In this video, Justin Daniel chronicles the final stages of his journey to witness the descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem on Holy Saturday, and his experience of the descent itself.

The divine Psalmist petitions, “Hearken O daughter, and see, incline thine ear; and forget thine own people and thy father’s house,” and in moving to Greece we did just that. We left all those comforts behind, moved half-way around the world, and subjected ourselves to whatever this foreign country would throw at us. From the moment we had encountered Orthodoxy, all we wanted was to learn the Orthodox faith. And so, we came to Greece to study and learn as much as possible about living as Orthodox Christians.

I grew up in a Lutheran Church in Wisconsin, hearing the stories of the Bible every Sunday just as I still do now as an Orthodox Christian. And my imagination filled in the details of the tales proclaimed from that pulpit.

OCMC Hoonah, Alaska 2011 Mission Team Experience -

Off to Hoonah. The excitement of finally seeing St. Nicholas Church in Hoonah, Alaska overcame any tiredness from the 5:00am wake-up time, so that we could make it to the ferry During the ferry ride, Fr. Simeon shared his journey to orthodoxy.

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Breaking through the clouds to see the snow-capped mountains of Juneau, Alaska started this Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) mission trip. There was a team of 9 Orthodox Christian volunteers to help the communities of Juneau and Hoonah, Alaska (both churches are St. Nicholas), along with repairing the Hoonah church building. We ranged in age from 19 to 84, and traveled from Florida, Alabama, Indiana and Illinois.

One team member was on her 11th OCMC mission trip in 12 years. Another member was on her third OCMC trip in three years. For the rest of us, it was our first OCMC trip.

Everyone into the water. But what river is this?

This is my final posting on the Finding the Flame Travel Blog. I hope you enjoy watching our last video and hearing the various audio clips we have prepared. It has been a joy to travel with these folks and experience the Holy Land close up with them. I hope you have enjoyed it. If you have thoughts and ideas for future travel blogs please do not hesitate to send them to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Please read on for some of my personal sign off thoughts.

Towards the end of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Father Chris was afforded the unique opportunity to interview the Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Holiness Theophilos, the 141st Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem has a unique and challenging role as the guardian of the holy sites in Israel. In this interview, His Beatitude speaks about that critical role and the role of pilgrimages in the lives of the Orthodox faithful. His Holiness also explains the true purpose of the Church, and how the Church reconciles the world to Christ.

Father Chris Metropulos, Executive Director of the Orthodox Christian Network and host of the Come Receive the Light radio program, will be traveling as a pilgrim to the Holy Land with over thirty other Orthodox Christians from June 21st to the 30th. This exciting trip will take Father Chris and his fellow pilgrims to some of the holiest sites in the world - including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Christ arose from the dead. During the pilgrimage, Father Chris will be sharing daily blogs, photo galleries, videos, and interviews. In the accompanying video, Father Chris explains the upcoming Travel Blog - brought to you exclusively on The Sounding Blog by the Orthodox Christian Network! Click below to see the video.