Duration: 9 Days
Dates: December 4, 2023 to December 12, 2023
Departure City: Charlotte, North Carolina

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Detailed Itinerary

Monday - December 04: Day 1 - Departure to Tel Aviv
After much prayer and preparation, we will depart arrive at the airport at least three hours early for our international check-in and departure for Tel Aviv.

Tuesday - December 05: Day 2 - Arrival overnight Galilee
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 the Sea of Galilee. Check into our hotel. Dinner included.

Wednesday - December 06: Day 3 - Tiberias - Caesarea - Mt Carmel - Mt Precipice overlooking Megiddo Valley - Nazareth - Galilee
After a buffet breakfast, we depart the hotel on route to Caesarea Maritima, 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 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 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 continue 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). 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 go back to our hotel on the Sea of Galilee and enjoy another dinner together.

Thursday - December 07: Day 4 - Sea of Galilee - Yardenit
After a buffet breakfast, we begin our day with visiting 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, 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, the hometown of Mary Magdalene. We will then visit the ancient boat museum containing a recently-discovered 2000-year old fishing boat. We will then sail on the Sea of Galilee on a replica of that 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

Friday - December 08: Day 5 - Bet Shean - Bet Arabah - Jericho - Bethlehem- Shepherds Fields - Jerusalem
After a buffet breakfast, we leave the area of Galilee, following the Jordan Valley Road to Beth Shean, 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 with its ancient ruins, pointing out what possibly could be the foundations of the ramparts that Joshua and the Israelites brought down. We will 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 will then check into our hotel in Jerusalem. Dinner included.

Saturday - December 09: Day 6 - Mt of Olives - Upper Room- Gallicantu - Israel Museum
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 will then visit the Upper Room, the place of the Last Supper. We will then travel to the home of the High Priest, Caiaphas. We will then travel to the Israel Museum, 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. Return to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Sunday - December 10: Day 7 - Masada - Ein Gedi - Qumran - Dead Sea
After a buffet breakfast, we begin our day visiting Masada; 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, 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.

Monday - December 11: Day 8 - Temple Mt - Wailing Wall - St Anne’s - Via Dolorosa - Garden Tomb
After a buffet breakfast, we begin our day entering the Old City and visiting 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, 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 on to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. After lunch, we will visit the Garden Tomb, where we will worship together and celebrate communion. We return to our hotel for our last Dinner provided.

Tuesday - December 12: Day 9 - Return flight
Today, we will travel to the airport to board our flight back home with unforgettable memories.

**In case of unforeseen events, this itinerary is subject to change.**