07/04/2024
Israel 2025
Hello everyone,
You are receiving this email because you had registered for a trip to Israel in February 2024. Obviously, as much as we were all looking forward to that trip, we had to cancel due to the war that was started over there. Thank you so much for your patience as we worked through getting flights cancelled and refunds issued. Those were busy (and challenging) days. Thanks for your patience.
We have things in place to take a trip in 2025. We have scheduled this for January 21-31, 2025. I know that there are a number of questions that come up right away. I will try to address at least a couple of them in this email. First, I know that there are some of you that indicated that you would want to go in 2025, and there were some that knew you would not be able to go in 2025. I am sending this to all of you, regardless of what you had told me. This gives you a fresh chance to tell me "yes" or "no".
With the turmoil around Israel, some will have the question, is it safe? It is a very fair question. But let me assure you on a few fronts. First of all, we won't proceed with the trip if we do not deem it to be safe. You know this from us canceling the last trip. Second, tourism is big money in Israel for everyone (Jews, Arabs, etc.). Everyone wants to protect the tourists. Third, our tour company and guides are in constant communication with authorities on the ground, so, even if something springs up while we are there, we will just adjust our schedule. Having said all of that, I was talking last week with a pastor that just returned from Israel. This is a pastor that goes to Israel often. He said that the sites are all back up and running and they are welcoming tourists in Israel again. This pastor has several large groups going to Israel between now and the end of 2024. I say all of that to say that we are planning for this trip. We are excited for this trip. We believe that this trip will be able to move forward as planned.
Over the next couple of weeks, you will receive other emails from me that will give you details about paying a deposit, as well as other information. We are planning for a $1,000 USD deposit to be paid by August 1 (although there are some for whom we held onto a deposit from the last trip...we still have that, and that would count for this trip). Typically, we would have had a deposit due much sooner, but we have waited longer than usual due to the unrest in the region. Again, I will give you information about paying that deposit in a later email. The basic schedule of payments will be the $1,000 deposit by August 1, and the balance by October 1. If you have questions about this, please let me know.
For now, I am going to ask you all to do something. First, I am going to ask you to reply to this email so that I know that you received it. That will be a great help. Second, I am going to ask you to confirm your plans when you reply. Third, if you are planning to join us, please register again for the trip. You can do so by clicking here. So, when you reply, I am asking that you let me know that you got the email, and confirm whether or not you are still planning on joining us for the trip to Israel in January 2025. I look forward to hearing from you.
Brett Pennell
