By Delainey Muscato
St. Bonaventure University
Vickey Jarrett, part-time Little Valley resident, just returned from a life-changing journey to Israel. She shared her incredible experience with me recently. This Saturday, September 16th she will be sharing her story with the First Congregational Church of Little Valley. This event is open to everyone.
Jarrett officially departed for Israel June 11th of this year and returned on June 22nd. She shared with me that her and her husband had been planning to go for many years, but life always ended up getting in the way. Though her husband unfortunately passed a few years ago, she was offered the opportunity to go with some friends from Louisiana. Jarrett said, “Their church was organizing a trip and they let me know early last year. I jumped on the opportunity to go with friends. It was nice to have people there that I knew already”.
While the country of Israel is not a huge land, about the size of New Jersey, Jarrett shared they traveled to many different historical sites. She said, “Every day was anywhere from four to five locations. It was packed with adventure”. Jarrett explained the entire geographical layout of the country to me and shared that she learned all this from her guides while in Israel. She had nothing but praise for her highly qualified tour guides and the company the trip was planned through: Pilgrim Tours. This company has been helping plan trips just like this one since 1987.
On a trip like this, there could be no shortage of meaningful moments. Jarrett reflected on several moments from her time in Israel and told me of a few that were the most moving to her. One moment occurred when her group stopped along the Jordan River. “We were at the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee where the Jordan [River] starts to flow out into the sea. We could choose to be baptized again or baptized for the first time. I chose to rededicate my life to Christ in a baptism there. That was just a wonderful experience to be baptized actually in the Jordan River” Jarrett told me. Another fantastic experience Jarrett shared was her time on a boat in the Sea of Galilee. “While we were out there, one of the gentlemen taught us to dance to Hava Nagila, which is a Jewish wedding song. It was a fun time for us to relax. It was beautiful” Jarrett said.
The last four days of Jarrett’s trip were spent in Jerusalem. She described it as a bustling city that is divided into four different religious sections. Jarrett’s group traveled to each of the four sections. She commented on how she could tell when entering a different section of Jerusalem. She said, “You could see it in the people out on the street for just a normal day of work or whatever. Our guide also told us, you could see it in the architecture that had a lot of historical background”. On the very last day of their trip, Jarrett’s group was able to share a very special moment in an extraordinary place. “Our last day we got to go to The Garden Tomb. We went with our pastor, and we sat in an area they have prepared where you take communion. It was very emotional, very moving”, Jarrett shared. This was another one of the most memorable moments of the whole trip for her.
An important tip Jarrett mentioned was booking the trip through an agency. She mentioned friends of hers went individually and they rented a car for themselves. They were denied access to some things Jarrett’s group was able to see. For example, Jarrett shared that they were able to walk through Hezekiah’s Tunnels, one of the religious highlights of the trip; her friends that went individually, however were not able to access this area. Of the tunnels, Jarrett said, “You’re walking on stones that are 2,100 years old. You’re walking on stones that Jesus walked on when he came into Jerusalem”. If you were to take this trip, this location would be something you would not want to miss.
Jarrett highly recommends the trip if you have the means. She is excited to share her speech with the church and hopes to inspire others to embark on this amazing journey.