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.

The trip changed my life by making the Bible real. I always believed it, but now it is real. The ones I talk to about it,I tell them if they have been wrestling with their faith, they need to go to Israel. It will settle everything for them.

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.

We don’t even know where to begin to start thanking you for the amazing gift that you gave Steve and I.  It was truly life changing in every way.  We have fallen in love with the homeland of Israel and will never, ever be the same again.  Our days were so full but oh so, so good.  Our cups were so full that we were drinking out of our saucers.  Every single day, we thought wow, surely tomorrow cannot top today, but it did.  We cannot wait to sit down with both of you to share our experience.  Thank you so much Byron and Tammy for having the heart for Israel and for sending Pastors there to learn and to experience the life of Jesus. John Turner, Rick Hamm are great men of God that we respect so much. They love the Lord and it radiates through them.  It was a blessing to experience this trip of a lifetime with them and the other wonderful people that we met. We look forward to returning again soon.

My first trip to Israel was December 2010 and I was elated. That trip was the fulfillment of a 58 year dream. It turned out to be more than I had ever imagined. I had always wanted to have a real study experience in Israel. I got exactly what I wanted. It was so much more than a tourist trip. Thank God for the efforts and planning of Father’s House Educational Foundation and an expert guide like Moshe. I have read and studied the Word for 58 years, but that experience brought it alive. Since my return it seems that a light was turned on when I read the Word. When I share it through teaching and/or preaching, it is so exciting to see and hear the excitement of those hearing the information and seeing the pictures of the land of Israel. What a joy it is to share with others. The inmates in my services at the prison where I am chaplain are thrilled. I am thanked over and over for allowing them to enjoy the Power Point presentation of things they will never get to see because they are felons. I thought I was excited after the first trip, but when I came back in June of 2012, I could hardly keep silent. Most of the people where I work get excited just hearing about the trip. What I found was that the second trip compounded what I had experienced on the first trip. We revisited a few of the places from the first trip, but it was amazing how much more was added to what I had already learned. In addition we went to new places which expanded the knowledge gained 18 months later. For instance in the 18 month time between the two trips we were able to see the ruins of King David’s palace in the City of David. On both trips there was such wonderful fellowship among the groups. Anyone needing a refreshing spiritual uplift should really consider making this trip to Israel.

My first journey to the Promised Land in 2007 altered my course. When Byron said, “Let’s go to Israel,” I was dumbfounded. All kinds of thoughts were swimming in my head. “Why should I go to Israel? Is it safe? Is it necessary? WOW! That’s where Jesus walked…” Obviously, the end result was a 15-hour plane ride and an amazing trek in a blue van with Byron, Moshe, Justin, and myself. Any doubts of traveling to Israel disappeared instantly as we stood looking over the Holy City, Jerusalem. I could not help but think about Matthew 23:37 where Jesus said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem,… how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” I was hooked. The Bible sprang to life in a way that commentaries, videos, and imaginations were not able to produce. My journey to Israel caused God’s Love Letter to me, the Word of God, to take on new meaning. My personal readings of the Scriptures were and have never since been the same. My preaching had new direction and passion. My life was changed. Since that first time in Israel, I have been blessed to go back to the Promised Land on many other occasions. Each and every time, whether going to previously visited sites or not, I have left with fresh fire from and renewed purpose in the things of God. As you may know, the Lord has recently brought me to a new place in ministry. I no longer Pastor a church but have the privilege daily to challenge churches across the world to stand with Israel and strive to understand more of the Hebraic roots that so enrich our Christian Faith. Because of that first trip, a journey I believe EVERY pastor MUST make, I know that believers today play a vital role in the physical and spiritual restoration of Israel. Thousands of years ago, God called Abram to leave his home to travel to a new home that would be called Israel. On that tiny sliver of land in the Middle East, God began to reveal Himself to the world. Still today, that tiny sliver of land is the stage upon which God is showing the world that His plan of redemption and grace is free to all who will trust upon His only begotten Son, our Messiah. Talk about a change in direction! Baruch HaShem…Bless the Name !

My 10 days in Israel. it was awesome! Our tour guide was a general in the Israeli army during the six day war in 1967. He was intense, but he got us into some pretty amazing places.

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

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.