We had a great time in Israel. Obe (pronounced O’ Bee) Hokanson, the missionary friend of ours who set up the trip, was an amateur archeologist. He was our tour guide and he took us all over Israel, avoiding all the tourist traps. Renting a bus, he told the bus driver where to take us. The bus driver was trained to hit all the tourist locations, but Obe arranged for him to drive us where we wanted to go; not where the driver was instructed to take us.
Then on the morning of Tuesday, April 15th, when we left our motel to greet the bright, sunny day, something was different. Something had happened. There was an unusual calm in the air. The Israeli people, who’d treated us well since we’d been there, exhibited a remarkable, yet quiet, joy. Just the sight of us got them excited. They treated us like heroes.
I said to Floyd, “What’s going on?” He didn’t know, either. Finally, one of the Israeli people told us. He said, “Oh, you didn’t hear? President Reagon bombed Libya this morning.” And boy were the Jewish people happy. The United States bombed Libya; and we were Americans. We got the royal treatment everywhere we went that day.
Floyd leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Shh, don’t announce that we’re Americans. The Arabs are not happy that Reagon bombed Libya and we don’t want to get gunned down on the streets of Israel.”
I said, “They can look at us and know that we’re Americans.”
He replied, “I know. I just think it would be wise to keep a low profile today, and not do or say anything that would draw attention to us.”
Then on Sunday, Obe took us to the Garden Tomb for church. It was the traditional site where it is believed that Jesus was crucified, so the Christians hold church services there every Sunday morning. Those services are widely attended by tourists.
By the following Sunday, Floyd and I were back in Greece. You can imagine the shock and horror that we felt when we learned that a gunman had gone into the Garden Tomb during services on Sunday morning, a week after we’d been there, and opened fire, killing a number of tourists.
When you’re a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, it doesn’t matter what you do or where you go; You never go alone. God goes with you. He goes before you. He stands beside you. He works in the circumstances around you. He’s always there!