An annual alumni trip over the summer took over 80 people from Liberty University and Thomas Road Baptist Church to Israel. One highlight of the trip was a Holocaust remembrance ceremony at Yad Vashem, Israel’s National Holocaust Memorial and Museum.
The trip was led by Dr. Ed Hindson, dean of the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity and a professor of religion, and Dr. Randall Price, an esteemed archaeologist and distinguished research professor at Liberty. Hindson and Price placed a “Liberty University” wreath on a stone above the ashes of Holocaust victims. Hindson read from Psalm 121, and LU Send Executive Director David Welch, an American-Israeli, sang a rendition of Psalm 21 in fluent Hebrew. The ceremony was organized and led by Sari Granitza, director of the Christian Friends of Yad Vashem. The night concluded with a guided tour of the site.
Liberty has developed an ongoing relationship with Yad Vashem, where students have completed service projects for the museum archives.
Believing that God’s covenants with Israel still stand strong, Liberty is seeking to increase meaningful engagement with the Jewish state through university and business partnerships. Liberty has also been long engaged with Israel through its active Stand with Israel Club, by presenting the biblical significance of Israel at the Liberty Biblical Museum (headed by Price), and by offering faculty enrichment trips and multiple short-term, faculty-led trips for students.
