Voluntourism in Ghana

Whether it’s souvenirs they buy in the local market, or experiences they recall for a lifetime, most travelers want to take home something that reminds them of destinations they’ve touched. 

Some are taking home even more these days by giving back to nations and communities they visit.

Armenia’s Geghard monastery

Ancient stone walls hang off cliffs overlooking the beautiful Azat River Gorge inArmenia. Grounds of the Geghard Monastery hold monastic cells and several small churches, cut from surrounding rock during the 11th century. Visitors can almost hear the chanting monks whose pious steps have worn valleys into the stone steps. 

Towering cliffs surround the Geghard at the head of the Azat valley. The monastery dates to the 4th century, according to tradition by St Gregory the Illuminator who led his people into Christianity. Arabs destroyed the first enclave in the 9th century, but another was flourishing by the 13th century. Its relics – such as the spear which had wounded Christ as He hung on the Cross – drew pilgrims for centuries and fame to the site. Relics of the Apostles Andrew and John were added in the 12th century.

Moses was the first tour leader

Rabbi Peter E. Tarlow is a busy man. He’s director of Texas A&M Hillel (foundation for Jewish campus life), a tourism safety expert, speaker and consultant, and founder of “Tourism & More Inc.,” his tourism security training firm.

Rabbi Tarlow’s recently offered his unique perspectives in an essay published in The Bryan-College Station Eagle about why he connects religion and tourism. As America celebrates National Tourism Month in May, Tarlow’s insightful comments about why we travel are especially timely.  

Leipzig's St. Thomas choir celebrates 800 years

 Any choir with 800 years of tradition and a director who was Johann Sebastian Bach is certainly worth celebrating. Throughout this year,Leipzig- one ofEurope’s major centers of music – is doing exactly that. 

Cruise lines are adding more faith sites to itineraries.

As worldwide traveler interest in faith travel increases, the number of onboard opportunities to sail into pilgrimage and heritage touring are rising. 

Want to visit the Greek island of Patmos and site where the Apostle John received his End Times vision that he recorded in the Book of Revelation? Or perhaps an Alaska cruise with a leading Bible teacher or musical entertainer would be your this year’s choice?   

Autumn at The Cove

One of North America’s most beautiful corners can make a valuable deposit in your travel memory bank, especially if you combine it with spiritual retreat, fellowship and Bible study. 

Once upon a time, an American aristocrat named George Vanderbilt traveled from New Yorkto the North Carolina mountains in search of peace, contentment, and personal reset. George liked what he found there so much that he went about acquiring 120,000 acres near  Asheville and created his 250-room kingly country estate. 

Mont St Michel is a pilgrimage and heritage sentinel

It’s France’s most visited site outside Paris (about three million visitors annually) and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that’s been beloved by faith travelers for centuries. 

Though it’s been beloved through the centuries as a pilgrimage site,  the visitor experience has changed in the past century with the advent of motorized vehicles and irrigation to create pasturelands. Instead of retaining its natural “floating” island setting, the mount has been enclosed by mud.

Mud bathing at the Dead Sea

Pilgrims and tourists who visit the Dead Sea soon will have more than mud packs, seaside resorts and Lot’s wife to call on. 

Coming in April is a new multi-million dollar museum on the Jordan side of the lake about one of the world’s most fascinating natural features. It’s all about the geological, human, and ecological history that spans many centuries. 

Located in Ghor es-Safi, Jordan, The Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth has a scheduled April opening very near the Byzantine era monastery that commemorates Lot’s cave and his flight from the wicked ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah which God destroyed. 

Lot's Wife overlooks the Dead Sea

The Old Testament describes how Lot and his two daughters escaped the destruction and hid in a cave, butLot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt because she disobeyed God and looked back at the cities (Genesis 19). A natural formation on a hillside above the Dead Sea is tagged Lot’s wife pillar. Jesus Christ recalled the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Luke 17 when he warned “Remember Lot’s wife” and said that “it would be the same on the day the Son of Man is revealed,” meaning every person’s eternal destiny would hinge on their spiritual allegiance to God or something earthly.

The Dead Sea has also been called the “Sea of Arabah”, the “Salt Sea,” and the “Eastern Sea” in the Bible.  The Arab people have always known it as Bahr Lut (Lot’s Sea). The surface of theDead Seais at 1,312 feet below sea level, making it the lowest water surface on earth. The lake is 47 miles long and has a maximum width of about 10 miles.

The new museum’s permanent exhibition hall has four sections with different themes: Origins of theDead Sea; Eco-system; Man and the Dead Sea; and Will the Dead Sea Really Die? The Dead Sea’s conservation needs run throughout the exhibits, and the museum’s two documentary films, “Ecology of the Dead Sea” and “Dead Sea in Danger” contribute to the appeal. 

Ancient tombstones also contribute to the museum’s story. They were recovered from the region’s many cemeteries of Arab, Jewish and Christian communities of people who lived and died through the ages. There are also artifacts from the sugar industry that flourished during the Mamluk period (13^th-16^th centuries) in Zoar (nowSafi), as well as handicrafts and daily implements used by Bedouin and villagers who live in the area today. 

The Dead Sea has drawn pilgrims and tourists to its shores for centuries.  It’s bounded on the west by modern Israel and on the east by Jordan. Hotels and resorts populate the area, and visitors often indulge in spa mud therapies and sea floats in the mineral-laden water that keeps them afloat. 

The Dea Sea has no outlet, and fresh water evaporates quickly because of the hot desert climate. It is seven times more salty than the ocean. Fish cannot live in the water, and most other life forms perish there also. The sea’s chemical products such as potash, bromine, gypsum, and salt make the sea economically valuable, as does the growing health  resort industry.

San Miguel Mission Altar

 Planning a trip to the Golden State? 

California vacations often mean urban excitement, long and languid tours of the  Golden State’s beautiful beaches and rugged coastal scenery, along with winery visits and culinary adventures. 

For faith travelers, there’s even more cultural excitement on the state’s Spanish Mission Trail that stretches 600 miles from San Diego to Sonoma. The Franciscans built 21 missions between 1769 and 1823 along the legendary El Camino Real, a route that corresponds roughly to modern U.S. Highway 101. The padres’ objective was to convert the Indians to Christianity and in what was then Mexico’s territory.

Petra Treasury by night

Jordan has its tourism spotlight on two major attractions this year as it marks anniversaries associated with Petra, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre of rose pink rock wonders, and Wadi Rum, the expansive and beautiful desert and mountain landscape that stars in the epic film, Lawrence of Arabia.