Friends of Israel

“What do you think about going to Texas?”

Chris Katulka, director of North American Ministries for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, posed that question to me in the summer of 2020.

“To live?” I think that was my response.

Well, he explained, at least initially it would just be for a visit. I was given the task—the test?—of lining up and then executing my own ministry trip to Texas.

Chris shared with me how Texas is, not surprisingly, home to a large base of support for The Friends of Israel. However, we have no one located there as a church ministries representative for FOI.

The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry will present its annual Look Up virtual Bible prophecy conference next weekend — Friday and Saturday, March 10 and 11.

The theme this year is “Unraveling the Mysteries of the Bible,” and it deals with a number of questions related to eschatology.

The conference is free for all to participate and will remain available to rewatch until March 24. Registration is required at lookupfoi.org.

This online event is especially significant for me, because it is the first time I have been involved in Look Up — or in any speaking opportunity of this magnitude.

“So, when are you moving to Israel?”

That is definitely the most frequently asked question we have encountered in our year-and-a-quarter of service with The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry.

And we have encountered lots of questions!

I have spoken in more than 50 different churches in four states during this time, and I have discovered that when people know you’re from The Friends of Israel—whether they understand what that means or not—they presume that you will be an expert on some things.

With the following words, America’s 40th president, Ronald W. Reagan—still in the first year of his presidency—greeted Menachem Begin, the sixth prime minister of the modern state of Israel:

We’re proud to stand beside you this morning, joining a tradition of hospitality for Israel observed by our Presidents for more than three decades. Your visit is testimony to the warm friendships, mutual respect, and shared values that bind our people … .

I welcome this chance to further strengthen the unbreakable ties between the United States and Israel and to assure you of our commitment to Israel’s security and well-being.

I was appointed by the board of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry at its November 2018 meeting to be a church ministries representative working in the upper Midwest. That was the result of one short trip to New Jersey. But it was also the conclusion of a very long journey.

My history with The Friends of Israel goes back a long way. In one sense, it began when my grandfather was among the earliest readers of Israel My Glory magazine. Then it dates back to the mid-1980s, when I first saw that publication in a magazine rack in church, and wondered what the title meant.