Revelations
TRANSFORMATIONAL TRAVEL TOWARD PEACE by Rev . Dr . Mae Elise Cannon
MEJDI TOURS
As a child growing up in a rural community in southern Maryland , many of my friends , neighbors and classmates didn ’ t have much opportunity to travel . It was a big deal to leave Calvert County and head 38 miles away to Washington D . C . We all loved our annual school field trips to the Smithsonian museums . While there is much I appreciate about rural living , the opportunity to see the big city and travel the world was always something that offered exciting opportunities and expanded horizons .
One of my dreams as a young person was to travel to Israel to see the Holy Land . As a Christian , I wanted to visit the places where Jesus lived , breathed and did ministry . For years I sought opportunities to take a vacation to see the holy sites . Finally in 2009 , I traveled to Israel and the Palestinian territories with a church group . This type of pilgrimage is significant in its own right , as the places we visited had spiritual significance for Jews , Muslims and Christians throughout the centuries . The sites were beautiful , and the historical meaning of the places we saw was astounding . As we walked through the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem , I truly felt that the “ stones would cry out ” and tell the stories of centuries past . Our trip included wonderful , fun adventures like hiking the plateau of Masada and floating in the Dead Sea .
Yet one of the most profound transformations I experienced was not through the physical stones
of the land , but rather through the people we encountered — the living stones . On one occasion we heard the story of Bishara Awad , a Palestinian Christian whose family had become refugees after the 1948 war . While I consider myself well educated , listening to his personal narrative introduced me to the story of the Palestinian people , whom I knew little about . Our group heard about his family history and learned about the ways he and so many others work toward peace through Bethlehem Bible College and the broader community in Bethlehem .
During the two weeks of our travel , our group met and experienced meaningful community with both Palestinians and Israelis . We heard stories of triumph as well as deeply wounded narratives of personal loss and tragedy . Little did we know the ways our own lives would be touched by the vulnerability and opportunity for meaningful relationships with Israelis and Palestinians who were actively engaged in efforts toward peace .
Since that trip I ’ ve had the great privilege of working alongside MEJDI Tours , a company that is committed to changing the world through travel and to providing experiences that can be a vehicle for a more positive and interconnected world . Pursuing social change by offering multi-narrative experiences , MEJDI seeks to provide connections across cultures , languages , religions , nationalities and ethnicities .
It is a profound experience to stand on the Mount of Olives overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem and hear of the place ’ s significance from Jewish , Muslim and Christian perspectives . While MEJDI specializes in providing opportunities to travel to the Holy Land , they also work in other geographic locations around the world , including Northern Ireland , Cuba , Turkey and Eastern Europe .
Consider what it might mean for your next family vacation or trip with friends to be a life-transforming experience — witnessing amazing sites , enjoying fun adventures and activities , and developing relationships with people from cultures far different from your own .
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