Knox the Fox took a break this Friday and I am revisiting a story from June for the Our Town Adventures series. In May, Brad and Debbie Conley joined 37 others under the leadership of his pastor, Dr. Jeff LaBorg, and wife, Kristi, for a 10-day tour of Israel. I wrote about their trip in a June article: Brad and Debbie Conley tour Israel
I reached out to Brad for a few more pictures and an update on his reaction to the current events in Israel.
Brad tells me as far as he knows, none of the sites they visited have been directly impacted by war yet. However, both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem have had multiple rocket siren warnings.
Brad says, “We met Christians, Jews and Muslims on our trip. These people are trying to make a living and provide for their families. Sadly, most of the chaos is imported from other parts of the Middle East by those who do not believe Israel should even exist. My heart aches for those caught in this horrible tragedy. I pray for the peace of Jerusalem and all of Israel.”
The pictures below were taken by Brad and Debbie with the exception of one with Brad in it.
- Jerusalem skyline
- Jordan River-the steps on the other side of the river are not Israel; that’s Jordan. They actually drove through a “no man’s land” to access this site
- Western Wall in foreground and Dome of the Rock in background. Religious sites overlap in Jerusalem.
- Brad standing on the steps Jesus walked on the night He was arrested and brought to Caiaphas. (Photo by Dustin Moore)
- Security is always near
- Shepherd’s Fields-Bethlehem, which is not in Israel but in the West Bank. We drove through a security checkpoint to visit Bethlehem
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