Several Iolans will check off another item on their bucket lists next week.
On Tuesday, 18 pilgrims, as the Rev. Trudy Kenyon-Anderson likes to call them, will journey to Israel for a 10-day visit.
Kenyon-Anderson, pastor at Wesley United Methodist Church, and her husband, Russ Anderson, will serve as hosts. The couple were in Israel last year as a spiritual retreat.
When they returned, congregants were enchanted by their stories and requested them to go back — with them in tow.
The local entourage of 18 includes eight members from Wesley United. They will be joined by nine Lutherans from Washington state and a couple from Georgia.
Other than their hosts, none of the local group has been to Israel. Three who sat for an interview with the Register, along with Kenyon-Anderson, all said they were excited at the prospect of seeing first-hand many places they had read about for years in Bible study.
Touring the many landmarks in the Holy Land “brings the Scriptures to life and lets you visualize them more,” Kenyon-Anderson said. “It gives you a new perspective, connects you to the Bible in a different way.”
Mary Kay Heard thinks it will be “an experience of the heart, something that I will feel and will stay with me the rest of my life.”
Heard remembered being in Italy and by happenstance found herself in the presence of the Pope.
“I felt I was in the presence of a spiritual man, and I expect to have the same feeling in Israel,” she said. “I’m sure we all will be glad we went.”
Recalling her experiences in 2013, Kenyon-Anderson said being there “makes the difference between Heaven and Earth seem much smaller. It’s so holy,” prompted by knowing “so many have prayed there for centuries.”
“It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” said Flo Haynes. “Going with my pastor and people in my church is a blessing.”
“I’ve been to Athens in Greece,” said Gerry Uphoff, noting the feelings she had standing where much ancient and Biblical history occurred. “That was a spiritual feeling and I imagine that’s what it’s going to be like” in the Holy Land.
Haynes also said she was motivated to study the Bible more keenly ahead of the trip, as a preview of what she would see.
Kenyon-Anderson said a highlight of the trip, arranged through Educational Opportunity Tours, a Methodist ministry in Lakeland, Fla., would be that participants could re-affirm their baptisms in the Jordan River.
When the group returns, a Sunday morning worship service at Wesley United will have brief reports by each participant about their experiences and how their lives were touched.
