ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 7, 1996 TAG: 9603070042
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
ARRIVING ONLY four days after the first in a series of four bomb attacks, 10 Virginians retraced the steps of Jesus Christ.
As soldiers stood grim lookout for more terrorist bombs in Jerusalem, 10 pilgrims from Virginia toed the edge of the Sea of Galilee two hours to the north. They gazed over the blue waters to the mountains on the other side.
A chill wind has been blowing through Jerusalem, but it was like a spring day on Tuesday in Galilee.
"A lot of flowers blooming, just fields of flowers, yellows and some reds," the Rev. Lottie Cochran of Roanoke recalled a day later. "Just beautiful."
Cochran, associate rector at St. John's Episcopal Church in Roanoke, and nine parishioners held Communion beside the ancient sea.
They prayed for peace.
"It was a very moving experience for us," Cochran said in a telephone interview Wednesday from Israel.
The Roanokers arrived in Israel last Thursday - four days after the first in a series of terrorist bombings rocked Jerusalem. They are staying at St. George's College in Jerusalem, hearing lectures and traveling around the country as part of a brief course called "Jesus in Palestine."
Other Roanokers who embarked on the trip were Cochran's husband, Tom, Jane Coulter, Earl Shumate, Lynn Ludirici, Ron Adams, Donna Hamner, Patti Palmer, Jane Adams and Laura Macbean.
On Sunday, a bombing in the heart of Jerusalem, a few blocks from the college, killed 19 more people.
But the Cochrans say their group doesn't believe they are in harm's way.
"It's very tense - there's no question about that," Tom Cochran said. "We don't feel unsafe. But we're very cautious."
He had this message for folks back home who might be concerned about them: "It's not to worry. Thanks for their prayers. We really feel their support."
"We know that at the college here, they go the extra mile to watch out for us," Lottie Cochran added. "They don't take us anywhere that's not safe, and they've changed the course schedule accordingly."
The college is in a compound surrounded by a fence, and the Roanokers don't go out by themselves. They also avoid public buses. If they need to go somewhere, they walk, take a taxi or ride on a bus chartered by the college.
The idea behind the course is, in a sense, to walk in Jesus' footsteps. They've toured Jerusalem and traveled to Galilee and Nazareth. They tried to go into Jericho, but authorities weren't letting anyone in or out.
One thing the pilgrims have noted is that the current political tensions in Israel are similar to those that existed in the time of Jesus.
"We realized the situation before we came over here, that it's Israel and things happen," Tom Cochran said.
The potential for violence has increased during the past couple of weeks, Lottie Cochran said, but it has always been there. "Unfortunately, we don't seem to have a lot of peace in this part of the world."
Soldiers have set up checkpoints and roadblocks all over Jerusalem. Tom Cochran said it's a bit like driving down Virginia 419 in Roanoke County and getting stopped by police a couple of times, then heading for downtown Roanoke and getting stopped yet again.
"It's really something to behold," he said. "It's not something you'd see in Roanoke."
They will return home Monday.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: The Rev. Lottie Cochran (bottom right) of Roanoke andby CNBher husband, Tom (second from upper right), were in a group of 10
that arrived in Israel just after the first in a series of bombings
over the past two weeks. The group is tracing the footsteps of Jesus
Christ by traveling through several biblically significant cities.
The group returns to Roanoke on Monday. color.