Youth Column: Deepening Faith

Monday May 8 2023

A group of young people from a Falkirk church share their reflections of a trip to Israel and Palestine

In February this year, a group of six young people from Brightons Parish Church, Falkirk, embarked on a trip to Israel and Palestine after three and a half years of preparation and fundraising.

The trip was organised to help us develop our Christian faith by visiting this special place, as well as to help us understand more about the current culture and what is being done by the Church of Scotland and its partners. It was an amazing opportunity and we would thoroughly recommend it to anyone! Here are some of our reflections on what we brought home from the trip.

Megan, S6 – The most memorable experience for me was visiting Capernaum. The foundations of the synagogue Jesus preached in still remain, and being so physically close to a place where Jesus spent lots of his time was immensely special. As a whole this trip has encouraged me to be more open in sharing my faith with others.

Ruth, S6 – I especially enjoyed visiting the Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter where Jesus called two of his disciples, Peter and Simon. We sat beside the church, looking out onto the Sea of Galilee. This was an opportunity to stop and reflect on this story, which really helped to deepen my faith.

Leonie, S6 – My most lasting memory was the time we spent at the Tent of Nations, a Christian family-run farm in Palestine. For the last 31 years the Israeli State has been trying
to take the Nassar family’s land away from them but despite the difficult circumstances the family have been using their experience to inspire others to achieve a possible outcome through active, non-violent resistance, refusing to be anyone’s enemies. I would encourage everyone reading to look up their website and be inspired.

Iona, S5 – My favourite part of our trip was visiting the Sea of Galilee. We spent some time sitting by the water, which was very peaceful, and a good time to reflect that we were in the place where Jesus had walked on water and fed the 5000. Overall, I think the trip helped to develop and strengthen my faith, and it’s an experience which I will never forget!

Matthew, S4 – The trip was jam-packed, full of new information which made it difficult to take everything in. I learnt many lessons after visiting numerous impactful sites, one of which was to take the time to stop and think of the things the group and I had experienced together. Now I incorporate time daily for God and am so grateful for the opportunity, it has been life changing.

Isla, S3 – What stood out to me the most about the trip was getting to go to the Garden Tomb because most of the time in bibles and books you don’t get a proper image of what things were like and often have to imagine. But seeing the tomb in person helped me realise that it’s not anything like in the illustrations we often see. Seeing all the places like that really
helped me understand the life of Jesus in more depth.

We’d like to say a big thank you to our church family for their generosity, as well as to those in the Church of Scotland nationally and in Israel and Palestine who supported us and gave of their time.

If you are under 30 with a Church of Scotland connection, and would be interested in writing for us, contact magazine@lifeandwork.org 

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