Nov. 21 Arrival at Ben Gurion Airport

We arrived in Tel Aviv" in good time, considering that our flight left 1 1/2 hrs late. The FAA prevented our leaving because they wanted to slow down arrivals of planes here.Yet, everything seems perfectly normal and everyone on our bus is in great spirits.This group should be awesome to be around. We were awakened in the middle of our sleep to a lady reading out loud the Song of Solomon to 2 young people seated near her!! But, before we left the airplane, they had formed a circle of prayer, which included one of the flight's stewards. Wow! This group is ready for the Holy Land!

Upon arrival in Tel Aviv, we had a 2-hour bus ride with "Tito," who was informative and funny. The sun set as we traveled so we couldn't see the landscape. We had seen a lot from the air. Israel is full of rolling mountainous hills -- nothing big like the Rockies or Smokies. White appears all over the landscape: the native limestone, I think. We passed 3 McDonalds; one with a Play Place (spelled in English)!

Our hotel, the Leonardo, is awesome. We are in a corner room on the 11th floor, giving us 2 views of the Sea of Galilee. Beautiful!!! We can see across the lake to the other shore & hills. We have many comforts here and the food is wonderful. We've met Dr. Perry Stone, our trip leader, and shook his hand. We also walked out along the Sea of Galilee tonight, just the two of us, and then explored some of the "ruins" still on these grounds. It's been lovely meeting and talking to people.

Leaving tomorrow!!

We have been uncertain over the last few days as to whether our trip would be cancelled, due to all the military action going on between Israel & Gaza since Thursday. Last Friday, we received a message that said the trip was still on & that our guide, Perry Stone, and the president of the tour company were leaving Saturday. The message said they would let us know about the conditions.

Well, we kept receiving phone calls from family members and comments from others saying that Israel was no place for tourists right now. The TV news is showing us how the "war" is ramping up.

Just a few minutes ago, we got a video message from Perry Stone on the bus in Israel. He was excited & showed us that everything is fine for our travel there. He said the airport is full of tourists in buses  and we should be all set to meet in Tiberias Wednesday.

So, we are off!!! We completely feel that God will give us supernatural protection, and we will have a most enlightening trip.

I hope that we will be able to post our experiences daily, but that may not be possible. Our hotels do not have computer access, but we are taking our Kindle Fire in case we have wi-fi. Enjoy your good weather while we are gone. Have a great Thanksgiving. Remember to thank God for all of your blessings. Everything good thing comes from Him--no doubt.

Love to you all.