More than a tour guide
Trips to the Holy Land are Polson pastor's passion
It took only a few days for the Rev. Paul Rowold to discover a calling far beyond that of traditional Christian ministry.
It was 1978, and Rowold, currently the pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Polson, had just graduated from a St. Louis seminary when he went on an archaeology dig in Caesarea, an Israeli town located on the Mediterranean.
"It was an eye-opening experience," Rowold said. "I knew within three days that I'd be back there often."
Rowold, 56, has made good on his promise to himself. He has taken two-dozen trips to the Holy Land, usually leading a group with the goal of sharing the "magnetism" of the area that draws him back year after year.
Rowold will talk about his insights and travel experiences as the featured speaker at this year's Waldum Memorial Spring Renewal at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Kalispell, wrapping up tonight with a talk at 7 p.m.
His guided trips to the Holy Land cover areas such as Israel's Mt. Hermon, the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Galilee.
But it's the Palestinian territories, such as the West Bank, that have most captured Rowold's attention and his heart.
"I became intrigued with the reality of all the people there, touched by the plight of the Palestinian Christians," he said.
What he had heard from the news media about the area was not what he encountered in person, a realization he had after a few days there in 1978.
"We had always heard about the heroic Israelis, making the desert bloom, taking unoccupied land and making it a civilized place," Rowold said. "But it had been occupied, and the reality of Arab Palestinians had not been portrayed accurately, to me anyway."
ROWOLD, A licensed religious tour guide in the Holy Land, leads those interested to the area in hopes of educating people to its realities.
"We try to practice alternative tourism, which is not just seeing the holy stones, but also meeting the holy people," he said.
There is a stark contrast between Israel, which has become a modern, prosperous state, and places such as the West Bank, where Third World conditions are the norm.
"To experience the oppression that the Palestinian Christians have for so many years, dealing with the trauma that the children suffer," he said. "I don't know of any more urgent need in the world for justice to be done."
He doesn't blame the Israeli people, saying he knows they recognize both the injustices and how they would benefit from a lasting peace.
"There is a frustration with the inability of the political structures to make it happen," he said.
He says that travel to the Holy Lands is a humbling experience, and not risky, despite the violent images of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict people see on the nightly news.
"They treat you like royalty there," he said. "Tourists are very well protected, and very well treated. Americans are the least likely to be targeted."
Rowold has learned where not to go, though.
He has never strayed into Gaza, "a place you'd need armed protection going into," he said. "It's very self-contained; people in the West Bank almost talk about them as a different country."
He's gotten used to gun-wielding soldiers and metal detectors at every checkpoint, though he admits it's intimidating for the first-time visitor.
He also has learned to listen to the locals to avoid potential conflict sites.
"A lot of people know about demonstrations in advance, and people like bus drivers know where points of friction might be," he said.
THOSE WHO travel with Rowold (he figures it's been between 800 and 900 people so far) end up giving little thought to matters of safety and security, he said. He takes his family there frequently, and the oldest of his three daughters, Faith, currently is working for one of his best friends in Bethlehem, the Rev. Mitri Raheb.
Raheb is a well-known Lutheran pastor who heads up the International Center of Bethlehem, which features a health and wellness center, a cultural and conference center, and arts studio. He is also the founder of the Dar al-Kalima School and Academy in Bethlehem. As a whole, the center is the second-largest private employer in Bethlehem.
Raheb authored the books "I am a Palestinian Christian," and "Bethlehem Besieged: Stories of Hope."
Rowold's friendship with Raheb, which began when he went back for his second visit in 1984, has been a major influence in his life and work as a Christian minister.
ROWOLD CAME to serve at Good Shepherd 11 years ago, after he had led a church in Englewood, Colo., for a decade. The St. Louis native also taught in a Lutheran high school in Rockford, Ill., for awhile, and served a large congregation in Rockford for six years.
He has been pleased with what has happened at Good Shepherd Lutheran during his tenure there.
"It's a great congregation," he said. "We went to really just surviving to thriving. We just bought 10 acres of land to build new facilities."
As a Christian leader, he is not completely defined by his passion for the Holy Land and its people, but his knowledge of the area has had a profound effect on him.
"You never read the Bible the same way after you've seen the land," he said. "To see the geography of Bethlehem, the Garden of Gethsemane, it adds so much to the reading of the scripture."
Even on a sabbatical, Rowold can't stay away, last year taking his family, with the help of a Lilly Endowment grant, back to the Middle East. They spent a month in Bethlehem and toured Egypt, Jordan and more of the Holy Lands.
To Rowold, his trips are not vacations, but are crucial elements of his Christian ministry and his quest for social justice.
"My commitment is to take people there to see for themselves," he said. "All I ask is that they look honestly and tell what they've seen and heard."
Rowold is leading two trips to the Holy Land this year. The first will be with the Good Shepherd Lutheran youth group on a mission trip in June, then from Oct. 6-21, he'll be traveling to the Holy Lands and Greece. Those interested in the October trip are encouraged to contact Rowold at gslcrowold@compuplus.net