The Day of Pentecost - Jerusalem 2023 - Church of God In Christ

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25th - 31st May 2023 (7 days 6 nights)

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DAY 1 - ARRIVAL IN ISRAEL – TEL AVIV – JAFFA – Thursday May 25, 2023 OVERNIGHT IN THE CENTER OF ISRAEL (D)

■ 04:30 LY 004. A warm welcome to Israel. You will be met by our representative and assisted through luggage collection and customs and escorted to your waiting guide and driver

■ Breakfast boxes

■ Opening ceremony

■ Depart the airport and travel north to Caesarea. It was the Roman capital of the land in the time of

Jesus, and it was here that the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate resided. Paul was imprisoned here just before being sent to Rome for trial. We will explore the magnificent ruins of the city built by King Herod, including the harbor, theater, baths, and hippodrome.

■ Tel Megiddo is the site of the ancient city of Megiddo/Armageddon, the remains of which form a tell (archaeological mound), situated in northern Israel. Here we discover why this tel, which holds 5,000 years of accumulated cities, is viewed as the place for the “Cataclysm of the End of Days.” See the stables and gateway built by King Solomon nearly 3,000 years ago

■ Visit Muchraka on Mount Carmel where the prophet Elijah defeated the pagan priests of Ba’al,

■ Lunch on own

■ Arrive in Tiberias for hotel check-in

■ Dinner at hotel

Overnight: Tiberias

 

DAY 2 - CAESAREA MARITIMA – MT. CARMEL

Friday May 26, 2023 MEGIDDO/ARMAGEDDON – NAZARETH (B,D)

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■ Breakfast at hotel

■ Begin the day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee and experience the truly captivating feeling of

the calm waters and the Biblical landscapes.

■ Visit the Jesus Boat at the Yigal Alon Centre. The Ancient Galilee Boat is an ancient fishing boat

from the 1st century AD, discovered in 1986 on the north-west shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. The remains of the boat, 27 feet (8.27 meters) long, 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) wide and with a maximum preserved height of 4.3 feet (1.3 meters), first appeared during a drought, when the waters of the Sea (actually a great fresh-water lake) receded

■ Travel to Magdala to see a first century synagogue and the "Magdala stone", a three-dimensional representation of the Second Temple constructed while the temple was still standing.

■ St Peter's Fish lunch

■ Next stop is at Tabgha, the site of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes, and nearby the place

traditionally linked to Jesus telling Peter to become a “Fisher of Men”.

■ Capernaum, hometown of St Peter and also Jesus’ headquarters during His ministry in the Galilee

■ Stop at the Mount of Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus preached the

“Sermon on the Mount” and picked his 12 apostles

■ Dinner at hotel

Overnight: Tiberias

 

DAY 3 - SEA OF GALILEE BOAT RIDE - CAPERNAUM

Saturday May 27, 2023

TABGHA – MT. BEATITUDES – BETHSAIDA –

JORDAN RIVER BAPTISMAL SITE (B,D)

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■ Breakfast at hotel and check out

■ Mount Precipice

■ Visit the ancient city of Beit Shean, an important centre throughout history, where the Philistines

hung the heads of King Saul and his sons from the walls of the city, and later the capital of the

Roman Decapolis.

■ Lunch on own

■ Drive south via the Jordan valley and up to the Holy City of Jerusalem

■ Beit Abara - Qasr el Yahud is the western section of the traditional site of the baptism of Jesus by

John the Baptist on the Jordan River (Matthew 3:13-17). It has also been traditionally identified with two episodes from the Hebrew Bible, as one of the possible points through which the Israelites have crossed the Jordan river as they reached the Promised Land (Joshua 3), and as the site where prophet Elijah ascended to heaven.

 ■ Late hotel check-in after the Sabbath

■ Dinner at hotel

Overnight: Jerusalem

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DAY 4 - GOLAN HEIGHTS – GAMLA – BEIT SHEAN – JORDAN VALLEY – JUDEAN DESERT (B,D)

Sunday May 28, 2023

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 ■ Breakfast at the hotel

■ Arrive to the Mount of Olives and enjoy a spectacular panoramic view overlooking the Old City of

Jerusalem. Some of the landmarks found on the Mount of Olives include the Augusta Victoria Hospital with the Lutheran Church of the Ascension and the iconic 50-meter bell tower. There is also the Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension with its tall and visible white bell tower, Chapel of the Ascension, and the Church of the Pater Noster

■ View the Chapel of Dominus Flevit, designed by the famous architect Antonio Barluzzi

■ Gethsemane Garden

■ Lunch on own

■ Continue to Bethlehem where you will see fields with sheep grazing and it is easy to imagine how

it must have been 2000 years ago. Visit the Church of the Nativity the traditional place of Jesus'

Birth, Manger Square and Shepherds Field

■ Dinner at hotel

■ Evening event at hotel

Overnight: Jerusalem

 

DAY 5 - JERUSALEM OLD CITY – SOUTHERN WALL STAIRS – WESTERN ("WAILING") WALL – CARDO – BETHESDA POOL – CHURCH OF ST. ANNE – VIA DOLOROSA – HOLY SEPULCHRE – YAD VASHEM HOLOCAUST MUSEUM (B,D)

Monday May 29, 2023

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 ■ Breakfast at the hotel

■ Ascend the legendary mountaintop plateau of Masada by cable car. The last stronghold of the

Jewish Zealots in their struggle against the Romans, Masada later became an icon of contemporary Zionism. View the rich archeological remains, which include a complex water system, synagogue, ritual bath, and food storehouses.

■ Lunch on own at Qumran

■ Stop at Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were housed for almost 2000 years. The

initial discovery of Dead Sea Scroll fragments revolutionized biblical studies and research on first-

century Judaism.

■ Float in the mineral rich waters of the Dead Sea

■ Dinner at hotel

Overnight: Jerusalem

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DAY 6 - BETHLEHEM – JERUSALEM MT. OLIVES – GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE – GARDEN TOMB – FREE TIME FOR SHOPPING (B,D)

Tuesday May 30, 2023

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 ■ Breakfast at the hotel

■ Drive to Mount Zion and view the Upper Room

■ Enter the Jewish Quarter and explore 2000 years of history. Walk through the Cardo – the remains

of the Roman road during Jesus time, to the Western Wall – the most revered site for the Jews

■ In Davidson Center, tour the Southern Wall Excavations of the Temple Mount, and walk on the

stairs where Jesus taught, that led into the Temple

■ Lunch on own

■ Possible meeting

■ Yad Vashem is considered the first and most famous memorial to mankind’s darkest period. Visit

the very moving exhibit at the Children’s Pavilion, commemorating the death of over 1.5 million Jewish children in the Holocaust. Walk through the Valley of the Communities - a man-made valley in the form of the European Map built in remembrance of over 5000 communities that were damaged or destroyed and whose names are engraved on the stone walls.

■ Dinner at hotel

■ Evening meeting at hotel

Overnight: Jerusalem

 

DAY 7 Wednesday May 31, 2023

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 ■ Breakfast at the hotel and check-out

■ Tour the site of the First and Second Temple, and the current site of the Dome of the Rock and Al

Aqsa Mosque.

■ Today we explore the Christian Quarter. See Bethesda Pool where Jesus healed the lame man,

and the Church of St. Anne.Follow the Via Dolorosa ("Way of the Agonies"), the path Jesus walked to the crucifixion, leading to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional site of Calvary and Burial of Jesus.

■ Lunch on Own

■ Visit the Garden Tomb.

■ Free time for last minute shopping

■ Dinner in a local restaurant followed by event/meeting in same location

■ 21:00 Transfer to airport for flight LY 025 at 01:00 a.m. on 01 June