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Holy Land beckons disabled travelers By Michelle Martin For any serious Bible student, there comes a point when they want to travel to the Holy Land, to walk where Jesus walked. But for people with physical disabilities, it’s not just as simple as getting on a plane and going. There are airline connections to make, hotels with wheelchair access to find, difficulties with stairs and narrow doorways to overcome. That’s one reason Stauros-U.S.A., an ecumenical organization that promotes the study of human suffering, first started organizing trips to the Holy Land for disabled people and their companions in 1987, said Larry Huiras, the group’s executive director. But the Gospels speak to disabled people in myriad ways, with all of their stories of Jesus healing the sick and the lame. “There are entire ways of looking at the Gospel from the standpoint of people with disabilities,” Huiras said. “Jesus always had a special outreach to disabled people.” Many disabled people feel that outreach more keenly when they traverse the rugged terrain and see the difficulties that people who were paralyzed or blind would have had 2,000 years ago. Stauros has sponsored five “Access to the Land of the Bible” trips since 1987. This year, 27 people, including 13 disabled people, able-bodied companions and staff will go to the Holy Land from Aug. 24 to Sept. 4, visiting sites in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Galilee and the Dead Sea under the guidance of Passionist Father Donald Senior. Senior, president of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, provides an explanation of the biblical significance of each site. Sue Collins of Belleville, Ill., found the journey intellectually and spiritually stimulating when she went in 1987. She will return this year with her husband, David, who was unable to go when she went before. The trip will include a special moment for the couple: their 30th wedding anniversary Sept. 1. They plan to celebrate by renewing their vows at Cana, Collins said. After her last trip, she can’t wait to go again. “It just seemed like the dream of a lifetime to be able to go to the Holy Land and be where Jesus walked,” said Collins, who has post-polio paralysis and uses a wheelchair. “I never thought about traveling to the Holy Land before I heard about this. It was just overwhelming, thinking Christ was actually born here, and I was actually in that place.” Collins knows the travel is strenuous, but said that helps develop the sense of community among all the participants. The group travels by bus, carrying its own wheelchair ramps with it, Huiras said. The hallmark of the trip is access and inclusion. That means that if the group decides they want to visit a site, they find a way to bring everyone. “We’ve carried people, we’ve carried wheelchairs, we’ve gotten creative,” Huiras said. “If it’s humanly possible, we’ll get them in.”
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