Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

Welcome to our Pilgrimage Website

About Us

We are a group of people who have been to the Land of the Bible on pilgrimage, and who want to tell you about our experiences there.  We come from all over Ireland and beyond, and our numbers are added to each year, as another pilgrimage takes place.
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Purpose

Holy Land pilgrimage has all the ingredients of a wonderful break - new places, new faces, rest, refreshment, a change from the routine - but so much more besides. It is more than a journey. Pilgrimage is immensely fulfilling, offering a profound biblical experience of journeying with God.

Going on pilgrimage puts us in touch with the roots and realities of our faith in a spiritual and Spirit-filled way. It is a journey for the soul as much as for the mind and body.

Leadership Team

Leadership

Canon David Humphries is the Rector of Kilbride (Connor). He has twenty-five years of experience in leading pilgrimages to the Holy Land. He has an in-depth knowledge of the land and its people and personally directs every aspect of the pilgrimage from planning to completion. David often engages other clerical colleagues to support his own considerable pastoral skills, biblical knowledge and spiritual insight. To ensure the best possible experience for pilgrims, David uses the services of McCabe Pilgrimages which is an ATOL protected company. This specialist company makes all the travel and accomodation arrangements and facilitates the specific requirements of each pilgrimage group. The hotels used in the Holy Land are always of a high standard with the emphasis on comfort, location, good food and friendly, helpful staff. David is very often assisted by the Revd Amanda Adams, who is Rector of Ballyrahshane & Kildollagh. The two leaders have operated very successfully for several years now, and their planning and supervising of each spiritual journey is painstaking and meticulous.

Local Guide and Driver

Each pilgrimage is accompanied by a local guide. David ensures that these guides are not only skilled and knowledgeable but sensitive to the spiritual needs of Christian pilgrims. As pilgrimage is about journeying, we use only the most reputable coaching companies with expert drivers and safe and comfortable coaches. Together the guide and driver quickly become members of the pilgrimage family.

The Pilgrims

Pilgrims come from all over Ireland, often from different Christian denominations and some return year after year. Each pilgrimage group meets together at least three times before the trip so that they can get to know each other, ask questions, and be prepared for the amazing journey that lies ahead. It's wonderful to see friendships grow, and the occasional reunion allows pilgrims to catch up and revisit their Holy Land memories together. Pilgrimage suits individual travellers, couples and friends as well as church groups. All are made welcome.

Experiences

The joy of pilgrimage is that the experience of each place is both personal and precious to the individual pilgrim and enhanced by being with fellow travellers. Differing individual reactions and experiences are among the blessings of pilgrimage and remind us that God's Spirit is moving amongst us. On pilgrimage we don't just journey through a place, but aim to allow each place to journey through us.

 

Jeel al Amal

 The town of Azariya, perhaps better known to western Christians as Bethany, is only a two mile walk over the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem. However, because of the security wall, it is now in the West Bank, and a journey must be made by bus or taxi, taking about 30 minutes. It is in Azariya that a modern-day miracle is taking place, where in an orphanage, children are being brought up as either Muslims or Christians, depending on their origins. All the children are boys, and they live together in peaceful co-existence. Jeel al Amal (meaning "Generation of Hope") is a definite stop on all our pilgrimage itineraries, as it is a place of great joy and happiness. There are about 100 boys in the orphanage and several hundred in the adjoining school. 

 The founder of the orphanage was Alice Sahhar, a Christian inhabitant of Azariya, who with her husband Basil brought two homeless boys into their home to take care of them. As time went by, other boys were found living in difficult circumstances, and they too were invited into the Sahhar home. Eventually an orphanage was begun, and now there are almost 100 boys being looked after in a school and dormitories. The present Director is a daughter of the late Alice Sahhar, and several of the staff are themselves former pupils of the orphanage, who are always ready to tell of their own happy times there. All of our pilgrim groups are busy organising fund-raising activities and making donations to Jeel, as this is the main source of funding for the project. Central funding for the UK is looked after by the McCabe Educational Trust, which is a sister group of McCabe Pilgrimages, and many former pilgrims contribute to this. 

  

Gallery

Response

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 As individuals, all pilgrims experience things differently in the Holy Land.  There is no right or wrong way.  Pilgrimage does not require a certain degree of piety, only a simple openness to God.  Journeying to the Holy Land provided you with a unique opportunity to touch, to see, to feel, or just to sit and listen, as the prophet Elijah did, to the still, small voice of God.

One opportunity to respond as pilgrims together is when we renew our baptismal promises at the site on the Jordan River where Jesus was most likely baptised by John.  Here we see others being baptised for the first time.

In addition to enjoying the delicious food and warm hospitality of the Holy Land, pilgrims also have the opportunity to relax and sample other delights such as floating in the Dead Sea, swimming at Galilee and shopping for the crafts and products unique to the region.

For the keen photographer, the possibilities are endless as we walk the narrow streets of Old Jerusalem, take in the dramatic grandeur of the Judean Wilderness or admire the vibrant coloured wildflowers of the fertile Galilee region.  It is truly a land flowing with milk and honey, a land of abundance and a land of blessing.

Video Interview

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Weather

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 We normally travel to Israel in the month of May.  The weather on average is sunny and warm, with very little rain, if any.  During the day we travel in shirt sleeves; Jerusalem is cooler in the evening, so we advise pilgrims to bring a cardigan or something similar.  Our coach and hotels are all air conditioned, as are most restaurants and shops, so our journeying is very comfortable.  Weather in the Galilee is usually a few degrees warmer than Judea, although no one is ever cold!

You should note that this information is based on what we have experienced; there may well be variations.

THE NEXT PILGRIMAGE

When is the next pilgrimage?
Our next pilgrimage will be 11 - 21 May 2021, and we have a string of folks already booked!

What's in the programme?
Our daily programme will include Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, Bethlehem, Masada and the Dead Sea, Qumran, Jericho and Wadi Qelt, Bethany and the Tomb of Lazarus, Ramallah, Cesarea Maritima, Sea of Galilee, Akko (Acre), Tiberias, Yardenit, Capernaum, Mensa Christi, the Golan Heights, Casarea Philippi, Safed, Nazareth, Mount Tabor, and more.

What company do you travel with?
We will again travel with McCabe Pilgrimages of London, who are experts on pilgrimage in the Holy Land.

What do you do if you want to go?
Just take a look at the HOW TO BOOK page, which will display a link to the 2021 brochure as soon as it is printed, and will give booking details. You'll get all the information you need.
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Forum

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Welcome to our forum.
Here you can find a great community for sharing new ideas and talking about life on pilgrimage.
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Join us

  • St Bride's Rectory, 53 Brook Meadow, Doagh, Ballyclare, BT39 0QF, Northern Ireland, UK.

In Memoriam

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In Memoriam

Here are the names of those who went on pilgrimage with us in the past, who have since died.

Peggy Aikman, Anne Irwin, Bobby Little, Noel Donaldson, Peggy Donaldson, Grace Morrison, Mary Fox, May Morrow, Grace Hill, Margo Timmins, Eileen Turner, Winnie Cowan, Elizabeth McClure, Margaret Lynas, Ron Horn, Drew Nelson, Cherry Murphy.

A strong bond is established between those who share a spiritual journey.  We miss those no longer with us, but thank God for their friendship and fellowship in times past.

Acknowledgements

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Photos for this site have kindly been provided by:  
David Humphries
Andrew Johnston
Philip Wilson
Bob Poots
Annette McGrath
Amanda Adams
McCabe Pilgrimages

This site is under constant revision.  Information and ideas are always welcome.
Drop us a line!