Bob and I pulled on our packs and stepped to the asphalt below. We were too giddy to realize the scope of the trade. By means of that step we exchanged a futuristic mode of transport for the most primal form of all: our own feet.
First touch
Malta to Rome, 2022
We’re excited about this one!
To discover more details for this trip as well as the registration form, click the link to the brochure here.
To see other Bible Land Explorer trips planned for the near future, click the link here.
Christian HolyLand Foundation
The Christian HolyLand Foundation (CHLF) works to foster faith in northern Israel. This recently released video captures the dream of several of these individuals who are laboring in the present for the future.
Bible Land Explorer is partnering with the leadership of CHLF to visit these folks, February 1-12, 2022. Our goals are to become acquainted with the team members, to learn firsthand of their successes and challenges, to pray with them, worship with them, and explore the place where faith begins. If you are interested in touring Galilee in a fresh way, contact me at markziese.com and we can help make it happen.
To learn more about the CHLF, visit their website here.
It's like I haven't seen you in forever.
It has been a long time. Too long. We’ve been cooped up at home, dreaming of family, friends, and travel. Vicki is ready to break out. Might you be ready as well?
This early summer 2022 adventure may not be your first post-Covid trip, but it has the potential to be your most memorable. We’re steaming (so to speak!) aboard the Celebrity Infinity to Italy, Greece, and Turkey on this Mediterranean Cruise. I’ll be our “lecturer at sea.” We’ll have local guides meet us at each port. Together, we’ll explore the New Testament arena.
For more details see the brochure below. Click the black box directly below to download the skinny. Of course you can always holler at me directly (markziese@gmail.com) if you have questions.
Discover the place where faith begins!
Kilimanjaro climbers
Jason Wilcoxon, Tommy Baker, and MZ at altitude at Karanga Camp.
Prepare your winter clothes
Galumphing to the Rim: A Stop at Lodoare Gate
A Marimba Welcome at Safari Junction: Staying at the Farm of Dream
The Farm of Dream is a lodge nestled in purple hills above the Great Rift Valley. The nearby town, Karatu, is conveniently positioned between Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater. Knobby-tyred rigs like TIK regularly rattle down its mudded street like a military convoy. Karatu’s nickname, unsurprisingly, is “Safari Junction.”
See ya later, Dad
A Christmas card
Lake Manyara: A Good Park for Beginners
The sign at the entrance read “Home of Tree Climbing Lions.”
I thought it best to keep one eye skyward at all times. Having 400 pounds of tooth and claw fall on your head would be terrible surprise. It also would make an end to a lovely safari that Vicki and I and Mr Nixon had planned in the East African country of Tanzania.
Hemingway’s "Something Wonderful": Leaving Arusha for the Wild
“Something, or something awful or something wonderful was certain to happen on every day in this part of Africa. Every morning when you woke it was as exciting as though you were going to compete in a downhill ski race or drive a bobsled on a fast run. Something, you knew, would happen, and probably before eleven o’clock.”
Coordination and Grace: The Logistics of a Large-Scale Holy Land Tour
The challenge of moving 48 people through the land of the Bible is felt most acutely in Jerusalem’s Old City. Here, the rhythm of life lived within these walls collides with the press of new arrivals. Together, residents and pilgrims rush, gawk, worship, shop and gossip. The result can be chaotic, or at least have that appearance for first-timers. There is no tutorial for this school; one must simply dive in.
The Sea of Galilee from the summit of Mt Arbel
Group shot: Real Life Christian Church in Israel-Palestine.
Mud, Miracles, and Mr. Nixon: Our Safari Begins
The Bible Verse You Won’t Find in a Promise Book: The Fate of King Yehoram
And there I was when I woke up (part 1)
Taken for a Ride: A High-Stakes Arrival at Ilboru Safari Lodge
Into the African Night: A Leap of Faith at Kilimanjaro Airport
I hoped it was Arusha when we slipped in. It was hard to know in the dark. The tinting film stuck to the “taxi” windows, bubbled and peeling, made it even more disorienting. There were few working streetlights; those that did work revealed a shantytown in eerie hue. The driver, grimfaced under a stocking cap, looked straight ahead and never spoke a word. Vicki was unnerved.