One Trip to Israel can change the World

One Trip to Israel can change the World

How do you take young pastors who are shaping the next generation of a massive demographic in America—Christians—and make them Israel’s biggest supporters when, in many cases, they are disinterested, apathetic, misinformed, or antagonistic towards Israel?

The answer is simple: You take them to Israel.

I was 30 years old, raised in a good Christian home, knew my Bible, and was the senior pastor of my first church in Ohio. I had married my high school sweetheart, we had 3 beautiful kids under 5 years old, we bought our first home, and our church was growing. In short, we were settling into a nice, normal, comfortable life for young pastors. Life was good.

As for Israel…that was 5000 years ago or 5000 miles away. How was Israel going to help me be a better husband or father? Was Israel going to grow my church? Sure, it might be nice to travel there someday to see some of the places Jesus walked and taught, but I would be an old man by the time that happened. On top of not seeing Israel’s direct benefit in my life or ministry, most of the Christians I met who cared about Israel were old, weird, or both. So I ultimately decided, when it came to Israel, I was not going to be involved.

Then I got a phone call that changed my life. “Hi, this is Robert Stearns from Eagles Wings…” And in the next few moments, I was invited on an all-expenses-paid trip for young pastors to Israel. I thought, sure, why not spend a week to go and Bible geek out with other pastors? I had no idea what was waiting for me on the other side of the 11-hour flight.

Right when I landed, something was different. There was an energy or spirit to this place that felt both familiar and supercharged. We hit the ground running from sight to sight and new food to new food. At every turn, my Bible confronted me and came to life. I was standing in the land of the Bible in 2016, and I no longer needed a commentary for some passages: they were fulfilled or being fulfilled in front of my eyes.

The first morning, before we began touring or saw a sight, I had my first eye-opening moment. We went to get breakfast at the hotel. As I placed a piece of fruit on my plate, Bishop Stearns said to me, “You are eating the fruit of Amos 9.” I am literally eating a fulfilled prophecy!

“And I will bring my people Israel back from exile. “They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.” Amos 9:14 NIV

The second place my eyes were opened was when we went to the Western Wall for the first time. Shabbat was just beginning as we walked toward the Old City’s Dung Gate. As the sunset, we heard the roar of thousands of worshipers dancing and singing the Psalms due to a three-thousand-year-old prayer meeting that had been happening in this spot since the days of King Solomon. (I still feel chills as I recall this moment.) When I prayed at the Wall that night, I had never felt closer to God, and it was as if my purest prayers emerged from my heart as tears streamed down my cheeks. As I walked away from the Wall, I thought of the scripture when Solomon was dedicating the Temple and God promised to be here in this place, in Jerusalem…forever.

“Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” 2 Chronicles 7:15-16 NIV

The third place my eyes were opened was going to my first Shabbat dinner. I had never been to a Shabbat dinner and wasn’t sure what to expect. After all, when does an orthodox Jewish family open their home to 30 evangelical pastors to host them on Friday night? Despite my reservations, I found myself deeply moved from the food and laughter to the prayers and symbolism, to the time spent together with family and friends at a weekly meal. Every detail touched me but none more than the moment the husband sang Proverbs 31 over his wife and then pronounced the blessing over his children. Shabbat is now a regular practice in our family and has brought unbelievable intimacy to our family with the Lord, as well as with each other.

The fourth and final eye-opening moment came on our last day as our guide took us to one last place in Jerusalem before we headed to the airport that afternoon. In the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, just above an old piece of the original Jebusite Wall, was a playground. Kids were running around laughing and playing as moms, dads, and grandparents sat nearby in the late morning sun. Our guide then opened the book of Zechariah and read a passage that is 2400 years old but was being fulfilled in front of our eyes.

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again, men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.” Zechariah 8:4-5 NIV

I had been confronted deeply. I knew two things coming home: first, that I’ll never be the same again; and second, I need to come back and take as many people with me as I can.

Fast forward almost a decade, and I have been to Israel six times, having led tours with Eagles Wings for hundreds of people. I have a three-year-old podcast called Shoulder to Shoulder with my dear friend Rabbi Pesach Wolicki with an audience of thousands. I am now serving Bishop Robert Stearns as the Pastor of the Tabernacle in Buffalo, New York, one of the most pro-Israel churches in America. I have given speeches with politicians, marched on college campuses, given news interviews, and been on multiple media channels, standing up in support of Israel and the Jewish people. And just a few weeks ago, in the middle of the war and during the latest Iranian missile attack against the Jewish State, I took my wife, my mother, and my children to Israel to ensure my love for God, the Jewish people, and the land of Israel reverberates in their hearts as well.

How do you make young pastors Israel’s biggest supporters? You take them to Israel.

Pastor Doug Reed serves as the Senior Associate Pastor at The Tabernacle, a historic Pentecostal church in Buffalo, NY. Together with Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, he co-hosts the Shoulder to Shoulder podcast.

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