Welcome to everyone:
As we've grown in numbers, I'd like to start a members group for discussion and ideas. I've invited all subscribers to become members.
I'm Mike O'Brien, one of the people behind the idea for Pilgrims of Hope. The aims of the group are very simple:
To make regular pilgrimage from Liverpool to the Holy Land and encourage others to join us.
To assist and enable anyone who wishes to visit independently - by sharing information, contacts and advice.
To promote "Voices of the Holy Land" - Events where Palestinian Christians can share their testimony and experience with people in Liverpool, either in person or via video link and webinar.
To develop lasting connections between parishes in Liverpool and communities in the Holy Land: for solidarity, spiritual fellowship and mutual education.
To encourage and support people all over the country, of any faith or none, to form similar groups and to visit Palestine as a means of promoting a just and lasting peace.
I live and work in Liverpool and visited Jerusalem and Bethlehem in January this year, just before the first ceasefire. It was an amazing experience and I'd like to help other people experience it, too.
Visiting the region as a pilgrim in the current climate is also the single most practical step we can take to advance justice an peace. The more I speak with those who live there, the more I am convinced of this fact.
Please introduce yourself on this thread.