Jesus Trail on NBC Today Show

Posted on May 15, 2009

Jesus Trail Featured on ABC News

Posted on May 8, 2009

Take a look at a segment about the Jesus Trail on ABC News:http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7501263

Also, a print piece by ABC:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=7480208&page=1

An article by the Agence French-Presse also ran in several different venues, including this one:
http://www.asiaone.com/Travel/News/Story/A1Story20090506-139704.html

From Haaretz: Jesus Trail Marked in Time for Pope’s Visit

Posted on April 7, 2009

The Jesus Trail was featured again in Haaretz, one of Israel’s leading newspapers: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1076668.html

The story highlights that the trail is being marked with paint blazes by the Society for Protection of Nature in Israel and is on schedule to be completed by the Pope’s visit to Nazareth next month.

Several other related stories came out this week, including from the Israeli Ministry of Tourism: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Israel%20beyond%20politics/Walk_footsteps_Jesus_5-Mar-2009.htm

Also, from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/10/pope-commits-to-holy-land_n_173610.html

The Pope leads Mass in Nazareth on the previous Papal
visit to Nazareth in 2000. (Photo from BBC News)

Blazing the Jesus Trail: Marked Pilgrimage Route Brings Hikers to the Galilee

Posted on April 5, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nazareth, Israel, April 1, 2009— One year ago, the Jesus Trail, a Galilee pilgrimage hiking route, con-
sisted of little more than a track of GPS points and an idea.  Now, just one year later, the Society for the
Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) is marking the trail with painted blazes, hundreds of diverse hikers
have come to hike the trail, and locals are launching business initiatives in preparation for an increase in
hikers.

Developed by local hostel owner and tourism developer Maoz Inon and outdoor adventure specialist
David Landis, the trail offers an alternative for travelers and pilgrims to experience the steps of Jesus
in a way that is authentic, adventurous and educational by trekking through the rugged and beautiful
landscape of the Galilee the same way that Jesus did—by foot.

Painted blazes have already been added to 30 kilometers of the 65-kilometer trail, with plans to com-
plete the blazing by the Pope’s visit to Nazareth in May.  The Society for the Protection of Nature in Is-
rael is marking the trail using the Israeli blaze system and will include the trail on future official hiking
maps of the region.  “This is the first trail in Israel that has been blazed with foreign trekkers in mind,
and our first historic long-distance trail,” said Gili Greenbaum, Marking Coordinator for SPNI.  “Mark-
ing the trail serves both to improve accessibility to hikers and also to limit environmental impact to one
path,” added Greenbaum.

As word spread about the trail in the past year, over 300 hikers have made their way to Nazareth to
hike all or a portion of the trail. Many are taking advantage of free guiding on the first day of the trail
provided by volunteers in Nazareth. An experienced pilgrimage hiker from South Africa came to expe-
rience the feel of the land and visit historical sites of the beaten track. One pastor from England came
to pray from the high points of the trail.  A group of four hiked the trail as part of a much larger trek
from Germany to Israel.  A conservative Mennonite family hiked the first day of the trail with their six
children, including a 3-year-old. After running half the trail in one day, an American man reflected that
his experience was, “quite surreal as [his] mind often drifted to the religious history [he] learned from
the Bible.”

Hikers experience the diversity of the Galilee and rich hospitality of local culture.  A group of six
American volunteers camping near a bedouin village had a surprise evening visit from a local man who
brought them food and dry firewood. Many locals have been supportive of the project, including Abu
Yusuf, a resident of the Arab village of Meshhed, who was eager to welcome hikers into his home.

Daniella Fields, an Israeli trailblazer for SPNI, met two little boys calling themselves, “the kings of
Meshhed” as she painted blazes through their town.  One of them helped her to carry her painting sup-
plies.  As she left town she thanked him for letting her “paint in [his] kingdom.”  As a Jewish Israeli,
Fields commented, “There’s so much I don’t know about the different people in my own country.”

In addition to giving hikers the opportunity for a unique experience, the trail serves as an economic
stimulus for local businesses.  In Cana, several family-run bed and breakfasts have sprung up in re-
sponse to the need for hiker accommodations.  New restaurants opened in the old city of Nazareth to
provide for the influx of pilgrims. The slower-paced travel of hiking ensures that pilgrims will patronize
local businesses for food, accommodations and other necessities along way. With the marking of the
trail already underway, hopes are high that the number of Jesus Trail hikers will continue to rise.

Jesus Trail hiker Richard Stetenga wrote, “The good thing about this trail is that it combines visiting
some important religious sites with natural beauty. It gave me some time to reflect on things that hap-
pened there long ago, and their meaning now, for me.”

The Jesus Trail Web site—www.jesustrail.com— provides links to tour operators and features informa-
tion on the religious and geographic sites, accommodations and food, and general resources on hiking
the region.

The Jesus Trail is a 65-kilometer hiking trail connecting sites from the life and ministry of Jesus.  The
entire Jesus Trail can be walked in 3-5 days, or any section can be walked as a day hike using public
transportation.  Travelers can camp out or stay in a variety of accommodations, ranging from simple
dorms to five star hotels.  The trail begins in Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus, and continues to the
Sea of Galilee by way of Zippori, Cana, the Horns of Hattin and Arbel Cliffs.  Around the Sea of Galilee
the trail connects Tabgha, the church of the Primacy of St. Peter, Capernaum, and the Mount of Beati-
tudes.  An optional return loop connects back to Nazareth via Tiberias, the Jordan River, Mount Tabor
and Mount Precipice.  More information is available at http://jesustrail.com.

High resolution images available for download at: http://jesustrail.com/downloads/jesus_trail_press_photos.zip.  These images are intended only for press purposes and may not be used for commercial reasons of any kind.

For further details contact:

David Landis
david@jesustrail.com
+972-52-6284582

Maoz Inon
maoz@jesustrail.com
972-54-4322352

 

Download: English | Hebrew

The Mennonite: Jesus Trail

Posted on February 17, 2009

 

Jesus trail: Walking where Jesus walked helps put us in touch with his life and teachings.
by David Landis, david@jesustrail.com

Available at http://www.themennonite.org/issues/12-4/articles/Jesus_trail

Jesus Trail Press Release: Free Daily Walks Offered on Jesus Trail

Posted on December 30, 2008

For Immediate Release:

Free Daily Walks Offered on Jesus Trail

by Anna Dintaman

December 28, 2008, Nazareth, Israel– The Jesus Trail, a 65-kilometer (40-mile) hiking trail through the Galilee stomping ground of Jesus, will soon be more accessible to hikers and pilgrims hoping to walk where Jesus walked. Starting December 15, volunteers began leading hikers in a free daily walk on the first day of the Jesus Trail itinerary.

Each day hikers will meet at the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth to walk to Zippori National Park and the town of Cana. Zippori NP houses some of the most exquisite Byzantine mosaics in the world, and grants a glimpse into the upper-class world in the Galilee from the time of Jesus up until the Crusader era.

The traditional site of Jesus’ first miracle where he turned water into wine, Kfar Cana, offers several churches commemorating the miracle replete with a massive stone jar thought to be the receptacle for the miraculous wine. And for those unable to make their own wine from water, local stores have ample varieties for sale. Some visitors choose to renew their wedding vows at the Wedding Church of Cana.

Hikers can return to Nazareth via bus or continue on the trail on their own. Overnight home stays are available in the town of Kfar Cana for those continuing on the trail or simply looking for a unique opportunity to experience local culture and food. The tours will be lead by members of a group of American volunteers serving in Nazareth at the Fauzi Azar Inn.

The walk is approximately 18 kilometers (12 miles). Depending on pace and fitness levels, walkers should expect to walk 5-7 hours, not including breaks and time to view the sites. There is a brief steep ascent out of Nazareth, but the rest of the trail is even with good walking surface. The walk is free and open to anyone; Zippori NP has an entrance fee of 18 shekels for Jesus Trail hikers (25% discount), and the bus from Cana to Nazareth costs 6 shekels.

###

For further details contact:

Maoz Inon
+972-52-4322352
maoz@jesustrail.com

Volunteer Coordinator
+972-54-4361357
freewalks@jesustrail.com

The Jesus Trail is a 65-kilometer hiking trail linking sites in the Galilee from the life of Jesus. The trail was initiated in 2007 by Israeli entrepreneur Maoz Inon and American outdoor specialist David Landis. The trail begins in Nazareth and stretches to Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. An optional return loop passes over Mt. Tabor and returns to Nazareth. GPS data for the trail, as well as other hiking resources, can be found at http://www.jesustrail.com.

The Fauzi Azar Inn is a 200-year-old Arab mansion-turned-guesthouse that offers dorm and private rooms in a unique old world atmosphere. Touted by Lonely Planet 2007 as “one of the highlights of a stay in the Galilee” and a “great base for touring major sites of the Galilee,” the Fauzi Azar offers a laid-back atmosphere where guests and staff can meet to share stories and tips.  More info at http://fauziazarinn.com.

An informative printable flyer is available for download in PDF format at http://jesustrail.com/downloads/jesustrail_flyer_freewalks.pdf.

Jesus Trail in Norge IDAG

Posted on December 30, 2008

Ny attraksjon - 65 km vandretur i Galilea by Richard Oestermann

http://www.idag.no/debatt-oppslag.php3?ID=15515

December 26, 2008

Stars and Stripes Magazine: In the land where Jesus Walked

Posted on December 24, 2008

Click to view PDF

Click to view PDF

Click to view PDF

Ynet Israel - Now tourists can follow ‘Jesus Trail’

Posted on September 7, 2008

Read the article in English at http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3593402,00.html

Read the article in Hebrew at http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3591038,00.html

Associated Press: Trail through Israel traces footsteps of Jesus

Posted on June 16, 2008

June 10-12, 2008 - CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo News, USA Today, AOL Travel, ABC News, The Christian Post, ajc.com, knoxnews.com, The Times and Democrat, TC Palm, Tennessean, San Diego Union-Tribune, The News & Observer, Canoe ………

MOUNT OF BEATITUDES, Israel (AP) — A dirt path begins across the road from a bus-congested holy site on Israel’s Sea of Galilee, winding up a hill covered with wild oat and thistle.

Thousands of pilgrims each year visit the stone church at Tabgha and other sanctuaries marking Jesus’ miracles. But few venture beyond the crowds to the landscape Jesus walked in the Galilee. Those who do find silence and solace on the rocky hills and in the shade of the olive trees that cover the plains.

Now a private Israeli project has set down a 40-mile hiking path through the region where Jesus ministered. The Jesus Trail hopes to bring thousands of tourists to follow in his footsteps to hear the songbirds, smell the wild dill and reflect along the way.

Since the trail is not yet marked, travelers can hire a tour guide, download GPS coordinates from Jesustrail.com or pick up trail maps at tourist sites. The path is meant to be hiked in four days. Pilgrims can sleep near the start of the trail in Nazareth, the town Jesus lived in as a boy, and travel each day to the start of a section. Or they can stay at the occasional guest house offered by kibbutzim and Arab communities or carry tents with them.

The path is an alternative to bus tours that stop only at the known holy sites.

“I think the trail more than anything brings out the human nature of Jesus when the Bible talks about him becoming flesh and living among the people,” said David Landis, an American who has helped lay out the trail. “I meet the people and I travel the land and I see the flowers and the wildlife, the real things … that really come alive for me in the story.”

My hike in April with Landis and the Israeli brain behind the endeavor, entrepreneur Maoz Inon, began before sunup in Nazareth at the Fauzi Azar Inn, a hostel in a 200-year-old Arab mansion that Inon manages in Nazareth’s Old City.

I awoke to the sound of the call to prayer from several mosques combined with the lively screeching of swifts as they darted over the brightening sky. Bells soon began to ring at the Church of the Annunciation, calling believers to Sunday worship at the sanctuary where tradition says God told Mary she would give birth to his son.

We alternated between foot and Inon’s car since we had to fit the entire trip into one day.

Starting by car, our first stop was the Arab village of Kana, about nine miles into the trail. At the 19th-century Wedding Church commemorating Jesus’ miracle here of changing water into wine at a wedding, we met a swarm of tourists from Georgia, Alabama and Ohio.

Standing in the church’s cobblestone yard, group leader David Hughes, a pastor, pointed out that the stone structure, like any trail purporting to follow ancient travels, cannot be proven as a place that Jesus actually visited. But even without definitive historic sites, Hughes said he could see why pilgrims would find it meaningful to hike in an area like the Galilee, and soak up the landscape.

“You get the more reflective, meditative, you know, looking-in type aspect of your relationship with Jesus by taking that walk,” said Hughes, of Rutledge, Georgia. “The more intimate you become with the land, the more the land becomes intimate to you, the smells, the feel, the hills.”

Israeli tour guide Yuval Sharon has led Christian groups along a route that differs slightly from the Jesus Trail. But Sharon says that for visitors to the Galilee “it’s most important that they walk like Jesus did and don’t travel in a car, even if it’s not exactly the same path that Jesus followed.”

Inon says the eventual goal is to mark the trail, in coordination with Israeli authorities. Israel’s Tourism Ministry says it is developing its own trail but has not yet set it down. The ministry did not rule out cooperation with Inon, saying it promotes various Christian trails. Another effort by Harvard University’s Global Negotiation Project, the Abraham Path, aims to mark trails following in the prophet’s footsteps, a total of 750 miles from Turkey to his tomb in the West Bank city of Hebron.

From Kana we drove to the base of the Horns of Hittin, twin hills where it is believed the Muslim armies under Saladin conquered the Crusaders in a battle in 1187. Under an already-scorching sun at midmorning (bring lots of sunscreen and water!) we climbed a rocky path to the top where we sat on lichen-covered boulders under olive trees.

The natural beauty of the place is breathtaking, irrespective of your religious background. A delicate breeze cooled us off as we gazed at the quilt of square plots of peach orchards and vineyards surrounding the Sea of Galilee about 900 feet below.

From here we walked down through fields of wheat bobbing in the wind to a limestone mosque, a holy site for the Druse, an offshoot of Islam. We traveled by car to a thicket of Queen Anne’s Lace flowers and thistles near the Arbel cliffs.

Here a path leads to the ruins of the 4th-century Arbel synagogue. A family vacationing nearby had stopped to see the place; their poodle paid no mind to the lizards skittering over the ancient stones.

“We are not religious people, but we feel something, something historical at this site,” said Olga Dashevsky.

“I feel that the view is the same as it was 1,000 years ago,” said her daughter, Victoria Dashevsky.

The trail leads down to the edge of the Arbel cliffs overlooking the Sea of Galilee and offers a view of many sites in Jesus’ story, including Capernaum, the site of the fishing village that was center of Jesus’ life and ministry.

Soon Landis, a 25-year-old graduate of Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia, was scaling the face of the cliffs, leading the way through caves and down the trail. Ladders and ropes make this most treacherous — albeit beautiful — part of the route passable for novice hikers.

We drove along the edge of the Sea of Galilee and then up to the Mount of Beatitudes where Christians believe Jesus made his Sermon on the Mount to followers on the shores below. A couple of travelers sat in the shade of eucalyptus trees outside the church that marks the site. Nearby a trail leads down to the lake, which provides almost half of Israel’s drinking water.

Turning down the mount, we passed near banana and pear trees and soon met three Austrians hiking up from the Tabgha holy site where it is believed Jesus performed the miracle of fish and bread to feed the multitudes.

Out of breath and red-faced, Frank Pfeferle, one of the Austrians, said he believed that Jesus could have traveled the same path he was walking.

“I think not too much has changed in the 2,000 years here,” said Pfeferle, “and that’s why it’s so interesting here.”

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

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