Access to the Land: The Beginning of the Dream

"This journey to the Holy Land is the fulfillment of a lifetime dream, an opportunity to visit the Holy Land and to come to a deeper understanding of my faith by visiting the lands of the Bible." These are the words of one of the participants in the Fourth Stauros Israel Bible Study Program for Persons with Disabilities. Arrangements for making that dream come true began well over a year ago. A significant element included funding to provide scholarships for some of our applicants and our staff. Our Christmas Appeal letter focused on this Israel Program and so many of you responded very generously to that appeal. We are grateful to all of you for your generous response. Many who were unable to send contributions wrote to assure us of their support and prayers. The outpouring of love and care, the response from so many of our Stauros friends was overwhelming.

A marvelous manifestation of interest in the program took place on a warm evening in mid-July. A wonderful group of approximately 150 people gathered at St. Francis Xavier Parish in LaGrange, IL, to attend a benefit for the Stauros Israel Program. Several very talented professional and semi-professional performers donated their time and talents and presented a superb program of song, dance, instrumental music and mime. The goodness of the performers as well as the generous response from the audience was heart-warming. It is because of all this goodness that this "lifetime dream" is coming to fulfillment, this fourth "Access to the Land" program is becoming a reality.

During the past year the Stauros office corresponded with 102 people about the program. Thirty-seven of these will form the 1995 Stauros Israel Community. This group of adventuresome persons will bring fuller meaning to the words "access" and "inclusion" as they challenge the rugged land and sometimes primitive facilities of Israel.

There are thirty women and seven men in the group. Sixteen are persons with disabilities, fourteen are attendants or companions and seven are staff. The disabilities include cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, blindness, spinal cord injuries, and other conditions. Seven of the attendants or companions are family members or friends. The remainder are volunteers. They come from Pennsylvania, Missouri, Connecticut, Illinois, Colorado, South Dakota, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Indiana, Virginia, New Jersey and California. The youngest person in this diverse group is 30 and the oldest is 82. The median age is 54.

There are seven people from the Handicapped Encounter Christ group for the Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware area. Four people represent the Victorious Missionaries of Belleville, IL, an organization which provides spiritual support to persons with disabilities.

The people comprising the 1994 Stauros Israel Community are engaged in a myriad of ministries. Several are involved in ministry to or with persons with disabilities, several are very active in church ministry, three are teachers, two are counselors, two are in campus ministry, three are registered nurses, and two are dieticians. Five persons tell us that they are retired, but their activities belie their words.

The staff of seven is equally as diverse. We are so very fortunate to again have Father Donald Senior, C.P, biblical scholar and professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological Union, lead the program. Fr. Don has been in Israel more than 20 times, and his knowledge of scripture, of the biblical background, history and geography of the land and of the sites can scarcely be surpassed. He is currently on sabbatical after completing two terms as president of Catholic Theological Union. The staff also includes four other veterans of the previous programs. Brother Carl Hund, C.P. will provide his indispensable expertise in equipment maintenance. Bro. Carl is currently maintenance director at Christ the King Retreat Center in Citrus Heights, CA. Korky and Madonna Buhr will direct the bus loadings and unloadings as well as provide additional assistance wherever needed. Korky is the Director of the Victorious Missionaries and Madonna is employed by McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis. Maureen Meter, Executive Vice-President and Chief Administrative Officer for the Mercy Boys and Girls Home, will again assist with the financial and travel logistics. Sr. Juanita Mauer, who participated in the 1992 program, will serve as the program's registered nurse. Juanita is currently directing a study of cardiac problems among Native Americans at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Completing the staff is Sr. Ardis Cloutier, Director of Stauros, U.S.A.

This somewhat motley but soon-to-be-closely-bonded group will meet in New York on August 31. Members of the staff and generous volunteers will transport them from JFK or LaGuardia to the Passionist Retreat Center in Riverdale for an orientation. This very accessible Retreat Center is located on the banks of the Hudson River. The beauty and ambiance of this lovely place provide a wonderful opportunity for the group to get acquainted, to be briefed on the travel arrangements and procedures, and to receive background material from Fr. Don.

Departure for Tel Aviv is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on September 1, 1995. We change planes in Rome and will arrive at Ben Gurion Airport at 4:10 p.m. on Saturday, September 2. Our bus will be ready and waiting for us. Several seats will have been removed to make room for stowing wheelchairs as well as for wheelchair tiedowns. While in the Jerusalem area, we will stay at a kibbutz guest house, Neve Ilan. In Galilee we stay at Hotel Lavi, another kibbutz hotel.

The itinerary for our first two days in the Jerusalem area includes entrance into the Old City through the famed Damascus Gate, liturgy at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, visits to the Holocaust Memorial, the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, the Temple ruins, Gethsemane, and Bethlehem.

On Tuesday, September 5, our trip to Galilee will take us along the Mediterranean coast and will include a stop at the ruins of Caesarea Maritima with its beautiful Roman theater. In Galilee we will visit Nazareth, Kana, Korazim, the Mount of Beatitudes, and the ruins at Capernaum which include the Synagogue where Jesus taught as well as the ruins of a house which may well have been Peter's. We will have a picnic at the headwaters of the Jordan and take a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. Our two days in Galilee will end with Eucharist at a small seaside altar at Tabgha, near the Church of the Loaves and Fishes.

We return to Jerusalem via the Jordan River baptism site, some famed archeological sites, and Jericho. We will spend one day in the desert visiting Masada, Arad, the Dead Sea, Qumran. On our final day in Israel we will observe a morning Sabbath rest and join the CTU Israel Program for lunch and Eucharist in Bethany.

The program will be brought to closure with a one day tour of Rome under the expert guidance of Sr. Jean Rae, RSCJ. We will stay at the Passionist Headquarters at the Church of Sts. John and Paul. It is so appropriate that we begin and end this special program at Passionist houses.

The participants have expressed their expectations of this program. These are as diverse as the participants themselves, but, nonetheless, a common thread runs through them. Let us share some of these with you:

. . . I pray that this trip will be a lasting reminder of how much our God loves each of us, and that through my ministry I may be a source of grace and strength for others, especially for my disabled brothers and sisters.
. . . I hope for a deeper understanding of the Bible, and, through the eyes of the disabled/marginalized to deepen my own spiritual journey.
. . . I hope to use this experience in my teaching career by sharing my excitement and love of the Holy Land with my students.
. . . to use this experience in spiritual direction, retreat work and teaching.
. . . I believe that I will identify more deeply and intimately with Jesus.
. . . I want to visit the Holy Land in a context of community and of biblical scholarship.
. . . I hope my heart will be "on fire" as I minister with persons with disabilities. I hope to be an even more dedicated advocate.
. . . I hope that a better knowledge of the peoples and places will put a deeper and newer meaning to my understanding of God's word to the Hebrew people and to all God's people.
. . . For 15 years I have helped John study the Bible. All my knowledge of the places in Israel has come through books and through John's sharing, but that no longer satisfies, I want to see the Holy Lands with my own eyes.
. . . I hope to see the scripture coming alive in my life, I want to share in the joy of others in walking where Jesus walked, and to be a companion on this journey.
. . . to see, feel, taste, smell, hear the Holy Land, to get to know Jesus, his time, people and country.
. . . to deepen my faith along with journeying with a special group of people who believes everyone should be able to take this journey.
. . . It has always been my dream to walk in the footprints of Jesus, and what a way to do it--to be a personal care attendant for a person with a disability.

These words reflect just a few of the hopes and dreams of the enthusiastic and excited persons who will be forming community in Israel. The next issue of the Stauros Notebook will contain their reflections on the program. We are convinced that most people will find that the reality far surpasses the expectations. We want to assure you that we carry all of you, our Stauros friends, in our hearts to the Land of the Bible, and that we will be remembering you as we make our journey of faith, as we Access the Land.