Deal Friends,

Well we’re back from Israel safe and sound and we made 12 new programs. It was a confusing two weeks; we combined two regular tours of the Holy Land with the TV crew and location shooting (and when I say shooting I mean television).

In the first week, forty of our viewers joined me in Tel Aviv, Caesarea, the Sea of Galilee, Jericho and Jerusalem for a wonderfully complete tour of the holy places. The morning they departed, a group of five ministers and their wives arrived for a “FAM Tour,” a familiarization journey through the holy sites. On this kind of a tour. I more or less teach ministers how to take their people through Israel, with a view to promoting future pilgrimages to the land by individual churches. If you are a minister, or if you know a minister who should be familiar with Israel, please contact us at once. We will be taking more of these FAM tools and the ministers get quite a financial break in Israel. Our training program for ministers is to encourage personal touring of the Promised Land to get a more collect picture of it than the news media would have us believe. The serene and beautiful Holy Land, has to be seen to be appreciated.

The TV crew set right to work and we filmed new material in the spirit of the old Holy Places series. From me to you I would sincerely say that this new series of programs will be better. Everyone liked the Holy Places but frankly, I think we reached new levels of spiritual content and technical perfection with these new programs.

We got into some of the very difficult places in Israel where TV crews are rarely welcome. Through elaborate rituals of hand shaking, begging and downlight bribery we were able to film at the Moslem Dome of the Rock and at the Arab sheep and goats market, which our Lord referred to often in His teaching. Through our Arab contact we were also able to film in a genuine Bedouin tent and I wonder if you’re going to be able to recognize me on that particular show!

We filmed two very wonderful programs at the unique Model City of Jerusalem, which shows the Holy City reconstructed as it was in the time of Herod and Jesus. We used a local expert for the model in general on one program and I myself did the program about the Temple site. We got into a rather macabre theme with shows in two different tombs. We went to where Kind David lies in state on Mt. Zion, and then to the tomb of Haggai, Malachi and Zechariah on the Mt.of Olives. There certainly was a great deal to say at both of these singular sites. We also did a beautiful program from the Garden of Gethsemane, looking upwards to the Eastern Gate, in which we reconstructed our Lord’s final night before the crucifixion. Several other programs round out an even dozen.

Most significantly, we were able to have, an interview with Teddy Kollek, the mayor of Jerusalem, who received us very kindly. I asked the mayor if he anticipated the coming of the Messiah and he indicated that he did and that he would be glad, to hand over, “all these problems to Him.” City hall in Jerusalem isn’t quite what it is in an American city; it’s just a modest building in a neighborhood setting and anyone is welcome to come in. We saw no police or soldiers and we were greeted only by a handful of very busy civilians. It probably costs the people of Israel a lot less to have their country governed since they don’t have an American situation of practically half the population being paid to govern the other half.

All things considered it was an emminently successful undertaking for the television program. When you see these new shows I think you’ll appreciate that God was with us every step of the way. I think you’ll understand too that superior location production like this is expensive. Without going into a big fund-raising song and dance for you, I’d like to just say that I hope this year will be different than last year.

Last year we made superlative location shows programs in the summer and produced them in the fall. The production bills mounted up steadily as we cut and edited our film into organized half hour programs and we were soon in deep water. We had to be late on bills to television stations who have aired our program from the beginning. Being late with a bill in today’s business climate is no mortal sin, but in the case of a secular station I very much want to put our best foot forward. We cannot very well say on their channel, “God is with us,” and then tell the manager behind the scenes that we’re stuck for the money to pay for his labors. To those able workers at the secular stations, good bill paying is the best testimony. This year I’d rather go into our new production with a sense of confidence in the financial area. You just don’t know what a drag it is on us to hold off bill collectors just because the money that’s coming hasn’t arrived yet.

So in plain words, please give toward the production of this new series of shows from Israel as soon as you can. For the sake of our good name and to help us manage our business in the way our Lord would prefer, I must ask you to organize your giving a little sooner this year. Presently on ZOLA LEVITT LIVE we are running the old Holy Places series and everybody loves it and there’s no problem. But a day of reckoning will come in September when those shows have finished their rerun. At that time we will have to either have the new series ready or put on still older reruns. All of our past programs are good ones, but between you and me, we should show the absolute best we have as the new TV season starts in September. At that time we compete with all the other programs including the secular networks for viewers who will establish their habits for the coming year. If we can give them the best we’ve got, our outreach will increase tremendously.

You should know that we have a very large contingent of unbelievers watching ZOLA LEVITT LIVE, including many unsaved Jewish people. I get letters and personal responses all the time from those who do not know the Lord but want to know more about Israel. They certainly aren’t getting a clear picture of Israel from the secular networks and they know it. On our program they get the Israel God meant us to pray for.

When we get our shows put together we’ll run a programming list so you can see what is when. Until then please know that we are hard at work for you, carrying an important message to those you can’t reach. Thank you in advance for supporting us in this work and God bless you every one.

Your messenger,