Today, we depart from the USA to Tel Aviv, Israel. Meals served in flight.

Arrive in Tel Aviv, where we will be met by a representative and transferred to your hotel for overnight. On our way, drive through Biblical Joppa, now the port city of Jaffa. Tel Aviv was founded on the outskirts of the city in 1909 and today, surrounds the entire city. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

After our delicious buffet breakfast, we will see a 2,000 year-old sailing vessel that was discovered and preserved at Kibbutz Nof Ginosaur. This is a rare find of the kind of boat Jesus and the disciples would have used to cross the sea and fish. Journey to Caesarea Philippi, where Peter proclaimed, “You are the Christ” (Matthew 16). You will also visit the ancient remains of Tel Dan and the altar built by King Jeroboam I (I Kings 12). Travel through portions of the Golan Heights to gain a better understanding of its strategic importance to the nation of Israel. Enjoy a delicious fish lunch. Continue to Kursi, which was in the region of the Gadarenes in Christ’s time, and remember where Christ cast the demons into the swine (Mark 5). Travel to Capernaum, the center of Jesus’ ministry in the Galilee. Visit the synagogue that stands on the site where Jesus taught. Recall His teaching and preaching the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 4:13, 23). Visit the peaceful Mount of Beatitudes that overlooks the Sea of Galilee. On this hill, Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7). Experience a beautiful boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. Finish the day with a visit to the baptismal site at the Jordan River. Continue to Tiberius for dinner and overnight at hotel.

After our delicious buffet breakfast, travel to Caesarea by the Sea on the Mediterranean coastline. It was here that Cornelius the Centurion and his household were saved and baptized (Acts 10), and it was also where Paul made his defense before Festus and King Agrippa prior to his final journey to Rome (Acts 25 & 26). See the top of Mount Carmel, where Elijah prayed down the fire from Heaven and defeated the 450 prophets of Baal (I Kings 18). Visit Megiddo and the Valley of Armageddon (Rev. 16). View Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus (Matthew 2: 23) from Mount Precipice, where Luke describes how Jesus was rejected by those in the synagogue after He taught them. Filled with anger they “led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong” (Luke 4: 29). Continue to Jerusalem to check into our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Take in the breathtaking view of the “Golden City” of Jerusalem as you stand atop the Mount of Olives. From here, you can see the Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock. Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1). Pray in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus prayed (Matt. 26). Cross the border into Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus (Luke 2) and look out on Shepherds’ Field, where angels spread the Good News. Continue to Jerusalem’ to check into our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Today, we begin by saying a prayer at the Western Wall. Understand better the Jerusalem of Jesus’ day with a look at first-century model of the city of Jerusalem, now housed at the Israel Museum. Visit Qumran, the site of the Dead Sea Scroll discovery, to discuss the mysterious community of the Essenes who once lived on the shores of the Dead Sea. While in the area, we will stop at the Dead Sea, where those who desire may feel its salt and mineralladen waters.

Stand on the steps of the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed the blind man (John 9). View the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-31), where Jesus performed the Sabbath miracle. Nearby, visit St. Anne’s Church, a Crusader structure, built for Gregorian Chants. Then, we will walk the Via Dolorosa, “the Way of the Cross.” Finally, we will stop at Gordon’s Calvary, where we can sense the agony of Christ’s crucifixion and the exhilaration and reality of the resurrection at the Garden Tomb. At the end of our time in the Holy Land, we prepare for our return journey to the USA.

Arrive in the USA with a lifetime of memories to cherish.