We want to personally invite you to consider joining our LearnTheLand trip to Israel coming up on October 21st – 30th, 2027. It won’t be like a typical tour: it’s designed by Dr. Mark Schaaf (one of our missionaries with many years of experience living in and leading Biblical study groups in the Middle East). Mark will help us experience God’s Story in a fresh and powerful way, in its original setting.
If you’re interested, you can take a look at the itinerary and register HERE
Coming up on June 28, Dr. Mark will host an informational session after church at 12:30pm at MBC with more details, you’re welcome to attend even if you don’t register.
Meet Our Instructor: Mark Schaaf
We’re excited to welcome one of our own, Mark Schaaf, as the instructor for Walk Thru the Bible’s otLIVE experience. Many of you know Mark and his wife Kathy—we’ve been supporting the Schaafs since the mid-1990s, when they first headed overseas with WorldVenture.
Mark and Kathy spent 13 years in Jordan, where Mark helped introduce and lead Walk Thru the Bible’s Arabic-language ministry across the Middle East and North Africa. After handing that work off to national leaders, they moved to South Africa, where Mark served as Walk Thru the Bible’s Southern Africa Regional Trainer and also helped plant a church in an informal settlement outside Johannesburg.
Mark holds a PhD in Biblical Archaeology from the University of South Africa, but what really excites him is helping people step into God’s grand story—whether that means turning a church sanctuary into a walk-through map of the Holy Land or leading study tours in the Bible lands themselves. He continues to travel extensively in Israel and Jordan, and five of the Schaafs’ six grandchildren now live in Israel.
Currently based in Atlanta, Georgia, we’re grateful to continue partnering with the Schaafs in their global mission of equipping, training, and coaching national leaders. We’re thrilled to have Mark with us for this otLIVE event!
Questions?
Dave Hentschel
Lead Pastor: Preaching, Spiritual Formation, and Care


