Several students and alumni from the Virginia University of Lynchburg, Suffolk site, recently went on a 10-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The group, along with Bishop Curtis Edmonds and Dr. Geoffrey Guns, enjoyed 10 days in the Holy Land.

While in Galilee, the visitors saw sites including Caesarea-by-the-Sea, Megiddo, Masada, Mount Arbel, Nazareth Village, Caesarea Philippi, Mount Hermon, Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum and other places where Jesus walked during his minister.

They were baptized at the Yardenit Baptismal Site on the Jordan River and experienced a worship service while sailing across the Sea of Galilee.

The group also visited Jerusalem, seeing Biblical landmarks such as the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Temple Mount, Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall, where written prayer requests were inserted into the crevices of the remaining structure.

A special moment of prayer was spent in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed prior to His betrayal by Judas. They walked the Via Dolorosa and the 14 stations of the “Way of the Cross.”

They also stood on the Mount of Olives, the location where Jesus ascended to Heaven, and culminated the visit by seeing the Garden Tomb, where the group took Holy Communion before leaving for the airport to return to the United States.

The attendees were Raymond Williams, Doris Turner, Elder Miranda Turner, Thomas Turner, the Rev. Gail Henderson and the Rev. Patricia Crawley-Ricks.