Utica church group safely returns from religious pilgrimage in Israel

This past weekend, all 26 members of the Tabernacle Church of Utica returned safely from Israel.

On Friday, Oct. 14, eight members drove across the border to Jordan, two back to Tel Aviv, to fly home.

The remaining 16 left on Saturday, the original date of departure, though not with Air Canada, but with Etihad Airlines instead.

The trip had been a long time coming, nearly a decade ago congregation members expressed interest.

“It was the late Rev. Daniel San’s dream to visit the Holy Land,” explained Pastor Debbie Kelsey. “This trip was deeply spiritual for us all, we felt humbled to be able to visit a place that holds such significance.”

Flying into an unexpected warzone

The church booked their trip with IBM tours who secured their flights, hotel rooms, and connected them with both a local guide and bus driver in Israel.

Approximately two hours into an 11.5 hour flight the aircraft was told that their final destination was in distress. Hamas had launched their attacks on the southern border.

“Initially a feeling of disbelief swept over me… how could this possibly be true?,” explained Kelsey.

“It’s part of our faith that we leave things in God's hands and I had a sense that if we took things one step at a time everything would be okay.”

The group landed at 10 a.m. on Oct. 7, four hours after the first attacks occurred.

Scattered throughout the aircraft they hadn’t been able to partake in a group prayer during the flight. Once they reached the tour bus they immediately held a moment of supplication; praying not only for their own safety but for widespread peace.

“There was a sense of stillness in Israel that one would not expect from a country in chaos,” described Kelsey.

The Israeli government had ordered everyone to stay indoors.

The streets were desolate.

“Our tour guide put us at ease, he informed us of the Iron Dome – a mobile air defense system that takes out 90% of the rockets before they reach the ground,” said Kelsey.

Rafi, their local tour guide, pointed out all the bomb shelters in Tel Aviv on their drive to the hotel.

“From the time you hear an air siren you have a minute and a half before the missile hits the ground; in that time you need to make it to a bomb shelter,” Rafi told the group, Kelsey recalled.

While arriving at the hotel was emotional, it was joy that took precedent. They group had finally made it to the country they had longed to visit their entire lives.

Shifting perspective

Eighteen of the 26 church members were refugees from Burma.

“A great deal of us could recall a time when we had to flee and were left without shelter; this situation felt comparably better,” said Kelsey. “We were just hours away from destruction but we weren’t in the midst of destruction.”

Their first hotel in Tel Aviv had a host of guests from around the world, most of whom were also Christians undergoing pilgrimage.

“The unity between us transcended languages… the comradery was palpable” emphasized Kelsey.

“Together we shared an important moment in history that deepened my appreciation for humanity.”

In fact, the people the travelers met abroad brought forth a love that transcended not only language, but religion too.

Their tour guide, Rafi, was Israeli and Jewish. Musa, their bus driver, was Arab and Muslim.

“Despite being a Christian faith group during that crucible of high stress we formed a trilateral of strength,” said Kelsey.

She recalls the group's time spent in a bomb shelter – the sound of exploding rockets in the background.

Unable to receive a strong signal on her cell, her husband coordinated with the U.S. Embassy on the group’s behalf.

“I asked myself: how can we harness this incredible power of forming relationships across religions and cultures?,” said Kelsey.

“After sitting there – reflecting on the sense of kinship we’d experienced with our new brothers and sisters – I came to believe there was a way for peace to be reached in the Middle East.”

Visiting the Holy Sites

After departing Tel Aviv the group traveled to Caesarea and Magdala.

They traveled north and stayed in Tiberias for two nights, visiting the site of the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes.

From there they took a boat ride over the Sea of Galilee, stopped at the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish, and held a baptism service in the Jordan River.

The group stayed in Jerusalem for four nights, visiting one of the two possible sites of the crucifixion and the Garden Tomb.

In Jerusalem they held a communion service outside of the Church of the Garden of Gethsemane.

They caught a glimpse of the Dome of the Rock in the Old City, today called the Al-Aqsa Mosque, whose entrance by Jewish leaders last week was named one of the leading factors for the attacks by Hamas.

Holding sensitivity for civilians

The group held sensitivity for every local they interacted with.

The conversation that sticks out the most to Kelsey is one she had with a security guard outside the hotel.

“I hope that the hotel will stay open so you can have a job,” Kelsey told the guard.

“I’m not worried about my job, I’m worried for my life,” the guard responded, according to Kelsey.

In that moment she tried to be present and remind him that he would not be forgotten.

This conversation evoked questions for Kelsey to grapple with about how we, as Americans, can become better advocates.

“It is our responsibility, as citizens of a nation that is very engaged with Israel, to keep abreast of current events and not become reactive but instead evaluative – to ensure that our responses are both ethical and thoughtful," she said.

Interfaith practice

The group returned to Utica changed, particularly Kelsey.

“I come back to Utica where our closest faith community is a Hispanic Adventist Church and equally as distant is a Bosnian Mosque,” said Kelsey.

“I know local church leaders but there is still a bridge to gap – I believe that Tabernacle Church can be a crucible here in the States too; where high stress also exists but expresses itself more covertly.”

Their goal is to now work towards obtaining peace here in Utica.

Kelsey is devoted to strengthening the local interfaith community.

Moving forward with grace

“The travelers now share a greater appreciation for the precarity of life, they’ve experienced how lives can become turned upside down in just a moment’s time,” stated Reverend James Jelly, Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of New York State.

“I suspect that hearing their story will invite others to extend empathy for the people who live so vulnerably in the midst of conflict.”

This upcoming Friday, Oct. 20, the group plans to eat together at sundown to mark the beginning of Sabbath.

The group will debrief their recent trip and how it’s felt to return home.

Each member is urged to bring their loved ones too, to help fully flesh out their experience.

Kelsey created a Facebook messenger chat for the trip but even upon returning home it’s remained active.

“I was entrusted by God to care for these people that I loved deeply,” said Kelsey. “I would go anywhere with this group – but I’d like to avoid an airplane ride that's more than eight hours for the rest of my life."

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Israel journey: Group from Tabernacle Church of Utica returns home