There’s a wistful note in Bishop Paul Barnett’s voice when he says that, after 30 years, his tour-leading days with his wife Anita are done.
“We miss it,” he says. “Last year we did a long tour – a month-long tour to Turkey and Greece – and we were able to make it possible for our daughter Sarah and two of her children to come. They had such a wonderful time that I was saying a couple of days ago, ‘I’d love to take them to Jordan and Israel’… but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
The 84-year-old historian and author has loved bringing the Bible to life for people, enjoying their fellowship and making deep friendships with their “much loved” travel guides. He and Mrs Barnett began to take tours to Bible lands when he was still Bishop of North Sydney, and they cheerfully continued on well after the time most other people would be happy to put their feet up.
Being there
“I always loved to see people’s excitement and joy – standing on the top of Mount Nebo looking over the Promised Land, for example,” he says. “I’d say, ‘Just put yourself in Moses’ shoes, because he was here!’ To look across to the holy land from Dan to Beersheba was so exciting for people. I said to Anita, ‘If I’m ever not excited by being here, I won’t come back’ – but I was always excited.”
Adds Mrs Barnett: “From Jerusalem you drive down the hill to Jericho, and a lot of people would say, ‘That’s what it says in the Bible! “They went down from Jerusalem to Jericho”’. And they’d be amazed that it was so clear. It was the same when we visited Jacob’s well in Nablus in the West Bank… the description in the Bible is what we saw. People always commented on that type of thing because it really stood out to them.
“Whenever we went to a site, Paul would read what the Bible says at that site, so people could look around and say, ‘Well, yes’.”
Over three decades the couple have led 25 tours to Israel and Jordan, 15 to Turkey and Greece, and three to Egypt. They have visited Reformation sites in Germany, Switzerland and England twice, and “followed” the Apostle Paul from Malta to Rome. There was also a private visit to Syria with two other couples almost a decade ago with the plan to take a future tour, “but then the civil war started, so that was that”.
Apart from the Reformation sites, the tours have overwhelmingly focused on Bible history, and visiting sites mentioned in its pages. That never changed, and the enthusiasm of those who came – some more than once – never wavered.
Bishop Barnett describes them as educational tours, saying participants were always given notes before the tour began, and there were afternoon talks two days out of every three. Most countries have modernised and upgraded their sites and facilities during this time, but the bones of what was being seen and experienced remained the same.
“In one way or another we have visited every place mentioned in the New Testament – every one, except Tarsus, and Antioch in Syria [now Turkey],” he says. “This has been incredibly helpful in my writing because I can visualise the place, I can know how far it is from somewhere else… I just remember it, because I’ve been there so many times.
“It’s the combination of being there and the fellowship and sharing that makes the difference. People come away thankful for an enhanced relationship with God through it.”
Greater biblical understanding
For him, another ongoing benefit of the trips has been a deepening understanding of the Bible.
“You discover, for example, what a tiny country Israel is: you can drive from top to bottom in a day,” he says. “And words are two dimensional, but when you go there and think about the climate, the geography, topography and history, you’re looking at a third dimension – and one that I think brings the Bible to life. I said to people on tours, ‘You might curse me for this trip! You’ll never read the Bible again in the same way because you’ll see it’.
“Another thing is that [visiting in person] overwhelmingly confirms the integrity of the text. One guy who came with us – his wife was a Christian, and he wasn’t – he was a bit worried about being preached at. I said, ‘We won’t be preaching at you, mate. The talks that are on in the afternoon, you’re entirely free not to come’. But when the tour ended, we had a debriefing night and he was the first to offer a comment. He said, ‘I’m still not a Christian but I can’t deny the integrity of the Bible’. So that was a really good insight.”
"Visiting in person overwhelming confirms the integrity of the text"
The couple believes that travel – provided it’s not just superficial sightseeing – has the additional benefit of giving people a deeper appreciation of the world and its politics.
Despite this, Mrs Barnett says they always sought to keep political discussion out of their trips. They would encourage tour participants to simply listen to and respect those around them, rather than engaging with their views – especially if they disagreed with them.
“Not having lived there we don’t know what it’s really like,” she says. “I would say to people, ‘We are guests in this country and it’s not our place to tell them what’s what!’”
Just one more
While age has inevitably meant that running a tour is no longer an option, the couple has agreed to be part of one more – although the central responsibility for the group will not be on their shoulders.
The trip, being organised by Olive Tree Travel – and with the hopefully COVID-friendly timing of June and July next year – will be undertaken by boat on the Aegean Sea, and include Patmos, Philippi, Corinth, Miletus, Pergamum, Kusadasi (near Ephesus) and Istanbul.
“Anita and I will be on the boat – a 50-person ship – and I’ll be doing evening Bible studies and lectures,” Bishop Barnett says. “We’ll be honorary guides, as it were. I may or may not go ashore, but the tour will have the same guides that we usually use... and it would be wonderful to see them.”
