Update | Fall 2018

2018 has been an amazing year so far! This past summer we attempted our first set of back-to-back trips to Israel. The first was for an actual insula, a patriarch and his extended family, along with another family represented as well. It was our first attempt at taking younger students with us and the results blew us away. The kids were observant and absorbent. We all learned with them and from them. Right after that trip wrapped up we immediately received another group that was equally amazing. Our favorite part about these trips is that as we continue to hold them loosely, God continues to faithfully show up and orchestrate life change in a way that only He can. 

So as we look to 2019 and beyond, we anticipate that God will continue to do His work and move. In 2019, we have three trips scheduled to Israel and we expect great things. We would love specific prayers for our trip in June as it will be a first for us - leading a trip for couples only with a marriage focus. We believe marriages are an important building block of the kingdom so we are praying for foundational changes in individuals, marriages, families and communities. On this trip, all of the sites and texts we typically visit will be slanted towards growing marriages and developing visions for families. In the spring of 2020, we will head back to Greece, Turkey and Rome. We are really looking forward to getting back into the land of the early church. Also, in the coming months, we are developing and prototyping a post-Israel six to eight week course that trip participants can use to build community along with continuing to process their time in the land and applying the lessons learned to their actual lives.

Lastly, we have just completed the process of creating a 501(c)3, Ancient Paths Study Tours. Please feel free to take some moments to peruse our new website, http://www.ancientpaths-studytours.com. Hopefully, it will be easy to navigate and you may even see some familiar pictures. Click here for information about our upcoming trips. In addition, you can click here for an opportunity to give to our scholarship fund. This fund is geared toward individuals in ministry that are disciple-makers but could never afford a trip on their own. We are confident that a gift to this fund will see exponential kingdom dividends as pastors, teachers, coaches and other individuals in places of influence become stronger disciples and will then build stronger disciples. Please take a few minutes to read some of stories woven by this fund.

To God be the glory,
Rod + Libby VanSolkema

PS...there are approximately 10 spots open for the March 2019 trip and we have space for 5 couples on the marriage trip in June 2019.  We anticipate these spots filling quickly but if you think of someone who could benefit from this or who would be interested, feel free to direct them to our website where they will find coordinating registration links.