I’ve heard it said that “hindsight is 20-20.” If that means that 2020 is behind us (and all it encompassed) I say “Yippee Yi Ay!” Let’s keep looking forward to a great year of recovery. It is an understatement to say that we are eagerly anticipating the opening of Israel’s (and our) borders. For someone like me who has been going regularly to Israel for the past 49 years, there has been an indescribable void in the past year.
My wife Mary, who loves Israel and the Jewish people and has twice volunteered with the Israeli Defence Forces, would daily quiz me with questions about a particular place she was imagining. “I see the water’s edge and two palm trees and a path going east…where am I?” I’d guess, “You’re heading down the hill toward the Sea of Galilee where we always read the Sermon on the Mount.” “Wrong again, Mr. Big Shot Tour Leader, I’m at Capernaum and the sky is so blue and the sea so still and I can almost hear Yeshua speaking in the Synagogue.” Well, who could argue with that vision.
We have tentatively booked tours in late May, August and November, but of course it all depends when our countries open their gates.
We want to be among the first groups to get into Israel for a number of reasons:
If you can react quickly and be ready to go with a month or 3 weeks notice…I will start an “early bird list” and contact you as soon as we get the ‘Go’ sign. E-mail me at israel4somerville@gmail.com and I’ll get the list started.
I hope this doesn’t sound like boasting…but we don’t do all the ‘standard stuff’ that other groups do. We want you to see the Word of God live in the Land. Prophecy is being fulfilled each and every day in Israel and we want you to see and grasp that reality. Israel Is real and the Word is alive. We’ll do our best to help you see and feel it. There is no other place on planet Earth that God calls, “My Land,” andI know He’d like you to drop in. Ps 48: 12-14
Soon I will again be leading a relatively small group on a study tour of Israel. The classroom of the land of the Bible and the same place where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Prophets, King David and Jesus all lived, transformed hearts and heads and changed the world. I have been in Israel nearly four score times (check your Gettysburg address) and it is the joy of my life to introduce His Land and His People to you.
Please seriously consider joining us on this trip of a lifetime as we study and consider the Biblical events that happened there starting more than 3,500 years ago! We will stand on the places where Jesus stood and visit the places where He healed the sick, taught the multitudes, died on the Cross - and arose 2,000 years ago!
This trip is much more than simply a vacation. As a matter of fact it is not a vacation. You can do that anywhere. This is an opportunity to see the people, places, and events of the Bible come alive before your very eyes . Truly it is an opportunity to never be the same again! I look forward to being with you in the stillness of the Garden Tomb and on the side of the Mount of Olives. I am eager to take you to Gethsemane, and I can only imagine the feelings you will have as you touch the Sea of Galilee and hear the waves gently meeting the shore. You'll be surprised at how affordable the tour really is. So please circle your calendar for the following dates… and then make your plans to join us!
Dr. David Simmons has been a minister for over 38 years of was the National Cowboy Church Coordinator for CUFI. Now he is Co-Director and Vice President of “Zion’s Watchmen” advocates for a strong Israel/USA relationship. David has ministry offices in North and West Africa and travels extensively in the part of the world being affected by the events in the Middle East. He is passionate about our need to be educated and to stand for and side by side with Israel.
Colonel Somerville retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after 30 years, having served in Viet Nam, Somalia, Okinawa, Honduras, Turkey, Egypt, Korea (and the most dangerous of all) Washington, DC. His final 10 years in the Corps were in the Intelligence field with an emphasis on the Middle East.
John first went to the Middle East in the early 70s and has made more than 70 trips there in the ensuing years. His interest in the Land of the Bible and archaeology has enabled him to teach and guide dozens of small groups throughout the land of Israel. In 2005 and again in 2012 he was honored with the prestigious “Friend of Israel” award.
Somerville earned a Ph.D. from Ohio State University. He has taught and coached at Princeton University, East Carolina, Georgetown College, and Ohio State.
John and Mary live on a ranch in North Fork, California and have six children and too many grandchildren to count.
John and Mary founded Zion’s Watchmen incorporated it as a 501 (c)3 Ministry in Texas. Zion’s Watchmen is committed to the biblical mandate to bless, speak out and stand with Israel and the Jewish people. Previously, for six years John was the Central States Coordinator for Christians United For Israel (CUFI).