JERUSALEM – Members of the Auburn University basketball team had the opportunity to walk the same streets Jesus walked. This occurred during their recent visit to the Holy Land, where they even took the remarkable step of being baptized in the Jordan River.
The team “shared a special moment with each other” when they were baptized in the Jordan this week in Israel, the team tweeted.
Today, we shared a special moment with each other.#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/6q7UmMx7EK
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) August 5, 2022
The Auburn team was in Israel on a 10-day trip to play three exhibition games.
That no look from the freshman @chancewestry1 pic.twitter.com/oSfKwrUhh4
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) August 8, 2022
But that left them plenty of time to travel around the Holy Land.
“We’ve blazed a trail now. I think there will be other college teams that want to come and have this competition and have this kind of historical, educational, religious, spiritual experience. It was amazing,” coach Bruce Pearl said in an interview with SECNetwork.
Auburn in Israel
A life-changing experience for @coachbrucepearl and @AuburnMBB. pic.twitter.com/WsDBsKIitM
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) August 8, 2022
The Tigers are only the fourth college basketball team to play in Israel on a preseason tour.
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Pearl, who is Jewish, said the pilgrimage would have a lasting influence on the lives of his players.
“My players will see their Judeo-Christian roots, and those who want to be baptized in the Jordan River will do so,” said Pearl, whose first trip to Israel was in 2009.
“They will walk in the garden where Jesus walked, and they will pray at the Western Wall. And they will experience firsthand the presence of God in the Holy Land. Just come and see it, you will be changed forever,” he said.
Auburn center Dylan Cardwell blogged about the trip.
“First, we went to see the Mount of Olives, which had the most amazing view. From there, we went down the mountain and visited the beautiful Garden of Gethsemane, which has been preserved since the days Jesus walked the Earth,” he wrote. Cardwell.
“We even walked the Via Dolorosa, which is the historical path that Jesus walked before his crucifixion,” he said.
“My personal favorite was visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where Jesus was buried. It was an incredible sight to see,” Cardwell said. “Walking through the Old City of Jerusalem was such a blessing – just looking at the way people live and how it differs from our livelihood in the US. The next day we traveled to Bethlehem where Jesus was born. It was another scene significant. Just being able to be where Jesus once was was a crazy experience.”
The team also danced during a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.
What a life #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/uTHzzy5hD1
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) August 5, 2022
