Meeting Jesus

I grew up in a Christian household. As a child, I remember going to church every Sunday morning with my family and every evening for Sunday school with my friends. I was always able to see God’s presence in and around my life, but I never really talked about it. Over the years, God has sent some incredibly humble, faithful, Godly servants over my path during times of hardships and also in times of joy. So I knew God was present in my life, but it always felt like I was waiting for something to change, and I could feel something was about to.

I love to travel. I love nature. I am fascinated with different cultures and countries, yet I have never had the desire to go to Israel. That is until February 2023. A colleague of mine had been telling us stories of his experiences in Israel during our morning Bible study sessions. I suddenly had this burning desire to go! And to go NOW! (If you read this and you know a little bit about me, you’ll know that I’m not the most patient person in the world. Its one of the Fruits of the Spirit that I’m still working on.) So, knowing my tendency to impulsive decision making, it took some effort to convince my dear family members that this is not just another impulsive decision but that it was an urgent matter that I felt the Holy Spirit was pressing down on my heart. Like many others, I’ve never heard the Holy Spirit in an audible voice, only by an overwhelming pressure in my heart. This was one of those cases.

There were challenges. I had just resigned my job, mainly to spend more time with my family. The trip was expensive, and I wasn’t planning on going alone. I wanted to share this with my husband who happens to be one of those humble, faithful, Godly servants that I mentioned earlier. We also have kids. So they needed a care taker while we were away. Luckily, there were other humble, faithful, Godly servants in my life who volunteered to assist.

By God’s grace, we managed to overcome these challenges. We joined a tour group of about 300 pilgrims along with Evangelist, Angus Buchan. Over the next few days, I will be sharing some of our experiences with you and I truly hope that it will inspire you to meet Jesus again, in a renewed way.

Photo credit: Wilner Steffens