Holy Lands Study Tour offered for credit in 2010
By Dana Edson
The Alliance for Assemblies of God Higher Education is offering a 26-day study tour to Israel and Jordan, May 10 - June 4, 2010, for students and faculty who are currently attending one of the Assemblies of God’s 19 endorsed schools.
Participants will earn three hours of (undergraduate or graduate) credit for the course “Geographical and Historical Settings of the Bible” that will be taught in partnership with Jerusalem University College. In addition, those chosen for this program will receive scholarships that cover 50 percent of the costs of the program.
This unique opportunity to study in the land of the Bible is something General Superintendent George O. Wood has wanted to share with students and faculty for a long time. “The Holy Lands Study program has been a dream of mine for years!” Wood says. “What better way to enhance biblical preaching and teaching in our Fellowship than to give our ministerial students a chance to intensively study the Bible in its own setting.”
Director of the Holy Lands Study Tour Deborah M. Gill, who is also a professor of New Testament Exposition at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, agrees with Wood: “Studying in the Holy Lands has been transformational for me. Now when I read the Bible, I see it before my eyes!”
A quick overview of the program shows that it is not for the weak hearted. Students will walk at least 150 miles over cliffs and through canyons, wilderness and waters. They’ll stay inside the Old City, spend a day digging like an archeologist, and spend another day living like Abraham — riding a camel, eating what he ate and sleeping in a Bedouin tent. Students will also have the opportunity to be baptized in the Jordan River and practice their Greek by translating ancient inscriptions.
Students who have already been on the Holy Lands Study Tour have gained rich experiences they will be able to draw from for the rest of their lives.
According to Kyongsu John Min, it was a trip of a lifetime. “It was awesome to be able to trace the routes of the Bible. I walked the Old Testament with my forefathers in the faith. I walked the New Testament and could feel the touch of Jesus. Come with your brain and boots prepared — this study tour is different from the rest!”
Samantha Brewer echoed Min’s feelings. “What the Israel and Jordan study tour did for my life both educationally and spiritually cannot be matched.”
Wood says, “The Holy Lands Study Tour will so enrich your life that you’ll never look at the Bible in the same way.”
For more information on the cost, application and deadlines, go to www.holylandstudytour.ag.org.