Your trip of a lifetime to Israel begins with your international flight from the New York area to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. Meals will be served onboard your flight.

You will arrive at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. Your English-speaking guide will escort you from the arrival hall to your motor coach and transfer you to your hotel for the night. You will have dinner and a night of rest.

Visit Bethlehem, where the cave revered as Jesus’ birthplace resides in the world’s oldest functioning church, the Church of the Nativity (Matt. 1). Attend worship service with Local believers (if permitted). Enjoy the Boy Scout Parade. Look out on the Shepherds’ Field, where angels spread the Good News. Participate in an evening church service with a local congregation.

We will be up early this morning to visit the Temple Mount. A time of prayer is scheduled during your stop at the Western Wall, the Kotel, the last remaining wall of the second temple, the holiest site in Judaism. Continue with a stop at the Davidson Center, the site of the excavations of the Southern Wall Steps, the same steps Jesus would have walked going to the Temple. At the Temple Institute, learn about the
Jewish temple and see replicas of the instruments used for worship and sacrifice. Explore the Shrine of the Book Museum, where artifacts like the entire book of Isaiah, found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, are on display. The Model City is also located here and will give an excellent overview of what the city looked like when the Roman occupation occurred during our Lord’s lifetime. Continue to Mount Zion to visit the House of the High Priest Caiaphas, where some say Jesus was questioned the night of His betrayal (Matt. 26). Stand in the Upper Room, revered as the place of the Last Supper (Mark 14).

After breakfast, travel to the best-known site in the Bible, the Mount of Olives. From this location, you will be able to look across the ancient Jewish cemetery, the walled Eastern Gate, and the Temple Mount. From the Mount of Olives, you can walk down the Palm Sunday Road, the road that Jesus traveled
when He made His triumphal entrance into the city of Jerusalem before His arrest, crucifixion, and burial. At this point, you will go into the Garden of Gethsemane, filled with olive trees that date back thousands of years. In this location, Jesus prayed before He was betrayed by Judas. You will go into the Old City of Jerusalem and follow the Via Dolorosa. Visit the Garden Tomb / Gordon’s Calvary for your communion service after you have gone inside the empty tomb and have seen for yourself that Jesus is not there. If time permits, visit Yad Vashem and view the poignant exhibits in memory and honor of those who were killed during the Holocaust.

Today you have leisure time, with an option for passengers to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, if it is open.

Drive East through the Jordan Valley, and on the way, we will see Jericho, known as the oldest city in the world. Visit the Dead Sea for a short swim. Recall Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist at the Jordan River, also known as Qasr El Yahud. Stop at Beit Shean, a city continuously inhabited for over 5,000 years. The uncovered ruins date back to the Greek / Roman city that was part of the Decapolis of Jesus’ day. See colonnaded streets with marble sidewalks, Roman public baths, and a theater. Visit Harod (Gideon’s Spring),
the site where the Lord showed Gideon whom he should choose for his army of 300 to fight the Midianites (Judges 7). We will continue to our hotel for dinner and overnight in Galilee.

Travel north to Tel Dan, one of ancient Israel’s boundary markers - “From Dan to Beersheba.” Close by is Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus traveled with His disciples and where nearby Peter made his great confession to Jesus, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Drive to the Syrian border and enjoy this now peaceful view from Mount Bental. A fun fish lunch, included in your tour price, is the next stop. Following lunch, a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee is scheduled. From your boat ride, you will enter an area that houses
the ancient Jesus boat. In 1986, an ancient boat was pulled from the mud along the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee and is believed to be from the time of Jesus. On the far shore of the sea is Kursi, where Jesus cast out evil spirits from a demon-possessed man and sent them into a group of swine.

Visit Capernaum, the center of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, and visit the synagogue built on the site where Jesus taught (Matthew 4:13, 23). Explore the Church of the Loaves and Fish at Tabgha, the traditional site of the feeding of the 5,000 (Luke 9:10-17). See the Chapel of the Primacy, where Peter professed his devotion three times to the risen Christ (John 21).On the Mount of Beatitudes, contemplate the text of the “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5-7). Walk the streets of Bethsaida, one of the “cities of woe” mentioned by Jesus and where Jesus chose five of His disciples (Matt. 4; John 1). Travel through the Golan Heights and better understand their strategic importance to the security of Israel.

Travel west to the coast of Israel. Explore the Nazareth Village, a living presentation of the life, times, and teachings of Jesus. Your next stop is Mount Carmel, where Elijah, the prophet, challenged the 450 prophets of the false god Baal. From the top of Mount Carmel, you will see another view of the Jezreel Valley and get a better understanding of where the final battle to end all wars will be fought. Continue towards the Mediterranean coast at Caesarea Maritima, where Paul was brought for trial before Festus and King Agrippa prior to his journey to Rome. See the extensive ruins, including the ancient theater and aqueduct. Check-in Tel Aviv for your overnight stay. Experience a delightful dinner at the hotel as we celebrate the New Year.

This morning, we arrive at the Valley of Elah, where David slew Goliath. The creek bed can still be seen meandering through the valley where David picked up his five smooth stones. Then, stop at the ancient ruins of Emmaus, where the Lord broke bread with the two followers after His resurrection. Visit Independence Hall, where you can step back in time and relive the historic creation of the State of Israel. 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. Visit Adullam Cave if time permits. Have an evening flight from Tel Aviv to the USA.

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