1. My trip to Israel 4/27/11

Thanks for joining me on this trip of a lifetime.  I depart Anchorage, Friday, May 6 for Newark and on to Tel Aviv.

I have been pursuing an academic degree in Bible Studies for about three years.  The degree, Masters of Arts Program (MAP) at Alaska Pacific University, is a self-directed pursuit at the graduate level under the direction of a professor serving as program advisor and mentors serving as academic support and resources as needed.

This trip, the second trip taken as part of the academic program, is being arranged by my advisor, Dr. Regina Boisclair, Ph.D., the theology professor at APU.  The first trip was two years ago tracing St. Paul's second journey through Greece and Turkey.  The portion of this travel related to Bible studies will be a twelve day tour through northern Israel and Jerusalem led by an interesting scholar, Dr. Stephen Langfur, Ph.D., a graduate of Cornell.  He is an American born Jew, living in Israel, but with some very strong sympathies for the Palestinian people.  He served some time in an Israeli jail for refusing to serve as a member of the Israeli Defense Force in the West Bank.

I have also arranged a private tour of Palestinian Jerusalem, the West Bank, including Hebron and other Palestinian communities and visits with Palestinian refugees, Israeli settlors and others.  Hopefully this will offer an opportunity for a better and balanced understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in that region.

I will be carrying my Canon 35 mm SLR camera and several lenses to create a photo documentary of this trip. I hope to use this blog as a means of sharing some glimpses of this trip with you.  Please visit often.