Walk in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul

Download all information and a daily itinerary here.

Trip Date & Info: May 7-24 2024

• Trip Host/Professor: Dr. Brad Klassen, Associate Professor of Bible Exposition
• Audience: TMS students and alumni, their wives, and friends of The Master’s Seminary.
• If space allows: Friends of TMS who value the convictions and mission of the seminary and are hungry to learn.
• Download the trip details here.

Registration Deadline: November 25, 2023

Full Trip Cost: $3,990/person*

Cost Excludes: Turkish visa (approx. $50/person); international airfare [e.g., LA to Istanbul; Athens to LA]; travel insurance; lunches on most days; personal expenses such as souvenirs.

Payment plan: Deposit ($200/person) due December 1, 2023; final/full payment due February 12, 2024.

Cancellation policy: A non-refundable deposit of $200 is due by December 1, with the remainder of the cost due by February 12, 2024. If a participant must drop out after February 13, the refund policy is as follows:

• 89-60 days prior to departure:  no penalty
• 59-45 days prior to departure:  10% penalty
• 44-30 days prior to departure:  50% penalty
• 29-15 days prior to departure:  75% penalty
• 14 days and less prior to departure: no refund

• TMS Turkey Greece Study Trip 2024 – Application Form
• TMS Turkey Greece Study Trip 2024 – Scholarship Application

Registration Deadline: November 25, 2023

Payment plan: Deposit ($200/person) due December 1, 2023; final/full payment due February 12, 2024.

International travel plans: Participants will need to arrange and pay for their own Turkish visas and international airline tickets (instructions will be provided). Although most participants will depart from LAX and return to LAX together, it is possible to arrange your own travel plans before and after the trip, provided you arrive in Istanbul no later than mid-afternoon on May 8, and leave Athens no earlier than the morning of May 24.

Additional travel plans: Participants are welcome to arrive in Istanbul before the trip begins, or to stay in Athens after the trip concludes, but these arrangements and costs will be the sole responsibility of the individual. Make sure your visas reflect your individual travel plans.

Daily schedule: The days will be rigorous since it is a study trip! Breakfasts are at 7:00am. We leave the hotels around 8:15am. The days are full of travel and site visits, with lunch inserted around 12noon. We return to the hotels around 5:30pm, with dinner usually at 6:30pm. Evenings are typically free for rest or personal exploration in the difference cities where we stop. There are a couple of days with additional free time added during the afternoon and evening.

Physical expectations: Participants will walk an average of 4–5 miles/day. The walkways are generally well maintained but at times include a lot of stairs and dirt-path inclines. The average temperature in Turkey and Greece in May is between 75F and 85F, with minimal chance of rain. There is usually lots of sun.

Food: Mediterranean cuisine. Very good breakfasts and full dinners are included in the cost. Lunches and mid-day coffee/snacks are at the expense of the participants. (If you have dietary restrictions, be sure to investigate to see how a mediterranean diet affects your health.)

Receive elective credit: MDiv students who wish to take the trip for two units of academic credit can register for “BI 627—Life and Mission of Paul: Field Studies.” The tuition cost for these two units must be covered by the student according to the tuition rate of a summer school course. The special elective requires extra reading prior to the trip and a series of site reports after the trip. ThM students may also receive two units of credit for the trip, with the completion of additional assignments.

Preparatory Elective: In the spring semester of 2024, Dr. Klassen will be teaching the two-unit elective, “BI 626—Life and Mission of Paul.” Those students registering for the study trip are encouraged to enroll in this elective as it will provide a detailed overview of Paul’s travels, the cities where he ministered, and the nature of his ministry in those locations.

Scholarship opportunity: Generous donors have provided funds to cover between 30% and 60% of the total cost of the trip for residential MDiv students, depending on level of qualification (the scholarships are not available to distance-location MDiv students). Full-time ThM students also can qualify for this scholarship. That means the 2-week trip to Turkey and Greece could only cost approx. $1400 in total. Specific qualifications will be listed on the scholarship application. Download the application here. Follow instructions on the application to submit.

“As I reminisce on our Turkey and Greece study tour, my heart is full. During the trip, Dr. Klassen led our group to visit many of the lands in which Paul ministered during his missionary journeys and almost all of the places of the churches that our Lord Jesus Christ addressed in the book of Revelation. At each site, Dr. Klassen opened the Scriptures to us and instructed us on the significance of the locale’s history, geography, topography, and culture as it was relevant to our precious Word. Our group walked on the Roman roads, visited places where Paul preached and saw many significant artifacts including inscriptions concerning converts and other ministry associates of Paul, all as described in our priceless Scriptures. As an aspiring expositor of Scripture, greater understanding of the history of the biblical texts now helps me to better articulate and illustrate the authorial intent of those very texts. On the whole, I came to greater appreciation of the sovereignty and providence of God. God ordained the diaspora of the Jews and their synagogues, the conquests of Alexander the Great which resulted in Koine Greek as the lingua franca, and Rome’s establishment of Pax Romana and the system of Roman roads. These paved the way for the swift spread of the gospel through Paul’s missionary journeys and for the light of the gospel to go to the ends of the known world. Despite the deep darkness of the surrounding pagan culture being full of idol worship, God accomplishes His perfect will and will continue to do so in our present day and in the future ages to come. We were stirred up to grow, we were edified, our faith was strengthened and the fellowship within our group was a joyous delight. I’m tremendously thankful and can only commend this trip to you to the highest degree.” —Ted Lui, TMS MDiv Student

“I highly recommend the TMS Turkey and Greece study trip for every serious student of Scripture. This morning while reading about Paul’s persecution in Acts 16 I could vividly see, in my mind’s eye, the spacious and well excavated ruins of Philippi. My mind took me to those specific places in that city where Paul ministered and suffered. That’s the kind of blessing that is really only for those who have been there to see the sights with their own eyes. Because of this incredible trip I now have a valuable memory bank of many of those ancient cities where Paul preached, and also a few of the cities in Revelation 2-3. Besides prayer, and my time at TMS, I don’t think anything has been as beneficial to my study of Scripture as the TMS trips to Israel and to Turkey and Greece.” —Mike Fanning, 2000 TMS Alumni

“We greatly enjoyed The Master’s Seminary’s Turkey & Greece Study Trip this last May. It was a fast-paced tour beginning in Istanbul (Constantinople), and ending at Mars Hill in Athens. Along the way we followed many of the paths walked by the Apostle Paul as he was led by the Holy Spirit during his missionary journeys while also visiting six of the seven sites of the churches mentioned in Revelation 1–3. Dr. Brad Klassen did a masterful job applying the Biblical passages/background with each site and he was aided by in-country tour guides who provided useful information regarding the history of the archaeological sites. Last but not least, we were blessed beyond measure as we fellowshipped with students, alumni, their wives, and other friends of TMS, gathered from many places around the world, as we rode buses, ate meals, and toured the areas that our Lord used the Apostle Paul to spread His Gospel and encourage the early Church.” —Dave and Lynne Bierhorst, TMS Friends