We’re at the El Al gate in Tel Aviv, waiting to board our flight home. I’m beat. Now I remember why I stopped leading tours to Israel in 2005. Nevertheless, it’s been a wonderful trip and a great day. We started in the Garden Tomb where we had a final worship service in a little stone chapel just steps from the empty tomb. I read from Luke 24, Dan Schafer and Dianna Ruch sang, Terry Hill shared about his ministry in Israel, and Corey Hawkins led us in singing “Up from the Grave He Arose.” The rest of the day was “free” and Ethan and I accompanied Elizabeth Snow on a tour through the ancient ruins of the City of David on the souther slopes of the Temple Mount and through Hezekiah’s Tunnel. We had a farewell supper and are flying overnight to New York, leaving here at 1 AM. I hope to sleep during the flight. If I do decide to try this again one day, I hope you can go with me. Introducing people to the Land of the Bible and teaching in the Holy Land is one of the great privileges of ministry.
In the meantime, our daughter Hannah just wrote to tell me she’s been put on bed-rest and to expect a baby boy sooner rather than later. I’m concerned for her, so if you could put her (and Baby Olsen) on your prayer list, I’d appreciate it!