Giving Tomorrow's Leaders an Educated Heart for Israel

The 2008 Israel Experience students have just returned from Israel.  Twenty-four of the best minds from colleges around the world came together for three intense weeks in the Holy Land.  They journeyed together, meeting with academic, political and spiritual leaders, experiencing the land and the people of Israel, and getting a broad perspective of the current security situation throughout the land.

The students started off in Jerusalem, meeting with scholars such as Dmitry Radyshevsky and Michael Oren, as well as five members of Knesset (the Israeli Parliament), and a host of others, including Rabbis and teachers from the area.  Students toured the Old City, went to Yad Va'Shem (the Holocaust museum), Ir David (the uncovered part of Davidic Jerusalem), the Mount of Olives, and more.

From Jerusalem, they headed to Ashkelon and Sderot, where over 600 Qassam rockets have fallen in the past year.  They were able to see the destruction caused by Palestinian aggression as they met with people in the area and visited the medical center where patients from both israel and the Gaza strip are treated.  It was an eye-opening experience for most of the students, as they were struck with the reality of the situation.

The students also spent time in the Negev Desert, sleeping in Bedouin tents and enjoying Bedouin hospitality (and camel rides), and toured places like Masada, Qumran, the Dead Sea, Ein Gedi, and more, learning from the rich history of the area and enjoying the fruits of some of the most beautiful places in the world.  Traveling along the Jordan River, the students built lasting relationships, enjoyed intense times of worship, and seven of the students were baptized.

The next stop on the trip was the Galilee region, where the group took a boat ride on the Sea, visited the Mount of Beatitudes, the Church of Multiplication, Capernaum, and more.  They also got to see the Golan Heights and the Lebanese border, hearing first-hand from residents and from representatives of the IDF (the Israeli armed forces) about the border situation in the north.  Again, the nearness of it all made the security situation much more real to the students.

On their way to Tel Aviv, the group was able to hear what life is like for a Christian Arab woman living in Nazareth and also ministered to children at a local orphanage.  In Nazareth Illit, the students visited a group of Orthodox Jews at a Chabad House.  The students also stopped at Mt. Carmel to see where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal.

In Tel Aviv, the group visited Independence Hall and heard a recording of Ben Gurion declaring Israel's independence, and also visited the US Embassy for a deeper look at US-Israeli relations.  They spent some time at the beach, and then headed back to Jerusalem.

In Jerusalem, students met with a local Christian pastor, with Malcolm Hedding of the International Christian Embassy (ICEJ), and with representatives of Stand With Us, an organization promoting pro-Israel advocacy on campuses around the world.  Students from both Stand With Us and the Israel Experience connected with each other during the meeting and at a bonfire they had together in the Judean Hills.

Students also heard from speakers like Rev. Dr. Petra Heldt, Yoram Ettinger, Arik Praisman of the David Project, and Neil Lazarus.  They also took part in the observation of Tisha B'Av in Jerusalem, joining thousands of Jews to hear the reading of Lamentations in Hebrew and walk around the Old City to the Western Wall for prayer.  During their time in Jerusalem, the group also ventured into Bethlehem, meeting with a Christian pastor there and hearing about Christian persecution from the Palestinian Authority, and then visited a Palestinian refugee camp, meeting with residents to get their perspective on the situation between the PLO and Israel.

The last stop of the trip was in Efrat, where the group was hosted by the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation (CJCUC) and founder Rabbi Shlomo Riskin.  Students heard from Rabbi Riskin and also from David Nekrutman, the director of the CJCUC, as they talked through the commonalities and differences of our beliefs.  While in Efrat, students also visited Herodyon (a palace and the burial site of Herod the Great) and the Gush Etzion memorial.

It was an incredible trip, and was just part of the Israel Experience College Scholarship Program, as students are now working on service projects in their schools and home towns, including forming pro-Israel groups on campus, hosting pro-Israel speakers, inter-faith dialogues, and Nights to Honor Israel, and many other things, all dreamt of and carried out by the students with the support of Eagles' Wings.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support which make this program possible.  You are touching lives, which are going to change the world.  Together, we can capture this generation's heart for Israel and build a solid foundation of support for the nation and for its people.

To find out more about this program, click here to visit the Israel Experience page of this website.

To help support this program or to sponsor a student, please contact our office at 1-800-51-WINGS and mention that you heard about the program on our website.

For a more detailed update of the trip, check out the following blogs from some of the 2008 Israel Experience participants...

Josh's Blog (student)

Matthew's Blog (co-leader)
  
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