encounter israel with c4i

TORONTO

Day 1 - Saturday, 
Late afternoon departure from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Air Canada flying nonstop from Toronto to Tel Aviv departing at 4:35pm.




 

JAFFA, TEL AVIV

Day 2 - Sunday,                            
Early morning arrival in Tel Aviv at 10:00am where our tour guide and luxury coach will be waiting for us. We will drive directly from the airport to the ancient and modern port of Jaffa. It was here that Jonah boarded a ship in his attempt to flee from God and where Peter performed a miracle and had a vision on a rooftop (Acts 9:36-43; 10:9-23). We will then drive to our hotel for our first overnight beside the golden beaches of the Mediterranean Sea. Balance of the evening will be at leisure. Options will include a walk along the Mediterranean promenade, visits to cafes or shops, with ample time to enjoy the beautiful sunset before dinner. 

Dinner and overnight at the Renaissance Hotel, Tel Aviv.
 

TEL AVIV, CAESAREA, ATLIT, GALILEE

Day 3 - Monday,                           
Upon leaving our hotel, we will drive north through the Plain of Sharon along the old coastal road known as the Via Maris which linked Egypt and Babylon. We will stop at Caesarea the incredible fortress and Mediterranean port city built by King Herod the Great. It was here that Pontius Pilate had his base in Israel; where Cornelius the centurion lived and was baptized (Acts 10); where Philip preached (Acts 8:40) and where Paul embarked to Tarsus (Acts 9:30). The visit includes the Roman Theatre, the Hippodrome, and the Crusader City. Continue to Atlit, a British detention camp established by the British under their Mandate for Palestine. Tens of thousands of Jewish immigrants were interned at the camp, which was surrounded by barbed wire and watchtowers - reminiscent of the death camps the Nazis had used in Europe. Our day will continue with a visit to the place where Elijah challenged the priests of Baal (1King 19). We will then descend into the Valley of Jezreel on our way to Megiddo (Armageddon), one of King Solomon’s walled fortified cities (1 King 9: 15; 10:26), with ruins and visible layers of 20 levels of civilization. The prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation will come alive as we read about the final Battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19). From Megiddo, we will drive on to Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus, and then through Cana, site of Jesus’ first recorded miracle of turning water into wine (John 2), on our way to our first glimpse of the Sea of Galilee.  

Dinner and overnight at Kibbutz Nof Ginnosar on the Sea of Galilee.
 

GOLAN HEIGHTS, GAMLA

Day 4 - Tuesday,                             
On our first full day in Galilee, we will drive north to the Golan Heights and visit Banias, one of the sources of the Jordan River and location of ancient “Caesarea Philippi”. It was here that Peter made his confession of faith in Christ (Matt; 16:16). On the summit of the Golan Heights, you will learn about the wars Israel has fought to protect its future while visiting old Syrian bunkers overlooking the fertile Hula Valley below. We will also visit Gamla, site of a Jewish city founded in the second century and located on craggy basalt outcropping on the Golan Heights. Two thousand years ago the Jewish historian Josephus described the siege of this walled city by the Romans and how the 9,000 Jewish inhabitants fought their way to the edge of town and how many jumped to their deaths in the gorge below when they realized they could not avoid capture. Curiously, Gamla has also become a vulture breeding sanctuary (Rev. 19:17, 18). We will return to our hotel via the east side of the Sea of Galilee stopping at Kursi, the place where Jesus encountered the Gadarene Demoniac (Mark 5) and where the demons entered the swine and drowned in the Sea of Galilee.

Dinner and overnight at Kibbutz Nof Ginosar on the Sea of Galilee.
 

GALILEE, JERUSALEM

Day 5 - Wednesday,                       
After breakfast, our day will begin with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee at Capernaum, the centre of Jesus’ Galilean ministry and site of many of his miracles (Mark 2:4; Matt.8:5; 14-7; 9;1-7;17:18). We will see the remains of Simon Peter’s house and the synagogue where Jesus taught and worshipped (Mark 1:21; Luke 4:31). Our morning visits include several other places where Jesus performed miracles or spoke to large crowds. After lunch, we will proceed to Jerusalem via the Harod Spring Nature Reserve. This is the place where Gideon gathered his men before fighting the Midianites (Judges 7). Today it is a nature reserve with the second largest pool in Israel. Our journey will continue southward through the Jordan Valley, where the desert blooms with flowers and vegetation of every description (Isaiah 35:1-2). We will stop at the traditional Baptismal site (John 1:18) on the Jordan River - and current border with the Kingdom of Jordan - before ascending through the Wilderness of Judea (site of Jesus’ temptations:  Matt. 4: 1-11) - to the Holy City of Jerusalem.  

Dinner and overnight at the Ramada Hotel, Jerusalem.

 

JERUSALEM

Day 6 - Thursday,                   
We will start the day at the top of the Mt. of Olives where we will have a panoramic view of Jerusalem. We will then trace the footsteps of Jesus by walking down the Palm Sunday Route on the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations. Our Jerusalem adventure continues with a visit to Mt Zion, the traditional site of the Upper Room (or place of the Last Supper), and King David’s Tomb. Our walking tour will include a visit to the Temple Institute where priestly robes and Temple utensils and furnishings are being prepared in anticipation of a Third Temple being built in Jerusalem. We will also visit the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, said to have been built on top of the house of Caiaphas, the High Priest, before whom Jesus was tried. Our day will end with a visit to the Garden Tomb, or Gordon’s Calvary, for a communion service before returning to our hotel for dinner. 

Dinner and overnight at the Ramada Hotel, Jerusalem

 

JERUSALEM

Day 7 - Friday,                
We start the day at the excavated City of David to see remains of Jerusalem from the time of King David. See the Hezekiah’s Tunnel and visit the Pool of Siloam. Continue to the Davidson Center in order to visit the Southern Wall excavations. Our walking tour will continue along the Via Dolorosa for a brief stop at the Pools of Bethesda (John 5) and St. Anne’s Church, before walking through the alleyways and bazaars of the Old City.

Dinner and overnight at the Ramada Hotel in Jerusalem

FREE DAY IN JERUSALEM

Day 8 - Saturday,                     
A free day of leisure for shopping and/or visiting museums, bazaars etc. Our guide will give suggestions and/or directions regarding things to do.

Dinner and overnight at the Ramada Hotel, Jerusalem.
 

DEAD SEA, EIN GEDI, KFAR HANOKDIM, TEL AVIV

Day 9 - Sunday,                   
On our journey from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth, we will pass by Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947. We will then visit the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, an oasis and wild, natural setting and habitat of wildlife that includes Ibex and conies (rock rabbits). This is where David took refuge from King Saul (1Samuel 24). After a short visit to Masada, site of the Jewish Zealots’ last stand against the Romans in A.D.73, we will continue to Kfar Hanokdim which duplicates a Bedouin Village. In a green oasis shaded by palm trees and crowned with biblically inspired gardens, we will have lunch in Bedouin tents comfortably fitted with colourful rugs and mattresses. You will enjoy warm Bedouin hospitality, accompanied by explanations of Bedouin life and culture, and the opportunity for a camel ride. We will then drive through the Negev Desert to Tel Aviv for our last night in the Holy Land.

Dinner and overnight at the Renaissance, Tel Aviv.

 

TEL AVIV, TORONTO

Day 10 -  Monday,                   
After breakfast we will depart from the hotel to the airport for our non-stop Air Canada flight to Toronto departing at 10:55am and arriving in Toronto at 5:00pm.