Cindy and I shared pictures and our thoughts about our trip to Israel with our congregation tonight.  It made me appreciate all over again the blessing that the trip was and is for us.  I just wanted to express my gratitude for the Lord’s work through Father’s House and to you, Byron, John and Roxy in particular.  I hope that God allows our paths to cross again this side of heaven.  Grace and peace to you all in our wonderful Lord.

Dear Byron, My brother it has been too long sense I have seen you, Tammy and Isaac.  I have such fond memories of our 2011 trip to Israel. I have just returned from the second trip (June 2012).  I can tell you that there is no such thing as a bad trip with Father’s House.  My first trip was marvelous. 

The team of you and Moshe did an excellent job and I loved every minute. I was disappointed when I learned that Moshe would not be with us on the second trip.  The second trip was as marvelous as the first.  We revisited some of the same places and I departed from each with an expanded appreciation, blessing, and understanding of each.  That is the way the body of Christ is supposed to work, isn’t it.  John Turner and Ron did a masterpiece rendition at repeats and new sites. I so much thank the Lord and Father’s House for making this possible.  My life and ministry were changed after my first trip, but the second trip completed the transformation. After 58 years of preaching/teaching the Word, I can tell you that theses two trips have enriched my teaching and reading the Word.

As soon as I returned from my first trip, I started saving for the next one. There is nowhere in the world quite like Israel.

A trip of a lifetime! No words can described being where Bible history was lived, walk and recorded for us now. Soooo Blessed!

Summarizing the NAUMS 2011 Father’s House Israel Trip, despite the fact that it was the most informative and enlightening trip I have ever been on, has been a surprisingly difficult task.  As one might imagine, I have been asked by numerous friends and family members, and members of our congregation, to share what the most influential or to isolate what my favorite part, of the trip was, but I have to admit that there wasn’t a most influential or favorite part of the trip for me.  Each and every day there were multiple parts that I was very fond of and that were quite influential,  The entire trip, from beginning to end, was packed full of information and spiritual depth. I honestly wish the trip hadn’t ended, and I have been suffering from feelings of … homesickness???  Kind of strange, but it is true.  I want to return with the The Father’s House each and every time they go to Israel.  Perhaps the Lord will open a door for that to happen. I have come down to one simple statement that sums up my feelings about the trip, or maybe a better way to say this is to say that this statement sums up my feelings toward God since experiencing the NAUMS 2011 Father’s House Trip to Israel, and that is this … I have a lot more “Want To” where it comes to serving the Lord.  Having experienced Him on such a real and personal level, I don’t want to do anything that would displease him.  The experience has deepened my relationship with The Lord and has made me a better minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thank you so much for providing the opportunity for me to visit the land of our Lord. What a blessing, what an adventure! I’ll never read another another word of Scripture the same. What a life change this trip has been. In the midst of all that I experienced, what an added joy it was to be with a number of other pastors from my community. You’ll never know what you have helped do, by God’s divine hand. The eight pastors who went from Susanville are all part of our local ministers group. We have done many community wide events together and seek to bring the churches of our town together by our example. But this trip brought us together in ways that we could never have imagined. The fruit of this adventure together will be born in the many months and years to come. You just didn’t affect the lives of a few pastors, you helped promote the Kingdom of God in a whole county in Northeastern California. Thank you, thank you! My prayers and blessings go out to you and Tammy, your work and ministry. May God continue to prosper and favor you and yours. Blessings/Shalom Rick Conrad

I know that I will never be the same and can’t wait to go again. I truly believe that this trip was more than information it was impartation which added such a deeper diminution to the experience. In my particular situation the hand of God literally snatched me out of my world and dropped me into another world completely out of my control and comfort zone. I also think that I was more than surprised of how much I retained from this trip (since I gave up on note taking about the third day) but to my surprise the Holy Spirit was etching some truths into my soul that went far beyond Israel facts and history alone they where personal life lessons. I also had a eye adjustment while there in Israel by the Holy Spirit that has helped me to see my world from a better perspective more filled with hope, more Kingdom fight and better than all that to take the sour things in this life, and with God’s help make lemonade ever time we have opportunity that can sweeten and enrich our lives and those around us. God gave me a fresh grace not to see the wilderness as my enemy anymore and to ask everyday what lessons are there to learn in the wilderness and if God put me in a wilderness place He can speak to me and show me the way, plus the quicker I learn the lessons of the wilderness the quicker I can get into my next season of milk and honey. Several of my parishioners came up to me and asked what has happened to me (IN A GOOD WAY) since returning from this trip and I’m not sure if I can point to any one thing but I do know that God started a fresh work in my heart filled with new hope and a eye for the future. God has used me to help some of my pastor friends that have been burning up in the desert with despair and hopelessness to look for God to speak to them in their wilderness. Thanks so much for being that vehicle that the Holy Spirit could use to light up a worn out soldier of the cross and give him (ME) a fresh wind to fight the good fight another day. As for Your FATHER’S HOUSE team all of you are a God send and a real tool in the hand of God so please keep up the hard but good work and know your labor is not in vain.