Shalom Friends, 

 

God has blessed me to lead tours to Israel since 2001.  Israel feels like home to me, and it is my privilege and pleasure to invite you to join us in exploring the Holy Land where God chose to reveal Himself.  I reside in Fort Collins, Colorado and I am happily married to my childhood sweetheart. We have three sons and five wonderful grandsons. I am a follower of Jesus Christ and a Bible teacher, having taught Bible Study Fellowship for 25 years. I enjoy writing, reading, bicycling, hiking, and the joy of friendship. But the deepest joy of my heart is to teach the Bible in Israel and take people God's Land of promise.  Walking side-by-side with our pilgrims in Jesus footsteps deepens our love for Jesus and the Hebrew roots of our Christian faith.  

 

On my first trip to Israel, early that first morning, I sat beside the Sea of Galilee overlooking the very same water Jesus walked on.  I imagined the disciples in the storm fearing they would drown, and then, there was Jesus, walking toward them.  I listened to the  birds, and felt the sun on my face and realized that those things never change..  Then it happened, in my heart I heard His voice “welcome my child, follow me and let me show you the Land where I was born, grew up, touched blind eyes, opened deaf ears, raised the dead, and died for you.  So, I followed, I heard Him calling my heart deeper and closer, and I have never read my Bible the same! When I read about the Mountain of the Beatitudes, Capernaum, Chorazin, the field of the feeding of the 5,000, Jerusalem, the Garden of Gethsemane, and Bethlehem I am there with Jesus on those pages.  My Bible is more alive than ever before! He met me there, and He taught me there. And, my friend, He will meet you there too!  I fell in love with his family the Jewish people, and those friendships have grown more precious over the years.  

 

What a joy it was to travel this Land with my husband and share the joy of communion at the Garden Tomb, and sail together on the Sea of Galilee. What a delight it was to introduce my mother to this Land for her 80th birthday.  What a thrill it was to experience Israel with my sister and brother-in-law, and my long lost cousins from Virginia. How amazing it is to tell my grandsons about the places in the Bible that are still there, and where you can actually eat fish from the Sea of Galilee, and see the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem. And, this year, two of them may be coming with us!  

 

I have traveled to Israel 26 times, and there is never enough and it never gets old!  Every time I visit, I learn more, I experience more, and I sense a kindred spirit with the heart of God who said that His eyes and heart will always be in Jerusalem.  Every time I visit a little more of me stays there in the place God chose to reveal Himself to all the world.  

 

What an honor it would be to introduce this Land to you!   Our tour is unique in that we do not just view the biblical sites; we sit down, savor the scenery, open our Bibles, bask in God’s presence allowing Him to teach us in the very places Jesus taught.  

 

Interest in the 2020 tour is very high, I hope you will register to travel with us.   

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Karen Swanson

Hearts for Israel - Tour Teacher