Planning a Trip

There are several organizations in the United States that plan and lead trips that you can join.  

Eastern Mennonite University
   Email: weaverDJ@emu.edu

Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding
     Website: www.emeu.org

Fellowship of Reconcilliation Interfaith Peace-Builders
   Tel: 202-244-0821
   Email: middleeast@forusa.org
   Website: www.forusa.org

Friends of Sabeel/North America (FOSNA)
   Tel: 971-544-1313; Fax: 503-654-9093
   Email: kelleysfcc1@aol.com

Global Exchange Reality Tours
   Tel: 1-800-497-1994
   Email: infor@globalexchange.org
   Website: www.globalexchange.org

Holyland Christian Ecumenical Foundation   Tel: 301-983-3022
   Email: younes@hcef.org
   Website: www.hcef.org

The Holy Land Trust   
Email: info@holylandtrust.org

Society for Biblical Studies
   Tel: 781-641-4453
   Email: pmiano@sbsedu.org
   Email: infor@globalexchange.org
   Website: www.globalexchange.org

  Planning your own unique trip 

You might check with your denominational leaders or the groups above to get some help.  Personal or group trips are still possible although you need to clearly plan with some person or organization who knows where to go and who to see.  Churches and church groups are asking people to come and see them and report back what they see and experience.

If you have your own group or want to recruit one from your church, community or organization, you can completely plan your own trip or you can work with a travel agent to plan a trip.   Some people like to work with a travel agent in the Middle East and many of them are used to helping you plan an alternative type of trip.   Another possibility is to work with "Groups to Help Plan" listed under Resources in Israel/Palestine.  Have them suggest a travel agent to plan transportation and sight seeing.  Be clear about which one of them plans what part of the trip.  You don't want an overlapping schedule.

Another alternative is to work with your travel agent using a standard tour for the basics and modify it.  You can change  it by adding opportunities here and there or you can plan a special whole day or half day.  Here are some examples of whole day alternatives. 

     Example A
        1. Introductory briefing on previous evening
        2. Meet with a local church representative to discuss
            the concerns of  local Christians
        3. Visit a heritage or cultural center or museum of folklore
        4. Lunch and discussion regarding issues raised above
        5. Meet with a person from a human rights agency

    Example B       
        1. Introductory briefing on the bus to a site
        2. Visit a family in a refugee camp or a 
            person working at the site.  See parts of the camp.
        3. Lunch and discussion.  A time for questions and answers.
        4. Take a tour of an Israeli settlement with a settler
        5. Meet with someone from a human rights group

A group that helps people plan trips can help you set up the examples above or specialized programs around such topics as education, environment, health issues, women's issues, development projects, religious issues, etc.  

With the help of these planning tools you can do the planning yourself and just use the travel agent for airplanes and ground transportation and, perhaps, hotels.  Your North American or U.K. travel agent will probably be working with a local travel agent in the Middle East.  Ask who they work with.

At this site you will find a series of pages for various planning tasks.  There will be some overlap of information because some of the pages are designed to be printed, copied and given to members of the group traveling together.  Don't forget to plan in orientation and study before the trip, worship and discussion during the trip and evaluation afterward.