Getting to Israel

I got back from Israel a few days ago - it was amazing!

The adventure started in Roanoke, Virginia. I flew from there, but the rest of the group was flying from Washington, D.C. because i had to fly back to England after Israel. So, i had to move my suitcase from our trailer to someone's car. Unfortunately, it got put in the wrong car, which belonged to some random person. We then went to eat breakfast, and when we left, the car with my stuff in was gone. So my suitcase is somewhere in Virginia i guess, with none of my contact details on it. So it's pretty much gone. This was a couple of hours before I was gonna fly.

I was pretty down about that - I was very attached to my clothes, especially my cardigans. I had to spend some time with God processing it, but I remembered this from Matthew 6,
"Do not worry, saying ... 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

So yeah, i had to borrow clothes the whole trip, and i don't really have many clothes. But i know God is lifting my eyes from the things of this world to the things of His kingdom.


So i got on my flight from Roanoke to D.C. with just hand luggage (my wallet, passport, Bible, books, mp3 player, scarf, sunglasses, mittens and not much else). And then flew from D.C. to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Tel Aviv. All three flights were fine, didn't get much sleep on the overnight from D.C. to Frankfurt.

So, I arrived in Tel Aviv, a guy on my own without a suitcase. The security people obviously didn't like this, so I spent 5 hours in security in the airport. I was pretty worried that I might get sent back to England. So I put some worship music on my mp3 player, and cried out to God (silently). I was desperate to get into Israel, but i knew it was in God's hands. And, after waiting for ages, they let me out of the airport. By this time the rest of the group had left the airport, after waiting for me for 2 hours, as i had no way of contacting them.

I tried to call the contact number i had for Karen Dunham's ministry house (where my group were going to stay), but i couldn't get through. So i got a minibus from the airport to Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, which was near where we were going to stay. When i got there, i tried to find the address i'd been given, but no-one around had ever heard of the street (It turned out to be a small side street). So, after two hours of wandering (including asking at the police station, which didn't help at all) i asked in a hotel if I could sleep in the lobby area. They told me I'd have to get a room, which would cost 100 dollars.
Having tried to call the ministry house several times, i gave up looking. So, at 2am, i found a bench outside Damascus Gate, and lay there for a few hours. I was pretty cold, so i couldn't sleep, but i was so excited to finally be in Jerusalem. I prayed for quite a while, which was gd. Then at about 5 i got up and wandered around the old city.

Once it got to 7am i went back to the hotel and used their phone. This time i got through to the ministry house, and they gave me directions. So after two nights of little/no sleep and the biggest emotional rollercoaster i've ever been on, I arrived at the place where we were staying. It was so good to see all the other interns, especially Rachel. They'd also been worried, as they didn't know where i was, and had no way of contacting me.

So, all in all, it was a pretty crazy experience. God gave me peace and grace for all that, and my trust in Him is a lot stronger now.