Second Pre Trip Meeting!

We met at Joe and Cheryl Hishmehs home for our second pre trip meeting.  We are so blessed to have these two as our guides on this trip.  We discussed our travel from Kansas City to Chicago, then onto Zurich and then onto Tel Aviv.  Our group continues to learn more about each other and Joe laid out the trip itinerary for us.  Tonight we discussed Day 5 through Day 7. We covered the history of the land of Dan, Mount Hermon and the Jordan River.  We discussed opportunities to be baptized in the Jordan and follow this river South to where it had once fed the Dead Sea.  It is unimaginable to think we will travel to where the Sermon on the Mount was delivered, see where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, the synagogue where Jesus taught and where the stretcher bearers lowered the paralyzed man through the roof. Joe told us how we will sit in the Dead Sea rather than swim and Cheryl added some of her experiences and favorite places she has. Joe provided us with archaeological guides as well as period timelines to assist us in understanding when and where all events occurred. Two month away and so much to read and prepare for!

Our Trip Itenerary! Join us!!

Hi friends! We have created this page for our friends and family so that you can experience our trip to the Holy Land with us! Our Church, Fellowship Bible Church offered this experience and we jumped at the opportunity. It has always been our dream to go to Israel as many have told us it is life changing.   How could we not share this with all that we love?! The trip is being led by our Lead Pastor and his wife Joe and Cheryl Hishmeh.  Below we have posted our daily itinerary.  Each day we hope to post a blog of our experiences. We hope that through this page your heart grows closer to Gods word and your relationship grows stronger with Jesus.  We will be leaving at the end of May but there is a million things to do prior to that! Tammy and I have begun studying each area to prepare us for what we will experience and learning to "pack light" may take us a while!  After 30+ years at each of our jobs, we have never taken more than 5 days away from work.  We couldn't imagine a better way to break that trend! Below is our itinerary for the trip.  We will add and edit as time goes forward..... Enjoy!

Day 1 – Depart U.S. and arrive in Tel-Aviv at around 2:30p the next day. The flight is around 13 hours and Tel-Aviv is 8 hours different in time zones.

Day 2 Wednesday  – Afternoon Arrival in Tel Aviv. Stroll and/or Swim in the Mediterranean. Overnight in Tel Aviv.

Day 3 Thursday - As Pastor Joe says... "After a good nights rest, we will hit the ground running!" Caesarea by the Sea; Haifa, Megiddo; Mt. Carmel, Rosh Hanikra/ Mt. Arbel overlook; Sea of Galilee


After a delicious breakfast buffet, we will follow the ancient Via Maris along the Mediterranean to the amazing ruins of King Herod’s ancient seaport at Caesarea, the place where the Gentile church began (Cornelius, Acts 10). We’ll sit in the theater where God struck down King Agrippa for his pride (Acts 12), stand in the fortress where Paul was imprisoned for two years (Acs 24-26), race in the Roman hippodrome, and visit the harbor that Herod the Great built into the sea. Then we’ll drive north beside the ancient Via Maris road Mount Caramel and on to Megiddo.

Day 4 Friday - Sepphoris; Nazareth; Sea of Galilee, Mount Precipice, Mount Arbel

Today, we’ll visit the places the boy Jesus knew best. We’ll drive to Sepphoris, where Joseph took his son Jesus to work with wood and stone. Then to Nazareth Village for a “living history” experience of how the people lived and worked in Jesus’ day. We’ll cross the plain to Megiddo and view the future site of the Battle of Armageddon (Rev. 16:16). Then ascend Mt. Carmel, where Elijah called down fire from heaven (1 Kings 18). We will end the day with a night-time boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.

Day 5 Saturday - Dan Nature Reserve; Mr. Hermon; Jordan River source; Caesarea Philippi; borders of Lebanon and Syria; Golan Heights, Magdal, Jesus Boat. – This morning we will travel north to the territory of Dan, rich with Old Testament history. We will walk through the nature reserve at the base of Mt. Hermon and enjoy the rushing springs that form the upper Jordan River. We will see where Jeroboam erected the golden calf that caused Israel to split apart (1 Kings 12), and the ancient city gate where Abraham and his 318 men defeated the Mesopotamian kings who had captured his nephew Lot. We will walk where Jesus walked in Bethsaida, the home of Peter, Andrew and Philip; see where Jesus fed the 5000; visit the traditional site of the Mt. of Beatitudes. Then we’ll go to the pagan “gates of Hell” site of Caesarea Philippi dedicated to the god Pan, where Peter made the Great Confession (Matthew 16). We’ll look into Syria and discuss today’s news on the Golan Heights, and then to the Sea of Galilee to visit the recent discovery of the city of Magdal. Our final stop will view an actual fishing boat from Jesus’ day.

Mount Hermon, on the northeastern fringe of ancient Israel, rises majestically to a height of over 9,000 feet. The mountain stood as a symbol of beauty, fertility, and abundance.

Day 6 Sunday - Gamal, Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, Jordan River Baptisms, Sea of Galilee Boat Cruise

This morning we will visit Gamal, the “Masada of the North,” where Jews flung themselves off a cliff rather than surrender to the Romans. Then we travel to the Mount of Beatitudes and Capernaum. We will then go to the Jordan River for baptisms and then end our evening with a cruise on the Sea of Galilee.

Day 7 Monday - Beth-Shan; Jordan Valley; Jericho; Qumran; En-Gedi; Dead Sea float.

After breakfast we will leave the Galilee and journey down the Jordan Valley towards the Dead Sea. Along the way we will visit the ruins of a great Greek/Roman city of Jesus’ day, Beth-Shan, now called “the Disneyland of Archeology.” We will drive through Jericho, eat lunch at Qumran and view the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. We will hike in the desert oasis of En-Gedi, where David hid from Saul (1 Samuel 24), and see the wild goats. We will float in the Dead Sea, then eat like kings and sleep wonderfully in the Daniel Dead Sea Resort.

Day 8 Tuesday - Masada; the Negev of Israel; Arad; Beersheba; Bethlehem; Jerusalem.

We will begin our day by taking the cable car up to the top of Masada; the imposing fortress palace built by Herod the Great. We will re-live the last moments of the 960 Jewish rebels and their families, who took their own lives rather than surrender to the Roman army. Then we will visit Arad (Num. 21) and Beersheba (Abraham and Hagar, Genesis 21), the southern border of ancient Israel (“from Dan to Beersheba”). In Bethlehem we will visit a ancient shepherd’s cave and the Church of the Nativity, go to an olive wood shop, and end the day with our first view of the Holy City of Jerusalem. The first of five nights at the Dan Panorama Hotel.

Days 9-11 Wednesday, Thursday & Friday - JERUSALEM and environs!

We will see and do so much in God’s favorite city during these three days: Mt. of Olives; The Old City; Pool of Bethesda; Via Dolorosa; Church of the Holy Sepulcher; Jewish Quarter; Western Wall with bar mitvahs; Western Wall tunnels; Temple Mount; Dome of the Rock; Southern Wall excavations; City of David; Davidson Center; remains of David’s palace; Hezekiah’s Tunnel; Pool of Siloam; the Golden Gate; Jewish Quarter; The Upper Room; Israel Museum; the Garden Tomb. Shopping in the Arab and Jewish quarters of the Old City, and in Ben Yehuda Street.