On a gorgeous first day of October, thousands of Christian pilgrims participated in the 2015 Jerusalem March on Day 5 of the Feast of Tabernacles. Pilgrims proudly dressed in the national costumes and waved the flags of their homelands as they walked the route through the heart of the capital. The ICEJ News crew caught up with some of these pilgrims to hear their stories.
Kareem al Masri (not his real name) is a Feast Pilgrim from Egypt, Israel’s neighbor to the south and one of two Arab countries with which Israel has diplomatic relations. Despite what scholars have called the “Cold Peace” between Israel and Egypt since the signing of the 1979 Camp David Accords, Kareem and four other Egyptian Christians had a difficult time attending the Feast, needing to enter Israel through Jordan due to restrictions on travel directly from Egypt. He said his family does not even know he’s in Jerusalem because he did not want them to worry, but that ever since he heard about the Feast from a Facebook friend he wanted to come. “When they call every country to come up to Jerusalem, it’s powerful,” he said, adding a request for his fellow Christians to pray for the political leadership in his country to have wisdom in its dealings with Israel and also for safety and freedom for the Church in Egypt.
Ms. Finet, a pilgrim from Fiji enjoying her 4th ICEJ Feast of Tabernacles. She said her favorite part of the Feast was hearing the messages from Feast speakers relating to Israel and teaching about “Our Biblical responsibility to Israel as Christians.” There are over 80 people who came to the Feast from Fiji, including members of the UN Peacekeeping detachment in the Sinai and workers for various UN agencies and NGO’s in Jerusalem. Fiji is geographically located as far away from Israel as it’s possible to go on the surface of the Earth, and Ms. Finet said she is very proud to be part of a delegation of Christians who came up to Jerusalem “from the uttermost parts of the Earth.”
Mojmir Kallus is one of 35 Christian Pilgrims who came to the Feast from the Czech Republic. It is his 15th Feast and he plans on continuing to come every year. He said his favorite part of the Feast is the Jerusalem March, because of all the colorful national costumes and flags. He asked his fellow Christians to pray for revival in his country because although it is a friendly and prosperous place with traditionally good relations with Israel, the people are mostly secular and atheist.
ICEJ National Director Donna Holbrook of Canada has been to the Feast 19 times and brought thousands of pilgrims along with her over the years. When asked how many came to this year’s Feast, she unhesitatingly answered “not enough” and indicated that she would work hard to bring more next year. “I love being with all the nations that bless Israel,” she said. “It’s wonderful to bless them and be blessed by them. The love going back and forth is overwhelming.” She also asked Christians to pray for the upcoming elections in Canada to produce a government which would fear God in righteousness and continue to support Israel.
