The Nigerian Xpress Online Editor, SEGUN ADIO, was among the 186 pilgrims to Jerusalem courtesy of Esther Ajayi Foundation. In this write up, he takes a blow-by-blow account of the tour experience of the Holy Land.
The Esther Ajayi Foundation, in the last nine years, had been helping Nigerians and those outside the shores to perform the pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Israel. The 2019 edition was not left unattended to.
It was barely two weeks to the ‘Celebrate the Comforter’ crusade of the Proprietress of the Foundation and she was poised to make good use of the season. Apart from performing the pilgrimage, the pilgrims were also supposed to use the opportunity to offer prayers for Nigerian and especially for the smooth conduct of the crusade scheduled for the Tafawa Balewa Square on Lagos Island, on July 20.
So, on Monday, July 8, 2019, about 186 intending pilgrims flew out of Nigeria on the bill of Rev. Mother Ajayi to Israel for the yearly pilgrimage for Christians. Many on the Jerusalem trip could not have immediately dreamt of being addressed as Jerusalem Pilgrims (JP), but they were fortunate to be selected.
Interestingly, the intending pilgrims were not drawn from the Cherubim & Seraphim Church alone. There were numerous members of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC), The Church of the Lord, The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCGG), The Apostolic Church, Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) and so on on the tour.
More interesting was the fact that the intending pilgrims were not only from Nigeria. Rather, they were also drawn from Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia and some even flew in from the United Kingdom. However, due to the high number of the intending pilgrims for the trip, they were shared into three different flights to and from the Holy Land.
The first batch flew to the Tel Aviv International Airport, in Israel, via Kigali International Airport, in Rwanda, while two other batches flew to the Holy Land via Istanbul in Turkey.
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So, after stop overs at Kigali and Istanbul, the whole team arrived the vast and sprawling Ben Gurion International Airport in the outskirt of Tel Aviv in Israel for the eight-day pilgrimage in the early hours of Tuesday, July 9.
First to arrive was the team from Kigali aboard a Boeing 737 RwandAir flight. The first team was immediately cleared at the immigration point and stood waiting for the second team which eventually touched down at the airport about one hour later.
The Ben Gurion Airport soon wore a carnival-like mood when Rev. Mother Esther Ajayi and her husband sauntered into the Arrival Section of the airport to the warm embrace of the first team that had arrived earlier. Another hour later, the last batch arrived the airport and we all checked out without any hitch.
Just before we boarded the four ultra-luxury buses parked for the teams’ final trip to the town, there was a half hour revival at the Ben Gurion Airport where several Israelis and international visitors to the country joined in the revival amidst drums and loud songs.
If the intending pilgrims had thought that they would be ferried straight to their hotel, they were wrong after all. From the airport, the Esther Ajayi Foundation convoy drove to the Nigeria House in the heart of the city of Tel Aviv on No. 34, Gordon Street, where they were received by Amb. Enoch Pear Duchi and members of the Nigerian Embassy.
At the Nigerian House, Rev. Mother Esther Ajayi, her husband and the intending pilgrims were warmly received by Amb. Duchi who did not hidehis admiration for what the woman of God had been doing for Nigerians in Israel as well as some Israeli citizens in that country.
After Amb. Duchi had addressed the delegation and welcomed them to Tel Aviv, Rev. Mother Ajayi proudly told the Nigerian envoy that the team was in the country to pray for a smooth success of the ‘Celebrate the Comforter’ event holding in Lagos, Nigeria, on Saturday, July 20, 2019, while promising that all the carefully-selected pilgrims would do the nation proud in the holy Land.
The team soon boarded some luxury buses from Tabar Tours waiting for them and headed for another journey to Nazareth in Galilee where they checked into the Tabar Hotel and Golden Crown Hotel in the heart of city.
Recall Nazareth is the city of the Holy Family. Nazareth, a city well over 2000 year-old, began the story of the Saviour of Mankind, Jesus Christ. After check-ins in both hotels, the night beckoned and dinner was served. Everyone soon disappeared into their rooms for a busy Tuesday.
On Tuesday, July 9, after sumptuous breakfasts in the hotels, the Tabar Tours buses conveyed pilgrims to explore not only the hilly but luxuriant Nazareth city, but also its spiritual eloquence. But while other pilgrims toured the holy sites, the bus conveying Rev. Mother Esther Ajayi, her husband and other key members in her entourage, including the press crew, occasionally paid scheduled visits to communities and establishments where the Esther Ajayi Foundation’s largesse are hugely impacted. Thus, Rev. Mother Ajayi and her team headed to KSULOT School where she partnered with the City Education Department of the Nof Hagalil (Nazareth City), on the ‘Computer for Every Child’ project.
Merav Sasson Amoral, who conducted the delegation round the school, described Rev. Mother Ajayi as an “unbelievable character whose love for the needy is limitless.”
She also commended the woman of God for what she is doing all over Israel. In her words, “Mother Ajayi is investing in the Exact Child Education Way scheme here in Israel which is letting the children to learn more about new ways of studying in the 21st century.The woman means well for every child she comes in contact with especially vulnerable children in Israel.”
Speaking at the end of the tour of the school, Rev. Mother Ajayi said she was fascinated by the faithfulness of the managers of the school for the judicious use of the funds given to them and for letting the children of the lower class, for which the project was designed, be the main beneficiaries of the scheme.
The beneficiary kids, who were under 10 years old, were enveloped with joy on sighting Rev. Mother Ajayi, whose benevolence was inexplicable. From the Ksulot School, the team rejoined the rest at the surroundings of the Sea of Galilee. It was a day to explore all the areas Jesus worked and performed miracles in Galilee.
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The bus, therefore, sauntered towards Capernaum from the Ksulot School, the fishermen’s town that would later become Jesus’s new home. The team walked down the terrace to bank of the Sea of Galilee where pilgrims had opportunity to wash their heads and parts of their bodies and prayed too.
Beside the Sea of Galilee is the Church of St. Peter otherwise called the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter. That was the church where Jesus Christ prepared the table. The church is also called the MENZA CHRISTI or Table of Christ. From the Church of St. Peter, we headed to Tabgha (the famous seven springs) where Jesus fed 5, 000 of his followers. A church is built there now and is named Church of the Multiplication of the Loaf and Bread. With a short ride, we arrived at the Mensa Christy Church. This was where Jesus gave Peter the Primacy of the Church.
From there, the pilgrims were driven to a restaurantwhere the entire teams ate to their fullest. Of course, none of the pilgrims would forget the Peter’s Fish they were treated to at the canteen (It soon became a sing song that ‘if you were in the Holy Land for pilgrimage and you did not eat Peter’s Fish, then that pilgrimage is incomplete’).
After about 45 minutes of sumptuous meal, the teams headed for another side of the Sea of Galilee. There, the teams were divided into two with each getting a cruise experience on top of the Sea of Galilee.
On the boat where Rev. Mother Ajayi and her husband rode, they were treated to a mix of Nigerian gospel songs by three Galileans who obviously knew the kinds of Christian songs Nigerians cherish when they visit the place. The Rev. Mother though danced her heart out in the boat cruise, she would soon go into prayer sessions as she prayed for all pilgrims she brought to Israel and also offered prayers for a successful organization of the ‘Celebrate the Comforter.’
After about 30 minutes boat cruise on the Sea of Galilee, the boats paddled ashore and every one disembarked and headed for the four Galilee Tours luxury buses parked for us. Of course, the Day Two of the pilgrimage was meant to explore all that Jesus did concerning river. So, pilgrims were driven for over an hour through Tiberias to River Jordan. It was at the famous river that John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ.
TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK