Duration: 13 Days (With Rome Extension)
Dates: September 18, 2021 to September 30, 2021
Departure City: Atlanta, Georgia

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Detailed Itinerary

Saturday (SEP. 18) - Day 1: Leave the USA on an international flight to Tel Aviv

Sunday (SEP. 19) - Day 2: Arrival Tel Aviv
Welcome to Israel! We will arrive in Ben Gurion Airport where we meet our local guide and transfer. Check into our Hotel in Tel Aviv. Dinner and overnight. (D)

Monday (SEP. 20) - Day 3: Caesarea – Muhraqa – Megiddo – Nazareth Village - Tiberias
We then drive to Caesarea Maritima (entrance included), where we will visit the magnificent city with Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader ruins. Here we will elaborate on the story of the baptism of Cornelius, the first gentile converts into Christianity (Acts 10), and on the travels of Paul — those events that led Caesarea Maritima to become the springboard of Christianity to the West. We will then continue to Mount Carmel (entrance included) and consider the contest between the Prophet Elijah and the false prophets of Baal (I Kings 18), discussing the reasons why the Prophet chose that place for the contest, and the lessons we learn from the story. We then travel to Megiddo (entrance included) and explore the Tel that goes back in history to 4000 BC, looking at ruins from the times of King Solomon and King Ahab. Overlooking the Armageddon Valley, we will also discuss the reasons why we believe this will be the setting for the final battle between good and evil mentioned in Revelation 16:16. we travel to Nazareth where we will climb the Mount of Precipice, the brow of the hill on which the city was built (Luke 4). There we will reflect on the rejection of Jesus by his family and friends in Nazareth. In addition to discussing Jesus’ boyhood we will also consider the life and times of Deborah (Judges 4). We will then visit Nazareth Village (entrance included), a reconstruction of an ancient village from the time of The Lord. We check into our hotel on the Sea of Galilee for the next two nights and enjoy another dinner together. (B, D)

Tuesday (SEP. 21) - Day 4: Caesarea Philipi - Mt. Beatitudes – Capernaum – Boat Ride & Jesus Boat Museum
After Breakfast, we will drive to Caesarea Philippi, (entrance included) where we will visit the ruins of the pagan altars and consider the confession of Peter in Matthew 16 (“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” We will have our lunch break where you will have the option to try falafel, a typical Middle Easter meal on your own. We will drive further north to the border with Syria where we will consider the dramatic conversion and life transformation of Saul of Tarsus: The Apostle Paul. We then proceed to the Mount of Beatitudes and discuss the Sermon on the Mount, finishing the theme that was started earlier that day. you will have the opportunity to try St. Peter’s fish, commonly eaten by people in Jesus’ day on your own. We will then visit Capernaum (entrance included), Jesus’ Galilean ministry base. There we will see the house of Peter’s mother in law, in addition to other ruins of the village. We will stand in the ruins of the ancient synagogue where Jesus was confronted by the demoniac. We end our day with a visit to the ancient boat museum (Entrance included), containing a recently-discovered 2000-year old fishing boat. We will then sail (included) on the Sea of Galilee on a replica of that boat. We return to our hotel. Dinner included. (B, D)

Wednesday (SEP. 22) - Day 5: Beit Shean - Jordan River – Tel Jericho – Mt. Scopus
After a buffet breakfast, we leave the area of Galilee, following the Jordan Valley Road to Beth Shean (entrance included), the capital of the Decapolis. There we will see the ruins of the Roman and Byzantine cities. We will also discuss the demise of King Saul and his sons, whose bodies were hanged on the walls of Beth Shean. We will then continue traveling south to the actual location where John the Baptist was baptizing on the Jordan River. Jericho will be our next stop, where we will visit the Tel of Jericho (entrance included) with its ancient ruins, pointing out what possibly could be the foundations of the ramparts that Joshua and the Israelites brought down. we travel to the Old Roman Road, where we will consider the setting for the Parable of the Good Samaritan. From there we will go up to Jerusalem, and have a Genesis Welcome to the Holy City. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem. (B, D)

Thursday (SEP. 23) - Day 6: Ein Gedi – Qumran
After a buffet breakfast, we begin our day visiting Ein Gedi, the oasis in the desert where the meeting between David and King Saul took place (I Samuel 24) and where many of the psalms were written by David. we visit Qumran (entrance included), the location where the Dead Sea Scrolls where found by a Bedouin boy back in 1947. There we will see the caves and other buildings that the Essenes, the group of Jews who wrote the scrolls, lived. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem. (B, D)

Friday (SEP. 24) - Day 7: Western Wall Tunnels – Temple Mount – St. Anne – Via Dolorosa Ecce Homo – Israel Museum
After a buffet breakfast, we begin our day entering the Old City and a visit to the Western Wall, a section of the Western retaining wall of the Temple Mount, and Judaism’s holiest site. We will ascend the Temple Mount, discussing its connection to both the Old and New Testaments. We will also discuss why it is considered the third holiest site in Islam. Leaving the Temple Mount, we will visit the Church of St. Anne’s (entrance included), a perfectly intact Crusader church. It is a wonderful place to gather and sing a song (sometimes with fellow Christians from all over the world). There, we will also visit the pools of Bethesda where the healing at the pool took place (John 5). We will then walk the Via Dolorosa (The Way of Suffering), the actual path that Jesus walked from the Antonia Fortress (entrance included) to the crucifixion site. We will also visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jesus’ tomb. we travel to the Israel Museum (entrance included) where we will visit the Second Temple Period Model of Jerusalem, a 1:50 scaled model of the city from the year 66 AD. We will also visit the Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls are on exhibit, in addition to the archaeological section where many artifacts are displayed, we will play special attention to those items that relate to Bible history. We then return to our hotel. Dinner included. (B, D)

Saturday (SEP. 25) - Day 8: Mount of Olives – Gethsemane – Davidson Center – Bethlehem – Shepherd’s Fields
After a buffet breakfast, we begin our day with an orientation over the holy city from the Mount of Olives, pointing out important locations within the Old City, connecting them with Biblical stories and prophecies about the return of Jesus. We will then walk down the Palm Sunday Procession road to the Garden of Gethsemane, where the passion of Jesus began. Each of us will be given some personal time in a private section of the Garden. We will then visit the Southern Wall excavations (entrance included) where ruins of the retaining walls of the Temple Mount are still visible. We will then gather at the teaching steps, the main entrance to the Temple where Rabbis met and taught their disciples. we then travel to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. We begin with a visit to the Shepherds Fields where the angels appeared to the shepherds and announced the birth of Our Lord. These fields are also the setting of the Book of Ruth. We will then travel to the Church of the Nativity and view the actual place where Our Lord was born. Time will then be given to shop for olive wood and other items. We return to our hotel. Dinner included. (B, D)

Sunday (SEP. 26) - Day 9: City of David – Mt. Zion – Judgment Hall-Garden Tomb
After a buffet breakfast, we begin our day with a visit to the original location of the city of Jerusalem, going back in history 3000 years. We will also visit Hezekiah’s tunnel (entrance included), a 1749-foot-long tunnel that was dug by King Hezekiah as he prepared for the Assyrian King Sancharib’s invasion in 701 BC. Those interested in walking the foot-deep water tunnel will have the chance to do so. We will visit the Upper Room, the place of the Last Supper and also the home of the High Priest, Caiaphas (entrance included). We will then visit the Judgment Hall where Jesus stood before Pilate. We end our day with a visit to the Garden Tomb, where we will worship together and celebrate communion. We return to our hotel for our last Dinner provided. (B, D)

Post Tour to Rome

Monday (SEP. 27) - Day 10: Departure or Rome extension
We'll travel to the airport and return home with unforgettable memories, amazing new friends and a life-changing understanding of the Bible, or go on the optional extension to Rome. (B)

Monday (SEP. 27) -Day 10: Rome
Upon arrival at Rome’s international airport. On the way to Rome, we will be reminded of the early companions of Paul, traveling to the Church of Santa Prisca dedicated to Santa Prisca on the Aventino Hill. Prisca came from a rich Roman family and Aquila, her husband was probably Greek. Paul spent a couple of years with them in Corinth and this is very often mentioned in his Letters and the Book of Acts Rom 16, 1-23 . Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life, laid down their own necks; to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the Gentiles. Greet the assembly that is in their house. The House on the Aventino Hill where Paul lived is named in a legal document of the 5th century, as “Titulus Priscae.” Break for lunch. This afternoon we will visit the Imperial Rome area. This tour will show you the great “power"" of Rome and Emperors who demanded divinity for themselves. While in Rome, this was what the Apostle Paul preached against. From the Trajan's Column, jewel of architecture and sculpture made by Apollodorus of Damascus, our guide will show you along the Via dei Fori Imperiali (street of the Imperial Fora), the ruins of the fori that the great emperors built as lasting memory of their power. We see the Forum of Trajan, the biggest and most splendid of all, whose markets are true forerunners of the modern commercial centers. On foot you will reach the Capitoline Hill, once political and religious center of the town, which today is the seat of the Municipality. A stairway leads you to the Piazza del Campidoglio, whose natural terrace provides the best panoramic point over the valley of the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill. Here we’ll find the magnificent result of a single project by Michelangelo, a copy of the most famous equestrian statue in the world, the statue of Marcus Aurelius. We will then see the Mamertine Prison, the site of Paul’s incarceration walking through the valley of the Roman Forum, the great Rome, with its important buildings will revive before your eyes; the Curia, seat of the Roman Senate, the State Archive, the basilicas, palaces of justice, the temple of Vesta, and the House of the Vestals, temples, columns and arches of triumph erected to commemorate gods of Roman history. From the Forum the guide will show you to the place linked to the fabulous origins of Rome, the Palatine. Here, in 753 B.C., Romolus founded the town. Starting with Augustus, the great emperors settled here. From the valley of the Roman Forum you will explore the ruins of the Imperial Palaces. The Domus Tiberiana, the royal palace, where the emperors placed themselves on the same level as the gods. Leaving the Roman Forum you’ll find the Arch of Constantine erected to commemorate the victory of the emperor over Maxentius in the 4th century A.D. (tradition says that before the battle the Emperor saw a brilliant cross in the sky and said the famous words ""in hoc signovinces"", meaning ""In this sign you will conquer""). The tour ends at the Colosseum, everlasting symbol of the greatness of Rome and the stage for the historical fights of the gladiators. Continue to the hotel. Dinner and overnight (D)

Tuesday (SEP. 28) - Day 11: Ostia Antica / Rome
After breakfast, we will drive approx 30 minutes out of Rome, toward the sea. We will visit the site of Ostia Antica - stepping Back into the Roman World. Theme: To be a Roman - how goods, services and transport held an Empire together. Rome was both an Empire and an idea. Today we will examine what held the identity of this vast Empire together. Ostia was a cosmopolitan city, which is reflected with the various temples dedicated to Mitra (Persian) Cibele ( Turkish ), Iside ( Egyptian) and even a synagogue. No better place to understand that Rome was the right place for Christianity to start being a worldwide religion. Break for lunch. We’ll then continue on the Ancient Appian Way, to visit the Catacombs of Santa Domitilla. The Christian catacombs are extremely important for the art history of early Christians. At first, they were used both for burial and the memorial services and celebrations of the anniversaries of Christian martyrs. Many modern depictions of the catacombs show them as hiding places for Christian populations during times of persecution. We continue the tour visiting Abbey of the Three Fountains, the place of Paul's martyrdom, where tradition has it that three different springs gushed out at each spot touched when Paul's head fell down. Legend claims that when Paul was decapitated, his head bounced three times and fountains miraculously sprang out when it touched the ground. The legend is nice, but the springs were known in pre-Christian times as the Aquae Salviae, and the excavations revealed ancient mosaic pavements. Still, it’s the site of St Paul's martyrdom. It is also said that there was a stone-pine tree at the site of his death, and the identification of this place was strengthened when ancient stone-pine cones were found here during excavations in 1857. To conclude this day in Rome we will visit the place where the bones of Paul have recently been found, Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. It is a Benedictine Abbey which shares its name, origins and centuries of history, both joyful and sorrowful, with the adjoining basilica. Dinner will be served in a panoramic restaurant, with a great view over Rome (BD)

Wednesday (SEP. 29) - Day 12: Rome.
Paul was not the only Apostle associated with Rome. Peter was martyred on the Vatican Hill and the memory of the impact of the Apostle John’s lasting ministry before and after his arrest and exile to Patmos by Emperor Domitian. After breakfast we visit the Basilica of St John in Lateran which became one of the most important Christian Churches of Rome. When Constantine opened the Roman world to Christianity, his apparent conversion was symbolized by the donation of a significant family property to the Basilica. The important Lateran Baptistery reminds us of the many early converts to the faith and the process of moving it from a rogue influence to a sponsored and ordered faith. Then continue with Holy Steps. According to tradition, these steps (now covered with wooden plants) are the very ones Jesus climbed in the house of Pontius Pilate only to see the Roman governor wash his hands of the self-styled messiah. Martin Luther, on his trip to Rome to meet the Pope, climbed on his knees, a tradition still maintained today. After break for a light lunch, we will visit the Vatican Museum, which include the Sistine chapel and St Peter’s Basilica. In the late afternoon, we will enjoy a walking tour through Baroque Rome's monuments: from the Trevi Fountain, passing by the Pantheon till Navona Square. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight (BD)

Thursday (SEP. 30) - Day 13: Departure  
Today we go home with unforgettable memories.