Christian Leaders Tour Israel with The Fellowship
The Fellowship | February 16, 2017
Over the past couple years, The Fellowship has worked to build bridges between Christians and Jews and strengthen Christian support for Israel by hosting Christian leaders in the Holy Land. The Jerusalem Post’s Benjamin Glatt reports on the latest such tour, which finds 14 Baptist leaders from the U.S. visiting the Jewish state:
“We are honored to welcome these outstanding Baptist leaders in Israel,” said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of The Fellowship. “This important mission will not only strengthen the powerful connection between Christians and Jews, but will remind Israel and the Jewish people of the unconditional love and support we receive from our Christian friends.”
In recent years, The Fellowship has been reaching out to the African-American Christian community, building bridges and solidifying ties based on historic relationships forged in the Civil Rights era. Primarily, they have been working together to advocate for the Jewish state against the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, and they have jointly protested instances of antisemitic activity…
They have been here since February 14, and will be returning February 20, touring Jewish and Christian holy sites. Their stops included the Mount of Beatitudes and the Sea of Galilee, the Western Wall and the Old City of Jerusalem, and archeological sites such as Caesarea, Mount Tabor, and Megiddo.
The church group also visited Fellowship projects that support Ethiopian-Israeli immigrants and the elderly, and visit Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, and the Holocaust History Museum.
Steven T. Mack, the senior pastor of the historic Little Rock Baptist Church in Camden, New Jersey, has been documenting some of the group’s day trips on Facebook. Upon seeing the locations that he would regularly speak about the pulpit he couldn’t contain his excitement.
“I have often preached from 1 Kings 18:16-45. This is the view from Mount Carmel, where Elijah stood against the prophets of Baal!” he wrote.