Local church leads exposure trip to Israel

Israel is identified as the “Holy Land” by Jews, Christian and Muslims. According to Tourism Ministry, a record 2.1 million people visited Israel in the first half of 2018. Israel is not only a religious destination but also a vacation and business spot. The Dead Sea and the beaches of Tel Aviv attract many vacationers.

Religious destinations are the main attractions for study tours and other church focused trips. The Well Community Church has made over nine trips to Israel. Teaching pastors take a group of people on a 12-day experience around the country, discovering ancient cities and the foundations that the Christian church was built on.

Pastor Mike Slayden has worked at the Well since 2004. He has made this trip six times and loves it. He loves how the trip changes the way you read your Bible and why it is important to understand the history of the Christian faith in a geographical context. He graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary in 2001 and preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ every week.

“Understanding the Bible as it was written in its original context is paramount to a proper understanding of the text,” Slayden said. “Often times, the geography and location of a story has a profound impact on the meaning of the text. I also love that this trip will change how you read & teach your Bible. You’ll never see your Bible the same way & that’s really cool.”

Below is a podcast featuring Carston Saelzler interviewing Home Ec teacher Kimberly Bell about her trip to Israel.

Home Ec teacher Kimberly Bell at FCS has also been on this trip with The Well. She traveled with her husband Cory in 2013 for their 20th anniversary. She heard about the trip when she attended a service on Easter Sunday. She shares why she enjoyed the trip so much and what she took away from it.

“I think what I most enjoyed about it, aside from just obviously seeing the land and the Bible come to life, was actually getting to see some of the places that I’d studied about in in the Bible,” Bell said. “And specifically, I’d spent a lot of time in Kings and prophets and studying David and got to see where he hid and got to see Dan and Beersheba. I got to see both of those things. And everything in between. It was very memorable.”

FCS aluma Trisha Messer is preparing for her Israel experience. She leaves with a group from the Well, Nov. 25 out of Los Angeles, California on a thirteen hour flight to Istanbul, Turkey, then from Istanbul to Tel Aviv, Israel. She shares what she is looking forward to and why she is going.

“I am excited to see the Bible come to life,” Messer said. “I am looking forward to seeing where Jesus walked and where He taught. My husband has always wanted to go. And of course I will go with Him. This trip was the one for us due to the hiking. We are very active and want to experience it on foot.”

Check back to read about the group’s experience and what they took away from the trip in upcoming articles.

For more articles, read BREAKING: First soccer game, Nov. 20 and EDITORIAL: Benefits of high school sports.

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