Interfaith Pilgrims Visit Jerusalem and Bethlehem

Doug Burton
May 16, 2013

Jerusalem, Israel -- The Americans and Europeans who came to Jerusalem for a Middle East Peace Initiative trip commemorating the tenth anniversary of the "Jerusalem Declaration" for interfaith cooperation began their day on May 16 with prayer and testimonies at 6:00 a.m. Imam Regillio Frank Haselhoef of the Netherlands told the group of his thoughts on the previous day: "As we sailed on the Sea of Galilee, I understood our true reality. All humanity is on the same boat; therefore, we have a common responsibility. Although there is an upper class and a lower class on this boat, we must learn to help each other; otherwise the whole boat may sink. We need to help each other fulfill our needs. To know God is to know each other. We are humans. We are capable of doing huge things but also bad things. But we must remember: We are all on the same boat."

After breakfast, the 46-person tour made its way to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives, where people knelt in the Church of All Nations alongside pilgrims from around the world. They then walked up the steep hill to a grove of olive trees about 200 yards away, where UPF Founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon established a Holy Ground for prayer in 1965. There the group held hands and raised their voices in prayers for a revival of the love that Jesus had ignited 2,000 years ago. Some also prayed to realize the vision for the world of peace that Father and Mother Moon have made their life's work.

By 10:30 a.m. the group was on its way to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, where they honored the martyrs of Nazi hate before and during World War II. The collection of films, fixed tablets, and memorabilia documented how Nazi propagandists dehumanized their victims with hate language as a first step toward instituting total control over them. As one participant later remarked, he was struck by the polar extremes of human behavior that day, one the moral example of the Son of God, and the other the nadir of human cruelty.

Back on the buses again, the clergy and activists passed through a checkpoint on the border between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and found themselves at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. They walked downstairs to the cave where Jesus was born and to the building where St. Jerome is said to have translated the Hebrew Bible into Latin between 381 and 394 C.E.

Returning to the Hotel Dan for dinner and fellowship, the participants were worn but eager to comment on what they had experienced.

"I came to Israel to pray. I didn't come to play," said Rev. Vandy Kennedy, pastor of Walker Mill Baptist Church in Capital Heights Maryland. He went on to say: "Yesterday when I got to the Sea of Galilee, I said, Christ uses fishing as a metaphor for fishing for souls. Christ wants us to follow him and to make us fishers of men. Making us into fishers of men develops our faith in Him, and that gives us faith that all men can live in peace. I am excited about the possibilities of what God will reveal to me on this trip to the Holy Land."

Archbishop George A. Stallings, Chairman of the American Clergy Leadership Conference, said "Father Moon planted seeds through the MEPI pilgrimages. In fact, it is the hope of all the ages to see a unified world of peace. It comes out of the construct of allowing me see you as I desire you to see me. Then, the God in us is seeing the God in each other."

In a similar vein, Rev. Mark Abernathy, pastor of Connect Point Church in metro Atlanta, said, "I am really excited that UPF has reopened MEPI after Father Moon's passing. Seeing the difference between Israelis and Palestinians and how segregation is at work reminds us of what Father Moon has been talking about for years: living for the sake of others, giving and expecting nothing in return. This is a universal, worldwide teaching. We are engaging new people here."