Over the weekend, Rob Styler, our director of missions, sent me this link to "The New America" blog site: click here

What's particularly interesting about that blog entry is that it was written by Zach Duke, who went on our August 2010 "Live the Land" student tour to Israel. There were around 40 participants this year and by all accounts, it was a great experience for everyone who went.

Some of the things we try to do on these student tours include:

1. Exposing young believers from North America to Israeli culture and customs;
2. Educating them about the Jewish roots of their Christian faith;
3. Familiarizing them with the geopolitical situation in the Middle East;
4. Allowing them to interact one on one, as much as possible, with Israelis; and
5. Helping them understand the need (and biblical basis) for Jewish evangelism.

Zach obviously "got it."

He's not only smart, and a capable writer, but he also absorbed and processed the information we presented on the tour in precisely the way we like to see it happen. We know it's not easy. It's a lot of information to process in such a short time.

Zach's blog makes us feel like we're doing some good on these tours. It also speaks well of the quality of teaching on the tours. The teachers on our 2010 LTL tour were Rob Styler and Doug Robins (a member of the pastoral staff at Bandera Road Community Church here in San Antonio).

Let me hasten to say that Zach's blog isn't the only feedback we've had from tour participants. We've received numerous notes and emails from other people who went on the tour. We appreciated their words of gratitude and encouragement, too. Several of them mentioned how the Lord has used their "Live the Land" experience to make His Word come alive for them when they read it. So Zach wasn't the only one who got the point.

By the way, these student tours are the brainchild of my son Michael, who is currently a student at TEDS (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) in the Chicago area. He went on his first tour to Israel in March of 1993, when he was almost nine years old, and he's been back at least once almost every year since. When he was in high school, he came up with the idea of having tours designed specifically for young people. They enjoy activities like rappelling down the cliffs at Qumran, hiking, bicycling, parasailing on the Red Sea, and even white-water rafting—in addition to the normal, touristy things that most tours do.

They also like to deliver care packages to Israeli military bases, where they sometimes have opportunities to spend time with the soldiers, who are typically around the same age as the young people who go on our tours. One year (when I was hitching a ride with the group), we arrived at the base late in the afternoon, after their work day was over. When they found out who we were, a couple of soldiers brought out their guitars. They started playing and singing, and the music attracted more soldiers. They sat around with our kids and taught them some traditional Hebrew songs. It was quite a sight.

This year, our group connected through JFK Airport in New York and flew from there to Tel Aviv on El Al Israel Airlines.

Planning is already underway for the 2011 tour, so please pray for wisdom and guidance for Michael, Cindy Castillo, and the rest of the team as they deal with the details.

While you're at it, pray that next year's group will "get it" like Zach and the other 2010 tour participants did.

And as always, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: 'May they prosper who love you'" (Psalm 122:6).