Description
Israel & Egypt Tour with Dr. Charles Lewis of Dothan Community Church - January 2024
Please join me and others for a trip of a lifetime - a trip to Israel, the holy land, to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.
This will be my fourth time serving as a tour host to Israel and I am excited to say that the 2024 trip will include an excursion into Egypt.
In addition to tracing the footsteps of jesus, we will visit the Nile River - the river by which Moses was placed in a tar-pitched basket until the pharaoh's daughter discovered him. Not only that, see the Egyptian pyramids - one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Please read through the brochure, and should you have questions, please give me a call (334.333.7359).
W. Charles Lewis
What's Included
Our tours are all-inclusive. Always.
Videos
Watch the experience
Itinerary
Day by Day
- 2
Thursday
Tel Aviv, Jaffa, TiberiasUpon landing we will be met by our representative who will assist us in getting to our modern motor coach. Continue through the largest city in Israel. Continue south to Jaffa (Joppa), the city of Jonah, where Peter had his housetop experience at the home of Simon the Tanner. We proceed to the famous Sea of Galilee where we check into our hotel for dinner and overnight.
- 3
Friday
Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Beit SheanThis morning we enjoy a relaxing boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, landing at Nof Ginosar where we will see the New Testament Boat found below the sea. Continue our morning tour with a visit to Capernaum, Tabgha and the Mount of Beatitudes.
In the afternoon we follow the Rift Valley the Rift Valley running parallel to the Jordan, along the route Jesus most frequently traveled to Jerusalem. We visit Bet Shean at the foot of Mt. Gilboa, where King Saul was slain, see the evidences of Egyptian, Roman, and Byzantine occupations, and view the ancient tel, Roman Theater and church mosaics. Our last stop today will be at the Jordan River where we may have the opportunity to be baptized (provided a pastor is traveling on the tour), then return to the hotel in Tiberias for dinner and overnight. - 4
Saturday
Tiberias, Nazareth, Caesarea, Jerusalem“We are going up to Jerusalem.” (Matt. 20:18). We drive west to Nazareth. Traveling through Cana of Galilee where Jesus performed his first Miracle, turning water into wine (John 2). We proceed to Nazareth and ascend the Mount of the Precipice at the brow of Nazareth overlooking the Valley of Jezreel, synonymous with Armageddon.We then drive through the valley to the mound of Megiddo, Har Megiddo in Hebrew, which gave its name to Armageddon. We then ascend Mt. Carmel, site of Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal.
From there we drive towards the Mediterranean coast traveling south along the coastal highway to Caesarea by the Sea. We enter Caesarea Maritima to explore this Roman bridgehead to the east, which became the Christian springboard to the west. After the visit to this ancient harbor, we board our bus and we head up the historic Beth Horon road (Joshua 10:10) to the Benjamin Plateau, passing ancient Gibeon and continuing on to Jerusalem. Finally, atop Mt. Scopus, we behold majestic Jerusalem. Check in to our hotel for dinner and overnight stay. - 5
Sunday
Masada, Qumran, Dead Sea, JerichoToday we drive to Masada and ascend by cable car to the magnificent ruins of the fortress where, from 70 to 73 AD, Jewish defenders made their last stand in the Judean revolt against Rome. We see the remains of storehouses, cisterns and a sixth-century Byzantine church. Continuing alongside the Dead Sea, 1,300 ft. below sea level -- the lowest spot on earth -- we proceed to Ein Gedi where time permitting we will walk the path to see the waterfall in the desert.
This afternoon we continue to Qumran and the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. We will have a stop for lunch and time for those that want to swim in the Dead Sea. We travel to Jericho, the world’s oldest city. From the excavated tel atop the ruins of ancient Jericho we view the lush green
Jordan Valley, Elisha’s spring and Qarantal, the Mount of Temptation. We will head up to Jerusalem and return to the hotel for dinner. - 6
Monday
Mt. of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane, Bethlehem"If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace."
(Luke 19:42) Our drive this morning takes us past the Chapel of Ascension and Paternoster to the Mt. of Olives for an orientation view of Jerusalem and the opportunity of a group photograph overlooking Jerusalem. We then walk the traditional Passion walk. We descend to the church known as Dominus Flevit ("Our Lord weeps"). After viewing the Golden Gate, we walk downhill to Gethsemane, where have a private visit of the Garden with time to meditate on the Gospel text before visiting the Church of All Nations. Enter the Old City and make our way to the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, before we proceed to the Jerusalem Archeological Park where we see the Steps that entered the temple and the Southern Wall. It was here that Jesus would have taught the disciples. See a video that shows the temple as it was at Herod's
(or Jesus') time.
"I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord". (Luke 2:10-11). This afternoon we drive south to one of the possible sites for Shepherds' Fields. We continue into Bethlehem itself, walking through the restored old town to the Church of the Nativity and visiting the manger and see the cave of St. Jerome. We drive back to Jerusalem for dinner and overnight. - 7
Tuesday
Old City, Via Dolorosa, Garden Tomb“He has risen!” (Mark 16:6) After breakfast we transfer to the Dung Gate, where we ascend to the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque, considered the third holiest site of Islam, located on the site of the ancient Temple Mount. Here the first and second Temples once stood. Just to the north we find the Pools of Bethesda (John 5) and St. Anne’s Church. The church is perfectly preserved from the Crusader period – with remarkable acoustics. Continuing on we see Pilate’s Judgment Hall, the Chapel of Flagellation, Lithostrotos, and the Arch of Ecce Homo (Behold the Man). We then follow the Way of the Cross (Via Dolorosa) through the bazaars as far as the Holy Sepulcher. From there we walk from the Christian Quarter along the Arab Souks through the Cardo Maximo and past the Armenian Quarter. Continuing on to Mount Zion we visit the Upper Room and the Tomb of King David, and then to the grounds of a church called Peter in Gallicantu, which affords the best view of early Jerusalem from the west. (Here, the Assumptions Fathers suggest, was the house where the High Priest Caiaphas interrogated Jesus). We board our bus to the Garden Tomb where we will end our day with a special visit and the possibility of having a private communion on the grounds outside the city walls. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.
- 8
Wednesday
Jerusalem, Taba, St. Katherin'sToday we pass through the Valley of Elah, the site of David and Goliath's battle, through the region of Adullom, where David took refuge from Saul, and on to Beersheba, ancient city of Judah, a watering hole and trading post for thousands of years. It is the center of desert traffic, located on the edge of the vast Negev Desert. Here we catch a glimpse of Bedouin life. Then on to Eilat on the Red Sea, and cross into Egypt at Taba. Continuing through the desert, we come to St. Catherine's Monastery and Mt. Sinai, traditional site of Moses' receiving the 10 Commandments. We check in to the hotel for dinner and overnight.
- 9
Thursday
St. Katherin's, Mt. Sinai, CairoThose wishing to climb Mount Sinai will meet at 2 AM in order to be at the top for the sunrise. After walking down we join the remainder of our group to visit the historic monastery. We then head north to the Suez Canal and cross it to Ismailia and the desert route to Cairo, where we check into our hotel for dinner and overnight.
- 10
Friday
Pyramids, Sphinx, Egyptian MuseumAfter breakfast, we begin our tour by visiting the Pyramids of Giza. Cheops Pyramid, the largest of the three which was built in the 3rd dynasty about 2690 B.C. and is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. In front of the Pyramids of Chephren, we find the Sphinx carved from a single piece of stone, it incorporates a lion with a Pharaoh’s head, thought to be a portrait of the Pharaoh Chephren son of Cheops. While at the Pyramids we have time for a camel ride.
In the afternoon, we enjoy an optional lunch on a felucca on the Nile River. Next we visit the Egyptian Museum famous for its antiquities from Egypt’s Pharaonic period, which dates back some 50 centuries and includes the fabulous treasures of king Tut –Ankh-Amon (Tutankhamen). Return to our hotel for dinner.
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