Duration: 10 Days
Dates: December 10, 2023 to December 19, 2023
Departure City: Dallas, Texas (DFW)

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Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 - Sunday, December 10th: Leave the USA on an international flight to Tel Aviv
After much prayer and preparation, we will depart to Tel Aviv. Please arrive at least three hours early for our international check-in and departure.

Day 2 - Monday, December 11th: Arrive in Tel Aviv
Arrive in Tel Aviv and board a new, climate-controlled motor coach where our guide will greet us and give us an orientation of the land as we travel towards Jaffa. There we will consider the vision of Peter (Acts 10) and start following the sequence of events that lead to the opening of the gates of the early church to Gentiles. As we look at the very place where Jonah ran from the Lord, we will also reflect on our own walk with God. Check into our hotel on the coastal plains of the Mediterranean Sea. Dinner included. (D)

Day 3 - Tuesday, December 12th: Caesarea Maritima – Mount Carmel – Nazareth Tiberias
Today we travel towards Caesarea Maritima (entrance included), where we will have a brief visit to the magnificent city with Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader ruins. Here we will elaborate on the story of the baptism of Cornelius, the first gentile convert 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. After a lunch break, 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. While there 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 check into our hotel on the Sea of Galilee for the next two nights and enjoy another dinner together. (B/D)

Day 4 - Wednesday, December 13th: Sea of Galilee Boat Ride – Mt. Beatitudes – Peter’s Primacy – Capernaum –Magdala – Jordan River (Yardenit Baptismal Site) –Tiberias
After a buffet breakfast, we will begin our day sailing on the Sea of Galilee on a replica of that boat (included) we then visit the Gospel Triangle and the location where Jesus spent two of His three years of public ministry. We will begin on the Mount of Beatitudes and discuss the Sermon on the Mount; we will then visit the Primacy of Peter where Jesus appeared to the disciples the third time after the resurrection. During lunch break you will have the opportunity to try St. Peter’s fish, commonly eaten by people in Jesus’ day. 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 will then visit Magdala (entrance included), the hometown of Mary Magdalene. We will then visit the ancient boat museum (entrance included) containing a recently discovered 2000-year-old fishing boat. Our last stop of the day will be to the Jordan River where you will get a chance to be baptized before we return to our hotel. Dinner included. (B/D)

Day 5 - Thursday, December 14th: Beit Shean – Bet Arabah – Jericho – Wadi Qelt - Jerusalem
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. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem. (B/D)

Day 6 - Friday, December 15th: Mt. Olives – Israel Museum – Bethlehem – Shepherds Fields – Jerusalem
After a buffet breakfast, we will 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. 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 will then 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)

Day 7 - Saturday, December 16th: Masada – Ein Gedi – Qumran – Dead Sea –Jerusalem
After a buffet breakfast, we begin our day visiting Masada (entrance & cable car included); the fortress built by King Herod the Great and made famous by the Zealots in 73/74 AD with the standoff against the Romans. We visit the fortress and see the ruins that are considered a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO. We then continue to En Gedi, the oasis in the desert where the meeting between David and King Saul took places (I Samuel 24) and where many of the psalms were written by David. After lunch, we visit Qumran (entrance included), the location where the Dead Sea Scrolls were 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. You will also be able to experience floating in the Dead Sea. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem. (B/D)

Day 8 - Sunday, December 17th: Temple Mount – Southern Wall excavations – Yad Vashem - Jewish Quarter – City of David
After a buffet breakfast, 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. 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. Then we will drive to visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. also visit to the Western Wall, a section of the Western retaining wall of the Temple Mount, and Judaism’s holiest site. Then, we proceed to the City of David (entrance included); the original location of the city of Jerusalem, going back in history 3000 years. Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Jerusalem. (B/D)

Day 9 - Monday, December 18th: Upper Room - Garden of Gethsemane – Caiaphas House – St. Anne & Pools of Bethesda – Antonia Fortress – Via Dolorosa – Holy Sepulcher –Garden Tomb
After a buffet breakfast, we begin our day with a visit to the Upper Room, the place of the Last Supper. We will then visit the Garden of Gethsemane with its ancient olive grove, and there visit the Church of Agony, where Jesus prayed and was arrested (private time will be given in the private section of the Garden). We will then visit the home of the High Priest, Caiaphas (entrance included). 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. In the afternoon, we will visit the Garden Tomb (entrance included), where we will worship together and celebrate communion. Return to the hotel. (B/D)

Day 10 - Tuesday, December 19th: Departure to the USA
Buffet breakfast and check-out. Then we will travel to the airport in the evening and return home with unforgettable memories, amazing new friends and a life-changing understanding of the Bible. (B)