'Jerusalem Encounter' Puts Youth, Pastors in Touch with Spiritual Roots

JERUSALEM, Israel – Dozens of first-time visitors to Israel took part in a "Jerusalem Encounter" this week.

The conference was sponsored by the Fellowship of Israel-Related Ministries (FIRM), and it's aimed at pastors and Millennials. The goal is to put newcomers in touch with the spiritual roots of the land and its people.

These days, many travelers seeing Israel for the first time are surprised to find that instead of a war zone, the Jewish state is a bustling, thriving – and beautiful – first-world country.

First-time visitor Philip Hartman from Greeley, Colorado, admits media reports made him a little nervous before he came.

"But it's been very warm down here," Hartman told CBN News. "The people are very nice, and it's just nice to have the cultural interactions with people on the street."

As participants gathered for the Jerusalem Encounter, Israel has been prospering in the face of dire military threats on nearly every border and growing hostility to Jews around the globe. But the message here is that unity among believers in the Church – both Jew and gentile – can change the world in a big way.

FIRM President Wayne Hilsden, the conference host, says it's critical that the Church understand the biblical command to support Israel and the blessings that come from it.

"I believe that Israel's restoration and salvation, both to their land and to their Messiah and Savior, is a key to worldwide revival and harvest," Hilsden said.

At the conference, Israeli believers are invited to meet visitors from the U.S. and other countries. The three-day event also provides a showcase for the big advances they've made in their ministries, including business, media, the arts and even the military.

They introduced their guests to Hebrew-language worship and gave them opportunities for business connections and investment in Israel, as well as people-to-people ministries.

Israeli-born Tel Aviv pastor Avi Mizrachi ministers to both Jews and Arabs in his Adonai Roi'i congregation.  He was excited to meet with the Christians who came from other parts of the world and said the Gospel is going forward among both Jews and Arabs in his congregation and coffee shop. It's a phenomenon that doesn't get much media attention.

"First of all, we're seeing God, the Holy Spirit in our days, removing the veil from the Jewish people and from the Muslims," Mizrachi told CBN News. "And we see Jewish people and Arab people coming to the Lord."

Pastors say coming to Israel has added a new dimension to their teaching.

"It really is like the fifth gospel," Pastor Shaun Nepstad from Antioch, California, told CBN News. He is a first-time visitor with his wife, Dianna.

"Understanding the geographical content and getting a geographical perspective of the land – it just makes the Bible come alive," he said. "And I'm afraid that so many people wait so long before they do that, when they could have all these other years understanding the scripture a whole lot better."

Madalyn Boylan from Bozeman, Montana, walked on the Mount of Olives, where her Messiah will return.
"It's incredible to look out over the city and think, okay, this is the place, and it's surreal still, but I think it'll set in and be like, we went there and we touched the ground and we walked the path, too. So, that's amazing."

Another first-time visitor, Nathan Wiggins from Loveland, Colorado, says he wants to come back.

"I would say you need to come here to experience the land, experience what Jesus experienced and it becomes real and alive to you, and I've connected to God on a whole new level," said Wiggins, who hails from Loveland, Colorado.