Join the Voices of Faith Chorus in The Holy Land
June 10 - 22, 2024Your choir is invited to lend your voices to the Voices of Faith Chorus as we perform in The Holy Land in 2024! We will have the unique opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and sing in the literal birthplace of Christianity with choirs from across the United States.
Our Pilgrimage
Our life-changing performance tour of the Holy Land will deliver many rare and treasured gifts including the opportunity to learn about the earliest Christians, to sing in and visit ancient churches, temples and cathedrals, and to gather with a great sense of spiritual communion, wonderfully typical of a Christian Group Tour.
Dr. Pearl Shangkuan,
Artistic Director
Dr. Pearl Shangkuan is a highly sought-after conductor, lecturer, and clinician who has led performances and workshops across six continents. Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she is also chorus director of the Grand Rapids Symphony, a Grammy-nominated professional orchestra.
Dan Forrest,
Composer-in-Residence
Dan Forrest (b. 1978) has been described as having “an undoubted gift for writing beautiful music….that is truly magical” (NY Concert Review), with works hailed as “magnificent, very cleverly constructed sound sculpture” (Classical Voice), and “superb writing…full of spine-tingling moments” (Salt Lake Tribune).
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Itinerary
DAY ONE:
Monday, June 10, 2024
Depart USA
- Depart via scheduled air service to Tel Aviv, Israel
DAY TWO:
Tuesday, June 11
Tel Aviv / Jaffa
- Arrive in Tel Aviv
- Meet your MCI Tour Manager, who will assist the group to awaiting chartered motorcoach
- Time permitting, enjoy a scenic drive to Jaffa, the oldest port in the world. Walk through the Old City of Jaffa through the artist quarter. There is a beautiful view of modern Tel Aviv from Jaffa
- Check-in to the hotel
- Evening Welcome Dinner included, and overnight
DAY THREE:
Wednesday, June 12
Tel Aviv / Haifa / Tiberias
- Breakfast included at the hotel, followed by check out
- Morning visit to Caesarea Maritima. See the sunken harbor, the hippodrome, the theatre and the Roman aqueduct
- Next, drive to Muhraka on Mt. Carmel, with a panoramic view of the Plain of Jezreel
- Continue to Megiddo the background to Armageddon
- Lunch, on own
- Proceed to Tiberias at the Arbel cliff, which affords a view over the Sea of Galilee
- Evening dinner included
- Rehearsal
DAY FOUR:
Thursday, June 13
Capernaum / Tabgha / Sea of Galilee
- Breakfast included at the hotel
- Enjoy a morning drive along the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum for a visit to the synagogue. Continue to Tabgha (short for Heptapagon, “seven springs”) to view the mosaics in the Church of the Loaves and Fishes. Next, ascend the Mt. of Beatitudes
- Lunch, on own
- Afternoon walk on an ancient trade route. Pass Hazor and then go on to Dan for a nature walk. Also visit the high place where Jeroboam son of Nebat set up a golden calf
Continue to Caesarea Philippi - Next, enjoy a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee
- Evening dinner and overnight in Tiberias
DAY FIVE:
Friday, June 14
Mt. Tabor / Nazareth / Tiberias
- Breakfast is included at the hotel
- Morning transfer via taxis up to the top of Mt. Tabor. The elevation provides an utterly commanding view of all of lower Galilee, and the valley of the Armageddon
- Lunch, on own
- Transfer to Nazareth via Cana of Galilee. Enjoy the views of the Valley of Jezreel, Mt. Tabor, and the Carmel Hills in the distance. Visit the Nazareth spring, and the Church of Annunciation
- Performance in Nazareth*
- Evening dinner included, and overnight
DAY SIX:
Sunday, June 15
Jezreel Valley / Jericho / Jerusalem / Jezreel Valley / Jericho / Jerusalem
- Breakfast included at the hotel, followed by check-out
- Depart the hotel for Beth Shean and walk amongst the ancient Roman and Byzantine ruins
- Lunch, on own
- Drive through the Jezreel Valley west to Ein Harod, which describes Gideon’s actions in thinning out his army (This is where he brought the men to the spring and sorted them on the basis of how they drank from the water). Transfer East into Harod’s Valley with a fantastic view filled with biblical history
- Transfer to the Jordan Valley and then south to Jericho. At Jericho, visit the Tel of this oldest city and view the traditional mountain of Jesus’ temptation. Next, visit Mt. Scopus for a majestic view of Jerusalem
- Evening dinner included, and overnight in Jerusalem
DAY SEVEN:
Sunday, June 16
Bethlehem / Jerusalem
- Breakfast is included at the hotel
- Drive to the region of Bethlehem, and pass by Rachel’s Tomb on the outskirts of the city. Stop for a hilltop view of Bethlehem, and visit the Shepherds’ Fields
- Lunch, on own
- Walk through the restored old town to the Church of the Nativity, and visiting the manger. Also see the Cave of St. Jerome
- Performance in Bethlehem*
- Return to Jerusalem for dinner included, and overnight
DAY EIGHT:
Monday, June 17
Jerusalem
- Breakfast included at the hotel
- Start on the Mt. of Olives and descend the traditional Palm Sunday Road, visiting the churches of Pater Noster and Dominus Flevit along the way. Also visit the Church of All Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane. Next, walk down along the new path into the Kidron Valley, which is also known as the Vale of the King.
- Lunch, on own
- Tour of the City of David. View a brief introductory 3D movie that gives a visual timeline of the geography of the City of David from the original settlement to present day. Descend in the ground to Hezekiah’s tunnel built somewhere near 700 B.C. to bring fresh water from outside the fortified city of David to the inside to provide drinking water during any siege. Participants of the tour can take part in a 40-minute walk in knee high water from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam
- Evening dinner included, and overnight
DAY NINE:
Tuesday, June 18
Rift Valley / Jerusalem
- Breakfast included at the hotel
- Excursion to Bethany for a visit to the home of Martha and Lazarus. From there, drive through the Judean desert to Qumran. View Cave #4, which contained the greatest quantity of Dead Sea scrolls
- Continue south to Masada, and take a cable car to the top. Visit Herod’s mountain bunker and the last stronghold of the Jewish revolt against Rome
- Lunch, on own
- Afternoon excursion to the Dead Sea. Enjoy the opportunity to float in the Dead Sea (at minus 1390 feet, as low as you’re ever likely to get), we enter the nature reserve of Ein Gedi, rich in flora and fauna, and walk to a lovely waterfall
- Return to Jerusalem for evening dinner included, and overnight
DAY TEN:
Wednesday, June 19
Jerusalem
- Breakfast is included at the hotel
- Transfer to Dung Gate where just inside, we take the time to examine the ruins near the south side of the Temple complex. Visit the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site. View the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site of Islam, located on the traditional site of the ancient Temple Mount. Just to the north we find the Pools of Bethesda (John 5) and St. Anne’s Church, which has remarkable acoustics and which has been perfectly preserved from the Crusader period. Walk the Way of the Cross (Via Dolorosa) to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
- Lunch, on own
- Afternoon walk through the Arab Souks, past the Armenian Quarter and exit the Old City through the Mt Zion Gate to visit the Upper Room and King David’s Tomb on the grounds of Mt. Zion. From there we take the bus to the Garden Tomb where we end our tour with a special visit and the possibility of having a private communion on its grounds
- Performance in Jerusalem*
- Return to the hotel for evening dinner included, and overnight
DAY ELEVEN:
Thursday, June 20
Jerusalem
- Breakfast included at the hotel
- Full day at leisure in Jerusalem for self-arranged activities, sightseeing, shopping and reflection
- Return to the hotel for evening dinner included, and overnight
DAY TWELVE:
Friday, June 21
Jerusalem
- Breakfast is included at the hotel, followed by hotel check-out
- View a scale model of the City of Jerusalem of Jesus’ Day and the Shrine of the Book, where the Dead Sea Scrolls are displayed
- Visit the Yad Vashem Museum and Memorial to the Holocaust
- Visit Emmaus, the site of the post-resurrection revelation of Jesus to his disciples
- Transfer to Tel Aviv for a Farewell Dinner at a local restaurant
- Leisure time & late transfer to the Airport for return flight to USA
DAY THRITEEN:
Saturday, June 22
- Return home
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If you and your choir are interested in joining the Voices of Faith Chorus for their tour to the Holy Land, enter your contact information to receive more details.
Unfortunately due to demand, the Voices of Faith Chorus is not open to individual singers at this time.