Following in the Footsteps of Jesus

Students and parents of Haven of Peace Academy are invited to join Mr. Adam Babcock in an educational and spiritually formative Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. late May 2025. Dates TBA.

This page is under construction to rebook late april or late may 2025. Check back for specifics and more links soon.

1 April 2024
Board your flight (time TBD) and fly, fly, fly to Tel Aviv, Israel. Upon the evening arrival, you'll go through customs and immigration and claim your luggage (limit 1 carry on and 1 checked bag up to 50 lbs/23 kg). Meet your host (Kim) and guide and driver in the main area of the lobby entrance. We will walk to the bus together, load up, and be on our way! We will drive about a half hour into the new city of Tel Aviv (cozied up to the ancient port city of Joppa). We will check into the Ruth Daniel Hotel, a few blocks from the Mediterranean Sea. We will have a nice dinner in the hotel and retire for a good night's sleep to be ready to explore in the morning. 

2 April 2024
Repack your bag and head down to a delicious breakfast in the hotel. Today we start with a short drive north along the coast to Caesarea Port, built by King Herod the Great--who was not so great!--but built an amazing ancient piece of engineering! After exploring, we will move on to Nazareth Village where we will experience (with dressed up actors & everything!) what village life was like in Jesus' day. This site also includes an authentic foods biblical meal for our lunch that is included in the price! From here we will drive up Mount Carmel and remember the story of Elijah defeating the prophets of Ba'al and climb the stairs at the monastery observatory for a spectacular view of the Valley of Armageddon! (did you know they were in the same place?). We will continue by bus to the Sea of Galilee and the town of Tiberias. We will check into our hotel, Dona Gracia, for the night and enjoy dinner together on site. 

3 April 2024 Wednesday. Galilee Day
A super day full of highlights! begins with breakfast at our hotel and no suitcase hauling! :) We will spend our day at multiple sites around the lake. The order will depend on the timing of the boat ride on the Sea of Galilee! Throughout the day we will visit Capernaum, Mount of Beatitudes, the Site of St Peter's Primacy (the shore where Jesus restored Peter), and when we are visiting the recently (2009) uncovered first century town of Magdela (Home of Mary Magdeline) we will also have a minute to stop in the new little shopping center there to buy lunch (at your own expense today). You can buy a falafal or a pizza, or a little snack at the grocery store if you prefer. The afternoon will offer more water excursions. A chance to be baptized or re-baptized in the Jordan River. Then we will go next door to Rob Roy and get a chance to paddle an inflatable raft a few kilometers down the Jordan River and back. Then we will return to have dinner at our hotel and share our fun stories of the day!
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4 April 2024 Thursday en route to Jerusalem
Today we will pack our bags on the bus early, enjoy a delicious breakfast, and bid farewell to the Sea of Galilee for this time. Heading south we will stop first at Bet She'an, a Roman baths city with a functional amphitheater. Then for a mid-morning break we will head over to Gan Ha Slosha, a comfortable year-round, spring-fed garden that looks like I image Eden might have. And we have the option for a short swim! There we will have an early picnic lunch (included in price). Getting back on the road, our first view of Jerusalem will be from the Mount of Olives. Where we will hear of its significance to God's story (& you guys can take family photos of each other) then we will get to participate in sifting through rubble collected from an archeological dig on the Temple Mount! (Don't worry they will teach us what to be looking for!). From here we walk down the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane for a time of contemplation around the ancient olive trees and in the beautiful Church of All Nations. Our driver will pick us up here and take us to our hotel in Bethlehem (5 km from Jerusalem) It's called Angel Hotel in Biet Jolla neighborhood of Bethlehem. 

5 April 2024 Friday The Desert Wilderness Day
(This day and tomorrow's itinerary may get swapped). We will get an early start this morning as we leave Bethlehem (but we will be back!) for the Negev desert. We will experience Masada, another palace of Herod the Great--who was not so great!--and we will hike up the Ein Gedi oasis where David hid out from King Saul (complete with waterfalls in the desert!). We will visit Qumron the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947. And take a float in the remarkable Dead Sea of salt! Mud up let it dry and rinse off to experience the amazing healing qualities of the mineral rich elements. For our lunch today (included) we will go into the wilderness to experience wonderful Bedouin hospitality and cuisine, AND an hour's camel ride, just like Abraham did. Then we will have a ride back to our hotel for the night in Bethlehem. 

6 April 2024 Shabbat in the Old City of Jerusalem day 1
As Shabbat asks for, we will enjoy a slower morning, taking a little more time to linger over coffee and processing our thoughts and prayer this morning. Then we venture out to the Garden Tomb where we will walk into the empty grave and receive communion together and worship the Lord in song. From there we will be bussed to St Anne's Church and the ancient site of the Pool of Bethesda (no water for swimming or healing these days though), and we will sing again in the amazing acoustics of the church there. We will walk through the Arab Quarter to find some lunch (at your own cost) among the vendors. We will be picked up again just outside the Old City and driven around to Caiaphas' House to visit the dungeon where Jesus was held before His trial. Then we will meet some Armenian friends with 3 children who were born in Jerusalem (English, Hebrew and Arabic speaking) who would like to show us around the Armenian Quarter. Then we will be bussed back to our Bethlehem hotel.
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7 April 2024 Sunday Old City Jerusalem Day 2 Final day
We will pack up our back to take on the bus for our final day. This morning's adventures start on TOP of the Old City walls (ramparts) where we will climb our way from Jaffa Gate to Dung Gate (about 1/3 of the way around the whole Old City) with spectacular views! We will have a time of prayer at the Western Wall, a trip under the city in the Rabbinical tunnels, (a quick snack-lunch on your own). We will venture back underground in the City of David, an active archeological dig, and get to slosh though, in pitch-black with only a flashlight/torch, the hewn rock in the icy refreshing waters of the Gihon Spring in Hezekiah's Tunnel. This is another remarkable feat of engineering! Then we will head to a restaurant dinner on our way to the airport. Our hearts and bellies will be very full for an overnight flight home. We will receive a security briefing on the way to the airport so you know what to expect. 

8 April 2024 Arrival Home
Time and details forthcoming for your arrival home.