With each pilgrimage come a few special people, clearly called by the Holy Spirit to not only walk in the footsteps of Jesus, but also to give support in numerous ways to our HOPE mission. The people of past pilgrimages as well as this present one help to fulfill our mission,  and in many ways are the hands and feet of Jesus in helping us complete our tasks both in the Holy Land and the USA. We welcome them and thank them for joining us!

Meet Connie Berens

 Connie was born in Bellefontaine, Ohio. Her parents owned a little fishing resort  at Indian Lake.  It was in June, right at the start of the busy season,  that’s when  she decided to enter  the world!

This will be Connie’s third trip to the Holy Land.  She went in 2006 and 2010.  Nancy Hemminger invited her to go again this year,  an offer Connie couldn’t pass up!  Connie is   very  excited to be going back. Her favorite place in the Holy Land  is the Sea of Galilee, she loves the feeling of being on the sea in a “Jesus boat” on the  water in which He walked.  She finds this to be such a wonderful feeling! Connie is looking forward to just walking the land where Jesus walked, and  encountering Jesus in a deeper way.

Meet Deborah Komar

 Deborah was born in Oak Park, Illinois,  and attended Michigan State University as an undergraduate, then moved to Cincinnati as a young adult in 1967. She has two daughters in their mid-40’s with five grandchildren between them, ages 8-17. While her daughters were young she did graduate work at the University of Cincinnati in accounting and economic geography. As a CPA she worked for the Federal Government and retired in 2004.

This will be Deborah’s first time in the Holy Land, however she did travel to the nearby areas in the spring of 2015–Athens, Crete, Rhodes, southwestern Turkey (Ephesus), and Istanbul. She is looking forward to visiting modern day Israel and Jordan, the Western Wall, as well as major available Jewish sites. 

Meet Dave Hemminger

 Dave Hemminger will be  accompanying his wife Nancy on this his fourth Holy Land pilgrimage.   Dave has been a practicing lawyer for over 51 years, having graduated while married to Nancy from the University of Notre Dame and previously a commissioned Army officer and father-for the first time.  That’s a lot of water over the dam right there. 

His life has been full and nearly every day he is in awe about how God has blessed him along the road of life – in his marriage, family, and career and in ways too personal to mention.  It touches him deeply to visit the Holy Land,  and he knows that it is as close as man can come to the place where Jesus was God made man and brought us hope. He is very proud of Nancy and all of the dedicated persons of the HOPE program who in their own way help our Lord in bringing hope to teachers and the children He loves so much.

Dave is looking forward to knowing  the pilgrims  better and sharing together this very special time.