Holy Land Study Tour with Dexter United Methodist Church
December 5-16, 2022
Led by Tim Broyles, Dr. Matt Hook
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Trip Blog Posts
Day 09 - Jerusalem: Mount of Olives, Gethsemane, Saint Anne's, Pool of Bethesda, Via Dolorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Ramparts, Southern Steps, Farewell Dinner
posted on Friday December 16 2022 at 1:00 am UTC
“Christian Jews are the happiest; their faces shine, they wear smiles, they are in a good mood,” so says the weaver from California who paused to talk with a few of us. He had only been living in Israel for 4 months. The reason for moving to Israel? “I was called and wanted to come...
Day 08 - City of David, Hezekiah's Tunnel, Holocaust Museum
posted on Thursday December 15 2022 at 1:00 am UTC
Our next to the last full day of touring in Israel dawned with clouds that promised long awaited rain in the region. Unfortunately for residents, we had another pristine day. It’s winter here, and the lack of rain is beginning to raise concerns for locals. Jerusalem is one of those cities that...
Day 07 - Temple Mount, Western Wall, Rabbinic Tunnels, Herodium, & Bethlehem
posted on Wednesday December 14 2022 at 1:00 am UTC
As I’ve read the Bible throughly from cover to cover in the past, I’ve been fascinated to see the physical locations of where the stories took place. Today, at the Temple Mount area, we were amazed to see the possible place where God’s temple may have existed according to great scholars...
Day 06 - Galilee to Jerusalem: Beth She’an, Megiddo, Caesarea Maritima
posted on Tuesday December 13 2022 at 12:00 am UTC
Today we started in Galilee and ended the day in Jerusalem. In between, our souls were fed by the sights, sounds, and stories of the Bible and experiencing the land in which it was written. Saying goodbye to the Ein Gev Kibbutz, we started the morning in Beth She’an and...
Day 05 - Katzrin, Mount Bental, Caesarea Philippi, Tel Dan
posted on Monday December 12 2022 at 1:00 am UTC
On our fifth day of traveling our journey was filled with variety. To start our day we drove up to Katzrin in the Golan Heights, where we had a cultural experience. We put on some robes, head coverings, and spent some of our morning learning about what it would have been like to live in Israel 2,000...
Day 04 - Galilee: Mount Arbel, Tabgha, Capernaum, Chorazin, Mount of Beatitudes, Ancient Boat (Ginosar), Galilee Boat Ride
posted on Saturday December 10 2022 at 8:00 pm UTC
Today we walked in the footsteps of Jesus, visiting the places most closely associated with Him around the Sea of Galilee. Our 1st stop was Tobgha, the land of 7 Springs where tilapia, a tropical fish, fills fisherman's nets now, as they did 2,000 years ago. This is the site where Jesus...
Day 03 - Negev: Ein Gedi, Qumran, Lower Jordan, Shabbat Dinner
posted on Saturday December 10 2022 at 1:00 am UTC
Day 3. Our neighborhood in Michigan, supports a three point buck which wanders through our backyards at will. I thought of him today as I scanned the cliffs of the Ein Gedi in hope of spotting a Nubian Ibex. It turns out an Ibex is nothing at all like a Michigan deer. It is more like a Bighorn Sheep...
Day 02 - Masada, Tel Arad, Dead Sea
posted on Thursday December 08 2022 at 10:00 pm UTC
Our 7:30am start on day 2 paid off when we arrived at the Masada visitor’s center well ahead of the heavy daily crowds. Our group got closer than ever as we packed ourselves in for the gondola ride to the top. It was a beautiful day for taking in the spectacular (and desolate) views as...
Day 01 - Shephelah: Yad Hashmonah, Beth Shemesh, Azekah, Beth Guvrin (Maresha)
posted on Wednesday December 07 2022 at 8:00 pm UTC
Since day 1 was a full day of travel, we started today, Wednesday, December 7 as our first day of site visiting which is technically day 2. We began at a fabulous park called Yad Hashmonah. Our incredible guide Dan shared information on what the site was as well as the overview of our tour. We could...
Day 00 - ARRIVAL
posted on Wednesday December 07 2022 at 1:00 am UTC
We made it safely to Israel arriving at our hotel tonight around 9 pm local time. It took us some 26 hours between leaving Dexter and arriving here! We have all settled into our hotel for some good sleep and look forward to our first day of touring tomorrow! Rita...
Preparing for Israel
posted on Tuesday November 29 2022 at 10:11 pm UTC
Our trip will be here before you know it! Once we're on the ground we'll post periodic updates and photos. Check back often or get update notifications using the subscribe options on this page. We'll be sharing our travel experiences online with you, our friends and family, to not only bring you along...