To have such a gift like a Torah Scroll Parchment is very precious to us, to have one that speaks of the release of the captives from Egypt by the power of our God and King is truly priceless for us.  I suppose the one that has Exodus 13:14 through 14:28 contains the portion that speaks so greatly to us. 

I know it is easy to write wonderful words in an email expressing our gratefulness and gratitude for this gift but, I wish you and your team could really see into my heart and see how precious this is to us.  To write anymore would be less impacting than I desire so I send you Peace and love in the name of Jesus.

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.

I have been challenged in several areas spiritually and will be using this next year to work through some of the spiritual truths that were shared on the trip. On my first trip to Israel two years ago, I felt like it was more learning about the places and what happened there, but on this trip I really sensed a greater connection between the places we visited with the spiritual themes being emphasized. The repeated spiritual truths and connections were great. I am so grateful John got to share spiritual insights I could grasp. He greatly increased the spiritual growth experience and was always ready to answer my many questions. Ron was also easy to understand and I appreciated his teaching as well. I thought it was great how well they worked together to help us understand the spiritual truths related to what we were seeing. All the materials and suggested readings before the trip really helped. The trip increases your desire to learn even more. I loved having specific Scriptures to read and information to research. I can’t wait to go back in 2013. I definitely want our youngest to have this experience too. I’m praying our whole family will be able to return Christmas of 2013.

Dear John, Thank you for your kindness and generosity in preparing us for this trip to Israel, our flights, insurance, and insight to expectations of the trip. You were so kind to meet us at the airport, help us through the terminals and take us to the hotel. We are so grateful to you. We would also wish to thank Byron and Tammy, Kevin and an extra special thanks to Moshe.  He is so kind, considerate and so very intelligent. I will remember his every word as I read my Bible. The whole group of 27 are such beautiful Christian people, I feel as if I had known them my whole life. I have read and studied the Bible for years but could never put myself in places where the events took place, now I too can say “I was there”.  I haven’t been able to put my Bible down since I came home.  There are not enough words to express the way I feel about this wonderful trip (I call it a journey through the Bible).  Thanks to all of you who have made this an unforgettable experience.

The biggest impact for me was the role women have is so much more impactful than I ever realized. Thank you so much to both you and Roxie. You made it memorable!

Dear Dr. Turner and Roxie, having you baptize us all was very meaningful, and like you said finding the words to describe the experience is sort of hard. It was an “unspeakable blessing.” No words really do the specialness of the event justice. We are grateful to God for His Love and Provision and grateful to you for your part in it. We had a life changing journey. I (Nicole) prayed at the Western Wall that the banner over our family would be a “banner of joy.” Thank you. Happy Father’s Day to you and “Father’s House :)” Love, The Pizzitola Family

I want you all to know that I had a great trip and would certainly go again and recommend it to anyone. There is not a day goes by that I do not think about the trip and apply something to my life or study, although my head’s still spinning from all the information! Thanks to everyone of you who had a part in it.