Becoming Zealous for God and Israel

March 18, 2007

From January 4 to 14, 2007, 19 young adults from 8 different nations gathered in Israel for fun, adventure, friendship, and teaching. The tour was designed to blend the ancient with the modern, with an emphasis on the modern state of Israel being the fulfillment of the Word of God. We, therefore, gave our attention not only to what God did, but what God is doing today and what that means for our lives. “As we traveled all around Israel, the one characteristic of God that resounded with me was his faithfulness to what He said. Every Israeli we saw or talked to was evidence of God’s faithfulness in bringing His people back to His Land—just as He promised,” said Andrew from Canada.

One of the exciting, personal stories of this tour is from Lauren Bugler, 20, from Australia:

I didn’t expect anything big to happen. I was just excited to go to a new, amazing country. People who had been to Israel before told me that Israel is a life-changing experience. At the time, I didn’t really take it in, but now I can see that they were not joking! God basically turned me upside down and inside out, and I’ve never felt better!

During the tour, I was baptized in the Jordan. After my baptism, nothing amazing and bizarre happened, but I knew I had made a stand for God and had taken a step of obedience that He had been nudging me to take for ages.

A couple of days after that, I felt God speaking to me more clearly than I had heard Him my entire life! He was making me deal with things in my life that I had chosen to keep pushing aside. And once I chose to deal with those issues and give them to God and made a conscious decision to change my life, God really started moving!

I learnt how to fall in love with God every day again! I don’t know where God is taking me, because He’s teaching me to really walk by faith without any “sight,” but I know it will be exciting and in His will! I’ve never been so excited to follow God and do it His way! (Lauren is now our Zealous8:2 representative in Australia!)

The tour was followed by a two-week internship, attended by eight of the tour participants. We gave ourselves to study, placing Israel in a theological context and understanding the nature and context of the work of Bridges for Peace in Israel. This was followed by a project in the community center of a poor Jerusalem suburb. Concerning the internship, Rachel from New Zealand said, “As a result of the internship, I felt I had more of an understanding of just why Israel is so vital to the Church. Also, why we as Christians should study our history, come to terms with all the bloodshed and hatred over the last 1,900 years, and make a conscious effort to do something about it.”

Our next tour and internship will take place this summer. Note the ad on this page and go to www.zealous82.com to find out more. Become a part of what God is doing in our generation!

By Gary Blair,

International Young Adult Coordinator

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