Meeting at BMU on Sunday, 9/25 at 1:30PM
We’re happy and relieved to announce that Friends of Wadi Foquin are renewing our Holy Land pilgrimages beginning in spring 2023 after a break of five years (whew!). You’re getting this email because members of your congregation have expressed interest in the past in joining us.
We have three possible departure dates. We’ll select the date that is most convenient to the most people and announce it around Labor Day. Here are the choices:
April 17, 2023
May 1, 2023
May 8, 2023.
Our current intention is to return either April 28, May 12, May 19, respectively. We might extend the trip one or two days, depending on pilgrim interest.
Please announce this within your congregation. Please provide the names of anyone your congregation that is willing to commit to joining us, before September 1. We will hold an “interested parties” meeting via Zoom in mid-September or early October in order to answer questions and begin the spiritual and historical preparation we recommend.
It’s hard to project costs, but we’re assuming somewhere between $3500-$4500, everything included (airfare, ground transportation, accommodations, meals, gratuities). We’ll be able to lock in firm prices by the end of the year. The more people who commit, the cheaper it is per person. Friends of Wadi Foquin has a fund for a limited number of partial scholarships and we do scholarship fundraising as needed, so cost hopefully should not be a major barrier.
To review our traditional itinerary, we combine visits to many biblical Christian sites, such as Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Hebron and Nablus, along with meeting the “living stones” of Palestinian Christians and Muslims, who will explain what current life means for them. Each night we meet for reflection, sharing and prayer. We stay in Palestinian accommodations, we eat delicious Palestinian food, we have at least one meal in a Palestinian home, and of course we visit the village of Wadi Foquin. We will have an American chaplain and a Palestinian guide.
We of course will be as cautious as possible regarding Covid; safety protocols will be developed based on the actual health situation in Israel/Palestine in Spring, 2023.
We are so excited to be able to finally return to the Holy Land and we look forward to your congregation joining us.
Yours in justice and joy,
Rev. Mike Friedrich
Rev. Pam Kurtz
Rev. Emily Lin
If you would like to go, please send a $500 deposit. Please make out your check to “BMU-FOWF” with Wadi Foquin trip in the memo line, and send to Berkeley Methodist United Church, 1710 Carleton St, Berkeley CA 94703
