Jerusalem, Israel - Summer 2013

In 2011 my wife Carolyn and I were on the team for the first Back to Jerusalem (B2J) missions trip.  Because of the success of that trip and the desire of SCC to reach out to the Palestinian Arab peoples we were asked to lead a second team in 2013. Our first trip was an amazing experience giving us the opportunity to visit some of the places where Jesus walked (Reading God’s Word will never be the same!). However, even more significant was the opportunity to worship, pray and serve alongside the “living stones”; our Arab brothers and sisters in Christ. Back to Jerusalem (B2J) is a movement which has grown out of a vision by Arab Christians who are praying for the day when the Gospel will return with power and anointing by the Holy Spirit to all the people of the land. But they are doing much more than praying about it, they are actively involved in sharing the gospel message among their peoples.

The 2013 B2J team consisted of seven of us: Fred and Carolyn Marcinek, John and Pam Overstreet, Henry and Linda Groeneveld and Judy Fosdick. Although our trip was not to take place until June we started our preparation in February with regular monthly team meetings to pray for B2J, learn about the culture and customs, language, Muslim faith, etc. We also learned how to share our stories/how to witness for Christ. By the time June came we were excited, prepared and ready to go.

The eleven days we spent in Israel were unforgettable. We came to bless the Arab peoples and yet time and again we came away blessed by them and what God had allowed us to experience. Attending the B2J Conference, hearing from gifted Bible speakers, serving with Christians from other nations, working alongside Arab pastors in their home towns (such as Haifa and Nazareth) all gave us a deeper sense of God’s mission to reach all peoples and drew us closer to the Lord, each other and to the Israeli believers. We all came away with a renewed sense of urgency purpose relative to Christ’s Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).

Fred Marcinek