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Evangelical Volunteers in Israel as Long-Term Pilgrims : Ambassadors for the Kingdom

ENGBERG, ARON LU (2016) In CABI Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Series p.161-174
Abstract
Drawing from several years of field work and about 30 life story interviews,
this chapter presents a case of contemporary evangelical mobility that cannot
be squarely placed within any of the related academic debates about ‘(religious)
tourism’, ‘pilgrimage’, ‘short-term missions’, ‘international volunteering’ or ‘migration’ simply because it is intrinsically related to all these phenomena at the same time. Pro-Zionist Evangelical Christians come to Jerusalem from all parts of the world; some of them as part of biblical tours, some for Christian conferences or for Hebrew courses and yet others come as volunteers.This latter group is engaged in what often looks like secular humanitarian work, or sometimes even political... (More)
Drawing from several years of field work and about 30 life story interviews,
this chapter presents a case of contemporary evangelical mobility that cannot
be squarely placed within any of the related academic debates about ‘(religious)
tourism’, ‘pilgrimage’, ‘short-term missions’, ‘international volunteering’ or ‘migration’ simply because it is intrinsically related to all these phenomena at the same time. Pro-Zionist Evangelical Christians come to Jerusalem from all parts of the world; some of them as part of biblical tours, some for Christian conferences or for Hebrew courses and yet others come as volunteers.This latter group is engaged in what often looks like secular humanitarian work, or sometimes even political activism, but explains these activities almost exclusively in religious terms. Initially, they come for a short period of time but often end up staying in Jerusalem for 10 years or more. What looks like a temporary adventure often turns out to be something more akin to a ‘way of life’. Thus, I will explore this phenomenon as a case of ‘long-term pilgrimage’ in order to discuss the religious meanings that the volunteers attach to their time in Israel, the practices that they are involved in and to the place itself. Apart from providing more data on contemporary religiously motivated travel patterns I hope that this case will prove useful in reconsidering the traditional boundaries between ‘tourism’, ‘volunteer work’ and ‘pilgrimage’, and perhaps also illuminate something of the underlying theoretical quagmires about the relationship between ‘the secular’ and ‘the religious’. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Volunteer Work, Christian Zionism, Pilgrimage, Religious Tourism, Secular and Religious Concerns, Evangelicalism
host publication
Pilgrimage and Tourism to Holy Cities : Ideological and Management Perspectives - Ideological and Management Perspectives
series title
CABI Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Series
editor
Leppäkari, Maria and Griffin, Kevin
pages
14 pages
publisher
CABI Publishing
ISBN
9781780647388
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
52501b14-c687-4e16-8dc1-73c6173227a3
date added to LUP
2016-09-29 11:20:34
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:28:03
@inbook{52501b14-c687-4e16-8dc1-73c6173227a3,
  abstract     = {{Drawing from several years of field work and about 30 life story interviews,<br/>this chapter presents a case of contemporary evangelical mobility that cannot<br/>be squarely placed within any of the related academic debates about ‘(religious)<br/>tourism’, ‘pilgrimage’, ‘short-term missions’, ‘international volunteering’ or ‘migration’ simply because it is intrinsically related to all these phenomena at the same time. Pro-Zionist Evangelical Christians come to Jerusalem from all parts of the world; some of them as part of biblical tours, some for Christian conferences or for Hebrew courses and yet others come as volunteers.This latter group is engaged in what often looks like secular humanitarian work, or sometimes even political activism, but explains these activities almost exclusively in religious terms. Initially, they come for a short period of time but often end up staying in Jerusalem for 10 years or more. What looks like a temporary adventure often turns out to be something more akin to a ‘way of life’. Thus, I will explore this phenomenon as a case of ‘long-term pilgrimage’ in order to discuss the religious meanings that the volunteers attach to their time in Israel, the practices that they are involved in and to the place itself. Apart from providing more data on contemporary religiously motivated travel patterns I hope that this case will prove useful in reconsidering the traditional boundaries between ‘tourism’, ‘volunteer work’ and ‘pilgrimage’, and perhaps also illuminate something of the underlying theoretical quagmires about the relationship between ‘the secular’ and ‘the religious’.}},
  author       = {{ENGBERG, ARON}},
  booktitle    = {{Pilgrimage and Tourism to Holy Cities : Ideological and Management Perspectives}},
  editor       = {{Leppäkari, Maria and Griffin, Kevin}},
  isbn         = {{9781780647388}},
  keywords     = {{Volunteer Work; Christian Zionism; Pilgrimage; Religious Tourism; Secular and Religious Concerns; Evangelicalism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{161--174}},
  publisher    = {{CABI Publishing}},
  series       = {{CABI Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Series}},
  title        = {{Evangelical Volunteers in Israel as Long-Term Pilgrims : Ambassadors for the Kingdom}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}