Depart USA

Join ancient pilgrims in the Psalms of Ascent as we (departing Ben Gurion Airport in the Coastal Plain and traversing the Shephelah) go up into the Judean Hill Country to Bethlehem. Overnight Bethlehem

Recall the angel’s announcement at of Christ’s birth at Shepherds’ Fields; worship with fellow Christians at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Reformation, dialogue with Rev. Ashraf Tannous after the service; ponder the holy mystery of the incarnation at the Church of the Nativity. Overnight Bethlehem

View the Judean Hill Country and Judean Wilderness from Herod the Great’s hilltop fortress and burial place known as the Herodium; see some of the original Dead Sea Scrolls at The Shrine of the Book and a massive outdoor scale model of Jerusalem as it was at the time of Jesus at the Israel Museum; honor all those touched by the Holocaust at the Yad Vashem museum and memorial. Overnight Bethlehem

Immerse ourselves in four thousand years of history and faith on The Temple Mount; visit the place of one of Jesus’ healing miracles at Bethesda Pools, with the beautiful Crusader Church of St. Anne; experience Jewish prayer and meditation at the Western Wall; get a glimpse of ancient Jerusalem as Jesus saw it at the Davidson Center with the Temple Mount Excavations; visit the Shorashim Judaica shop and dialogue with owner Moshe Kempinski; visit the ancient City of David which David took from the Jebusites to establish his capital, optional walking of Hezekiah’s tunnel. Overnight Jerusalem.

Our morning begins on the Mt. of Olives with a visit to Augusta Victoria Hospital to learn about the medical care it provides to Palestinians; our focus for the remainder of the day is Holy Week as we recall Jesus acquiring the donkey for his triumphant ride into Jerusalem; the giving of the Lord’s Prayer at Pater Noster Church; Jesus weeping over Jerusalem at Dominus Flevit; and his praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, commemorated by the adjacent Church of All Nations. Next, we continue our Holy week journey as we experience the setting of the Last Supper in the traditional Upper Room. We then enter the Old City through Zion Gate to begin the historical Via Dolorosa outside what we now know was the Praetorium, the place of Christ’s condemnation, proceeding then to Calvary and the empty tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Overnight Jerusalem

Get a glimpse of Jewish worship in the early Byzantine period at the Ein Gedi Synagogue; ascend Masada, grand mountain-top fortress of Herod the Great and place of the Zealots’ last stand against the Romans; optional swim in the Dead Sea. Dialogue with Dr. Mustafa Abu Sway, Imam and member of the Waqf of Al-Aqsa Mosque/Dome of the Rock and Chair of Islamic Studies Al-Quds University. Overnight Jerusalem.

As we depart the Judean Hill Country, we again enter the Judean Wilderness – the area into which Jesus was driven to be tempted by Satan and from which John proclaimed a baptism of repentance. See the place where some of the oldest biblical manuscripts in the world, were found at Qumran; remember our baptism at one of the places John the baptizer was active: Bethany Beyond the Jordan; Visit our last site of the day almost 4000 ft. lower in elevation than when we began with a visit the lowest and oldest city on earth – Jericho. Overnight Tiberias.

Jesus’ home away from home: Capernaum; recall the feeding of the 5000 with five loaves and two fish at Tabgha and John 21 at the Church of the Primacy of Peter; look into the life of first-century fishermen with the ancient boat at Ginnosar; experience a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee; meditate on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount with Holy Communion on the Mount of Beatitudes; visit the hometown of Mary Magdalene at Magdala. Overnight Tiberias

Arrive in the USA with the world of the four written gospels opened to you.