April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.

Florida's mini-Holy Land offers retreat from Disney

By PAIGE M. SPAWN- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment
The Christian walked inside a small cave and peeked into a room on the right, where a white cloth lay on a stone bed. A wooden sign pinned to the wall read, "He is not here for He has risen."

Then the Christian stepped back -- and took a picture of the scene.

That's certainly not a passage from the Gospels, and it's not even a story of someone's visit to Israel. It's what happened to Pat Liguori and his wife, Lena, who came upon the Holy Land in Orlando, Florida.

Bemusement park

Last February, Zion's Hope, a nonprofit and nondenominational Christian ministry, opened a theme park called "The Holy Land Experience." Through presentations and replicas of places such as Christ's tomb, the park allows visitors to experience the Jerusalem of the first century.

The Liguoris were members of Christ the King Church in Westmere until they moved to Florida five years ago. They currently attend St. Timothy's Church in Lady Lake.

Mrs. Liguori was moved by "The Seed of Life" film she watched in the park's Theater of Life. The last scene shows people smiling and reaching their hands out to Christ.

"When I saw the scene of all those people meeting Him, it made me feel good yet sad," she said. "Hopefully, the real meeting will be like how it was in that movie."

Flavor of past

The 20-minute film is shown inside a six-story model of the Temple of the Great King, also known as the Herodian Temple. Roman columns surround a plaza in front of the temple, where actors perform brief shows.

Near the temple is the Oasis Palms Cafe, a restaurant featuring Middle Eastern food along with some American choices. The park also contains an indoor model of Jerusalem in 66 A.D., and the Wilderness Tabernacle, where visitors can view a multi-media presentation about Old Testament worship.

Opening next year are the Qumran Dead Sea Caves, a replica of those found in 1947, as well as the Scriptorium, a museum of biblical artifacts and manuscripts.

Dream come true

"It is encouraging to watch so many people whose life dream is to go to the Holy Land," said Michelle, an employee who works at a lemonade stand in the park. "This is the only chance many may get. It is good to be a part of that."

Melinda and her husband Daniel are two of those people. They cannot afford to go to the real Holy Land. They were impressed with the amount of work and effort put into the theme park.

"The actors have beautiful voices when they sing. They have a lot of talent! I was not expecting this much," said Melinda.

People of past

The employees, who wear robes and sandals, say "Shalom!" to everyone, a Hebrew word meaning peace, hello and goodbye. As a result of their employment, the workers learn a lot about ancient times.

Bethany and Barbara work in "The Old Scroll Shop," a gift store located in the park's Jerusalem Street Market.

"It is cool to find out stuff about the era when Jesus lived," said Bethany. "For example, popcorn was called parched corn."

Touched

Neither Bethany nor Barbara had witnessed a person's faith change as a result of visiting this theme park. Yet Bethany told The Evangelist about an experience her friend had while working at the "Theatre of Life" exhibit.

"After the show, a lady ran up to my friend and hugged her, sobbing, and said, 'Thank you.'"

(Editor's note: For information about the Holy Land Experience, call 1-866-USA-HOLYLAND or visit www.theholylandexperience.com.)

(07-26-01) [[In-content Ad]]

Comments:

You must login to comment.


BISHOP'S COLUMN
GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES

PHOTO GALLERY

SALUTE TO GRADS: SARATOGA CENTRAL CATHOLIC GRADUATION
VIDEOS

THE POPE RETURNS TO CASTEL GANDOLFO

Video

SOCIAL MEDIA
The Evangelist
OSV NEWS