With only a few days to go before our ON MISSION with God solidarity trip to Israel launches, yesterday was packing day! It becomes all too real once clothing is selected, luggage is filled, checklists are checked off, and passports are dusted off!

What lies before us is almost assuredly beyond all we could ask or imagine. God has opened incredibly unusual opportunities that have the potential to make this solidary trip one for the ages. Even this past week another opportunity arose and I’m doing my best to work it into our itinerary.

As we head to Israel, there are two questions I’m asked continually:

• Why are you going right now?
• Isn’t it dangerous in Israel?

So, let’s answer the questions!

First, a very small group of us are going to fulfill a specific mission we each believe God has called us to. In October 2023, one of our tours was scheduled to launch exactly a week following the October 7 attack. Obviously, we had to cancel that tour, but if planes had been flying, I would have gone there to do whatever I could to share the love of Jesus to a shellshocked nation.

Since that time, the tug to go there has never waned, and the three “Israel sisters” accompanying me have shared how God has tugged on their hearts as well. Through many connections in Israel, I have heard clear evidence of how obvious it is that God is moving among His people. Through the unimaginable turmoil, Jewish eyes and hearts are more open to the reality of Jesus as Messiah than ever before, and the trauma inflicted by the attacks has created God-given opportunities to love and support them in the name of Jesus.

That is why we are going. God is at work among His uniquely called people, and this is a prime opportunity for those of us who know Jesus to join Him in that work by being the face, the hands, the feet and the essence of Jesus.

Secondly, the perceived danger is not a roadblock to us. Hamas and Hezbollah’s ability to launch additional attacks has been all but eliminated. Both organizations, though laboring to somehow show their strength, are lacking the means to be able to terrorize Israel in any significant way. Furthermore, the IDF enjoys land, sea and air superiority in the region, and with strong backing from the Trump administration, the bad guys are currently backed into a corner.

Yet, while all of that is true, our faith and our hope are not in the military might of either the IDF or the American armed forces. Nor is it in the power of the US President. Jesus Christ is our refuge and our strength, our protecter and defender. Certainly, there is a difference between living by faith and “being stupid.” We do not have a death wish, nor do we intend to be stupid. Our group is registered with the US Embassy in Jerusalem, we will be connected to Israel’s Homeland Security, and we will avoid places in which there is a credible threat. But we will not walk in fear.

Ultimately, we trust and believe God’s Word that tells us God has ordained every single day of our lives, even before one day came to be! (Psalm 139:16) Again, it is not a license to live recklessly, but it is assurance that none of us will be taken from this earth a moment too early or too late, but at the exact day and moment He has already ordained. Whether sitting on my couches at home or serving soldiers on the Golan Heights, that day will come ONLY according to His sovereignty. Nothing changes that!

God is at work in Israel, and He has invited us to join Him there. Joyfully and expectantly, we are going there to do so! I hope you will “come with us,” by joining us in prayer, following along with our adventures right here (and sharing encouraging comments!), and/or helping to financially support one of the projects in which we will participate.

Find out more about those opportunities here:

Together, we are ON MISSION with God, and it will be amazing!