Israel Pastors Trip Blogs

Hello to each one of you, family and friends! Thanks to each one of you for your notes on the blog and for your prayers.

I feel like we are living someone else’s life as we are actually here. It’s difficult to find the words to describe how blessed we are to be here in the “Holy Land”. Tho I know that each one of us is special and uniquely loved by God, the vastness of God’s great plan for the world makes me feel very, very small. Having heard the stories from the Bible since I was small, it is amazing to see where the scenes were played out. As Donn said, the history is rich.

He has given you many details of the places we have been already. I want to talk about the change in culture, beginning in the airport at JFK. Just checking our baggage with the ELAL, the Israeli air line was an experience, because security is so tight. I loved seeing the garb of the religious jews, including the hats and beanies. Also, the long beards. . . and the families all being gathered together to fly back to Israel. These people have a sense that they are special to God. They have a mission. And they are survivors.
Our plane had devout Jews all around; the Jewish passengers-men- young and old gathered in the back of the plane for morning prayers. We are moving into their great story.
Last night after visiting jaffa we had dinner in an alley restaurant and then some of uswalked along the Meditteranea Sea.
There us as an overwhelming feeling that God is called his people back to their land, and men and woman of all ages are responding with great courage and excitment to make a place for themselves here in the great plan and story of God. And the passion in their dark eyes for what God is doing is a living force of hope. Israel is a nation of hope.

So much more, but it is very late. Will come again tomorrow.

Love to you all,
Barb

As I stand on the balcony of our hotel room in Tel Aviv watching the waves lap against the shores of the Meditaranean Sea, I am overwhelmed! Just less than 24 hours ago we were meeting our group at JFK Airport in NY.  We have a wonderful group of pastors and theirs wives and are already forming friendships that will last a lifetime as we experience this week together.  Our fight to Tel Aviv was great (being treated as VIPs from El Al Airlines and the Israel Ministry of Tourism was definitely a plus!)

Our guide, Tsion, has a wealth of knowledge that we are tapping into as we travel on the bus and at the various places we visit.  What a rich experience this is going to be!

Wednesday: We landed at 5:30 PM local time on Wednesday.  That would be 10:30 AM Eastern.  The flight was wonderful.  We were treated to a very enjoyable flight by El AL Airlines and greeted at the terminal by representatives from the Israel Ministry of Tourism.

The Ben Gurion Airport is really great.  The process of landing clearing passport control, and getting out luggage was quick and smooth.

Just a short ride on our bus to the Dan Panorama Hotel in Tel Aviv – then quickly off to Dr. Shasshuka.

After dinner Tsion led is through a short walking tour of Jaffa (Joppa) at night (It is a beautiful city) – then back to our hotel. for a good night’s rest.

More to come…