Sunday, September 18 Enjoy a complimentary buffet breakfast at the hotel. You will then depart on our private motorcoach and drive through the Lincoln Tunnel to Manhattan for a sightseeing Tour of New York City. Your Tour Escort will point out such sights as the Empire State Building, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, 5th Avenue, the Garment District, Chinatown, Wall Street, Ground Zero, and much more. You will see how people who live in different cultures make this city one of the most unique in the world. In the afternoon, there will be a Bible Tour given by Brothers from Oasis Tours in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Before the Tour begins, you can have an optional light lunch followed by a Tour highlighting many Biblical points. At 5:00 p.m., you will return to the hotel. Down the street from your hotel is New Jersey’s largest indoor outlet mall with department stores, restaurants and a food court.

Monday, September 19 After breakfast, travel to Wallkill to visit the United States Branch Office of Jehovah’s Witnesses to see the Printing Factory and Bethel Home. On your guided Tour, you will see the bindery line which is able to produce literature of over 50,000 printed pages per minute. In the shipping department, you will see how literature requests for over 13,000 congregations in the United States and Canada are processed each month on conveyors that are 1.5 miles long. See how literature is printed differently for those who are in prisons and for those who can only read Braille.

After the Tour, you will have time to enjoy your included box lunch before the one-hour drive to the Watchtower Educational Center in Patterson where over 1,100 Brothers and Sisters live and work. This is also where the Bible School of Gilead and other schools are held. Since its beginning, Gilead School has sent more than 9,500 missionaries to over 200 lands and islands. Each year thousands of Friends from around the world travel to New York, Patterson, and Wallkill to visit the Factory and printing facilities (See WT 12/1/05, p. 8 and 7/7/09, p.15).

The Patterson auditorium seats 1,700 for the Gilead graduation, the Bethel Family Watchtower Study and other special programs. Branch committee members from around the world also gather here for an eight-week course designed to unify the work of the Branch Offices.

You will see displays from the art department where artists create paintings for many publications and is where you can have your picture taken with Caleb and Sophia. The audio-video services department, including jw.org, produces video programs for conventions and dramas including the translations of literature into American Sign Language. There are also legal and writing correspondence departments. The service department answers letters from congregations and individuals. The translation services department works with over 2,000 translators around the world to help produce Bible literature in over 900 languages. See the large dining room, kitchen, and laundry facilities. Throughout the Tour, you will be amazed at this beautiful project including the courtyard and how it was completed mostly by volunteer workers. (See WT 11/15/99, p. 9) Following the Tour, you will return to the hotel. Balance of the evening will be free to do as you please.

Tuesday, September 20 Today, you will travel to Warwick to visit the new World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Governing Body is located here, handling materials related to all the preaching activity worldwide. Under the direction of the writing committee, material is prepared here and forwarded to the Branches around the world to be translated into different languages. (Go back to Bethel Tour #1 for a video on Warwick.)

There will be three self-guided Tours. One is “The Bible and the Divine Name” where you will see Bibles from the 15th century and learn the history of God’s name. Another is  called “A People for Jehovah’s Name” including many artifacts and a visual history of our organization. The third is called “World Headquarters—Faith in Action” which is an interactive museum that explains the work of the Governing Body committees. (Go to www.jw.org and click on “Jehovah’s Witnesses Home Page and scroll down to” “About Us—Offices and Tours” and then continue to “Download a Brochure” for three beautiful eight-page brochures on Warwick, Wallkill, and Patterson.) At noon, you can enjoy your included box lunch and then travel into Manhattan where the balance of the day and evening will be at leisure. Your Tour Escort will have some ideas on what to see and do in Manhattan. You may want to take an optional boat cruise to see the Statue of Liberty and view all of the Society’s former buildings from the boat as you pass under the Brooklyn Bridge. At 5:00 p.m., you have the option of returning to the hotel or you can remaining in Manhattan to do as you please. Your Tour Escort will explain how easy it is to return to the hotel.

Wednesday, September 21 Today, enjoy breakfast at your leisure as the entire day is free to enjoy New York City. You can go to the top of the Empire State Building, visit Chinatown, Times Square or Macy’s Department Store. In addition, there is a variety of restaurants and museums. You can take in an afternoon matinee or an evening musical at a Broadway theater. Be sure to try some New York cheesecake and pizza.

Friday, September 23 This morning  everyone will visit the Holocaust Museum where you can spend as much time as you please. The museum is dedicated to the story of the multitude of people  persecuted by the Nazis. In the Resource Center there are documents and interviews with Jehovah’s Witnesses who were victims of Nazi rule. (For more information on the Holocaust Museum see Awake, 3/8/05, p. 16 and 11/8/93, p.16.) Balance of the day is free.

Saturday, September 24 Entire day free to visit the United States Capitol Building, White House, Bureau of Engraving and Printing of money, Washington Monument, Library of Congress, National Archives, Museum of American History, the Smithsonian, Air and Space Museum, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial and many other points of interest. All attractions are free of charge. Nearby is the historic town of old Alexandria on the Potomac River.

Sunday, September 25 This morning, everyone will be transferred to the Washington Reagan Airport for your return flight home with many Bethel Tour Vacation memories.

All rates are based on two people sharing a room. If your city is not listed, please let us know which city you would like to fly from and we will then inform you of the total cost. NOTE: If you prefer a single room, you can pay a supplement of $689 in addition to the above prices for the entire Tour.

SPECIAL SAVINGS: You may deduct $200 from the above prices for anyone under 18 years of age rooming with two other persons.

ALL BETHEL TOUR HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Round-trip airfare including all taxes
• All hotel accommodations
• Sightseeing Tour of New York City
• Admission to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Buffet breakfast daily at the Courtyard Newark Hotel
• All transportation to Warwick, Patterson, and Wallkill
• Box lunches provided on Monday and Tuesday
• Private motorcoach from New York to Washington, D.C.
• Hotel accommodations at the Washington Marriott Georgetown
• Sightseeing Tour of Washington, D.C.
• Tour of Holocaust Museum
• Services of an experienced Tour Escort for the entire Tour