January 2024 Israel Familiarization Trip for Pastors

The day has arrived, and we depart the US traveling overnight to Israel.

Today we arrive in Tel Aviv, Israel, at Ben Gurion Airport. As we depart the airport, we will be met by our Christian Expedition Tour Director. We board our modern deluxe coach bus and make our way towards the Mediterranean Coast. Time permitting, we will visit the ancient town of Jaffa where Peter had a vision atop the house of Simon the Tanner. We check into our hotel and enjoy dinner.

🌙 Overnight in Tel Aviv
🍴Dinner included today

We enjoy breakfast together before departing our hotel for Caesarea Maritima. At Caesarea Maritima we see the remains of a once-magnificent city, including Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader ruins. Acts 10 tells us that the Gentile Cornelius received a vision at Caesarea, which prompted him to send for the Apostle Peter, who then came to Caesarea and preached the Gospel to Cornelius and those assembled at his house. All those who heard the message received the Holy Spirit! Departing Caesarea, we travel along the coast to Mount Carmel, where Elijah confronted Baal and his prophets, and God sent fire from heaven in response to Elijah’s prayer. (1 Kings 18) We discuss the reasons why Elijah chose Mount Carmel for this contest, and the lessons we can take from this story. We then have lunch together and make our way to Megiddo, the Armageddon Battlefield of Revelation 16, before moving onto Nazareth where we see the Church of the Annunciation. It is believed that this church was built over the house of Mary, where the angel appeared to her in order to announce that she was going to give birth to Jesus. We visit the Upper Basilica and the nearby archaeological museum, seeing the remains of Nazareth from the time of Jesus. We travel on to the Sea of Galilee, where we spend the night.

🌙 Overnight in Sea of Galilee area
🍴Breakfast, lunch & dinner included today

After breakfast we set sail on the Sea of Galilee on a replica of a boat from the time of Jesus. We dock at Ginosar, where we visit a museum containing a 2,000-year-old fishing boat. We visit Magdala, the hometown of Mary Magdalene and the home of the oldest Synagogue discovered on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Then it’s on to the Mount of Beatitudes, where we enjoy the gardens there and reflect on Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. In Tabgha we visit the church of St. Peter’s Primacy, where it is believed Jesus appeared to his disciples for the third time after his resurrection. At lunch we will eat a common meal from the time of Jesus – “St. Peter’s fish” from the Sea of Galilee (non-fish options also available). We will visit Capernaum, where we will see the house of Peter’s mother-in-law and an ancient synagogue where Jesus taught. Finally, we visit the Yardenit Baptismal Site, on the Jordan River, where we will have an opportunity to be baptized in the same river as Jesus. We will then return to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

🌙 Overnight in Sea of Galilee area
🍴Breakfast, lunch & dinner included today

This morning we leave the Galilee area and travel south through the Jordan River Valley. We visit Beit She’an, or Scythopolis as it was called by the Romans. 1 Samuel 31 tells us that King Saul was defeated by the Philistines and died on nearby Mount Gilboa. When the Philistines found Saul’s body, they fastened it to the wall of Beit She’an. Later, during Jesus’ time, Scythopolis was a member of the Decapolis, a group of ten cities sharing Greek culture and government, mentioned in Matthew 4:25, Mark 5:20, and Mark 7:31. We follow the Jordan Valley further south, getting a sense of Israel’s agricultural fertility, which cause it to be called a “Land of Milk and Honey” (Deuteronomy 31:20). We visit Bet Arabah (“Qasr el Yahud”), also known as Gilgal. This is the location where the Israelites entered the promised land, from where Elijah was taken to heaven, and where Jesus was baptized. Following this we enter Jericho where we have lunch before visiting Tel Jericho. We will see the location of Jericho in the time of Joshua and the Mount of Temptation. We will enjoy a panoramic tour of Jericho, including a sycamore tree which reminds us of the encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus. We travel on to Wadi Qelt, the location of St. George Monastery, which has been active since the 5^th century. Some consider Wadi Qelt to be the “valley of the shadow of death” from Psalm 23. We drive, then, to Jerusalem, where we check into our hotel. 

🌙 Overnight in Jerusalem
🍴Breakfast, lunch & dinner included today

This morning we visit the Mount of Olives, from which we take in a panoramic view of Jerusalem. We walk along Palm Sunday Road, stopping at Dominus Flevit, where Jesus wept for the city. Traveling on to Mount Zion, we visit the Cenacle, which has been traditionally held to be the upper room in which Jesus shared the Last Supper with his disciples. We will then visit the Israeli Museum, where we will see a model of the city of Jerusalem as it looked in the first century A.D., and the Shrine of the Book, which houses some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. We visit the Shepherd’s Field, where the angels appeared to the shepherds announcing the birth of Jesus, and which serve as the setting for the Book of Ruth. We visit Bethlehem, where we see Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity which is believed to be built over the site of Jesus’ birth. In the evening we return to our hotel and spend the night.

🌙 Overnight in Jerusalem
🍴Breakfast, lunch & dinner included today

This morning we visit the Western Wall, also called the Wailing Wall, which is a section of the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount, and Judaism’s holiest site. We visit the Temple Mount itself, where the Jewish temple stood until its destruction in 70 AD. We visit the Pools of Bethesda, where the healing recorded in John 5 took place, and the nearby St. Anne’s Church, a Crusader church where travelers frequently take the opportunity sing a song, capitalizing on the church’s magnificent acoustics. We then drive to Masada, an ancient mountaintop fortress built by King Herod the Great and made famous by the zealot last stand that took place in 73/74 AD. We take a cable car to the fortress and visit the ruins which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We proceed to Qumran, where we have lunch together, before visiting the site itself, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Time and weather permitting we will enjoy a float on the Dead Sea before returning to our hotel.

🌙 Overnight in Jerusalem
🍴Breakfast, lunch & dinner included today

We begin our day at the Garden of Gethsemane. There, amid 2,000-year-old trees, we see the Rock of Agony on which it is believed that Jesus prayed. We also see a nearby cave where Jesus often spent the night and where he was arrested by the High Priest’s guards. We walk the Kidron Valley, following the footsteps of Jesus, seeing Absalom’s Tomb, Gihon Spring, and the Water Gate. We then visit the House of Caiaphas and the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, where we can see parts of the streets that Jesus was dragged along by his captors. We will also see a cave where Jesus was kept overnight. Then it’s on to the Old City, where we visit Ecce Homo, a site named for Pontius Pilate’s words “Behold the man.” Here Jesus was beaten, crowned with thorns and clothed in a purple robe. We will be able to see and walk upon stone pavement walked by Jesus himself called the Lithostratos. We walk the Via Dolorosa, following the traditional route of Jesus toward the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of two potential sites for Jesus’ burial and resurrection. After lunch we will visit the other potential site, the Garden Tomb. Our flight home may depart either tonight or tomorrow morning.

🌙 Overnight in Jerusalem or return flight home
🍴Breakfast, lunch & dinner included today

Today we arrive back at home in the US. If our flight departs today, breakfast is included.