2009 Pastor's Familiarization Tour

Day 1 - Journal @ Capernaum (Kefar Naẖum), Israel

2009-12-05T08:00:44.000Z

WEEKEND IN REVIEW: It’s been a hectic weekend for participants in the first Pastors’ Familiarization Tour to Israel/Egypt sponsored by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, following the Fellowship’s successful annual Journey Home Tour in November. After arriving at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv early Friday evening, the ministers and their spouses began a whirlwind tour of the holy sites surrounding the Sea of Galilee before arriving in Jerusalem late Sunday night.

PRAISE REPORT: God has been faithful with answers to prayer for Rev. Brent Schnell, pastor of Venetain Garden Ministries in Blanchester, Ohio. Immediately upon arrival in Israel, Pastor Schnell was taken to the medical center in Ben Gurion Airport suffering from exhaustion. He was transported by ambulance to a nearby Tel Aviv hospital, where his wife, Judy, sat with him in the emergency room while physicians completed hours of X-rays and heart tests. He was released from the hospital Saturday morning after doctors determined the high altitudes of flying caused his serious complications. He recuperated in the Olive Tree Hotel in Jerusalem, and Sunday night was excited about joining the tour Monday morning.

Day 1 - Journal @ Mount of Beatitudes (Har Naẖum), Israel

2009-12-05T10:00:32.000Z

BEGINNING AT MOUNT OF BEATITUDES: Revs. Jeff and Beth Jones, co-pastors of Valley Family Center in Portage, Mich., read the Sermon on the Mount at the Mount of Beatitudes. Pastor Beth, who had experienced the Fellowship’s Journey Home Tour in 2005, said that the Sermon on the Mount was simple and, based on that, she advised pastors to keep their experience in Israel simple by clearing their mind of any conceptions about Israel and their ministry and look at God, Israel, and their ministry with a fresh beginning.

VIEWING THE MIRACLE OF MULTIPLICATION: At Tabgha, the traditional location of the miracle of the loaves and fishes, Revs. Jess and Christiana Stipes, co-pastors of Crossroads Assembly of God in Chouteau, Okla., read Matthew 14:13-21. Pastor Jess related that his congregation places small pieces of bread in baskets for communion, and that the ministers on the Familiarization Tour are, in kind, placing the fragments of information they receive in Israel in their personal “baskets” to take home with them – thus the information will be multiplied through their congregations.

Day 1 - Journal @ Sea of Galilee, Israel

2009-12-05T13:00:47.000Z

LUNCH ON THE SEA OF GALILEE: Following a stop at Capernaum, the center of Jesus’ Galilee ministry, the ministers boarded a boat on the Sea of Galilee to sing and speak praises, sing, and enjoy the sunshine and a festive luncheon of St. Peter’s fish, chicken, pita bread with chickpeas and hummus, salad, and fresh dates.

Day 1 - Journal @ The Jordan River, Israel

2009-12-05T14:00:02.000Z

BAPTISM HIGHLIGHT OF FIRST DAY: Rev. Jerry Clark, IFCJ tour director/director of church relations, baptized 28 in the Jordan River in an emotional, memorable ceremony. Ministers Raymond and Adorrieanett Sutton of Abundant Life Christian Center in Auburn, N.Y., were particularly emotional when husbands baptized their wives. “I didn’t even cry at my own wedding, but I am crying here. I never, ever thought my husband would be baptizing me in the Jordan River,” she said.

Day 2 - Journal @ Tiberias, Israel

2009-12-06T08:00:22.000Z

VISIT TO BOMB SHELTER PROJECT: Tour participants visited an apartment complex in Tiberias, where the Fellowship had renovated its bomb shelter as part of an IFCJ $2 million emergency project to make 2,000 bomb shelters in northern Israel inhabitable for Israeli families who only have 15 to 30 seconds to respond to an air raid siren before finding sanctuary in a bomb shelter. Rev. Kenneth Stanfill, pastor of Castor Assembly of God in Castor, La., and Rev. David Huereca, pastor of II Ark Church in San Antonio, emerged from the shelter in tears. Pastor Huereca committed to doubling his church’s contribution to the IFCJ and challenged other ministers to respond likewise.

Day 2 - Journal @ Kafr Kannā, Israel

2009-12-06T10:00:33.000Z

RENEWAL OF MARRIAGE VOWS: Fifteen couples renewed their marriage vows in a ceremony at a quaint church in Cana, acknowledging the transformation of water into wine, the first miracle performed by Jesus. It was particularly meaningful for Pastor Keith Nauman of Beauty for Ashes in Rye, Col., and his wife, Margaret, who have been married more than 45 years.

MONDAY’S SCHEDULE: On Monday, the tour will visit the Mount of Olives, Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Memorial), and see first-hand an absorption center for new immigrants to Israel which receives IFCJ contributions.

Day 3 - Journal @ Jerusalem, Israel

2009-12-07T08:00:58.000Z

MONDAY IN REVIEW: Monday required a hectic pace from 6:30 a.m. until 10:15 p.m. as participants in the first Pastors’ Familiarization Tour to Israel/Egypt, sponsored by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, spent their memorable first full day in Jerusalem.

FELLOWSHIP PROJECT BRINGS TEARS: Monday morning began with a visit to Mevaseret Zion Absorption Center, in which the IFCJ partners with the Jewish Agency help to provide language courses, education, medical assistance, and employment counseling for 1,200 immigrants to Israel from Ethiopia. The visit included time with energetic 4- and 5-year-olds who built wooden blocks, colored decorations for Hanukkah, sang in Hebrew, happily posed for photos, and played with their toy train while enjoying hugs and attention from the tour’s ministers and their spouses. The absorption center becomes a transition for the Ethiopian Jews brought home to Israel through the Fellowship’s Wings of Eagles program. Rev. Jess Stipes, pastor of Crossroads Assembly of God in Chouteau, Okla., noted, “The purest form of God’s love is a child, and a child is a child wherever in the world.” Moved to tears, Rev. David Huereca, pastor of II Ark Church in San Antonio, encouraged his fellow pastors to think of adoption in a different way: “Adopt these children with your support [of IFCJ].”

FIRST CAMEL RIDES: After the participants posed near the Mount of Olives for the group’s official tour photograph, many of the thrill-seekers (including Pastor Dennis and Bonnie Saglimbene of Prudenville, Mich.; Minister Narcesa LaBordeo of Smithfield, N.C.; and Aaron and Jennifer Siddiki of Broken Arrow, Okla.) opted to ride Kojak, the first camel the group has met. The less adventurous (including Dave Hail of Broken Arrow, Okla.) chose to have their photos taken next to the gentle camel who seemingly enjoyed his daily – and lucrative – routine since each ride and photo op earned his trainer $5.

SOMBER VISIT TO YAD VASHEM: After a somber visit in a gentle rain to Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial and museum honoring the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust, the Christian tour participants vowed to stand with Jews worldwide who say, “Never again – not on our watch.”

HUMAN RIGHTS HERO STRESSES SUPPORT: Natan Sharansky, a human rights activist who spent nearly a decade in a Soviet prison while seeking the right to practice his Jewish faith in the Former Soviet Union – before winning his freedom and the right to immigrate to Israel in 1986 – told the ministers that Jews are facing many hostile forces seeking the destruction – once again – of Jews. “We [Jews] are fighting for the public opinion of the world. We need very important allies,” stated Sharansky, who serves as chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel. “Jews are in trouble in Yemen, in Iran, and maybe tomorrow [in] Turkey. We need your support,” he stressed, adding that the Fellowship is a “major, major partner” with the Jewish Agency for Israel.

RABBI ECKSTEIN ON REVERSING HISTORY: At an evening town hall attended by the tour members, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, IFCJ founder/president, emphasized the need for reversing the “sad and tragic history of 2,000 years” in the relationship between Christians and Jews. Rabbi Eckstein said the solution for abridging 2,000 years of “a lack of understanding” will include trying – “while even sometimes making mistakes” – risking, and extending love. “But,” he cautioned, “we have to learn to impose love on one another not as you want, but as they want and need to be loved.” Rabbi Eckstein said to achieve a goal of a satisfying relationship between Christians and Jews: “We Jews are going to have to be vulnerable to you Christians, and you Christians are going to have to accept that we Jews are your brothers and sisters.” Rabbi Eckstein, who founded IFCJ 26 years ago, urged Christians to “share your love through deeds.”

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE: On Tuesday, the tour will visit Yad L’Kashish (Lifeline for the Old), a senior citizens project, which receives IFCJ contributions; the Western Wall; the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City, and the Garden Tomb (Gordon’s Calvary).

Day 4 - Journal @ Jerusalem, Israel

2009-12-08T08:00:27.000Z

TUESDAY IN REVIEW: Participants in the first Pastors’ Familiarization Tour to Israel/Egypt, sponsored by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, learned firsthand on Tuesday the meaning of a popular T-shirt intended for tourists to Israel which reads “I walked my feet off in Jerusalem.” Ministers and their spouses walked for five hours in Jerusalem while visiting King David’s Tomb, the Upper Room, the Jewish and Christian Quarters of the Old City, the Via Dolorosa (the mile-long Way of the Cross tracing the route Jesus walked from his condemnation by Pilate to his body being entombed), the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Western Wall, and the Garden Tomb.

LIFELINE FOR THE OLD DRAWS RAVES: An early morning visit to Yad LaKashish (Lifeline for the Old), an IFCJ-sponsored project which provides joy and dignity to more than 300 elderly who are given the opportunity to work and participate in society while earning a small stipend, a bus pass, and a free lunch five days a week. After watching the elderly diligently working, the Christian visitors were thrilled with the opportunity to purchase some of the products the seniors made (wall hangings; hand-crocheted and hand-knitted baby blankets, baby sweaters, baby booties and stuffed toys; jewelry; recycled paper products; greeting cards; and ceramic, metal and textile items).

UPPER ROOM FILLED WITH SONG: During a visit to the Upper Room, Rev. Jerry Clark, tour director and IFCJ Director of Church Relations, began leading the Fellowship group in singing “Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art” when participants in three other tours joined in for a room-wide choir with powerful voices.

GARDEN TOMB COMMUNION DAY’S HIGHLIGHT: As darkness began and sprinkles turned to rain, the group received a meaningful Communion at the Garden Tomb/Gordon’s Calvary, where many Christians believe Jesus was buried and rose from the dead. Praise and worship peaked with the singing of “Because He Lives” and an emotional prayer delivered by Rev. Robert Jones, pastor of Hill Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn.

BANQUET BIDS ADIEU TO ISRAEL: Although the tour will continue in Israel on Wednesday and Egypt on Thursday and Friday, participants were honored at a “farewell” banquet marking the group’s final night in Israel. Honorees included Rev. John Ownby, pastor of Hendersonville Church of God in Sevierville, Tenn., who earned the Courage Award for making the 15-hour international flight to Israel his first-ever airplane ride; Rev. Jess Stipes, pastor of Crossroads Assembly of God in Chouteau, Okla., for celebrating his birthday during the tour; Rev. Brent and Judy Schnell of Venetain Garden Ministries in Blanchester, Ohio, who earned the Trooper Award for cheerfully continuing on the tour after Pastor Schnell spent his first night in Israel hospitalized in Tel Aviv with breathing difficulties as a result of the high altitude on the flights to Israel; and Clifford Menifee of Abundant Life Christian Center in Syracuse, N.Y., the Servant’s Heart Award for volunteering to provide whatever assistance the tour required. In addition, tour members expressed appreciation for the hard work of Nola Moss, who guided the tour; Yosef Amos, driver of the tour bus; and Estee Levin Bligh from Noseworthy Travel who worked diligently behind the scenes to make the tour successful.

RABBI ECKSTEIN AT TOWN HALL: Following the short “farewell” ceremony, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder/president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, began a town hall-style meeting with the pastors by noting, during his opening prayer, “how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together.” He told his listeners that the Fellowship’s Wings of Eagles project is not just to fulfill prophecy, but to save lives. “The Talmud (the Jewish Bible) says that when you save one life, it’s as if you saved the whole world,” the rabbi stated.

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE: On Wednesday, the tour will visit the Garden of Gethsemane before departing Jerusalem for the Dead Sea region, with stops at Qumran, the Spa of Ein Gedi to “float” in the Dead Sea and cover themselves in black mud along the sea’s shoreline, and historic Masada. After lunch and an additional two-hour drive to Eilat, the travelers will head to Egypt for two days of visiting the Pyramids and Sphinx, Cairo, Mount Sinai, the Sinai Desert, and the Suez Canal.

Day 6 - Egypt @ Mount Sinai, Egypt

2009-12-10T08:00:08.000Z

Day 7 - Egypt @ Cairo, Egypt

2009-12-11T08:00:33.000Z