Israel Trip

Israel / Jordan 2012

Mount Arbel Carob Tree Lookout, January 2012

In January 2012 I traveled with 22 adults and students to Israel and Jordan. This trip was a little different than a student trip since we had a wide range of ages (one in high school, two college students, and several older retired adults). I tried to plan the trip with a little less walking (and more frequent bathroom breaks).

Heading to Israel (2012 Version)

Day 1 – Travel and More Travel!

Day 2 – Rainy Days (and Mondays) in Jerusalem

Day 3 – Into the Wilderness

Day 4 – Ibex, Rock Badgers, and Crabs, Oh My!

Day 5 – Crossing the Red Sea

Day 6 – Everything Floats in the Dead Sea

Day 7 – Appealing Caeserea

Day 8 – Following Jesus in Galilee

Day 9 – On The Road to Petra

Day 10 – Hiking in Petra

Day 11 – The Final Day in Jerusalem

Petra, Jordan, Travel

Petra, 2012

Israel / Jordan 2013

Mount Arbel Carob Tree Lookout

In May 2013 I traveled with 15 students and friends to Israel and Jordan.

Thanks to Ben Rolff for this video!

GBC – Israel Tour 2013

Day 1 – We Have Left, On a Jet Plane

Day 2 – Walking around Jerusalem

Day 3 – The Garden Tomb vs. The Holy Sepulchre

Day 4 (Part 1) – Down The Mount of Olives and Up the Kidron

Day 4 (Part 2) – Around the Zion Gate

Day 5 – Heading to Galilee

Day 6 – The Jesus Sites

Day 7 – Crossing into Jordan

Day 8 – Hiking in Petra

Day 9 – Swimming in the Red Sea

Day 10 – The Negev

Day 11 – En Gedi, Qumran, and then Homeward Bound

Israel / Jordan 2015

In May 2015 I traveled with 24 students and friends to Israel and Jordan. Professor Scott Shaw was a co-leader, without his help it would have been very difficult. I wrote these posts while in Israel or Jordan on my iPad, so think of them as “live reports from the field.” I revisited them once I was home to add additional photographs when internet was bad and correct some typos.

Thanks to Aaron Wienss for this video!

Day 1 and 2 – Traveling to Jerusalem

Day 3 – Seven Miles in Jerusalem

Day 4 – Museum Day in Jerusalem

Day 5 – From the East of Jerusalem

Day 6 – Heading to Galilee

Day 7 – The Jesus Sites

Day 8 – Visiting Jordan

Day 9 – Petra

Day 10 – Crossing the Red Sea

Day 11 – Mamshit, Arad and Masada

Day 12 – En Gedi and Qumran

Day 13 – Back Home Again

Israel / Jordan 2017

In May 2017 I traveled with 34 students, parents and friends to Israel and Jordan. This was my eighth trip to Israel and by far my largest group. Professor Scott Shaw was a co-leader (this was his fourth trip), without his help it would have been impossible to manage a group of this size. The students were remarkable – very attentive and inquisitive and (almost) always on time. I wrote these posts while in Israel or Jordan on my iPad, so think of them as “live reports from the field.” I revisited them once I was home to add additional photographs when internet was bad and correct some typos.

Day 1 – Reading Acts is Going to Israel

Day 2 – Arrival as Planned…Almost

Day 3 – Beginning from Jerusalem

Day 4 – A Day at the Museums

Day 5 – From the Mount of Olives and across the Kidron

Day 6 – Caesarea, Bet She’an and The Sea of Galilee

Day 7 – Following Jesus in Galilee

Day 8 – Crossing the Jordan to Visit Jordan

Day 9 – Hiking at Petra

Day 10 – Swimming in the Red Sea

Day 11 – Mamshit, Arad and Masada

Day 12 – Hiking at En-Gedi

Day 13 – Slouching towards Bethlehem

Day 14 – The Long Road Home

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Long Road Home

The last day of our Israel trip began with a 5:00 AM wake-up call in order to catch our 10:00 AM Turkish Airlines flight. We were to land in Chicago at 5:40 PM, losing the eight hours, but of course we were delayed in Istanbul slightly. With favorable winds we arrived by 6:00 PM. Luggage was excruciatingly slow (our group was the last set of bags off the plane) and one girl lost her bag. One of the group headed home from Chicago (bye Kaitlynn). Even though our bus was on time to pick us up at O’Hare, it was nearly 8:00 by the time we finally hit the road. It was nearly midnight before we arrived at GBC, so something like 27 hours of travel.

Since all electronics larger than a cell phone are now banned on flights from Turkey to the US, I needed to buy a book to read on the plane. The Steimatzky bookstore in the Ben Gurion airport has a very nice selection (better than any US airport I have seen). I ended up selecting Tom Bissell’s Apostle: Travels Among the Tombs of the Twelve. This book is part travelogue, part “lives of the saints” and part New Testament introduction. I read about half of the book on the plane; even if he is not right on some of the New Testament material he is an excellent writer. Since Bissell is not a religious person he is able to report some of the more legendary aspects of the lives of the apostles more objectively than these sorts of books often do.

Now that I am back in the office, I will edit the previous posts and add some pictures. I plan on moving the posts to the “Israel Trips.” Thanks for following this trip, I heard many positive comments from people who vicariously traveled to Israel and Jordan with the Grace Bible College group.

Maybe you can join me for a Pauline Missions trip in 2018 (students) or 2019 (Alumni), or the Grace Bible College student trip in 2019.