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ISRAEL

A trip to Israel is truly the trip of a lifetime. Join us to experience it for yourself!

Fuel your passion for Jesus as you travel to locations you’ve read about in the Bible. Walk where Jesus walked and learn about His life on an incredible adventure guided by Pastors Eric & Kelly Dykstra and Pastor Ben & Ana Saffrin. Your understanding of Scripture will come to life, and you will never be the same!

Save the date: January 20 – January 30, 2025

Register now!

CLICK HERE to reserve your spot.

CLICK HERE for a full itinerary and pricing details.

ISRAEL 2025 Sample Itinerary

These are many of the sites and their Biblical significance. 

DAY 1

Mediterranean Sea

Caesarea

  • Acts 10, Acts 23-24
  • Peter meets with Cornelius and leads him and his family to Jesus. God tells Peter that Jews can eat whatever they want and don’t have to follow the Old Testament food rules.
  • This is where the church started for Gentiles.
  • Paul is imprisoned here and eventually preaches before Roman dignitaries in the coliseum/theater.

Mount Carmel

  • I Kings 18
  • Elijah fights the prophets of Baal here and prays and calls down fire from heaven.
  • From the top you get a great view of northern Israel and many of the locations of the stories of Scripture.

Tel Megiddo

Nazareth

  • John 1:46
  • Luke 4:29
  • The little town where Jesus grew up.

Tiberius (hotel on Sea of Galilee)

DAY 2

Sea of Galilee

  • Jesus walked on water here, calmed the storm.
  • Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 4:35-41

Capernaum

  • Fishing village, town of Peter, Andrew, James and John, as well as tax collector Matthew.
  • Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum and healed a man who had a demon.
  • Jesus healed a fever in Peter’s mother-in-law.
  • According to Luke 7:1–10, it is also the place where a Roman Centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant.
  • Mark 2:1 says this is the location of the story where the men tear through the roof and lowered their friend to Jesus on a mat to reach Jesus.

Mount of the Beatitudes:

  • This is the hillside where Jesus preached His most famous sermon known as “the sermon on the mount”.
  • Matthew 5-7

Church of the Primacy of Peter

  • Location where Jesus appeared to Peter after resurrection
  • John 21

Jordan River

  • Jesus is baptized by John here.
  • Matthew 3:13-17
  • Elijah and Elisha part the river and walk across of dry ground.
  • 2 Kings 2:8

DAY 3

Dan

  • Idol worship in Northern Israel.
  • I Kings 12, 2 Chronicles 10
  • Abraham meets Melchizedek.
  • Genesis 14

Caesarea Philippi

  • Matthew 16
  • Jesus explains the start of the church

 Syria Overlook

 DAY 4

 Gideon’s Spring

  • Judges 6-9
  • Gideon leads an army to defeat Midian here

Beit Shean

  • King Saul and Jonathan’s bodies were hung by their enemies on the wall of this city.
  • I Samuel 31:10
  • Well-preserved Roman/Greek city.

Qumran

  • The “Dead Sea scrolls” were discovered here.
  • These are the oldest handwritten copies of the Old Testament on earth ever discovered.
  • Legend says John the Baptist may have come from this town.

Jericho

  • Joshua 6-7

Valley of the Shadow

  • This is the valley where David wrote Psalms 23, the most famous Psalm in the Bible.
  • This is also the setting of the Good Samaritan story
  • Luke 10:25-27

Jerusalem

  • Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. Psalm 84:5

DAY 5

Mount of Olives

  • Jesus visited this place repeatedly in the Gospels with His disciples.
  • This is the place of the ascension of Jesus back to heaven.
  • Jesus entered Jerusalem on “Palm Sunday” from here.

Garden of Gethsemane

This is the garden where Jesus prayed before he was betrayed by Judas and crucified. Matthew 26:36

Herodian

  • One of Herod’s palaces.
  • Wise men visited here looking for Jesus.
  • Matthew 1-2

Church of the Nativity

This is a church built over the spot where we believe Jesus was actually born.  Luke 2

Shepherds’ fields

These are fields where the angels appeared and told the shepherds where to find Jesus.  Luke 2

DAY 6

Masada

A mountain fortress where the Jews made their last stand against Rome.

Ein Gedi

David hid from King Saul in these caves. 1 Samuel 24

Dead Sea

  • The final destination of the Jordan River.
  • The lowest elevation on land in the world.

DAY 7

Temple Mount

  • Is the most contested piece of property in the world.
  • This is where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac.
  • It’s where David’s kingdom was established.
  • This is the site of the original Temple of the Old Testament built by Solomon.
  • King Herod destroyed the top of the mountain and made it flat.
  • Jesus was tried here and then executed outside the city gates.
  • In 621 AD, Mohammed had a vision where he ascended to Heaven from here.
  • The Dome of the Rock was built here in 691 AD.

Western Wall (“Wailing wall”)

Southern Wall Excavations & steps

This is an archeological dig of the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount.

Yad Vashem

Holocaust memorial site.

DAY 8 

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Actual site of Death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Garden Tomb

Alternative site of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Matthew 27:57-28:20