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• Round Trip Airfare
• Hotel Accommodations
• All Transfers and Touring in Luxury A/C Coach
• Expert Guidance, All Entrance Fees
• Luggage Handling, Local VAT Tax
• Israeli Breakfast and Dinner Daily
• Boat Ride Over the Sea of Galilee
• Masada Cable Car
The March 2012 Israel Tour is open for registration!
The total cost of this life changing mission tour is $3,700.
The non-refundable, tax deductible deposit of $700 is due on November 15th. The remaining balance of $3,000 is due by January 15th.
Full payment and a copy of your passport is due by March 30, 2012.
Make your checks payable to "Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa" with "Israel Tour Payment" in the memo.
Roommates: If you need a roommate, we are usually able to provide one. A fee of
$735 may be applied if you are among the last to register and we cannot provide a
roommate for you, so register early. Hotels will allow up to three people per room,
upon request.
Prices are subject to change due to fluctuation of the US dollar and/or airline fuel
surcharges that may be changed up to the date the non-refundable airline tickets
are written.
This Israel Tour is non-refundable. If for any reason you decide not to go on the trip, the funds will become a 100% donation and be applied to support Israel. The majority of the amount of the trip is a tax deductible contribution and at the end of the year you will receive a tax statement reflecting the amount that is allowed to be deducted.
If you would like more information about this special Israel Tour please: Contact Cross to Light
Israel Tour Dates: March 2012
This Israel Tour is prayerfully structured to be sensitive and flexible for how the Lord wants to guide and direct each day. The tentative itinerary is outlined as follows.
Our spiritual journey begins as we depart on the transatlantic flight to Israel - the Holy Land of the Bible.
Sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.
Meals: On Board
Overnight: On Board
Tel Aviv - the largest and most modern city of Israel.
Upon arrival in Israel at the Ben Gurion Airport you will be met for the transfer from the airport to your hotel for dinner and overnight in Tel Aviv - Israel's largest city. After you have enjoyed a relaxing dinner we will meet in the hotel conference room for orientation. Afterwards you will have free time to rest, relax and enjoy your first evening in Israel. Our Tel Aviv hotel is conveniently located near the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and close to the city center.
/This morning we will work in the soup kitchen in Tel Aviv. In the afternoon we will walk past Simon the Tanners house and Jonah’s dock where he departed to go the opposite direction then God instructed him. We will depart Tel Aviv and head South to Shderot for the rest of the day and night.
We will enjoy breakfast in Sderot, take a look out over Gaza and head north to the Sea of Galilee. On our drive North we will stop to see where David defeated Goliath. We will also drive along the Sharon Valley to Caesarea to visit the Roman theatre and Crusader castle. Climb to the top of Mt. Carmel to visit Muhraka, the site where Elijah fought the prophets of Ba'al before continuing to Tiberias for dinner and overnight.
Tiberias is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
A full day awaits us, touring the holy sites around the Sea of Galilee. We will begin with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee with songs, praise and prayer time. Continue to the Mt. Of Beatitudes where Jesus preached the sermon on the mount, Tabha, the site of the ‘loaves and the fishes’, Bethsaida where Jesus fed the Multitudes and the ancient city of Korazim. Drive to Megiddo (Armageddon of Revelation). See the excavation, King Ahab's Water Tunnel, and King Solomon's Stables. Cross the fertile Jezreel Valley to Nazareth, where Jesus spent his childhood. Pass olive groves to Cana where Jesus performed his first miracle by changing water to wine. We will conclude this remarkable day with a visit to Yardenit – the wonderful baptismal site on the Jordan River. Afterwards we will return to Tiberias for dinner and overnight.
Boat ride on the sea of Galilee.
We will visit a military base on the Golan Heights. View Syria from Mt. Hermon. See the major sites of the Six Day War. Overlooking the Damascus Road (Acts 9) see the Syrian Bunkers from Mt. Avital. Continue to Caesarea Philippi, and onto Tel Dan where we see Jeroboam’s Altar and the city gates from Solomon’s time. Time permitting continue to Nimrod's Castle, one of the most impressive castles which have been preserved since the Medieval Times. Return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.
Extra day around the Sea of Galilee.
South of the Sea of Galilee, Beth Shean is situated in the Harod and Jordan Valleys.
We will depart the Sea of Galilee and travel down the Jordan Valley, stopping at the city of Beth Shean (Mark 5:20, 7:31). We will see the ancient city where King Saul fell fighting the Philistines. It is an amazing archeological discovery containing 18 levels of civilization. We will pass near Jericho and arrive at the lowest place on earth, the Dead Sea. After check-in and before dinner we will enjoy relaxing free time at our Dead Sea resort hotel, located on the shores of the Dead Sea. Walk to the beach and float in the salty water of the Dead Sea and take a dip in the resort swimming pool. You can also take this opportunity to enjoy the Dead Sea famous mud and mineral treatments at the hotel’s spa.
Masada is comprised of the top of an isolated mesa near the coast of the Dead Sea.
After a relaxing night at the Dead Sea resort hotel we will visit one of the most spectacular sites in Israel – the 1,500 feet mountaintop fortress of Masada. We will visit the oasis of Ein Gedi where David hid in a cave when running from Saul (1 Samuel 23). Next, we will visit Qumran where an amazing cache of ancient biblical texts were discovered in 1947 – commonly called the Dead Sea Scrolls. From here we will ascend to Jerusalem. Upon arriving in Jerusalem we will head to the top of the Mount of Olives to stand where the Lord ascended into heaven (Acts 1). From the Mount of Olives we take in a breathtaking panoramic view of the city across the Kidron Valley to the Eastern Gate where the Prince of Peace entered (Ezekiel 44). We will visit Dominus Flevit where “the Lord wept” as he beheld the Holy City. We will take the Palm Sunday Road down to the Garden of Gethsemane. We will continue to our centrally located hotel for check in and dinner.
We will start the day with a drive via the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) to Yad Vashem, the Museum of the Holocaust and the "Valley of the Communities". On to the village of Ein Kerem, birthplace of John the Baptist. Back to the Old City we will enter via St. Stephens Gate. Walk along the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Continue on the Cardo and visit the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock. We will visit the unearthed Western Wall and the underground tunnel which takes us through a site from Herod's time 2000 years old. On to Mt. Zion to see David's Citadel and the Upper Room (Luke 22) – the traditional site where Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. We will conclude at the Garden Tomb for communion. Dinner and overnight at your hotel.
Following breakfast, we will enter the Old City via the Lion’s Gate. The Lions’ Gate, located in the eastern wall of the Old City is the entrance marks the beginning of the last walk of Jesus from prison to the crucifixion – the Via Delarosa. We will visit Caiaphas’s house and the courtyard where Peter heard the rooster crow. We will start our walk along the Stations of the Cross to visit the Pool of Bethsaida. Continue to the Judgment Hall of Pilate. We will drive through the new city of Jerusalem and pass the Knesset – Israel’s parliament and continue to Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity and then out to the Shepherd’s Field (Luke 2:8-20). Return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.
Additional sites in Jerusalem: TBD
Depart from Tel Aviv after a farewell dinner.
We will check out of our hotel by noon and enjoy a day of leisure. We join together for a farewell dinner before continuing to the airport. Depart Israel with memories of your many experiences in the Land of the Bible.
Dear friends,
We invite you to share with us in a trip of a lifetime - the Tour to Israel. This Tour is structured to help you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, be a blessing to the people of Israel and experience a life change as you are open to the Lord's leading. We will be praying and sharing God's love with Israel soldiers, music and outreaches in the city of Jerusalem and other ministry opportunities.
Prayerfully step out in faith and watch what God will do with you and your life. You can cast your expectation on the Lord. All that is required of you is to say, "here I am Lord, send me" and let Him do the rest!
The Bible says: He will bless those who bless Israel. This will be a major opportunity for you to bless God’s Chosen People. We will be taking a step of faith together to see what God will do. How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Pray to see if God wants you to join this special Israel Tour.
If you are interested in the Tour to Israel please read the following planning information to help you:
You can sponsor someone else to go on this Mission Tour! If you would like to donate to sponsor someone specific to go on the Mission Tour write your check out to "Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa" and in the memo "Israel Mission Tour: First, Last Name" of the person you are sponsoring.
If you would like to be a sponsor without having someone specific write, "Israel Mission Tour: Anonymous Sponsor".
If you would like to donate to support Israel you can do so online: online donation to support Israel or by mailing your donation to Cross to Light, PO Box 27361, Santa Ana, CA 92799 with the memo of your check "Support Israel".
How to Get My Passport
You will need your passport. Your local post office provides passport service. If you do not currently have a valid passport you need to initiate that process as soon as possible. Although there is plenty of time, it can take several weeks to be issued and receive your passport; don’t wait until the last minute. You can go to the U.S. government website at http://travel.state.gov for passport information. Check the Expiry Date of Your Passport
A passport valid for six months beyond the duration of stay, an onward or return ticket, and proof of sufficient funds are required for entry.
Per the Travel.State.Gov website; if you have a current and effective passport at the time of travel, but it will be expiring WITHIN SIX MONTHS of our planned return date, YOU NEED TO RENEW YOUR PASSPORT NOW.
The weather in Israel is very similar to the weather in Southern California. Please visit http://www.weather.com/ to check conditions.
It is recommended that you bring at least $300 spending money for this Mission Tour. You can monitor the exchange rate of the dollar at website's like this one: eXchangeRate.com. Hotels usually have an ATM, and there are banks with ATM’s in the larger cities where you can access your account.
When packing consider summer clothing, one warm jacket, sun block, sunglasses, backpack, etc. For electrical outlets you will need an adaptor for items such as your phone charger and hair dryer. You can typically find these adaptors at Target and similar department stores.
You will be allowed one checked bag and one carry on. One separate container may be checked in by you for the purpose of bringing support goods and supplies to the church in Israel. If you would be interested in helping in this way please let us know.
" Well, as you know, we have returned from our trip to Israel. Only this morning did the concept of the purpose of our trip actually hit me, this particular purpose came clear to me that spoke about the purpose and meaning of our going, and I would like to share that. On one other note before I share, I would like to identify our team under its new name . . . Pastor Brian has deemed us “Delta”. This is how he would address us as a team and call to us for instruction or announcements. While it was a lighthearted and fun way to consider ourselves as a group, it was really a great tool. When he would call out “Delta!”, we understood that we were to turn our attention to him. So, this understanding of our purpose comes from a member of Delta, a rag-tag group of mobile believers that for 10 days set foot in the Land of Promise to experience and glean from the hand of God the good things that He had to give to us, and do through us. On the way over on the plane the Lord gave me a verse that came to mean so much. The first part of Jeremiah 16:16 reads, “But now I will send for many fisherman,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them.” We were sent out as fishermen, and we spread our nets wherever we went. The harvest is great. The towns and the peoples that we met throughout the land that God loves, from Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv, Tiberias on the Galilee, Jerusalem, both in the old city and outside the old city walls, to Netanya, a bustling city about 30 miles north of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean and to Sderot, a more subdued and quiet town compared to other cities surely due to the battering that they have taken from the missile attacks from Gaza over the last 9 years . . . all of these people are those that God’s heart wishes to hear the gospel, the good news. There are ministries to the people in Israel, there are those that God has called to reach out in tangible ways to provide for their needs, to show the love of Christ with compassion and to share the gospel, and we were blessed to meet some of them and even serve alongside of them. But this morning I see how our evangelistic presence brought new life and stirred up dry ground and hungry souls. These people are hungry for truth and God used us to speak to people on city sidewalks, in storefronts, restaurants, along the shore of the Galilee and the Mediterranean, on city busses, in the airport, train station, on park benches and in a soup kitchen where they came for a hot meal; mothers with babies in strollers, heartbroken and lost and hurting souls, hotel workers, Jews, Muslims, unbelievers, religious and non-religious. Who can hear unless someone tells them? We told them! We told them, as it says in Psalm 130, that “He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.” We were used by God to spread the gospel, face to face and one on one with individuals, many of whom said yes to Christ! (May their commitments be genuine and may God continue to teach them in His ways.) Almost all received willingly and hungrily what we had to share when we had those direct conversations, and hundreds of others received the word through the tracts that were distributed in Hebrew, Arabic and English. God used us, allowed us the privilege to be part of His plan to take the truth to a people and a land that He loves. There are much needed ministries to the tangible physical needs of the people for sure, but the messengers who take the gospel to the streets are few. There are reasons for that, some are that those who live there are bound by the political establishment as well as the anti-missionary efforts that are growing in that land and they must be careful in their methods . . . but as visitors, coming to proclaim the gospel, we moved under the guidance and protection of our God, and without such hindrances and fears to boldly proclaim the redemption that He himself has provided. God protected, and He led us to many who He is calling, and many souls were saved! The eyes of these people are welcoming, they are receptive, they are warm, they are genuine; there is a difference that is almost unexplainable, but evident when you look into the eyes of the people of the land of Israel. It is as if they do know, somewhere inside of them, that they are hearing the truth. One lady that I shared with that touched me so deeply was on a city bus. She was a nicely dressed middle aged woman, very kind and well spoken. As I shared the gospel with her, and explained that Jesus is the Messiah, she listened intently. (Many of the Jewish people speak their native tongue, Russian, French, etc. as well as Hebrew and English). We conversed some, and after several minutes I offered her a New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs, and a Hebrew tract. This precious woman took them from my hand, then asked, “Do I pay you for these?” It brought tears to my eyes. This precious lady was willing to offer me money for the gospel! I am sure I looked a little startled, and took her hands and told her no, it was a gift for her, from the Lord. I don’t recall her name, but continue to pray that God will open her eyes, eyes that I can see when I close my own eyes even now . . . He surely sent us to speak to her, (and as unbelievable as it is to me, He used me to sit next to her and speak to her about Him), as well as each one that received the knowledge of the truth by this band of believers that came to deliver the gospel to His people. Jeremiah 16:16, we were fishers in the name of the Lord! It was a privilege and honor to be able to bring the good news to the people of Israel, and I pray that many more will go, to take the good news of the gospel of Christ, of the redemption, and Lord willing, that I will again have the opportunity to visit Israel and offer the good news to His people. The harvest is great, the workers are few. This was more than a tour, souls were saved, and God used each of us. Go Delta!"
Sandy
"To say I can explain this trip to Israel in words is like trying to fully explain God. Words will never be able to fully describe everything that happened to me while on this trip. God completely changed my whole life right before my eyes after the night that I had been baptized. The Pastor had said that once we completely allow ourselves to be God's servant then God will put new desires in our hearts; that's exactly what happened to me. before this trip to Israel I had my whole life planned out according to my own standards and according to what I thought was best for me and what would make me happy but I was completely wrong. Because of this trip and the baptism and because of the Grace of God I now have a whole different plan for my life. A perfect plan put together by God's own hands. Instead of being in fashion marketing and management and living here for the rest of my life God has confirmed to me in many many verses and through many people that that is not what He has in store for me. Now I am dreaming of becoming a journalist in Israel serving wherever the Lord will have me be. Through this journey God opened my eyes up to a world that is a complete fairy-tale for me. What God has shown me is ten times better than I could have ever dreamed. Every single person that went on this trip touched my life in some way and I couldn't be more thankful. God hand picked each one of us and that's such a blessing. Serving the last night in Israel totally tore down every wall that I had up in my life. We may have touched many lives that night but to tell the truth I was the one touched. Now being back in the states I feel completely different. The things I use to have a desire for I have no desire for and I find myself spending hours a day in the word and just praying and talking to God. I continue to hear God's voice every single day and I break down crying cause I'm so thankful of how faithful He is to continue speaking to me. I can't wait to see how God puts together this journey he has for me and I can't wait to see how He provides. I'm forever changed because of this trip. All the work God has done in me He is faithful to complete! I believe that with my whole heart."
Nichole
"Before going to Israel it was hard to picture all the stories in the Bible and where they took place, then once I got there everything popped out at me. It is so hard to watch the people over there treat God's land, they have everything around them about Jesus, yet they still don't believe. Going to the army base really touched my heart, sharing the love of Christ with them and just being there friend really blessed them. They are worried that Obama is going to turn his back on them and America is pretty much the only country that will and can help them. The looks on their faces when we cleaned their kitchen, dinning rooms, and helped cook was priceless. Those men and women in uniform are my age or older. That shows how strong of a people they are. I could not imagine going into the army at the age I am right now, and yet they do it with a smile on their faces. The very last day touched me big time. A girl about 14 years old, walked in the soup kitchen with the biggest attitude, but once my friend walked over to her and started talking with her she became more open. My friend and i sat with her for a while just talking about life and girl stuff, and she accepted the Lord. We gave her a Bible and a quick note, she left with the biggest smile and a full heart. The Lord definately opened my eyes alot on this trip and I can't wait to see where He will take me next."
Justine
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