The Jesus Trail – a new 40-mile hiking trail that follows the routes Jesus would have walked in Galilee – along with its friendly American guide, David Landis ’04, have been the subject of reporting all over the world. They have been on ABC News, in the Washington Post<\/i>, the Jerusalem Post<\/i>, the Guardian<\/i> in London. Distributed through the Post and Associated Press wire services, the story has appeared across the United States, from the Miami Herald<\/i> to the Seattle Times<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Yet a year before all these stories, you could have heard about the Jesus Trail and David Landis right here at EMU where Laura Amstuz, communications officer for the Seminary, posted an online report about it on May 20, 2008. <\/p>\n
That spring, Landis was part of a pilot program to offer a “hybrid” EMU course, combining online and in-person education, under the tutelage of Linford L. Stutzman, EMU associate professor of culture and mission. It was called “The Jesus Movement in the Early Context.” Landis and Anna Dintaman ’05 (featured on the ABC news report) were two of the six students in the class. As his class project, Landis chose to develop and promote the Jesus Trail. <\/p>\n
More than a year later, on June 7, 2009, the Washington Post<\/i> featured Landis as the trail’s co-founder, working with an Israeli entrepreneur, Maoz Inon. On the front page of its Travel section under the headline “A Spiritual Journey and Then Some,” Landis is seen in a photo taken by Dintaman. He is overlooking the Sea of Galilee, with a daypack on his shoulder. The Post<\/i> article jumps inside to almost a full page with more photos taken by both Dintaman and Landis, where the reporter notes, “Landis, a Mennonite …hopes the project will encourage understanding among faiths and cultures.” <\/p>\n
Actually, Landis is not simply “a Mennonite.” He works for Franconia Mennonite Conference from his base in Nazareth, Israel, according to an article he wrote on the Jesus Trail in the February 17, 2009, issue of The Mennonite<\/i>. <\/p>\n
His interest in the Middle East was sparked by his EMU cross-cultural to the Middle East during his junior year, he wrote in The Mennonite<\/i>. “My experiences abroad initiated misgivings about going into medicine after graduation. I began a period of global travel to explore possibilities. In the following year, I visited more than 40 countries.” <\/p>\n
Landis concluded, “The choice to follow Jesus is to transform life into a journey, take nothing for the road and walk with a trust in providence.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"