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From June of 2015 to February of 2020, we had hosted over 40 mission teams. With the onset of Covid, Israel went into total lockdown, as most of you know.

Only by God’s grace, and the continual support of many of you, were we able to survive the ensuing 2 ½ years.

Mission Hills Church of Littleton, Colorado became our first Mission Team after that 2 ½ year drought. Nine team members, six of whom were making their first visit to Israel, were relentless is fulfilling Isaiah’s beautiful verse above!

They say “a picture is worth a thousand words”, but the pictures below do not do justice to the effort and accomplishments over the ten days the Team was in Israel.

About five years ago, the Lord gave us a way to engage the young men and women of the IDF (Israeli Defense Force), and we continued in that tradition on our first full day.

We traveled north to the Galilee on day two and served with “Beautiful Land Initiative”, cleaning up a parking lot adjacent to a Water Park, opposite the Sea of Galilee.

The second part of day we took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, and then visited Capernaum, as well as the ancient city of Migdal, and the first century synagogue that was uncovered during the excavation, and surely a synagogue that Yeshua would have visited and taught.

“Leket” was our next visit the following day. Leket works to eradicate hunger through its various food rescue projects. Leket provides food to 223,000 Israeli’s each week, and distributes over 55 million pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables and 1.7 million hot meals a year. Our efforts that day picked 100kg of beets, which was distributed to forty families in need throughout Israel that week. The field we were gleaning is in Rishon LeZion, the third largest city in Israel, and home to one of most beautiful beaches in the country. The temptation was too great to resist!

The following day we served at “The Joseph Project”, the ministry of the MJAA (Messianic Jewish Alliance of America), which has gained favor with the Israeli government because of their huge humanitarian efforts throughout the country. On that day, we packed about 200 boxes of organic food products for the Arab, Ethiopian, and Orthodox families in need. Located in Beit Shemesh, it gave us the opportunity to visit the Valley of Elah, where David & Goliath fought their epic battle.

Day six took us to the Alliance Church Cemetery, where we assisted in a cleanup project. The cemetery interior walls are lined with hand painted murals of the books of the Bible, Genesis to Revelation. Many individuals and local Israeli tour groups come to the cemetery to see the murals. We visited the Garden Tomb in the afternoon.

Day seven, Friday, we went to the neighborhood of Ein Kerem, the home of John The Immerser. We have been assisting Alon and his wife for several years in the “Bustan”,  the forest that surrounds the village, building retaining walls, repairing those that had collapsed, cutting and trimming brush & trees. Yad Vashem, the holocaust museum was next. It closed early on Friday, which left the team with only about an hour to visit. Bess prepared a Shabbat meal as we settled in for the evening, trying to get some well needed rest for a very busy day of fun on Saturday.

On Shabbat, Saturday, pretty much everything comes to a halt, which allowed us the ability to visit Ein Gedi, where King David hid from King Saul, now a National Park, complete with steep climbs and several waterfalls. It was off to Masada, followed by a dip in the Dead Sea.

On Sunday, we toured the Old City, visiting the Arab, Christian, Jewish, and Armenian quarters. We stopped at the Christ Church and had the opportunity to visit the museum, with its incredible models of both the Old City & Temple Mount. As we did on our first Sunday, we worshipped at King of Kings Assembly in downtown Jerusalem. Monday was our final day, the team had an 11pm flight back to Denver. After a morning of final shopping for gifts, we had the privilege of serving at “His Lighthouse”, long time friends of ours established this ministry, focused on assisting in “Aliyah”, as new immigrants from Ukraine, Russia, and other nations, need much help in the area of housing, food, and adjusting to a new culture and language!

It was an incredible week with an incredible team, just wanting to be a light & a blessing. Mission accomplished.

We only had a few days to recover, as we were scheduled to speak at Calvary Chapel Sonrise, in Las Vegas. Our message was how to use the biblical “Fall Feasts”, as a means of sharing the Good News with the growing Jewish population of Las Vegas.

We have three church mission teams already scheduled for 2023, and we will be making available three mission trips for individuals, couples, or families during the course of the year that you can plug into if you don’t have the ability to go with a church. In a few weeks, we will make those dates available.

Our email is: LarryAndBess@Gmail.Com  if you have any questions.

If you wish to support our work among the Jewish people both in Israel & the U.S.,
you can do that HERE.

Blessings,

Larry &Bess