On Saturday the fourth cohort of Mile Two Discipleship School students—11 in all—will set out on the program’s annual tour of Israel and Palestine.
This journey will include several new sites for Mile Two, including En Gedi (the oasis in the desert where David hid from Saul) and Tel Dan (an Old Testament settlement with the world’s oldest preserved arched gateway). Other stops will include Caesarea Philippi, the Sea of Galilee, Nazareth, Capernaum, Bethlehem and Jerusalem’s Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Garden Tomb and Holocaust Museum.
Jeff Banman, Mile Two Discipleship’s School’s Director, says he never tires of watching students encounter the Holy Land for the first time.
“There’s the pilgrimage aspect where students have quiet time to reflect, whether it’s reading the Sermon on the Mount on the hillside where Jesus preached or floating quietly on a boat on the Sea of Galilee,” he says. “God meets our students in these times, and lasting memories are created in those moments of sacred space.”
Banman also explains that experiencing the Holy Land helps Mile Two students see the Bible “in colour.”
“When students learn with all their senses, the Scriptures come alive in new ways and their understanding is deepened in ways that can’t happen in a classroom at home,” he says.
Over the course of their journey, which begins February 24 and concludes March 6, the Mile Two travellers will be accompanied by local guides who can answer any questions about the sites visited. The students will also have opportunities to engage with local people and hear first-hand perspectives of what it’s like to live in the region.
Angelle Arinobu, Assistant Director of Mile Two Discipleship School and Assistant Professor of Counselling Psychology at Providence, will provide regular blog posts over the 10 days. Cameron McKenzie, Vice President for Providence University College, is also accompanying the Mile Two faculty and students.
Prospective students interested in Mile Two Discipleship and its annual tour of Israel and Palestine can visit the new Providence website and apply to the program.
