God’s message is everywhere. From the beginning of time, God has spoken through and in the land of Israel. The land speaks of God and His majesty, His love, and His grace. God is not finished with Israel & the amazing thing is we get to be a part of what He is doing there!

I was so blessed by being able to go to Israel. I have always had my own idea of what Israel was and is today. That view has been enhanced and changed forever.

Being able to walk where Jesus walked, seeing Peter’s home, walking in the Garden has given me a new understanding of Israel. It was awesome to be in the land where Jesus was born, grew up, left this earth physically, and will one day soon return. If you ever have the opportunity, you must go to Israel. The experience will change your life.

It is amazing and will change your life. I can’t wait until we get to go back!

It was the most amazing trip! “Enjoyable experience” does not even begin to describe how totally amazing it was! Where to begin? To walk where our Lord walked. Enjoying the fellowship of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Sharing in the expressions of our love for the Lord with the Torah ceremonies and scripture readings. Again, amazing! How does one even begin to describe Moshe the Teacher? I know now why several of the tour members carried digital recorders with them. As one of Moshe’s students, you want to soak up every word and not miss one syllable. He makes it all so real, not just with lectures, but with hands-on experience. Everything from crawling around in tunnels underneath Jerusalem, to actually teaching us how the various tools and equipment worked (like the wine press and olive press and grinding wheat and the heart shaped boat anchors), to riding a camel on the Ancient Spice Route. His passion for the Lord is contagious! The Bible seems so much more real now. I read the scriptures like stories and can visualize the people and places and actions much more clearly. I want to know the “whole story“ , if that makes any sense. I think special mention should be made of our bus driver Sami. He did magical things with that bus! Who knew that a tour bus could be considered an “all terrain vehicle”? And he took such good care of all of us and made us all feel very special. There are not words enough to describe what this trip has meant to me. Each day of the trip was more exciting and more memorable that the day before. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, it did! I can’t wait to do it again! Being a soldier in Moshe’s Army for the Lord is the only way to see Israel!

Each time I have made the trip home to Israel with Father’s House, my Abba has made sure to do something special just for me. Once, He even changed the schedule around so that I could be some place very special at just the right time. In doing that,He then added in spots that had not been on our original itinerary, but were on the list of other participants who were disapointed we were not going to those spots. Each trip is full of handpicked participants who then go on a trip that is custom made by HaShem just for them. Only our G-d could pull that off. And He does it every time. May HaShem continue to bless the Father’s House abundantly for all they are doing to enrich and change the lives of all they touch.

The biggest life changing experience ever, because it made me want to get into my Bible. And that has changed my life. I went on the original trip with Father’s House in 2008 and it is still true today. I can’t wait everyday to get into His Word. Having been there where it happened, walking where Jesus walked, makes it come alive and gives understanding I could never get any other way. I’ve been on lots of other trips and by the end of the 10 days or 2 weeks or whatever, I just want to get home and sleep in my own bed. Not Israel. I was home. I was home.

Meticulously planned and a wonderful experience. Life-changing in the truest sense of the word. I have a new passion for the Old Testament and fullness of the Bible. Almost too much information to absorb! I learned so much that I’m not sure where to start to explain it! I grew in my faith tremendously. I have a keen interest in the Old Testament now that did not exist before the trip. I see the Bible as one complete text now and not in division of Old and New. Totally transformed my view of the Bible, time, and the land of Israel. I go from a naive, “Just give me Jesus” Christian to a man that sees Jesus in the totality of the word. I also have a passion for Israel that is strong and I miss that land every day since we departed.

Our trip to Israel with the Father’s House was truly heart changing. I had heard from people who have been to Israel before and how God seemed to speak to them in the Holy Land. I wondered deep down, would he speak to me, what would it be like, what if he didn’t? With all those thoughts swirling around my head, my prayer was God speak to my heart. As a man, pastor, husband, and dad, I struggle with pride. I did not want to come back and be a know it all about Israel, I wanted to come back with a changed heart. And that’s exactly what happened. Sure, I learned, experienced, and gained tons of knowledge and I will never read the bible the same or preach the same again, but God’s greatest gift to me was a more loving heart. I tell people that Israel made me a better LOVER. I love my wife, my kids, others, and my God more and it’s easier to show it. The second to the last day of the trip John gave us the opportunity to be baptized in the Sea of Galilee. Inside I thought, I’m a pastor, I’ve already been baptized, I baptize others, I don’t need to be baptized. But then at the same time I felt our Father say, Do this for me, humble yourself, who cares what others think or say, do this for me, humble yourself for me. The wrestling match continued until the spirit won out and I got dunked. It was awesome. Humbling but awesome. It just felt right. Thank you for that opportunity. It was one of my highlights.

We’ve read about these places and studied them all of our life and have even taught others about it, and to actually be there and being in the places where the Bible took place was an incredible experience. When you’re at the Sea of Galilee, you’re right there on the shore and Jesus was right there on the shore. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. There was a lot of old, old ancient ruins where the Bible took place and you’re actually walking right in that area. To be a pastor and to go there and see it, I think the difference it made for me was you read about those places, but you don’t know what they look like, where they’re at, what topography it has and after being there, when I read the city name, like Nazareth, I can picture it on the hill where it sits. It just brings it out, how far places were from one another when you read about Jesus going from this place to that place or David going from this place to that place, you can picture how far they had to walk. It’s instant whenever I read the name of the city I’ve been to, I picture it and it just brings it right out so it’s easier to describe to people what it looked like, how far it was, how long it took them to travel, it just makes a difference. I think that’s the thing I drew away from most, the picturing it and knowing.