After COVID-19 complications canceled his plans last winter, junior Fernando Bravo looks forward to traveling to Israel this December.
“What better group of people to visit with than from Hillsdale College,” Bravo said. “They want to learn how to live out their beliefs both through the liberal arts and religious perspective and be able to balance the intellectual and spiritual aspect of Christianity.”
Passages is a Christian organization that takes students on trips to the Holy Land. Hillsdale College has partnered with it since 2015. Passages believes “a trip to Israel should be a rite of passage for every Christian.” According to its website, Passages aims to “strengthen the faith of Christian students, connect them to Israel, and prepare them for a life of Christ-centered leadership.”
Hillsdale has room for 41 students, with 30 spots currently remaining. The last day to apply for the trip is Thursday, September 15.
A visit to Israel allows Hillsdale’s largely religious student body to encounter the history in their textbooks and experience their faith on a personal level.
In a similar way, Bravo looks forward to strengthening his personal faith while visiting Israel.
“I look forward to understanding my faith more by seeing everything that I’ve read about in the Bible,” Bravo said. “Through exploring Israel, walking where Jesus walked, and following the Christian story more closely in person acts, like how much closer can you get?”
Director of Clinical Health and Wellness and Clinical Counselor Brock Lutz and his wife Jennifer will attend the trip as chaplains. Lutz hopes to help students think about the sites they visit on a deeper, spiritual level.
“When I went to the training, what became really clear is that they want people to go to Israel for their faith and to be deeply impacted,” Lutz said. “Passages wants people to have an experience with God and to see Christ and his homeland and where he actually lived.”
Since the first trip in 2015, Don Westblade, assistant professor of religion, has chaperoned the visits.
“The experience of seeing lands that you read about in the Bible in person is incarnational,” Westblade said. “Every student comes back from the trip transformed by that experience.”
Between December 31 and January 10, travelers visit sites such as Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, the Garden of Gethsemane, Tel Aviv, the Sea of Galilee, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Gospel Trail, observe the barrier wall between Israel and the West Bank, and the church Dominus Flevit. According to Westblade, Passages takes advantage of its time in Israel with a full itinerary.
Westblade encourages students who chose not to apply due to safety or financial concerns to reconsider. Due to a large network of program alumni and donors, Passages subsidizes up to 80% of the trip for Christian college students.
“They do an amazing job of not only giving you a first class tour, but it’s also very safe,” Westblade said. “I’ve had a couple of students say to me, I’m not sure my mom or my dad would be okay with me going to Israel.”
Passages stays in direct contact with the Israeli Department of Defense, Westblade explained. Every day, it submits an itinerary and asks if the Israeli DOD notices any dangers with their intended sites. If concerns arise, Passages alters that day’s itinerary.
Another big concern for students is the financial cost of the trip due to a recent increase in the out-of-pocket cost. However, Lutz urges students to view the trip as an investment instead of a burden.
“I think it’s going to be time well spent growing in your faith and fellowshipping with other people,” Lutz said. “If people can make it work, I would really encourage them to do that.”
Westblade emphasizes that the educational and spiritual benefits of the trip should not be discounted due to safety or financial concerns.
“Every moment of the trip will be an educational opportunity,” Westblade said. “It’s going to be ten very packed days of travel, education, and meetings. It will all be very enjoyable, but not so laid back.”
Passages intentionally leads students off the “beaten tourist path” to experience Israel’s diverse society. A mixture of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim guides teach students about historical events. During one dinner, students eat a traditional Shabbat meal with an Israeli family. At another location, they overlook Palestine to see Bethlehem from afar.
“I like the history of the times of the Old and New Testament,” Westblade said. “Places like Hezekiah’s Tunnel that you can still walk through, which was built back in the seventh century is the real excitement to me.”
Lutz looks forward to seeing spiritual sites surrounding the Easter story, which were significant to his own faith journey, come to life on the visit.
“These aren’t just Bible stories that we might read about. These are stories where Jesus was a living, real person. He grew up in this village, this is where he performed his miracles, and this is where he died and lived,” Lutz said. “What better way to grow in your faith than to connect with the actual roots of it?”