Pastor Tony Evans and his daughters, Chrystal Evans Hurst and Priscilla Shirer are sharing an up-close look at their tour of the Holy Land in the documentary film, Journey with Jesus.
Filmed on location in Israel, Journey With Jesus brings the Bible to life as Dr. Evans and his daughters lead a beautiful and captivating walking tour of the historical sites and places of Jesus’ ministry.
They offer personal insights, powerful teaching, and biblical context for each location they visit.
The film includes footage of sites such as the tomb of Lazarus and the shore of the Sea of Galilee where the Bible says Jesus fed thousands with five loaves of bread and two fish.
During an interview with CBN’s Studio 5, Evans and Shirer provide a deeper look at the making of the film and how it’s affected their role as religious leaders.
Shirer pointed out that the film was actually shot during Nov. 2018, one year prior to the death of her mother, Lois Evans.
“Part of the significance of that in hindsight is that that would really inaugurate what would be the last year of our mom’s life,” Shirer said. “So the fact that the Lord allowed us to take that trip with her is incredibly meaningful.”
Dr. Evans explained that the trip was originally intended to be a Bible study; however, the material they captured was so compelling that they decided to make a documentary.
“Every year or every other year, we have a ministry trip,” he said. “This particular year, we were going to do the trip to Israel, so we had 700 friends who wanted to go with us. We thought this could be special so let’s turn it into a Bible study. But, the footage turned out to be so good, so strong and so vibrant that we said let’s do more than a Bible study … let’s create a documentary because so many people have not had the chance to go to Israel.”
Shirer and Evans noted that visiting the Holy Land was a unique experience for them as ministers.
“Going to the Holy Land helps to lift the truth of scripture off the pages of the Bible and into your experience. If you turn on the television and you have sound but no sight, you can get the gist of what’s happening but you don’t get the same level of experience,” Evans noted. “The transformation of us going and inviting others to join us through the movie, allows people to enter into the experience of sight mixed with sound for the goal of appreciating the Savior, growing in your faith and developing a new level of spiritual fire.”
Shirer emphasized that one of the benefits of being on location is that the message being shared has more meaning and depth.
“Adding a three-dimensional perspective to a portion of scripture that you read … having in mind the context, the topography, the setting that existed when Jesus spoke those words,” she said. “So, to bring that context to a particular portion of scripture really makes it like a layered, three-dimensional experience that helps me as a communicator, be able to share with more insight and more texture to someone who is listening.”
Journey With Jesus is playing in select theaters for three nights only, Nov. 15-17. To find out more, click here.
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