Even pastors have dreams come true.
The Rev. Doyle Sager, pastor of First Baptist Church, will visit Israel next week.
"I've never been, but I've always wanted to go," he said.
He is one of 14 Baptist leaders from the United States who will be part of the mission to build Christian-Jewish bridges, hosted by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
The fellowship formed in 1983 to promote better understanding and cooperation between Christians and Jews and to build broad support for Israel.
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of the fellowship, hopes the visit will "not only strengthen the connection between Christians and Jews but will remind Israel and the Jewish people of the unconditional love and support we receive from our Christian friends."
In 1985, the fellowship helped in the resettlement of 6,000 Ethiopian Jews, and in 1990, they instigated a program to bring to Israel Soviet Jews from the collapsed U.S.S.R.
The six-day pilgrimage will visit holy sites including the Wailing Wall, the old city of Jerusalem, Masada and the Sea of Galilee.
They also will visit Israel's Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem.
Sager was personally invited by the National Baptist Convention of America International, an organization of primarily black churches, to join them, he said.
He said he looks forward to taking advantage of the double invitation to build relationships across racial and religious lines.
"I've seen warmth and bridge-building," Sager said.
The state-based ChurchNet and the national Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, to which First Baptist belongs, have worked in recent years to become more racially inclusive and heal divides, he said.
It was through these organizations the National Baptist Convention of America International sought out participants for this trip.
Sager has traveled extensively; however, he has not made it to Israel. He said he looks forward to the bond travelers on such journeys normally build.
Because they share a spiritual kinship, he expects visiting biblical sites will be even more powerful.
"It's an opportunity to pause at certain sites and reflect on things you've preached about all your life," Sager said.
Unlike his other international missions, this pilgrimage is unique in what he is going to receive, he said.
"On this trip, all I need to give is my attention," Sager said.
Upon his return, Sager said, he expects the visit will enrich his preaching and teaching with greater context.
"If the Bible is more alive for me, I hope it will be more alive for (the congregation)," he said.
For more information about the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, visit ifcj.org.