Sunday, October 22nd, 2023. That was the day my wife, and I scheduled our flight out of Perth, Western Australia. For two years beforehand, we had planned this trip. Airline tickets are in our possession, and our passports are valid. We had already booked the hotel for a 10-day stay. We had high expectations for this vacation. Destination Israel. After watching many informative videos, we knew precisely where we wanted to go in the Holy Land. The ancient city of Jerusalem. The city of King David and the Sea of Galilee. Then, like a bursting balloon, all the plans were suddenly cancelled. Hamas invaded Israel on Saturday, October 7, 2023, causing 1,200 deaths. In Gaza, there are 251 more hostages, including babies and people who survived the Holocaust. As of August 2025, 49 people are still held captive, but only 20 are thought to be living. The airline, along with many others, cancelled all flights to Israel. We prayed for the people of Israel and for the Gazans suffering under Hamas' oppressive rule. Nearly two years later, we had another chance to go to Israel. With airline tickets, passports, and Israeli visas in hand, we are ready to fly on Monday, May 5th, 2025. Then, we heard something disturbing. A missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen struck the Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel the day before our scheduled departure. To go or not to go, what should we do?
Autorentext
Born in the UK following the second world war and experiencing the post war hardships along with many families. My memories of playing on bombed out buildings and growing in a world without mobile phones and the Internet are distant now. Somewhere and somehow I felt the presence of God in my life. For too many years I never fully committed to finding out about the God that I had heard about. Eventually I moved to Perth in Western Australia, where I am living today with my wife. We have four adult married children and fourteen grandchildren. I am an artist in the mediums of Oil and Acrylic. Art has been my hobby since retiring from paid work. My wife and I are Christians and I enjoy facilitating the Church services and events. Along with my wife we are fully committed to the word of God as written in the Bible from beginning to end.