Over a million Americans will visit the Holy Land this year to see where Jesus walked and the
historical places that you read about in the Bible.
It can cost thousands of dollars to visit for a week and many people don’t feel safe enough to
travel to the Middle East.
Life Church is providing a solution with what it calls the first Bible study in virtual reality. The
experience is a new addition to the popular YouVersion Bible app that currently has over 268 million
downloads.
The first VR Bible study features a walk through the last few days of Jesus leading up to the
crucifixion and resurrection. Produced by a film production company, the Octagon Project uses a 360-degree virtual reality camera that literally walks the viewer through the 7 Stations of the Cross, the Via Dolorosa and
the Mount of Olives.“Thanks to this partnership with The Octagon Project, the YouVersion community can experience the same steps Jesus took in Jerusalem” said Bobby Gruenewald, Life.Church
Innovation Pastor and founder of The YouVersion Bible App. “We’re thrilled to leverage
technology like virtual reality to help people become more immersed in Scripture.”
I took the app and a virtual reality headset to pastor Bill Overstreet who has visited the Holy
Land and took a personal tour of the places shown in the app. The first thing he said was ‘Wow’.
“When you turn your head, You felt like you were right there in the presence of the relics and the
stations of the cross,” Overstreet said. “The only thing that’s missing are the smells.”
To view the tour in virtual reality you need a virtual reality headset such as the Google Daydream, Google cardboard or Oculus Rift. You can view the tour in 360-degrees on a smartphone or by watching the video on YouTube.
The YouVersion Bible app is a free download for iPhones and Android devices. It is also
accessible on any other web connected device or computer.
“With this reading plan believers from all over the world now have the ability to visit Israel in
three ways- physically spiritually, and virtually,” said Dr. Gary Crossland, founder of The
Octagon Project.
