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“Come and see for yourself!” Is one of the only ways we can accurately explain a trip to Israel to family and friends. We get flustered at our inability to articulate everything we experience on this tour. Could we show pictures from the Valley of Elah to tell you about the epic showdown between David and Goliath? Sure, but it won’t show you what it’s like to stand in the whipping wind while imagining David running miles from Bethlehem to confront the Champion Goliath. Could I describe what it is like to sing, “Amazing Grace” with 57 fellow pastors and ministers in a first century cave today? Probably, but it will not capture the genuine fellowship of pastors from all over the country encouraging each other and sharing stories as we climb down the stairs to Bet Gurin/Marasha.
Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park is a national park in central Israel, 13 kilometers from Kiryat Gat, encompassing the ruins of Maresha, one of the important towns of Judah during the time of the First Temple,[1] and Beit Guvrin, an important town in the Roman era, when it was known as Eleutheropolis.
Archaeological artifacts unearthed at the site include a large Jewish cemetery, a Roman-Byzantine amphitheater, a Byzantine church, public baths, mosaics and burial caves.
Since our first trip 5 years ago, we’ve ended most, if not all, of our conversation about Israel with, “we can’t wait to go back!” Our passion to return is not to create another experience for ourselves, but to bring others along to come and see for themselves! Andrew and I are so blessed this will become a reality for our church in November, but coming back a second time to learn how to lead a trip, there have already been so many nuances to what we are learning and experiencing in Israel, I’m sure 5 more trips would not even begin to scratch the surface. Maybe it was the jet lag, or the sheer quality and quantity of our first trip, but after one day, we already feel we are learning more about these sites then we did the first time.
Pictures and stories from the Holy Land are epic, but the only to really capture how walking the Shephelah transforms the stories of paper and ink into stones you can touch and herbs you can smell, is, “come and see!”
-Written by Steve Dang
The Brook Elah is famous for the five stones it contributed to the young slinger, David. Some surmise that David chose five stones instead of the one needed in case he needed to face Goliath’s four brothers.
With 30 years of experience creating trips for other ministries, we've prepared our own signature study tours featuring some of our favorite itineraries and compelling teachers! If you've never been on a GTI Study Tour, take a moment to learn more about what you can expect.