As you may already be aware, this October, my wife, Robin, and I are leading a tour to Israel. But why? Visiting Israel at least once is a desire of many Bible believers. Who would not want to go and see the places where so many events of the Bible transpired? After hearing and reading about Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, the Jordan River, the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea, and so on, and then to stand in these places, touch them, listen to the sounds, and smell the smells, how couldn’t the ancient past come alive, impacting the Bible with fresh meaning? Sounds like enough reason to go to me. But there’s even more to it than that, especially in how we have designed this particular tour experience.
Seeing the sites does indeed make the Bible come alive, but it seems to me that something more needs to happen. Maybe I am wrong, but even though most of us accept that the Bible is true – that its stories really happened – in our minds Israel and the Bible tend to live in the realm of myth. Touring Israel can easily become an overly romanticized, sentimental journey to a spiritual Disneyland, instead of an immersion into God’s practical and enduring reality.
The reestablishment of Israel after 2000 years of exile testifies to God’s ongoing faithfulness to his word and to his people. That is why a key component of this tour is connecting with some of what God is doing in the Land of Israel today as we get to know believers and various ministries there. Our hope is that we will come home not only knowing God and the Bible better, but also with a sense of connection to God’s work in Israel that will be with us for the rest of our lives.
Biblical truth is not a collection of abstract concepts, but a living, practical, on-the-ground reality. This tour, “God’s Faithfulness Then & Now,” will thrust us into the fullness of the Big Picture of God’s Epic Story.
We have just completed a promotional video, which you can see here. Please share it with friends by email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Special thanks to Dan Woods of Blue Mansion Media for producing this.
For more information about the tour, including a printable brochure and reservation forms, click here.
To make a reservation, contact Glenda by phone (toll-Free): 1-800-667-5559 (outside North America: 1-604-853-0751), ext: 365; or by email: glenda@mennotvl.com.
Alan Gilman - Bible Teacher 