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Van, “My thanks for your outstanding leadership of the tour. It definitely exceeded our expectations. I am appreciating the planning even more as I reflect on all that we did. It was obvious that hundreds of hours of preparation had to go into a tour like we had. Every day’s schedule was planned to maximize the time and was well designed. The Bible background was very complete. Every site was tied to the relevant Bible passages. We did see every one of the intended sights and many places that other tours never get to. We are reading through the detailed accomplished itinerary you sent out after the tour was over and are reliving the trip. I do not know how you did it as I never saw you writing things down.” Van, “Our words ‘thank you’ just don’t suffice for what you’ve both given to us… truly, the trip of a lifetime. But, not just the ‘trip’ but the fellowship, spiritual growth, Biblical knowledge (some of which we have already had the blessing to share with friends), emotions, memories… perfect. We will continually PRAISE the Lord for you both and how He used you to bless us and open our eyes to new insights. We thank you for broadening our horizons and giving us an unpricetagable (I know it’s not a word…) memory!! Hallelujah.” Van, “Thank you so very much for all your work in planning and coordinating this experience. I’m feeling overwhelmed by all the places we visited and all the things we learned. Thank you for sending out the detailed accomplished itinerary after the tour was over, as I am not very good at keeping my own notes and you have brought back so many thoughts and memories that could have been lost. I can’t begin to tell you how valuable your many hours of obvious hard work have been to Karen and me. I have already benefited in my own daily Bible reading for having been personally in Israel and can now relate first hand to descriptions of places, landscapes, and weather conditions. It is with great thankfulness that I am writing to you for all you did, mostly a hidden labor of love to make our journey so important and memorable.” Van, “As you know, I served in Israel for two years with the UN Peacekeeping Force and then visited again in 2000. Thank you for taking me to many places I had never visited before. The tour with you in 2006 was truly exciting and spiritually uplifting. With all of the places we visited, you made the Bible come to life. The Old and New Testaments mean so much more to me now due to your spiritual and personal leadership. My granddaughter and I cannot thank you enough!” Van, “Words cannot express our appreciation for you and all you did to make our trip through Israel one that has changed us forever. My wife and I so appreciate everything you did to make this a fantastic trip, as it was truly a once in a lifetime event for us. You did an excellent job of planning, organizing, leading and teaching, which made the places where our Lord walked come alive, and wed the history of the Holy Land with God’s Word and our own lives. Scripture has become much more three-dimensional for us. It was also a time of spiritual revival for my wife and me. The Spirit of God certainly used it in our lives. As a pastor, this trip made my teaching and ministry much more powerful. Thanks so much for the wonderful two weeks. We praise God for you and your life-changing ministry with us.” Van, “I am still going through the memories, notes and pictures from our trip. The Lord’s purposes for our trip and the timing of our trip were amazing. I realized how special and timely it was for me to go with you to Israel. I have told many people about you and the work that you have done over the past ten years in Israel. God has given you a special connection with Israel.” Van, “This truly was a blessed tour. It was exactly what we had wanted, and so much more. Thank you SO much for the hard work you put into making this an amazing trip and a reality for people like us. The trip was well-designed and covered so much of the Biblical sites and territory with many great vistas! Every day was amazing. We will be relishing it and making good use of it for a long time.” Van, “I would like to thank you for an outstanding 21 day experience. I am still thinking about all the things we did. Now I notice things more in the news, etc. when I hear Israel, Jordan or Egypt mentioned. It was a dream of mine to be able to take a trip like this. I will always remember it.” Van, “I enjoyed seeing the sites of the Bible so much more than looking at dots on a map for college exams and trying to identify the Biblical cities. I also enjoyed learning the history of the land since the Bible was completed 1,900 years ago. This trip helped me put in perspective the ancient and ongoing events of the people in Israel and its surrounding countries.” Van, “Thank you so much for all the work you put into the tour. Just one more way you served all of us way beyond the call of duty. What a memory. There is hardly a day goes by when I do not think about the trip, especially when I read my Bible and can picture so much more clearly where things occurred and what the places must have looked like. I learned so much. I am so, so thankful the Lord allowed me to go. Maybe some day I will be able to go back.” Van, “My wife and I loved our trip and I know you had a big part in that. I enjoyed the spiritual emphasis you added. Combining the history, culture and spiritual made a tremendous impression on me. I know that it is two weeks I will never forget. Now when I read the Bible I get a visual picture and it is so much more meaningful. I can’t wait to start teaching my class again in the fall so I can share what I have learned. The trip was great and we enjoyed your leadership and teaching.” Van, “What a fantastic experience. I have made two slide shows from my digital photos, and am showing them at my church.” Van, “My husband and I were so blessed we went to Israel when we did. Thank you for all you did for us. You sure do a great trip. Keep up the good work God has called you to do.” Van, “Just to thank you for an amazing trip. It is difficult to settle down now as my heart seems to be in Israel, but I guess this is why you yourself return year after year. You opened up my eyes to a lot of things and made everything I had read about in the Bible come alive. Thank you for putting so much into the trip. It really was an ‘in depth’ trip.” Van, “We so enjoyed our trip with you. What an amazing thing to go to Israel and see all the places we have heard about for years. The Biblical context and follow-up information were great.” Van, “I thank you for putting this tour together as I really enjoyed it and want to go back. Everyone on the trip was wonderful. I never thought that I would come to like people so fast of which we became like family.” Van, “Thank you for such a great trip. I am reading the Old Testament and can hardly believe it when I say ‘I have been there. You did an excellent job putting together the accomplished itinerary with Scripture.” Van, “What a gift you have given us. I really appreciated the tour and completed itinerary you sent us afterward. Thanks so much.” Van, “Thanks again for your hard work and dedication to put this trip together and making it a success.” Van, “We really enjoyed the trip and your sharing your knowledge with us.” Van, “Thank you and Diane for all your hard work, adrenaline and sleepless nights, in making this a never-to-be-forgotten trip.” Van, “Just wanted to drop a line and say thank you for a great trip.” Van, “I am reminiscing about our travels and every moment seems so special. This trip was beyond description. We think of our trip to Israel almost every day, sometimes it is thoughts of the incredible cities, sometimes the beautiful sites and terrain of the Bible, sometimes it is the interesting history, and always our thoughts are accompanied by the Hodges and all the wonderful friends we made on our trip. I know it is a pilgrimage and will make the Bible 'come alive' for each person. As I read my Bible, I can now envision what is happening with so much more clarity and insight.” Van, “Thank you so much for your hard work, attention to detail, and effort that you have put into the Israel trip. For me, the whole experience has strengthened my faith. My wife and I both agree that this trip will help us visualize the Bible events, and we will use all that we learned as another tool to study the Bible. You gave us great photo opportunities and the wonderful pictures I took will be shared with others. We had a trip of a lifetime and with great memories, plus we enjoyed the Christian fellowship and had a great time with you all.” Van, “I can’t adequately express our appreciation for the detailed accomplished itinerary. It has been invaluable determining the where and when of our hundreds of pictures. The pilgrimage was awesome, and we are so blessed for the opportunity to be a part of it.” Van, “You certainly did a bang up job in your description of each site and its relation to Scripture. It’s hard to say what stands out in my mind the most because they all touched me in different ways.” Van, “This was an incredible and life changing trip. I am still in awe of all the experiences, insights, and sights of Israel. It was truly a life-changing event, bringing the Word we read daily to life. I appreciate all the work you put into this mission and the fellowship experience on the tour was priceless and certainly put treasures into my memory bank.” Van, “We want to express our heartfelt thanks and deep appreciation for providing us with the trip of a lifetime. The Bible does take on a new perspective as we read or hear about a place and we can say we remember that because we were there. The trip summaries you have provided are amazing and so helpful as we sort our photos and recall our great adventure. Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication.” Van, “Thank you so much for making my trip to Israel so blessedly meaningful. I don’t doubt for a minute this trip was one of the most organized and divinely inspired trips I have ever been on. The work you put into this trip was incredible and could never be measured in dollars. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Van, “The tour was such a wonderful experience. Thank you for all the hard work you did for this tour. It was excellent and will be treasured always. My mom and I are still amazed and enjoying the memories. I am going to encourage more people to go and maybe I can get my sons to go. It was fabulous!” Charlotte T. - Tulsa, Oklahoma - 2010 Van, “Thank you for a wonderful trip. We enjoyed every moment of every day and will always have special memories of our experience. We learned a great deal which will better coalesce as we review our notes and pictures.” Van, “We wanted to let you know we were in Florida and spent a special evening with Roy and Betty D. going over the pictures we took. We all agreed it was a momentous trip with so many wonderful memories. It would never have happened without all your efforts, and for that we are enormously grateful.” Van, “I still can not stop thinking about my time in Israel. It was a wonderfully amazing trip. I feel as if I saw everything there was to see and more. You did a great job in planning it and you get a special kudos for keeping it all on schedule despite the many and varied challenges presented to you.” Van, “It seems unreal that we were in Israel. We talk about it so often and it becomes more and more special as we do. I cannot thank you enough for encouraging us to go. I know we would never have gone if it were not for you.” Van, “Thank you for all your time and effort in planning and doing this memorable tour. I so appreciate it.” Van, “We just wanted to thank you for a great trip. We looked at our pictures last night and remembered what an awesome time we had.” Van, “Thanks for a great trip. It was one of the highlights of our life.” Van, “The trip was great and the best tour we have ever been on.” For more information: contact Van Hodges, ph. 708- 331- 4440; e-mail: hodges777@juno.com |
