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Huckabee leads ‘Journeys of Paul’ tour BY JULIA SHANDS Staff Writer
Former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee has hosted many trips to biblical sites in past years. This year, Huckabee is taking a trip through the Mediterranean Sea, bringing along senior Abby Blankenship, alumnus Alex Blankenship and professor emeritus of Biblical studies, Dr. Danny Hays. Passengers participating in the tour boarded the cruise ship on Oct. 24 on a 10-day journey to various cities in Greece (Athens, Kavala, Patmos, Rhodes and Santorini) and Turkey (Dikili and Kusadasi). Passengers will return home on Nov. 2. While traveling from destination to destination, passengers will get to hear engaging lectures from Dr. Hays on the apostle Paul as they follow his footsteps throughout the Mediterranean. The Blankenship siblings will be working as videographers, capturing the sights and experiences of each location on the tour. “With the current COVID restrictions, large group trips to Israel are not possible, so Gov. Huckabee scheduled a ‘Journeys of Paul’ cruise to the Aegean Sea to visit sites on the coast of Greece and Turkey,” Hays said. “Originally, he had someone else scheduled to be the Bible teacher on this cruise, but that teacher cancelled about six weeks before the departure date. Gov. Huckabee, scrambling to get a replacement, got my name from a mutual friend and invited my wife Donna and I to go on the cruise, with me serving as the Bible teacher. So the first time I even heard of this trip was mid-September. Fortunately, Donna and I were free at this time and we accepted.” Travel looks differently due to COVID protocols. In order to participate in the trip, passengers had
Senior communications major Abby Blankenship and her brother, Ouachita alumnus Alex Blankenship stand ready for a day of filming near historic ruins in Greece. The two are working as videographers during the ‘Journeys of Paul’ cruise trip led by former Governor Mike Huckabee. (photo courtesy of Abby Blankenship)
to be fully vaccinated and test negative for COVID before the trip began. For Hays, these precautions made the trip a possibility. “As many people on campus know, I am a strong advocate of COVID prevention protocols,” Hays said. “Normally, I would shy away from going on a cruise, but
this cruise line requires both vaccines and a negative COVID test for all passengers and crew, so we thought it would be relatively safe.” In his lectures, Hays will distinguish the biblical significance of the locations to passengers every day of the tour. “We will be visiting several ex-
citing biblical sites from the Book of Acts (Athens, Corinth, Philippi, Ephesus) as well as Patmos (where John wrote the Book of Revelation),” Hays said. “There will be local guides to lead the group at the actual site. My job will be to teach a Bible study on what happened in the Bible at these sites and to point out the features at each site that are
mentioned in the Bible.” Blankenship had no idea that a trip to Greece and Turkey would be included in her semester. Although the trip takes her out of classes and other obligations at school, it was an opportunity she could not refuse. “This trip came as a surprise as Alex had asked if I would be able to join him and help film the trip,” Blankenship said. “It is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity you can’t pass up. I am extremely thankful for my professors being so supportive and accommodating to make sure I am able to keep up in classes.” Blankenship made all of the necessary preparations just in time for the cruise and now joins approximately 500 other passengers. All passengers are on the cruise for Huckabee’s ‘Journeys of Paul’ tour. “There are about 500 people on the cruise and the entire ship is dedicated to this particular tour,” Hays said. “That is, there are no other passengers on board who are not on the Mike Huckabee Journeys of Paul tour.” Aside from the opportunity to teach Biblical stories on-site, Hays is excited to visit a city he has not had the chance to visit in his lifetime. “Dr. Scott Duvall and I have led two previous trips to this area with Ouachita students, so I am familiar with most of the sites we will visit,” Hays said. “However, I have never been to Philippi, so I am especially excited about visiting that site.” Blankenship is most thrilled to experience Paul’s journey taught by an expert at the actual sites. “I’m so excited to hear from Dr. Hays as he is explaining the significance of each destination of Paul’s journey through the Mediterranean,” Blankenship said.
