Israel

I'm usually not the type of person to enjoy group trips. They typically feel overpriced to me, and I like to have full control over my itinerary when traveling. However, a campus ministry from Mizzou takes a group of students to Israel each year through a company called Passages. Their goal is to educate students about their Christian faith and modern Israel, all while making it fun and affordable. To be honest, they had me at 'affordable'. I decided to take a step outside of my comfort zone and sign up for the trip knowing only one other person going and having no control over the itinerary. Turns out, this was the best decision I ever made. 

This trip was so well organized and planned out - I was able to learn so much more than if I would have traveled alone. One of the most eye opening things that I learned about was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This conflict is one that I had always heard about in the news but never actually knew what was going on. We were able to hear from both Israeli and Palestinian speakers, which was something that I think really enhanced my experience and allowed me to get a full picture of the conflict. Both groups of people believe that they have the right to this land, and because of this, there is so much violence and discrimination coming from both sides. The sad thing is that this conflict is for two governments that cannot get along, but it really only ends up hurting the actual humans - civilians - that truly only want peace. 

I also learned a lot about the Jewish-Christian relations - two more groups that have had tension building between them for decades. We heard from various Christian and Jewish speakers with varying viewpoints on the topic. I think it's important to acknowledge the 'human' and similarities in one another first, rather than jumping to immediate resistance based on religion. One thing that really helped me learn this was attending a Jewish family's Shabbot dinner. Seeing the love and joy within the family showed me that at the end of the day it really doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you treat other people with kindness. It was also fun to be able to learn about and participate in this Jewish tradition. 

A lot of people think that traveling to Israel will elicit some sort of spiritual enlightenment. To be quite honest, I wasn't emotionally moved while I was there. I think some people forget that Israel is a modern state - especially Jerusalem, which is a big, working city. It didn't feel like I was necessarily walking on the ground that Jesus walked on; it just felt like I was exploring a city with rich history and culture. It wasn't until after I got home (and a few months...) that I was able to fully reflect and process the trip. The biggest takeaway and impact that this trip had on my life is the ability to better understand and visualize the Bible and teachings of Jesus. I also read the book 'Killing Jesus' while in Israel, and it gave me the historical context of the crucifixion. I feel like I gained such a deeper understanding of Christianity and brought the Bible to life by going on this trip.