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Can somebody tell me why vacation always goes by so quickly? It seems to me that there are 7 days in every week and 24 hours in every day. Somehow though, every time I go to the Middle East, time flies by...

Penny and I left on June 25 to start our annual dive vacation. We flew into Tel Aviv where Ido met us at the airport and drove us down to Eilat. We then crossed the boarder and a pre-arranged transfer drove us on down to Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. I was so tired by the time we got there that I don't even remember what time it was but it was somewhere around 1:00 AM on Saturday morning. We then hauled all of our stuff to our room only to realize that one of Penny's bags had not made it off of the van. Ido contacted the van driver and Penny and I waited for the bag to arrive. Finally, all was well. We had all of our luggage and now we could settle down to a good nights sleep. We should have about 3 hours before the sun comes up. There was only one problem. Penny and I were both wide awake. We were too excited to sleep.

We had a very nice room at the Sharks Bay Beach hotel and a balcony that overlooked the Sea. I can tell you that even at 3:00 in the morning the Sea is beautiful. We both finally drifted off to sleep only to rise rather early, eager to start our first day.

Breakfast there was nothing to write home about. Nothing like the Israel hotels. It was sufficient though. We ate breakfast and headed to the dive shop. We only had one dive scheduled for the first day and it was a shore dive so that we could rest a little and check out our equipment. Even on the first dive from the shore, I knew that we were in for something spectacular.

The next five days were spent on the boat. The name of our boat was Freedom. The boat crew was exceptional and the dive master was just awesome. His name was Adel. We were able to dive three times each day and before each dive Adel would come to us with maps and give us the option of which dive spot we wanted to visit. I think that we could have spent three weeks there and not been able to get to every site. We were able to experience so many things and so many beautiful sights. We even experienced some things that weren't so wonderful, current. On one of our dives the current was very strong and it was work to get through it. Once through it though, it was a beautiful dive.

Though the food at the hotel was nothing to brag about, the food on the boat made up for it. Each day there was a spread prepared for us for lunch. The food was great and all the workers on the boat were very accommodating. I heard people on our boat talking about other boats that they had been on where they did not have such a good experience. I can't say enough good things about our crew though and the entire Sharks Bay Umbi dive shop staff. You can visit their website at www.sharksbay.com

Well, all good things must come to an end and on Thursday, Penny and I decided that we would not go on the boat on Friday so that we would have time to get our gear rinsed good and dried before it was time to pack it up again. It seemed that we had just arrived and already it was time to return home.

Early Saturday morning we started our journey back to Tel Aviv to the airport. I was sad to be leaving Sharm el Sheikh because the diving was spectacular. However, I have to say that it was a wonderful feeling around noon on Saturday to cross that border and once again be on Israeli soil. No matter how beautiful the water was in Egypt, Israel is my home.

We met some wonderful people on our journey and had a wonderful time. Penny and Ido took a lot of pictures that I will be posting on the website for you to see. We also had a professional underwater videographer on the boat with us one day. I have edited the video for your to see, RedSeaRhapsody. Please be patient once you click on the link for the video. It is a very large file and will take a little time to download. I know that it's not the same as being there but I hope that you will enjoy the video and the pictures.

We are actively preparing for the 2010 tour. We still have seats available so take a look at the tour information section. We would sure love to have you join us. We have the hotels all booked and before you know it, it will be time to go.

Next Saturday, May 23, is the "Taste of Israel" at Elmwood Baptist Church. This will be our third year and the interest has grown a little each year. We had over 80 people there last year so I'll be excited to see how many we have next week. I'm really excited that Bettie will be coming in from Virginia to help me and we will also have Duke, Dawn, Nick and Lindsey coming in from Texas. Having them here will make it an extra special event for Hal and I.

On a sad note, as many of you know, I always decorate for the Israel dinners with Roses from Israel. We order them from Myron and Miriam in Israel. Unfortunately, due to the economic situation in Israel, they are being forced to close the greenhouses after 25 years. We were very sorry to hear that and ask that you all pray for Myron and Miriam as they move on to other things.

God is so good. We have now returned from our annual tour to the Holyland. I do believe that it was the best one yet.

We were blessed with 36 travelers this year. Some from West Virginia, some from North Carolina, some from Texas, some from Virginia and even one from Belgium. Even though we had members of our group from all over, we truly became one family. One of the benefits of traveling with a group is that you meet such wonderful people and make lifelong friends.

Now, don't get me wrong, every trip has it's down side. As most of you know, Israel was in the middle of a war when we headed out for the Holyland this year. We had perfect peace about going, knowing that we would not be in any areas that would put us in danger and knowing that the Lord is able to take care of us at all times. It wasn't my peace I was concerned about though, I was praying that everyone else would feel the same peace that I had. When we schedule our flights, I always try to make sure that we are in Atlanta first, so that when the other travelers arrive at the meeting point, we are already there waiting for them. Because of this, we left earlier in the day than the other travelers. I didn't know when we arrived in Atlanta if everyone would be joining us or if there would be some that didn't feel the same peace that I felt. God is truly amazing though. As we watched each flight arrive, every person was there. That was such a blessing to me. And not to me only. The people of Israel were blessed by our commitment to God and the promise that he gives to bless those who bless Israel.

The blessings didn't stop there though. We had 18 fabulous days of one blessing after another. The weather this year was perfect. We always say that January is the best time of year to go but we have never had such beautiful weather the entire time that we were there. We had a very light rain the first day we were there and after that it was pretty much sunshine for the remainder of the trip. I just kept saying that God is blessing us for blessing Israel. I really do believe that. Besides the weather, we had some wonderfully talented people with us this year. Nightingale and Gingy (Ido gave them their names) were awesome and we enjoyed their music throughout the trip. Along with them we had the trio from North Carolina to sing. It was just wonderful.

Every year, it is interesting to hear the things that touch people along the way. Everyone is different and is touched by different places or sites. The one that sticks out in my mind this year was Gingy's touch. It seems that she was so touched by the Olive Tree in the Garden of Gethsemane that she wrote a song about it. The title of the song is "The Witness of the Olive Tree". I will add the song to the website in the next couple of days so check back. You will not want to miss it. It really is beautiful.

And now, it's time that we start looking ahead. A lot of planning needs to take place for the 2010 Tour. I know that we have some that were with us this year that will be with us again next year and we have several that have joined us in previous years that will be joining us again in 2010. It is always a blessing to see those that have been before returning to make the journey with us again. If you have never been, I challenge you to make the trip if it is possible. It will truly change your life, forever.

SHANA TOVA--Happy New Year! September 30 marks the Jewish New Year. We're looking forward to being there in the new year. Hal, Jerry and myself will be going over in October. While Hal and Jerry are doing the Ham Radio contest on top of Masada, I'm planning to spend a couple days enjoying the Dead Sea.

We're now only 3 1/2 months away from our January trip and I'm really looking forward to it. We have a wonderful group going this year. We have 37 travelers. I'm very excited about having my dear friends Ellie and Ronnie Craddock from North Carolina joining us this year. And with them they will be bringing eleven others from their church. God has really blessed us. Not only do we have the Church from NC but we also will have several family members going with us. It will be a blessing to have Hal's daughter Holly and her husband Adam with us and to be able to show them around the Holy Land.

Our trip luncheon is scheduled for November 8th. After the luncheon I will post pictures, so check back...

I have now closed the tour for 2009. If you are interested in joining us on the 2010 trip please contact me for information. We would love to have you.

I have added the pictures for the Taste of Israel for 2008. We had a great time and I hope that you enjoy looking at the pictures.

We had a great time at "The Taste of Israel" on July 12. This was our second annual dinner and it was a great success. I have to say that I owe the success to all of those who came out to help. I'm so blessed with many great friends. Thanks so much to Penny, Bettie, Linda, Diana, Janet and Brenda for all the time that they spent working in the kitchen preparing food and helping to clean up. And I can't forget Budge, the Falafel King and all of those who helped during the dinner to keep things moving.

We had close to 75 people this year. It was a great crowd. A significant increase over the 40 plus that we had last year. We even had some come from out of town and out of state. Dave and Mary Ellis from Charleston came down to be with us and Bettie Brezee from Bowling Green, VA came to help out also.

Our theme this year was "Israel @ 60". With it being the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel we thought that it was only fitting that we use this for our theme. Our decorations were done in birthday party style and Pastor Rick gave a message on why it is so important in prophecy that Israel is a nation once again. Of course, we started the evening by playing "HaTikva" which is Israel's national anthem. The word HaTikva means "Hope", it has been the hope of the Jewish people down through the centuries to once again be able to call Israel their home. For the past 60 years that hope has been a reality. If you are interested in hearing "HaTikva" you can click on the link "Israel The Nation" and then click on the Israel flag.

We have lots of pictures from the dinner. I will be posting them over the next week or so under the "Taste of Israel" link. Check back and I hope that you can come and be with us next year.

Time sure does fly when you're having fun. Penny and I returned from Israel on Tuesday. The week went by so quickly but we were blessed while we were there.

We arrived at Ben Gurion airport on Saturday evening to a wonderful welcoming committee. Joe and Ruth were there to meet us with a "Bamba Tours" sign and two huge bags of Bamba. What a wonderful welcome. And we put the Bamba to good use. There wasn't a single ounce left when we returned.

Ido took us to Caesarea to the cosmetic factory and we had a nice visit with Ilan and Gideon from "Roots". Then it was on to Eilat.

The weather was beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky. It made for glorious diving conditions. We spent two days diving in Eilat. During that time I received my "Master Diver" certification. We then crossed the border and spent 4 days diving in Aqaba, Jordan. We had never been diving in Aqaba before and it was beautiful. So much to see. There was a shipwreck and a sunken tank, not to mention the beautiful coral and all of the fish.

We had a great time in Aqaba. We did all of our diving from a boat. The "Yasmena". We were used to putting all of our equipment together and lugging it to the water. We are now very spoiled after being on the boat because they do all of that for you. While we were on the upper deck, basking in the sunshine, they were down getting our gear ready for the next dive. All we had to do was step into our gear and step off of the boat. It was wonderful. I'm afraid that I will not be doing much shore diving from here on out.

Ido brought his underwater camera and took lots of really nice pictures for us. I have put some of them together into a video and have added it to the video section. It is entitled "Underwater Playground". I hope that you will watch it and enjoy it. It's not quite the same as being there but at least you'll get an idea of what is down there.

I'm now getting ready for the annual "Taste of Israel" which is next Saturday, July 12. We're going to have a great time, and everyone is welcome. We will be taking pictures and I'll put them out here so check back often.

It seems that this year has flown by. As many of you know I have had some health issues early this year but I'm feeling great now and will try to do better at keeping the website updated.

We are now preparing for the second annual "Taste of Israel". The dinner will take place on July 12, 2008 at Elmwood Baptist Church in Martha, WV. Everyone is welcome to attend. The dinner will be at 6:00pm. This is an informal dinner where we show pictures of our trips and enjoy the fellowship around the table. We will be preparing Israeli food for you. Please send me an e-mail if you think you can make it so that we will know how much food to prepare.

Penny and I are leaving this coming Friday for Israel. I'm going to visit the Roots Cosmetic Factory and then we are off to Eilat for a few days of "Fun and Sun". Most of the time will be spent under the water, scuba diving. We're still looking for those chariot wheels in the Red Sea. I know they're there and I'm determined to find them. :-)

Only 6 months now until we embark on the annual Israel tour. We have room on the tour for two more people. Please let me know if you are interested as plane fares are rising daily. The 2009 tour will soon be closed but we are already booking the 2010 tour so let me know if you are interested.

It's hard to believe that another trip to Israel has come and gone. We had a wonderful group this year and we enjoyed the trip so much. There were six first timers on the trip this year and it is always a blessing to watch them experience the Holy Land for the first time.

The weather was beautiful but a little cooler than normal. Everywhere that we went the Israelis kept telling us that it was cold there. They didn't need to tell me that, I could feel it but God is good and he gave us plenty of sunshine so that the cold was quite tolerable. For those of us who go every year, Ido always promises that he will show us something that we have not seen before. This year one of the new things for us was to see it rain on Masada and at the Dead Sea. I couldn't believe it. It is a blessing though because Israel desperately needs the rain. Though it was cold and one day was a bit rainy I have to say that we had the best weather yet in Jerusalem. It was sunny and warm the entire time that we were there. It was spectacular.

One of the highlights for me was at the end of the trip. On the evening we were leaving we spent a few hours with Ido's family. We had met Niri last year but had never met their three boys. It was a pleasure to spend time with them. Niri is a joy to be with, guess I'll have to try to convince her to start touring with us.

I hope to start adding this years pictures onto the site soon. Keep checking back. They will gradually start to appear.

The dates have been posted for the 2009 trip in the "Tour Information" section. Please let me know if you are interested in traveling with us. We still have seats open for 2009 but it's filling up, so don't wait to long.

Last Saturday evening we had an Israeli dinner for all of the travelers going on our January 2008 Israel trip. It was a wonderful time for fellowship and getting acquainted with those that we will be traveling with. Several people traveled in from quite a distance to attend the dinner and I really appreciated their efforts.

The dinner was great. Bettie and Penny did so much to help me get ready for it. I couldn't have made it without them. We had twelve people at the dinner and lots of food to go around. There were falafels and mousakka, chicken with almonds and plums and of course one of my favorites, humus and Israeli salad. Bettie even made Challah bread. Everything was so good and to top it off there was plenty of baklava for desert.

I ordered Roses from Israel to decorate the tables and they were beautiful. If you don't already know about www.israelrose.com you should definitely go to their website. They will overnight roses to you from Israel and the price is very reasonable. At the end of the evening I sent roses home with everyone.

I've added the pictures from our 2008 Tour Dinner to the website so I hope that you will take a look at them. We had a great time. And just think.... this could be you next year.

So often in life we hear the term "some day". Some day, I'm going to take that vacation, some day I'm going to do all the things that I want to do, some day, when I have time..... You know, some day never comes and that's why you should take the time today to do the things that you can do.

I remember just a couple of years ago my pastor's wife, Brenda, was telling me that her aunt Gervaise was getting ready to take a trip to the Holy Land. A trip that she had looked forward to for many years. She had her trip booked but just before time to leave she became very ill and while her tour was touring the Holy Land Gervaise went home to be with the Lord. She was given the grand tour with the greatest tour guide of all.

I'm looking forward to that grand tour but I sure do love touring Israel in this life. I can't say enough about it and I never get tired of going back to the same places.

I've added a song to the website. This song was written and sung by Gervaise's daughter. It is titled "The Journey". I hope that you will listen to it and enjoy it.

Shabbat Shalom! Sun down on Friday begins Shabbat. But this Friday is not like any other day of the year. At sun down today until sun down tomorrow Israel, and Jews around the world, will observe Yom Kippur. The holiest day of their calendar.

Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement. Jews around the world will fast and pray on this day and seek atonement for all of their sins for the past year. On this day, religious and non religious alike will fast and pray. This was the command that God gave to Moses in Leviticus.

At about 10:30 this morning my doorbell rang. I went to the door to greet the FedEx delivery man. In his hand was a huge box marked "flowers". The driver was quite impressed with how generous Hal was as this is a rather large box. So, he congratulated me on our anniversary "or whatever the occasion" and was on his way.

I'd been waiting on this delivery. You see, these weren't just any flowers, these were roses from Israel. Yes, it's true. These flowers were in Israel yesterday and in my kitchen today.

I was reading The Jerusalem Post a couple of weeks ago and I saw an ad for a company called M&M Roses. M&M Roses is a small company just outside of Gaza. Business has been tough for them the last few years so they have started shipping roses to the US. I thought that this was very interesting and I wanted to give them a try before I started recommending them to everyone I know.

As I was placing my order I mentioned to Hal that I had absolutely no need for roses and what on earth was I going to do with 4 dozen roses, which was the minimum order. But, I was getting four dozen for about what I would pay for 1 or 2 dozen here so I went on with my order, I love a bargain. But you know, it's amazing what a rose can do. It's seems that before they even arrived God had laid on my heart places that these roses needed to go. So, this morning I had 4 dozen roses delivered to my home and by this evening there were only 2 dozen left and most of them are already planned for delivery. Now I'm thinking that I should have ordered more...

The roses are absolutely beautiful. When they first arrived they were merely buds but once I got them into water they have already started to open up. But it's not just that the flower is beautiful. Where they came from is beautiful. The prophesy that they fulfill is beautiful...

Isaiah 35:1-4

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

We need to remember to pray every day for Israel. And pray for The Peace of Jerusalem. But fear not for Israel, their God will come and save them. Of that you can be certain.

On the afternoon of May 14, 1948, as the British made final preparations to depart, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the state of Israel .

I've thought a lot about that through the month of May and it has inspired me to add another link to the website. You will now see a link called "Israel The Nation". This page is not complete by any means but I've started with Israel's National Anthem and the history behind it. I'll be adding information and pictures from Israel's Independence Hall and I will also add the pictures from Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum) here as well a many other points of interest.

My mind is running in fast forward with all kinds of ideas of what we can add to this link. Now all I need is time.

We had such a wonderful time with Friends last Saturday evening as we presented "A Taste of Israel" to our church family. We had about 50 people attend our featured Israeli meal. We also featured slides and selected videos from our tours of Israel. These were projected onto a large screen in our church fellowship hall. This is something that Hal and I have talked about doing for some time and we really enjoyed sharing Israel with those who are interested but have never been.

I spent all day Friday and Saturday getting the food ready but I had lots of help. On Friday I spent the day with Janie Blake getting the mousakka ready. Janie is such a blessing and she will never know how much help she was. She cut up all of the eggplant for me as well as chopped all of the onions. That was the hard part. All I had to do was throw it all together. Besides getting the mousakka ready we just had a wonderful time of fellowship.

Then came Saturday. I arrived at the church at 8:00 Saturday morning and spent the morning making Humus. Just me, the Lord, and chick peas. And what a load of chick peas... Things were quiet and I enjoyed the time alone just reflecting on all the blessings that God has given me and thanking him for all that he has allowed me to do in my life. I have been very blessed. The time of quiet meditation was short lived though as I had lots of help show up at around 11:00. I'm very grateful for friends like Carrie Blankenship, Becky Cabell and Janie Blake. The three ladies came in and cut up all of the vegetables for the Israeli salad. And there was a lot of cutting to do. Mike Cabell had set up the sound system on Friday night but he was there on Saturday to do the sound tests. Hal and Rick Glass spent the afternoon working on the display case and getting lots of maps and brochures hung on the walls. Hal brought his large Israeli Flag. It was beautiful hanging next to the American Flag.

I lost track of time as we plugged along getting things ready for "the big event", but early in the afternoon Budgy Cremeans showed up. What a lifesaver. Budge cut up 21 pounds of chicken and kept an eye on the lentil soup for me. He was a great help in the kitchen and when the time came, Budge became "The Falafel King". You'll not find a better Falafel maker than Budge. Of course, he did have a little help from his wife Sandy.

I appreciate so much all of those who came to help us along the way. Of course, there are always the "unsung heroes". Those wonderful people who stay after to help clean up. I don't know what I would have done without Penny Wooten and Darlene Adams, Budge and Sandy Cremeans and yes, even pastor Rick. Poor Penny, I sent her home with so much food that she must have spent all night getting it put away once she got home.

Penny is a blessing to me. Two years ago I knew her by name only. One evening pastor Rick called me and said that I should talk to Penny Wooten about the Israel trip. He thought she would be interested. Interested was an understatement. The following January Penny and her sister Linda went with us to Israel. We had such a wonderful time. Since that trip, Penny and I have spent many hours talking about Israel. Penny took Scuba lessons so that she could go scuba diving with us in Eilat, Israel. We were able to do that this past January and we had a great time. I don't get to spend a lot of time with Penny but she has become one of my favorite people. I'm looking forward to spending two weeks with Penny in Israel in 2009.

That pretty well sums up our "2007 Taste of Israel". I hope that we can make it an annual event at Elmwood. In the meantime, "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem".

Happy Easter and Happy Passover. Easter is our greatest holiday, for without it all the others would be meaningless. Likewise, Passover is one of the most important holidays in Israel. The Bible tells the Jews to celebrate down through all generations what God did for them when He brought them out from bondage. I don’t know if you have ever studied “Passover”, or read the “Passover Haggadah” but I find it interesting how every piece of the Passover celebration points to Christ and how He provides our release from bondage.

I have to admit I was lukewarm to the thoughts of my first trip to Israel in October 2003. In my mind, I had painted a picture of Israel not unlike 99% of the people who have never been there. “Israel is nothing more than sand, barren desert and a downright hostile environment both geographically and socially. Why would anyone want to spend 2 weeks of their hard-earned vacation in such a place?” I thought. Needless to say, Israel didn’t rate real high on my list of preferred getaway spots back in 2003.

In spite of this, Steph convinced me that I would find the trip interesting at least from the standpoint of connecting the Holyland with scripture and some of the historical sites that we would be seeing. Deep-down I knew this would be good for my spiritual growth and should have me opening my Bible more to read about the Holy sites we would be visiting.

Steph’s Dad and Mom, Jim and Betty Ballard had extended the offer for this trip along with neighbors of theirs down in Sun City Center, Florida. This would be a great opportunity for me to get to know Jim and Betty better and fellowship with them. They had been to Israel several times and Jim enjoyed creating his own unique Holyland tours for family and friends. Jim’s 2003 trip was planned for the end of October and coincided with an international amateur radio contest. Maybe I could somehow find a way to participate in the contest while I was there.

So with some trepidation, I signed onto the 2003 trip and as they say, “the rest is history.” In reality, I/we had a wonderful time. We were even blessed with a last-minute change with our guide that resulted in us meeting one Mr. Ido Keynan to serve in that “Guide” role. Our previously scheduled guide had to back out at the last minute because of a sudden injury to her mother. The Israel tourism industry was still reeling from the intifada and licensed Israeli tour guides were hungry for work, including Ido, one of the best in the business. He remains our guide today. Needless to say, when Ido pulled his van into the parking lots of most of the places we visited in 2003, he had his choice of parking spaces. Thank goodness, things are much different today although the level of tourism once again took a sharp downturn with last year’s war with Hizbollah in the north.

Ultimately, by the end of my first 2 weeks in Israel, I was fascinated by this tiny country, the diversity of land and its sheer beauty, the Biblical significance of many of the sites we visited and its rich history. Actually, being in Israel is like being in a time machine; everywhere you look there is some connection to the past, and for the Believer, many of these locations will have a connection to the future.

Fortunately, the people of modern Israel recognize the significance of its past. It quickly becomes obvious that they take great pains to ensure history is preserved, respected and studied, quite a different scenario than the Muslims in that area. However, I will save that discussion for a future essay.

The archaeological significance of Israel was one of the most telling data points for me during my initial visit there. I guess this has something to do with the fact that as a youngster growing up in the 60’s with my brothers Duke and Mark in St. Albans, West Virginia, our Father Hallie Turley shared his hobby, amateur archaeology, with us. There was hardly a weekend that wasn’t spent with Dad hunting for Indian artifacts in the fields along the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers, or “digging” as we called it, in the Native American village sites, ceremonial and burial mounds and earthworks that we scientifically excavated through the auspices of the Kanawha and West Virginia Archaeological societies. Dad was President of the Kanawha Chapter for several years and he made sure that we learned and respected the techniques for studying the past. Of course, all of this has changed now as our sensitivities have been elevated through political correctness and a diversity mentality. Any and all artifacts belong to the happy hunting grounds and gods of the modern day remnants of these lost western civilizations. Besides, I doubt too many people would let you search for artifacts in or on their private property this litigious day and age.

While I am walking about in Israel, I find myself looking down a lot visiting major historic sites like Megiddo, Beit She'an, Caesarea, and Dan. Everywhere you look is a pottery fragment, a “treasure” that we boys would have loved to pick up and show Dad 40 years ago.

But perhaps more importantly than the land and its history are the people living in the land today. Israel is special to me because of the people who live there, the people who have molded and shaped God’s Promised Land. What they have done is nothing short of a miracle that can only come through a Devine power. Stephanie and I have made many lasting friendships there and I am sure we will make more, God willing.

I have been asked what the people there think of us here in the U.S. I guess a lot of people on this side of the pond believe everyone in the Middle East harbors ill feelings toward America. Actually, I have found the people of Israel are very much pro-U.S. We have traveled in and through some of the European countries in the past 4 years and don’t experience these same sentiments from the Europeans. People in Israel, as a general rule, know that the U.S. is the only real friend they have in the world. But sad to say, it seems like that situation is deteriorating thanks to our liberal press and perhaps an even greater threat of certain denominations in the Christian faith that deny the relevance of modern day Israel through the false teachings on Replacement Theology.

And now, with 5 additional visits to the Holyland since 2003, we still look forward to our next opportunity to travel to Israel. Naturally, the question we most frequently hear is, “Why this fascination with Israel of all places?”

The short answer for me is that Israel, both the land and her people, is like no place I have ever visited. I feel like I belong there, when I am there. And when I am away, I feel like something is missing in my life.

One of our fellow travelers from our 2005 tour described it simply as like being, “home.” I think that sums it up nicely for me as well. Every time we leave the Land of Milk and Honey, I feel like I am leaving home and I look forward to the return.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee.”
Psalms 122:6
Shalom,
Hal and Stephanie

We are starting to spread the word now about the website even though we are still working on it a little bit each day. We appreciate the feedback we are getting and want to thank each of our visitors who tell others about this website. We would ask you to continue to share this with others if you find it a blessing.