Israel Study Tour with Trinity Fellowship Church
March 6-17, 2023
Led by Gerhard (Gary) deBock, Patrick Shea
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Trip Blog Posts
Day 09 - Jerusalem: Mount of Olives, Gethsemane, Pool of Bethesda, Saint Anne's, Via Dolorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulchre
posted on Friday March 17 2023 at 12:00 am UTC
Tomorrow morning, 50,000 people will run the Jerusalem Marathon. We are hoping to start our race to the airport before they start theirs… which means a very early departure for our team. In many ways, this whole experience has felt kind of like a marathon for us, with mile markers...
Day 08 - Jerusalem : City of David, Hezekiah's Tunnel, Southern Steps, Davidson Center, Model of Jerusalem, Shrine of the Book
posted on Wednesday March 15 2023 at 7:00 pm UTC
Our guide, Dan, said today that if the history doesn’t match what the Bible says, then we just need to keep digging. Our understanding may be wrong, but the Bible is not. This was evident at several key places today. At the City of David, we sat (in the rain) just outside a huge sloping...
Day 07 - Jerusalem: Temple Mount, Western Wall, Rabbinic Tunnels, Shepherds' Field, Bethlehem, Johnny's (shopping)
posted on Tuesday March 14 2023 at 7:00 pm UTC
The Temple Mount is the third most holy place in Islam, and the location of Solomon’s temple and, later, Herod’s temple. This is believed to be the place where Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac before God intervened, where the Israelites came to worship and sacrifice, where God’s presence...
Day 06 - Galilee: Beth Shean, Megiddo, Mt. Carmel, Caesarea Maritima
posted on Monday March 13 2023 at 8:00 pm UTC
Today we walked down Main Street, went shopping and to the theater, and then went to the horse race. Of course, it wasn’t exactly what first comes to your mind… but it was close. What we visited were several sites where we saw how the Israelite people had to fight against compromise, when...
Day 05 - Galilee: Katzrin, Caesarea Philippi, Tel Dan
posted on Sunday March 12 2023 at 7:00 pm UTC
At our first site today, we started by putting on the garments of the 4th century at the Talmudic village of Katzrin in Golan Heights. Our guide quickly put us to work, kneading dough and baking bread, then crushing and pressing olives for their oil. She explained that, because of the extremely rocky...
Day 04 - Galilee: Galilee Boat Ride, Tabgha, Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, Chorazin, Mount Arbel
posted on Sunday March 12 2023 at 1:00 am UTC
Just before dinner tonight, but well after dark, several of us noticed a small boat just off shore, with two young men aboard fishing on the Sea of Galilee. Watching them pull in their nets with a modest catch of fish was a fitting end to a day focused on the area of Galilee that was the setting for...
Day 03 - Wilderness: Ein Gedi, Qumran , Bethany Beyond the Jordan, Jericho
posted on Saturday March 11 2023 at 1:00 am UTC
The Dead Sea, we were told, is not only inhospitable to life, but is also slowly dying. After the installation of a dam on the jordan river and many of the tributaries that feed it, the water coming in to this beautiful body of water just can’t keep up with evaporation. Our guide told us that it...
Day 02 - Wilderness: Masada, Bedouin Hospitality, Camel Ride, Tel Arad, Dead Sea
posted on Thursday March 09 2023 at 10:00 pm UTC
Scripture uses concrete language to describe God. It relates the character and nature of God to things you can touch and see, not just stuff you have to imagine. And, though we have read about fortresses and ‘know’ what they are like, there is something special about climbing (or riding a...
Day 01 - Shephelah: Yad Hashmonah, Beth Shemesh, Azekah, Beth Guvrin (Maresha)
posted on Wednesday March 08 2023 at 11:00 pm UTC
Our day started with a short drive to the biblical gardens at Yad Hashmonah near Jerusalem. An early morning rain had cleared the skies and, though it was cool, the sun was working hard to warm things up for us. Patrick shared from Psalm 77 encouragement to “remember the deeds of the Lord.”...
Day 00 - Arrival
posted on Wednesday March 08 2023 at 1:00 am UTC
WE MADE IT TO ISRAEL! Off to the hotel for a good night's rest. We begin touring in the morning!...
Preparing for Israel
posted on Monday February 20 2023 at 7:08 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...