When I first entered the Christian travel industry in 2004, I believed my role was simple: help people visit biblical sites.
Twenty years later, I realize that is only part of the story.
Through organizing thousands of Christian tours for churches, ministries, and faith-based groups across North America, I have had the privilege of accompanying tens of thousands of travelers on their journey to the Holy Land. Over the years, I discovered that while people come to Israel for many reasons, they often leave with something they never expected.
And the most important lessons I’ve learned have come not from the sites themselves, but from the people who visit them.
Looking for More Than a Trip
One of the first lessons I learned is that most travelers are searching for something deeper than they realize.
Before departure, conversations usually revolve around logistics. People ask about hotels, weather, meals, and daily schedules. Pastors focus on teaching opportunities, while group leaders focus on practical details.
But once people arrive in Israel, those concerns quickly fade into the background.
The experience becomes personal.
I remember one pastor who had been preaching for more than thirty years. When our group arrived at the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem, he became unusually quiet. After several minutes, he turned to me and said:
“I’ve preached about Jerusalem thousands of times. Today is the first time I truly understood that it is a real place.”
There is a profound difference between reading about a place and standing in it.
When the Bible Becomes a Place
The Bible moves from the page into the landscape.
The names become real places, the stories gain geography, and familiar passages suddenly feel more tangible.
History becomes experience.
I have seen similar reactions along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. One traveler told me that after years of reading the Gospels, she finally felt she could visualize the setting where so much of Jesus’ ministry took place.
Nothing dramatic happened that day. Yet it became one of the most meaningful moments of her journey.
Discovering Modern Israel
Another lesson I learned is that many Christian visitors arrive expecting to encounter only the past.
After spending years helping churches and ministries organize tours through America Israel Tours, I have found that many first-time visitors arrive with a very specific image of the country in mind. They expect ancient stones, archaeological sites, and biblical history. Instead, they discover a modern and dynamic nation that exists alongside its ancient heritage.
For many first-time visitors, this becomes one of the biggest surprises of all.
Israel has a way of challenging assumptions. Perhaps that is one reason it leaves such a lasting impression on so many people.
What Travelers Have in Common
Yet despite all that complexity, the reactions I see from visitors are often remarkably simple: wonder, curiosity, gratitude, and reflection.
Over the years, I have worked with Christians from countless backgrounds. Some arrived with strong opinions, while others arrived with questions. Yet they often share the same desire: to understand, to connect, and to experience something meaningful.
One memory in particular comes to mind.
Several years ago, I watched a grandfather, his son, and his teenage grandson stand together in Jerusalem. The grandfather told me he had dreamed of visiting Israel for decades and had finally decided to bring his family with him.
The sites mattered. But the shared experience mattered even more.
The Real Legacy of the Journey
In a world that often emphasizes our differences, travel has a unique ability to remind us of what we have in common.
When I first entered this industry, I believed my role was to help people visit biblical sites. Today, I see it differently.
The sites matter. The history matters. The archaeology matters.
But what people remember years later is something else entirely.
They remember the first time they saw Jerusalem. They remember standing beside the Sea of Galilee. They remember reading Scripture in places they had previously only imagined.
Most of all, they remember how those experiences made them feel.
That, more than anything else, is what twenty years of bringing Christian groups to Israel has taught me.
Noam Matas is the General Manager of America Israel Tours®, a U.S.-based tour operator specializing in Christian travel to Israel and other biblical destinations. Since 2004, he has helped tens of thousands of travelers experience the lands of the Bible through faith-based journeys across Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Greece, Turkey and Italy.