Of Falafels and Following Jesus: Stories from a Journey through the Holy Land

by Nathan Brown

“Many feel that it would be a great privilege to visit the scenes of Christ’s life on earth, to walk where He trod, to look upon the lake beside which He loved to teach, and the hills and valleys on which His eyes so often rested. . . .”—The Desire of Ages (1898)

Since the time of Jesus, visiting the places of His life has held a fascination and attraction for His followers from many parts of the world. This is the story of one of those journeys, encountering and reflecting on the stories themselves, as well as the realities of visiting these places today.
From the rugged wilderness of Petra and the Dead Sea to the sparkling waters and lush valleys of Galilee, this is a story of re-discovering the stories of Jesus and the Bible, and how this journey changes and challenges us as we seek to follow Him as His disciples today.

“In the same place where Jesus called a tax collector to collect His stories, Jesus has obviously called Nathan Brown to do the same. An exquisite writer, Nathan takes us into the holy sites, yes, but most of all, into the holy stories—of Jesus, of Scripture. This is a beautiful guidebook and an inspiring memoir, all in one.”—Dr Andy Nash, owner, Tabgha Tours to Israel, and author, The Book of Matthew: Save Us Now, Son of David

Nathan Brown, Michelle Villis and Brenton Stacey travelled together from Australia as part of a larger tour group. They each grew up with the stories of Jesus, but are continuing to learn to read—and to live—these stories again.

194 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 STARS

What a perfect read for 2020, when we all can't travel this book makes the places written here come to life. Reading this book reminded me of my trip to Israel, and I felt like I was there with them. So realistic and I am SO glad, not too political (unfortunately, it does touch on the subject). I nice breath of fresh air when it comes to travel in the Middle East.
However, when it came to Jerusalem, I found that everyone will have a different reaction to being in Jerusalem. His wasn’t mine. I found the churches to be dark and cold. There was also a level of feminism in the book that annoyed me. It seemed to contradict with the cultural/spiritual understanding that was written earlier in the book.
Although I liked the book in general, I found some of this book to be very distant and removed from the real historical Israel.

[Trudy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s refreshing to read an account of travel to “the Holy Land” by someone who approaches the journey admitting to a level of skepticism — not about the holiness of the events that happened there, but about whether modern would-be pilgrims can access that holiness in a region torn by conflict and commercialized by the religo-tourism industry.

Nathan Brown approaches his trip to holy and historical places in Israel and Jordan with a reverent but questioning mind. The book tells the story of a fairly typical Holy Land tour, with Brown’s reflections on the day-by-day site-seeing interspersed with shorter reflections from Villis and Stacey, two other members of the same tour group. Each of them reflect on the places where they did (and sometimes, didn’t) find God in these historic places, and on what following in the literal footsteps of Jesus might mean for those of us trying to follow His metaphorical footsteps 2000 years later.

This was an honest, refreshing, and thought-provoking book about travelling in holy places.