PANAJI
It was a memorable experience for 17 pilgrims and a special moment for Panaji’s travel agency Zion Tours and Travels, as a first group from Goa went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land since the war broke out in Gaza in October 2023.
Led by the tour leader Paul Siqueira, proprietor of Zion Tours and Travels, the group, consisting of pilgrims from different parts of India, mainly Goa, Mumbai and Kolkata, left from Goa on March 8 and returned from the Holy Land on March 19.
“We feel blessed and grateful to be back in the Holy Land after so long. It was a joy to be back, especially during the season of Lent,” remarked Siqueira.
The 12-day tour covered three countries, Jordan, Israel and Egypt. The group stayed for two days in the Sea of Galilee and spent three days in Bethlehem, Palestine.
“Everything was incredibly peaceful in every place right from the first day to the last. Schools, colleges and churches are open, children playing on the streets, and people walking about on the roads. Everything was so peaceful,” said Siqueira.
The 17 pilgrims who visited Capernaum as part of their pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Besides Zion’s group from Goa, there were other groups from Indonesia, Philippines and two groups from Kerala as well.
Siqueira explained that Zion’s groups normally consist of 50-100 pilgrims to the Holy Land.
“But this time, because of the war, they were only 17 pilgrims. Nonetheless, these 17 pilgrims had an awesome and spirit-filled time and returned back with smiling faces,” said Siqueira.
Siqueira said the strength of the group didn’t matter to the shopkeepers and guides in the Holy Land, who were brimming with joy to see people from different countries after so long.
“It meant so much to see the joy back on the faces of all our friends because we had come back again. In fact, most of them remarked that they were not concerned with the size of the group, just the fact that we had come back to the Holy Land and supported them during this difficult time.”
The 17 pilgrims visit the Sea of Galilee during their pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Siqueira said all the sites and churches remained open, and the group could spend more than enough time at each site, because there wasn’t much of a crowd.
“As for the food, the people, as usual, relished the barbecue and Arabic food. But most importantly, they were blessed to visit the Holy Land, many of them were visiting for the first time and were walking in the footsteps of the Lord.”
“We are overjoyed to conduct pilgrimages back to the Holy Land, and we will be leaving again in May for another pilgrimage,” said Siqueira.
While this was Siqueira’s 91st trip to the Holy Land, Zion Tours and Travels has, so far, organised pilgrimages for over 10,000 pilgrims to the Holy Land, ever since it began operations in 2011.
Incidentally, Zion Tours and Travels had also succeeded in getting installed the Magnificat in Konkani language, and it is the only Goan company to get an award from the Tourism Ministry in Israel.
