BRINGING THE VISION TO LIFE: CAMPAIGN PROGRESS AND PROMISE

Dear Magdala friends,

Progress continues at Magdala as we count down the days of our 1,000-day capital campaign - Bringing The Vision To Life. As you can see on our campaign page, funds continue to grow as the days pass. However, we still have a long way to go with just over 900 days remaining.

We give thanks to God, because we know time does not pass by in vain. I want to give you some updates in which we can once more sense the Providence of God that acts, blesses, and sanctifies. Moreover I want to testify that the most powerful spiritual experience I have had in the past few years with this project is the loving action of God’s Providence.

One of our Spanish friends who is a donor recently offered us some very valuable help. He placed at our disposal a construction management company called PROYECO that has vast international experience. They have helped us re-launch the project and optimize our resources and plans. With PROYECO´s help we are “Bringing The Vision To Life” and launching the second phase of the project that is mainly focused on the construction of the pilgrims’ guesthouse.

As I may have mentioned previously, construction was halted for a few years due to the archaeological discoveries in the site. Some friends thought that this would be a serious setback, yet instead we see that it was a blessing from God!

Imagine, we thought of building a beautiful center for pilgrims, but instead we received a holy site of the gospel! This was indeed a blessing of God as it led us to reconsider and revise many aspects of our original plan to the point that we had to obtain a new construction permit. This whole process is now complete and we have secured definitive construction permits with which we can now say with much gratitude, we are ready to work. Here are some of the images of the construction site from the 20th of September.

You may wonder, “why a guesthouse? Do they want to profit from this?” No way!

Although the guesthouse will be profitable, our intention for this guesthouse is to offer a truly unique experience to pilgrims coming to the Holy Land and to use this place as a launch pad for pastoral, cultural, and inter-religious programs.

We want to help, we want to serve, and we want to inspire.

Our initial program plans include: help and support for women through the “Magdalena Institute”, assistance to spiritual leaders through priestly renewal courses, youth programs, spiritual retreats, congresses and conventions. We would like Magdala to be an entryway to the Gospel that Jesus revealed in this place, founded on the richness of the word of God.

We are committed to taking this beautiful and providential project to its conclusion and we count on your help. We are asking you to consider doing three things:

1. PRAY – pray for God’s guidance, wisdom, and provision. We can do nothing without the power of prayer.

2. GIVE – support this project as generously as you can. Visit our website to discover the many ways you can make a gift to Magdala.

3. GO – Visit the Holy Land and spend some quality time at Magdala. You may come as a pilgrim or as a volunteer. Either way you will discover the very special presence of our Lord at this holy site.

Thanks to your faithful prayers, generous donations, and selfless volunteer work you are helping us as we are “Bringing The Vision To Life.”

With the assurance of our prayers, fraternally yours,

Fr. Juan María Solana, L.C.

Magdala has a rich cultural history for both Jews and Christians. The archeology found in Magdala holds incredible significance to the events that once took place. Magdala (near present day Migdal) is located on the western coastline of the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) and at the eastern foothills of Mount Arbel. It is at the crossroads of Jewish and Christian history. It was the largest urban center on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee until the founding of Tiberias in 19 CE.