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Homesick for Israel Tour
August 28 - September 8, 2022
Led by Rich Ferreira
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Trip Blog Posts
Day 09 - Beit She'arim, Sepphoris, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Farewell Dinner
posted on Wednesday September 07 2022 at 7:00 pm UTC
In all three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) there’s a story about Jesus returning to His hometown of Nazareth. The people of Nazareth were largely from the tribe of Judah and the line of David. They were convinced the Messiah would come from there. In fact, they named their...
Day 08 - Hazor, Hula Valley, Safed, 3 Vines Winery
posted on Tuesday September 06 2022 at 6:00 pm UTC
Today we ventured north of the Sea of Galilee. We stopped first in a small village called Safed. Safed is a unique place in that it’s inhabitants are largely followers of Kabbalah – or, Jewish mysticism. Before I go on, we need to make a bit of a distinction here. The Kabbalah...
Day 07 - Katzrin (cultural experience), Magdala, Ancient Boat, Galilee Boat Ride
posted on Monday September 05 2022 at 8:00 pm UTC
Jesus was born in Bethlehem but grew up in a town called Nazareth. Hence, Jesus is often referred to as “Jesus of Nazareth.” There aren’t many stories set in Nazareth, however, and there is little in the way of ancient ruins here. That said, there is one particularly significant site preserved...
Day 06 - Baha'i Gardens, Acco, Rosh Hanikra
posted on Sunday September 04 2022 at 8:00 pm UTC
Today was an altogether different kind of day than we’ve had so far. We stepped out of biblical history and into more modern history, but each site still had a lot to teach us about our faith as followers of Jesus. We left our hotel in Nazareth and headed west towards the Mediterranean Sea....
Day 05 - Good Samaritan Inn, Kibbutz Almog, Tel Jericho
posted on Saturday September 03 2022 at 9:00 pm UTC
We woke up this Shabbat morning and loaded our bags on the bus for our journey north towards Nazareth by way of Jericho along the Jordan River. It was hot. It hit 104 degrees in the early afternoon – but that didn’t stop us from having an incredible day. Our first stop was at a small...
Day 04 - Mount of Olives, Mt. Zion, Jewish Quarter, Mahane Yehuda Market, Shabbat Dinner
posted on Friday September 02 2022 at 10:00 pm UTC
It’s hard to believe we’ve only been here four days! We’ve done and seen and learned so much since we arrived late Monday night. Today was Jerusalem. We started off outside the eastern wall on the Mount of Olives. From the Mount of Olives you can see the city of David, the...
Day 03 - Bethel, Shiloh, Mount Gerizim
posted on Thursday September 01 2022 at 3:00 pm UTC
Our journey today spanned the time of the patriarchs through the conquest of Canaan on into the period of the judges through the monarchy and ending in the gospels. In other words, we spanned a lot of biblical history over the course of three sites. We started off at Bethel. The ancient city...
Day 02 - Neot Kedumim, Beth Guvrin (Maresha), Archaeological Dig
posted on Wednesday August 31 2022 at 4:00 pm UTC
When we say we “know” something in English, we’re most often referring to intellectual knowledge. However, the Hebrew word for “know” – yada – is much richer. It can refer to intellectual knowledge, but it can also refer to experiential knowledge. It’s...
Day 01 - Hebron, Susya, Shepherd's Field, Bethlehem
posted on Tuesday August 30 2022 at 7:00 pm UTC
We began our day at Hebron in the West Bank. Hebron comes up in a number of biblical stories. Joshua allotted Hebron to his right-hand man, Caleb, when they conquered the Canaanites. David reigned as king of Israel in Hebron for seven years before moving the capital to Jerusalem. However, Hebron...
Day 00 - ARRIVAL
posted on Monday August 29 2022 at 11:00 pm UTC
We made it to Israel! Our crew – coming from Los Angeles and Chicago – met up in Istanbul. There were a couple of delays and we landed in Tel Aviv a little later than anticipated, but we had no canceled or missed flights and no lost luggage. The group is excited...
Preparing for Israel
posted on Friday July 08 2022 at 8:26 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...