People are seeing in the news that missiles are flying out of Garza into Israel. It would stand to reason that any pilgrims coming to the Holy Land in the near future would be concerned.
[Update: Sunday afternoon around 4:00 PM Eastern time it has been reported that a ceasefire has been reached.]
[Update: As of Tuesday morning things are quiet on the Gaza front. As is quite usual, these flair ups are local and quickly contained. Kids in southern Israel are already back in school.]
[UPDATE: Tuesday evening now in Israel and it’s same old, save old. Everyone is out and about. Streets and shops are full preparing for Independence Day tomorrow. Gaza is not even discussed. Beautiful day.]
Janet and I are writing this to address these concerns. For those of our 53 pilgrims who are arriving in Tel Aviv this week I want to assure you that at this point there are no issues regarding your safety. Janet and I will be arriving in Israel three days ahead of you and I have time to confirm again that it is safe for you to join us.
(MAP: Black circle is Gaza; red circle is the area in the news; we are always above the blue line.)
Gaza as far to the southwest of Israel close to the Sinai Peninsula. It is nowhere near where we will be and none of the missiles are coming anywhere close to our positions.
We are constantly in touch with our agents and people on the ground in Israel and we would never, never ever, take our pilgrims into harms way. If we thought that it was dangerous for you to come, we would cancel the trip in a heartbeat.
However, we are certain that there is no danger for you at this point or at any point during your trip with us. We will be arriving in Israel and will have several days there to confirm that for you. Our contacts and agents in Israel have affirmed again that there is no danger for our pilgrims.
Feel free to write me here in Rome (soon to be in the Holy Land). I answer emails quickly (when awake) 🙂 I can call if you wish – leave your phone number in an e-mail message and I’ll call you right away as able. My e-mail is sray@me.com.
We look forward to showing you our favorite places in the world – where God walked! We have an exciting surprise for you too!