Nothing happens by accident!!

Indeed, even a slight delay caused by a missing shopping buggy can lead to interesting or even Divine encounters.

Sunday evening as Kelly and I prepared to grocery shop for the incoming Ani Yosef team, I had to backtrack to get a cart. After walking down a level at the Rami Levy and heading for the garage to get five shekels I suddenly bumped into familiar faces! Mark and Michelle!

He is a graduate student in Israel and teaches some visiting groups in the area as a guest instructor. At our encounter he asked if I was interested in riding up to Majdal Shams, on the southern slope of Mount Hermon, to help teach a class about the two houses of Israel. Wow!! I was immediately intrigued.

A day later, having taken care of coordination for the team, I accepted his invite and Kelly and I accompanied him and Michelle after Yom haKippurim.

We had a very long but amazing day that started with a fairly traffic heavy drive north through Tiberius and up the Golan, arriving about 30 minutes before his scheduled time to speak. We were able to visit with the small international group and make some connections.

Just before speaking, several members of the group showed up with a box of the very best falafel I have ever had, bar none!

We spoke, visited, answered questions and watched light bulbs come on as the Scriptures suddenly unfolded in a new way to folks who know their Bibles very well. I left several copies of Ten Parts in the King (also available on Kindle) so they could dig and process the valuable information they had just been introduced to.

After a few pictures, we headed to Tiberius to meet Avigail who graciously had a wonderful Asian dinner ready for us on her patio. We sat and drank in the wonderful breezes coming off of the Kinneret while laughing and sipping some Binyamina wine. She must have one of the most amazing respites on the planet, a personal favorite! Sojourners who visit the Land and need a comfortable place to sleep and enjoy breakfast overlooking the Sea of Galilee could not do better. Drop me a note for contact info…

It was late in the evening before arriving home, but the journey was well worth the opportunity to share, the fellowship and deep theological conversation with Mark and the precious time at Avigail’s enjoying her amazing hospitality.

Many more pics of the current Ani Yosef trip to Israel are at aniyosef.com. Make plans now to come with us at Pesach or Sukkot next year!

Shalom!