Evangel University News - trip to Israel, Jordan and Egypt scheduled for May 2010

Garden Tomb

A group from Evangel University visits the Garden Tomb in 2008.

War memorial at Golan Heights

Students hold a devotion at a war memorial on the Road to Damascus in the Golan Heights.

Mt. Sinai

The EU group begins a hike to Mt. Sinai in 2008.

Study trip to Israel, Jordan and Egypt scheduled for May 2010

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Beginning September 1, you can reserve your seat for a study trip to Israel, Jordan and Sinai, Egypt planned for May 9–26, 2010. The trip is coordinated through Evangel University with Bible World Seminars and is open to the first 30 registrants.

Students will travel with Dr. Wave E. Nunnally, professor of early Judaism and Christian origins, and Dr. James C. Martin, president of Bible World Seminars, to Israel, Jordan (Petra), and Egypt (Mt. Sinai) to study at more than 50 biblical and historical sites.

Nunnally says that this study trip will be distinctly different from a tour, which normally focuses on sightseeing.

“Study trips cover representative sections of the entire land and focus on the development of tools for Bible reading and study. This trip will change dramatically and forever the way the participants read, interpret, preach, teach and witness from the Scriptures,” Nunnally says.

The trip includes riding a boat across the Sea of Galilee, going to the Dead Sea and Wilderness, snorkeling in the Red Sea, visiting Petra, Jordan and exploring other significant sites mentioned in the Bible. “Our preference is to get off the beaten path,” Nunnally says.

One excursion is a climb up Mt. Sinai. “They will get a real feeling that every time Moses went up it was about a three-hour climb and a two-hour descent,” Nunnally says.

This study trip will provide “clarity, depth and power to passages you have skimmed and taken for granted. It’s so much more meaningful and relevant when put in its original context,” he says. “When you go on this trip, you’re reading the Bible as an insider.”

Students can earn three hours of undergraduate or graduate credit, but the trip is not strictly limited to students. Parents, friends, pastors, Sunday School teachers, professors and others are welcome to participate as long as space is available. “There is no one other experience or class that will change your life and the way you approach the Bible as much as this,” Nunnally says.

The down payment of $1,500 and registration forms are due by September 30, 2009. The total cost of the trip is $3,400, which is due by February 7, 2010.