Palestine (MNN) – Bethlehem Bible College is celebrating 40 years of ministry this November with a gala and special tours of the Holy Land. Ta’ Shuf Tours, a partner of Bethlehem Bible College, is planning two tours of the Holy Land to celebrate the anniversary.
Marianne Smith from Ta’ Shuf tours says, “We have a four-day tour and a seven-day tour that immediately follow the celebration gala of the 40th-anniversary celebration. Those trips will be visiting Jericho, Masada, the Dead Sea, Jerusalem [and] Galilee.”
“We welcome people from all around the world to join,” she adds.
(Photo courtesy of Bethlehem Bible College and Ta’ Shuf Tours)
Ta’ Shuf Supports Bethlehem Bible College
Ta’ Shuf Tours supports Bethlehem Bible College in several ways, including using students from the school as tour guides.
“We try as much as possible to use our own tour guide students and graduates with the tours that we operate. Just staying at the Bethlehem Bible College guesthouse provides revenue to the college,” she says.
This November, Ta’ Shuf is hosting unique tours designed to celebrate 40 years of ministry with an inside look at the Holy Land.
Types of Tours
Ta’ Shuf Tours offers two types of tours throughout the year. The Pilgrimage tour is designed to take visitors around important Holy Land locations and let them understand their faith in a new way. The second tour, Journeys of Understanding, is designed to introduce visitors to both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The best part of the Journeys of Understanding tour is the chance to ask questions and understand this conflict in a new way, Smith explains.
“When you have a trip where you’re sitting face to face with a Palestinian and an Israeli who have both lost loved ones to the conflict, and they’re telling you their stories, and calling each other brother. You can ask questions… It’s all about seeing with your own eyes what’s happening there,” Smith says.
Both trips spend time in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the surrounding regions. Smith says, “The pilgrimage tours are designed as a kind of meditative, reflective trip that where the participants visit the sites that are important to our faith.”
“The journeys of understanding [tours] have a focus on reconciliation,” Smith adds.
(Photo courtesy of Bethlehem Bible College and Ta’ Shuf Tours)
Visiting the Holy Land
Smith says, “A lot of people want to go on a Holy Land tour. They want to go on a pilgrimage, and they’re just unaware of the fact that they can accomplish their goal… and at the same time, be supporting this strategic ministry of Bethlehem Bible College.”
Tours continue throughout the year, and anyone is welcome to participate. Guests come from all over the world, including Europe and Singapore.
“It’s kind of a congregate group, which really adds to the flavor of any trip that you’re on because you’ll have different perspectives,” Smith adds.
If you would like to go on a Ta’ Shuf tour of the Holy Land, click here. To learn more about Bethlehem Bible College, click here.
You can also pray for both Bethlehem Bible College and Ta’ Shuf tours as they work in Palestine. Donate by clicking here.
Header photo courtesy of Bethlehem Bible College.
