February 6, 2023

Dear Partners in Ministry,

I am writing this letter from Bethlehem where I am a guest of Tony Abuaita who owns and operates Good Shepherd Travel. Tony grew up close to here in a town called Beit Sahour where the shepherds were greeted by angels on the night of Christ’s birth. Most of Tony’s family still lives in Beit Sahour, and throughout our travels we have been blessed to meet many of them.

To me, this is the essence of Holy Land travel—the opportunity to meet the “living stones” of this land which has seen thousands of years of political strife and upheaval, and yet is home to our faith, the place where God became incarnate and touched the lives of countless people. Our time on these trips includes visits to the sites where Jesus spoke to us and changed the course of human history, and in seeing these sites, we also bear witness to the current story unfolding around us of people who love their homes, their children, and their faith in God. We break bread with and hear the stories of folks whose ancestors were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, in Bethlehem when a baby was born and the world was given hope.

I have been working with Tony and his team for seven years now. As a former ELCA Global Mission employee who served in Jerusalem, I am particularly concerned with accurate representation not only of the sites themselves, but the chance for us to encounter the real stories behind the local folklore—the resilient Palestinian Christians who keep the world’s oldest churches alive with song. Good Shepherd Travel is an amazing organization that sees to every detail with warmth and hospitality, whether it is in guiding pilgrims to book flights or setting a table with amazing food that is served with love and warmth.

If you are considering a trip to the Holy Land for the people in your ministry context, I invite you to start planning at https://www.tourtheholylands.com/ to learn more about Tony’s passion for bringing people together from across the world. If you have more questions, feel free to reach out to me at mzimmann@uls.edu. Maybe I’ll see you next year in Bethlehem with your fellow pilgrims!

Peace to you,

Martin Rev. Dr. Martin Otto-Zimmann
Sr. Director of Continuing Education
United Lutheran Seminary