounded the Jewish Temple courtyard. It was constructed around 19th century BC by Harod the Great.
The last stop on our trip was a tour of the magnificent capital city of Athens, Greece. Athens is one of the oldest cities in the world, spanning around 3,400 years of recorded history. It is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy. The photo on the left is a picture of the Parthenon, a massive structure completed in 438 BC and dedicated to the Greek goddess, Athena.
During his 2nd missionary journey in the 1st century AD, the apostle Paul wrote in Acts 17 that he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere throughout the city. Paul spoke about an altar he saw with the inscription on it, "To the Unknown God". On the right is a picture of Mars Hill as it stands today, overlooking the city where Paul preached to the "men of Athens" about the message of Jesus Christ.
On the left, Christy and Tammy take time out for a photo in front of the Parthenon. It was an unbelievable moment for the girls, having come such a long way from their high school days together back in Floydada, TX!
Walking and singing together with our dearest friends along the paths where Jesus walked so long ago, was an inexpressible joy for us! We hope to one day go back as tour hosts to the Holy Land to share this incredible experience with others. Pictured on the right is Christy standing for the last time in front of the Greek cruise ship, Cristal, our home during the trip to Israel, Egypt, Turkey and the Greek Isles.
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