Bringing the Fire Back Home

It was the youngest participant who perhaps summed up the experience most aptly, “This tour has encouraged me to have a closer relationship with God and allowed me to realize I need to bring my FIRE back home!” - Chelsea Alipio, 17 from Canada.

The Theme of the 2011 Feast of Tabernacles was "Israel a Light to the Nations" and the composition of the Grafted tour gave proof that that light of Israel in Christ Jesus has gone round the world as forty young adults from fifteen different nations gathered together in Israel to worship the Jewish Messiah and God over all nations and tribes and peoples.

“If ever there was a time to get serious with God in living lives surrendered to Him, to understand the times we are living in and to desire to be part of God's plan for world redemption, it is now,” said Liesl Maas, director of Grafted. She challenged the group to be forerunners for the Kingdom of God and not to stand on the sidelines, but to take initiative and be counted among those who are willing to be on the front lines of the battles we face in this generation. 

Along with encouraging young people in their personal calls, the vision of Grafted is to raise up a generation which understands God's purposes for Israel and the Jewish people and will stand with them through every circumstance. Flavia Antunes of Brazil stated how the Grafted experience impacted her personally. “The tour made my relationship with the Lord much more strong. It made me understand and love Jewish people and God’s plan for them, for us and for the Holy Land of Israel through them.”

As the group traveled through the land of Israel they were joined by passionate worship leaders and speakers. Stephan Lehnert, the Grafted Representative in Germany officiated baptisms in the Jordan River. He also spoke to the group on the Mount of Beatitudes and administered communion in the Garden Tomb.  The theme of his message was simple yet deeply profound. He called each person to live for eternity and not be half-heartedly living between the kingdom of earth and the Kingdom of Heaven. While camping in the Judean desert, Jani Salokangas shared with the group the challenges he has faced in his spiritual journey and how the truth of God and His purposes for His children will overcome the lies of the enemy which seek to steal away the gifts and calling of God.

Once the Grafted group joined the annual Feast of Tabernacles Conference they heard from Rev. Malcolm Hedding, Rev. Allen Jackson, David Pawson, Rene Terra Nova and other speakers who taught on the message and impact as related to the theme of the Feast.  Angus Buchan, this year's featured guest speaker, whose story was recounted in the book and later movie, “Faith Like Potatoes” gave a message reminding those present that we serve a God who is enough for all we need in times that are good, and in times that are difficult. He challenged those listening to test God's faithfulness and to make sure that their quiet time with the Lord is the most important part of the day. The message fell on fertile ground. “I want to spend more time in prayer and worship God with a stronger passion for Israel,” said Grafted participant Manuel Stalder of Switzerland.

Newly elected ICEJ Executive Director Jurgen Buhler challenged the Grafted group in an extremely poignant moment as he presented the Nehemiah Award, posthumously to the family of the late Dr. Johan Greeff. As national director of South Africa, he was a tireless, passionate friend of, and advocate for Israel and the Jewish people. Dr. Buhler enforced the message one night during the conference that Grafted is not the future of Christian support for Israel, but the present. He invited the young adults who would commit to taking up the torch and stand in commitment before the thousands gathered. The Grafted participants rose to their feet in acceptance of that commitment and were joined by others throughout the auditorium.

“It was such a powerful moment and I did not want to stand up before I really thought about what I was committing to”, said one Grafted participant, “But even though it may cost me something I knew I had to stand.”

The realities of what the cost might be were reflected in the collection of memories held in Israel's Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem. The group toured the museum and listened to a lecture about Christians known as “The Righteous Among the Nations” who risked or lost their lives to save Jews during the years of the Holocaust.

Though the tour was rich in deep and challenging messages, it also included all the activities that make the Grafted tour – well, a young adult tour! The group hiked three different locations including a water hike in the Golan, a trek up Masada and a journey to David's Springs. The tour also included a road trip to Eilat with snorkeling in the red sea, a sunset camel ride in the Judean desert, swimming in the Sea of Galilee and a visit to the world-renown stalactite caves just outside of Jerusalem. Of course no Israel experience is complete without floating effortlessly in the Dead Sea and having some friendly, mineral-rich mud slinging and slathering!

“Each one of the participants, though enjoying the exciting and beautiful land of the Bible in which we were traveling, wanted to learn more about Biblical significance of Israel and her people and had a desire to see God move in their lives and show them His path.” said Liesl. “God is not asking for ability but for availability to serve Him. This group showed themselves to be available to be used by God and we believe we will see each one do amazing things for Him in the future.”

As the thousands of Christians gathered together for ICEJ's annual Feast of Tabernacles the theme came to life. Israel has indeed been a light to the nations and now the nations are bringing that light back to Israel.  Days after his birth, Jesus was presented at the Temple. Simeon, who was waiting for the consolation of Israel, took the infant Jesus into his arms and blessed God saying, “My eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:30-32).

May each of us bring that light back home into our everyday experiences and to the people with whom God has placed in our lives. And may we as recipients of that light reflect it back to the people chosen to reveal that light to all nations.

Notable Quotes:

 “The tour affected many aspects but in my spiritual life it really created a new me and it is something that I can share to everyone around me.” – Richel Carandang – Canada

“I want to seek God even more after the trip. Like really give 110%” – Toni Wentin – Finland

“I met the Lord in the desert and sensed the heavy weight of his Glory upon and around me. I do not have the words to describe it” Ben Robinson – UK
 
“I felt the Lord brought me to a higher level of faith and trust as I saw Him provide miraculously on this trip. Bringing me in His hometown was something sacred and extraordinary. Truly, He is a God of so much MORE!” Rosalyn Cuvinar – Philippians