By World Israel News Staff
With tourism to Israel at a total standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic, Americans will be able to get a virtual tour of the Holy Land over the holiday season courtesy of Evangelist Franklin Graham and his family, who documented their family visit in a television show entitled “Return to the Holy Land” that is airing on the Fox network.
“There’s something special about experiencing the Bible in the land of the Bible,” explains Graham, the eldest son of the late evangelist leader Billy Graham who was known as a close friend of Israel.
“The first time I ever saw this beautiful land of Israel I was with my family and I was only eight years old. I had no way of knowing how special it would become to me over the years to come,” Graham said, explaining that he had a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to take his entire extended family of his children and their spouses for a special trip.
“I want to make the most of it by studying the scriptures as we go through the land of the Bible.”
The three-part documentary explores the early days of Jesus Christ and offers viewers a unique glimpse of the sights and sounds of the country that is home to some of the most significant events in Christianity.
Graham, his wife, and his adult children take turns reading the scripture aloud on their cross-country journey, which includes stops at the Sea of Galilee, Jericho, and Jerusalem.
“This is amazing, this is where Jesus was when he touched people’s lives and transformed them, and changed them forever,” says Graham’s daughter-in-law.
Graham himself has visited Israel more than 30 times since his youth and acted as his own tour guide for his family, taking them through some of his favorite spots and sharing short biblical anecdotes and rare stories.
“It’s interesting to see this place through the eyes of my family, especially those that haven’t been here before,” Graham says. “The smell of the spices, the incense, the sound of shopkeepers selling their merchandise to eager tourists passing by. This is Jerusalem’s Old City, but this city is so much more than just a tourist attraction.”
Grahams’ father, who passed away in 2018, was such a fervent supporter of Israel-U.S. ties that he was once offered by President Richard Nixon to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel, but declined.
Image: Matt Johnson from Omaha, Nebraska, United States, CC BY 2.0 <;, via Wikimedia Commons