The director said to me in an encouraging way, "Only one more day of shooting, then home,' but I wouldn't let myself relax. Too much time overseas has taught me that it's never really over until you're stumbling over your luggage on to your bed. The last few days of The Life of Jesus documentary shoot have proved to be the most eventful, without a shadow of a doubt.

We had always intended to visit Megiddo, the ancient city that crouches on a hilltop above the plains of Armageddon. In the last two years archaeologists had made a staggering discovery " the remains of a Christian prayer hall probably dating to the late second century. What made it so valuable, apart from its age, was the fact that it contained mosaics dedicated by gentile believers. Non-Jews " demonstrating just how rapidly Jesus' message moved from a Palestinian to an international faith. More so, the inscriptions clearly show that Jesus was already being worshipped as God by the earliest believers.

The permits were all in place, and frankly the crew was pumped. This was probably the most valuable discovery we would be filming for the production. Not to mention the fact that we would be one of the first crews in the world to film the mosaics up close. Imagine my surprise five days earlier when I discovered that the permission's we'd spent so long obtaining were for the wrong site. The Megiddo prayer hall quickly became my top prayer point. Especially when I discovered that the site we were hoping to film was actually in the heart of one of Israel's prisons. It was discovered while renovations were going on. And not just any prison " it was a maximum security facility that housed the country's most dangerous terrorists.

Now that's what a producer likes " a challenge.

I would like to say that I "worked my magic' but the truth is that after three or four phone calls there wasn't much I could do but wait and pray. God saves these moments, though, to show us how small we are and how big He is. The permission to film in the prison came through late on the day before we were due to arrive amidst much celebration. However the smiles faded when we cleared the many layers of security to discover that the archaeologists working on the site had no idea we were coming. More phone calls, more patient conversations, more prayers " and more grace. After a half-hour's negotiation, calls to Sydney, Jerusalem and Heaven, we were given the go-ahead to film. We were in fact the second crew after National Geographic, and our program will certainly go to air before theirs.

In the process we actually made some good friends at the Israeli Antiquities Authority and on site. So, basking in the glow of this amazing opportunity, we headed off for the airport and our last stop " Manchester.

The John Rylands Library in Manchester contains the oldest known fragment of a gospel " the Gospel of John, in fact, dated to somewhere early in the second century. It is old enough to be a copy of the original, or a copy of a copy at worst. It contains Jesus' appearance before Pilate and his conversation with that conflicted man. This would also be one of the most important documents to feature in The Life of Jesus production. On our last day of filming we slogged our way through the security measures at Heathrow to get to our flight. But as we prepared to take our seats the director ran up to say that we were now a documentary crew without a host " John Dickson had got hung up in security and the flight had closed without him.

The one-hour flight from London to Manchester turned into a rapid planning meeting. By the time we hit the ground John had hired a car and was driving feverishly towards Manchester, the director and camera crew were considering and rejecting green-screen options and I was rearranging filming slots like a calendar-based version of Tetris. God and God alone made that day come together. The custodians of the John Ryland Library were happy to move our long-standing appointment by four hours; the various other locations fell neatly into line and, most importantly, everyone kept their heads so that not an ounce of panic will appear on screen.

Now, I'm tapping away in a Heathrow lounge, minutes away from boarding my flight home. I had many prayer points when I started this production, but particularly that God would use the time to draw me closer to Him, helping me to live quietly and confidently in His presence. I look down my prayer list and see that He has answered them all " with emphasis on the last.

The Life of Jesus crew is John Dickson (Presenter), Allan Dowthwaite (Director), Greg Clarke (Presenter / Researcher), Mal Hamilton & Paul Moss (Camera operators), Neil Kelly (Sound recordist) and Mark Hadley (Producer).