with B’Yachad tour report
“My heart is stirred by a noble theme…” Psalm 45:1
Part of our group in the Golan Heights
Shalom Mishpacha,
The theme is Israel, but what makes it noble?
If you watch the news, it’s difficult to find much evidence. If you read your Bible, the pages are saturated with poor behavior and disbelief in God’s promises or His nearness.
Clearly, there is nothing special about Israel or the people.
Or is there?
Why is it that Christians who have come with us to Israel are saying things like this?
“I have been to a handful of countries and I have never felt this sense of urgency or pull to return as much as I have now.”
Or this one from a missionary advocate who has been all over the world for decades;
“It was one of the most impactful experiences of my life, and for all the reasons you state.
How much I desire to return…”
Is it because they are pro-Israel, or Zionists?
How about this one?
“Words to adequately describe our Israel experience are difficult to find…How could I as someone engaged in lifelong ministry have been so clueless about Israel and all that represents?”
Before you start thinking that this is a “Come to Israel” travel brochure, I need to clarify.
Israel and the Jewish people are not better or more important than anyone else. But God has chosen them to play a specific role.
Israel was never on my bucket list. As a believer, I decided I could wait for the New Jerusalem. Besides, the only option I knew was to go on a tour and that was definitely not for me.
That all began to change in 2004 when my wife was asked by an Israeli doctor in her 8th month of pregnancy to accompany her back to Israel. She offered to pay for her round-trip ticket and half of mine. Three days later we were on the plane.
Instead of a hotel and tour guide, we rented a car and stayed with a wonderful family of Messianic Believers in the town of Beit Shemesh where the Ark of the Covenant came to rest.
My entire perspective about Israel changed, especially because of the people we met. I was so grateful for the brief visit, but never expected to return.
But in 2013 I was asked by the then President of ANM to begin ministry in Israel.
Three years later God spoke to me to begin bringing tours.
I wanted to say, “Never, Lord!”
But I remembered that didn’t go well with Peter.
Soon I met the owner of a tour company who was a Messianic believer, as were his guides. They wanted to do more than take Christians to the sites, they were mission-minded as was I. In 2017 we formed a group of 22 for our first Israeli Advocacy Tour.
Our goal was to introduce our Christian team to our Israeli partners. Along the way to the biblical and historic sites we would share about Israel’s calling, God’s promises and fulfillments, and the vital role the Gentile plays now and as prophecy unfolds. Our tour was the first time anyone had met an Israeli disciple of Yeshua.
In 2020 we planned our first tour for young adults. Their generation has been victim to a massive dose of anti-Israel propaganda on college campuses and from the media.
I was also grieved when I learned that a great number of them departed from church soon after high school. Polls were taken to ask why. The answers were boredom, irrelevance, and few opportunities for them to serve. The consensus was that not many planned on returning.
With or without polls, it was obvious to me that I needed to do something. We were losing our greatest asset—our grown children. It dawned on me that somehow Israel could be at least part of the solution. Could a tour be an antidote?
A few young adults came on our Advocacy tours. I noticed when we walked slowly, they were eager to run, and when we looked at biblical trees, they wanted to climb them. When we got immersed in the Jordan, they wanted to swim. (That doesn’t work well in the Dead Sea.)
So we took them to Israel on our first B’Yachad tour last month. It means “together,” literally “in one,” like a unit. Jesus would have used that term in His prophetic prayer of John 17 if it were written in Hebrew.
Not only did they meet their Israeli peers and learn the truth concerning Israel, they got to spend their God-given energy.
We made a long trek in the Golan forest and were baptized in the Jordan River. We hiked among the caves and cliffs of En Gedi and refreshed in her pools and under her waterfalls. (110-112 degrees daily). We cleaned up the trash on the shores of the Galilee, rafted down the Jordan in the North, and floated in the Dead Sea in the South.
As enjoyable as it was, so was it meaningful. This is Israel. People live here and they got to see many of them enjoying life and being with family. It meant something to them.
They did not come to be entertained, though we did our share of laughing. They came because they were discovering their identities. They are seeking a cause and the role they play in a world that has become so confusing and often chaotic.
They are the future of the church and I believe their future will be meaningful and adventurous if they take hold of the defining role that Israel plays. They sensed it and it excited them as they began to understand that Jews and Gentiles are called to accompany one another in service to the King of Kings.
It became clear that the life of the believer was so much more as they met the believers we serve.
When we visited Little Hearts pre-school in the heart of Jerusalem, which borders ultra-Orthodox Jewish and Muslim neighborhoods, we witnessed little children who didn’t look the same or speak the same, but they were loved the same by their dedicated Messianic teachers who are Jewish, Arab, Ethiopian and Asian. They serve children who are from Muslim, Christian, and Jewish backgrounds, taught in a Yeshua-centered environment.
From there we walked through the Damascus Gate, just as a large entourage of Muslim men were returning from their prayers at the Al Aqsa mosque. They wondered why they looked so angry.
Then to the Western (Wailing) Wall where the Jews were ‘davening’ in prayer, while some of us faced the wall and prayed for the salvation of the people.
We drove to the Mt. of Olives looking over the city and then hiked down the path that Jesus and His disciples may have walked to the Garden of Gethsemane, then across the Kidron Valley, passing the Tomb of Absalom into the City of David, then stopping at a large Bedouin tent for tea.
On the way to Jaffa Gate, we stopped at a friend’s handmade gift shop in the Armenian Quarter. They shopped (they loved to shop) as worship music by Joshua Aaron and Aaron Shust, played in the background.
We visited Yad VaShem, the Garden tomb, Garden of Gethsemane, Golgotha, Megiddo, Magdala, and many other sites by day, but during dinner and into the night we had fellowship with our partners from the leading advocates for the unborn and learned how holistic, compassionate, and effective they are at saving lives physically, emotionally and spiritually.
We listened to the testimonies of a Messianic officer in the IDF, and an Ethiopian Jewish believer.
We had breakfast with an Arab believer in Haifa who loves Israel and the Jewish people one morning, and Iranian-born believer in Jerusalem one evening. Each has given his life to God for the sake of reaching the Israeli people with the love of Yeshua in inspiring and effective ways.
So much more to say but before our departure, we enjoyed a Shabbat meal at the home of a Messianic family and close friends, who are also deeply engaged in ministry. At their invitation, we joined their family and friends for an amazing meal followed by worship and much laughter and prayer.
Here are a few remarks;
“My heart is overwhelmed with gratefulness! This trip has been an eye-opening life-changing experience for me.”
“It was not only a tour but we met Israeli believers in all kinds of ministries. Jews, Arabs, Iranians, all who love the Lord and are serving him full on in the Land”
“I was so blessed by the interaction/testimonies of the Jewish believers we got to spend time with.”
“This trip was life-changing. I was challenged in so many ways.”
“…and then being in an Israeli home for Shabbat, what an inspiring, joyful celebration. What an Amazing God we serve!”
“Comfort My People definitely brings Joy and Glory to the Lord.”
And now it’s your turn.
If you have never been on our Israeli Advocacy Tour, our next one is coming soon. Ask God if He would like you to come.
Israeli Advocacy Tour
Today Jesus is still at work in the Land among Messianic believers.
You will get to meet some of them and learn what they do.
Experience both the biblical sites and the People of the Book.
Meet your family and become their advocates.
November 27—December 7, 2023
Join us for an unforgettable, life-changing experience.
For information about cost and itinerary contact Paul Robbins.
540.294.4906 cell • comfortmypeople.com
Did I mention we took a ride on a wooden boat owned by Jewish believers as we worshiped Yeshua on the Sea where He once walked?
Enjoy worship on the Galilee:
https://www.youtube.com/@paulrobbins773/videos