Israel

On a morning commute like any other, summertime construction on the Illinois Toll road prompted me through radio presets – scanning traffic reports – looking for someone to make sense of the struggle. As I listened, a connection began to form in my mind. When I arrived at work, I sent an email to the radio station. The traffic reporter filling in that morning was the wife of someone I knew in high school. He had grown up to serve the Lord with Chosen People Ministries – a ministry dedicated to the Jewish population, and to the proclamation among them of Jesus Christ as their Messiah (Romans 1:16). The email I’d sent facilitated a connection to someone with whom I hadn’t spoken in 15 years. We sent the relevant updates (“here’s my last decade & a half in a nutshell”) and in the end, I was added to his address book & his family’s prayer letter.

The week before Thanksgiving, one of a thousand emails I received was from my long lost friend, detailing his yearly “eXperience Israel” trip. Every year, he takes a team of young people on a two week trip to the homeland of God’s people, the cradle and would be grave of His Incarnate Son, and the spiritual epicenter of this world. My heart leapt as it does every time Israel is mentioned. I perused the email, which outlined the nature of this trip as both a pilgrimage and a service trip – working with ongoing ministries – full time ministries established among Arabs, Jews and Christians in the one physical location which God, throughout Scripture, proclaims his intentions for eternity.

Of course, a divorced single mother with a full time job does not get far in this world without a heavy dose of pragmatism which quickly affronts itself to any such dream. More often than not, that voice wins out – as well it should – but not this time. This time, if it was the strength of the dream or the strength of the God of hope behind all dreams, every objection my mind could offer found a ready answer. From my internal monologues to my discussions/debates with friends and family – from my pursuit of the application process to my acceptance on the team – even to this point, as I write this letter – every hurdle has been surmounted so far. I am left with no reason to think that the same will not be true for every obstacle which might present itself from now until I set foot in the Holy Land.

I love to share happy stories. It is my hope that you are blessed by this story, and that I might continue to share with you its blessings – for surely, they have only just begun.

As this journey continues, I ask for your prayers:
· As I prepare for the trip, financially, emotionally, and spiritually
· For my children, while I am away from July 7 – July 22
· For my safety, and the safety of the entire eXperience Israel team
Finally, it is my hope that God will lead some who receive this letter to partner financially with me in this opportunity. Below you will find a form and instructions to facilitate that specific involvement. Please carefully consider whether that is something you are compelled to do (II Corinthians
9:7), and please be in prayer for others as they do the same.

Further information can be obtained by leaving a comment here, or at the following website: www.chosenpeople.com