Dear Members of Christ’s Body,

If we may be so bold to say so, your pastor needs an educational journey to Israel for his personal and ministerial enrichment.  Once he goes, he will never be the same.  His study of the Bible and his preaching-teaching of the Word will be forever transformed.  As a result, your church fellowship will be immeasurably blessed and spiritually re-energized.

Many of you already know this to be true, but if you are not yet convinced, please take a little time to read and listen to the pastor testimonials on our website.  What do these pastors have in common?  They have all been given grants for a free trip to Israel by Father’s House Educational Foundation of Glen Rose, Texas.  Many members of their churches traveled with them, too.  They experienced the Lords’ land together.  Every congregation has been blessed as a result.

Thus far, Father’s House has had the inexpressible joy of giving a grand total of 72 trips to Israel.  The feedback has more than confirmed the vision God burned into our hearts.  We are now working hard to raise more funds to give more grants for free trips to pastors so that more churches will be blessed. 

Our website waiting list of pastors who have signed up for a future Father’s House trip grows every day.  If we had the money right now to pay for every one of them, we would do it.  But that may not be the Lord’s role for us.  Why should Father’s House have ALL the blessings and joy?  (And it is indeed an overwhelming, satisfying, God-glorifying joy!)

It seems more in keeping with biblical principles that the Lord would use Father’s House to kindle the flame of awareness in the larger body of Christ then fuel the fire by making it easy for churches to join the joy.  Imagine:  Father’s House raising funds for many, a growing number of churches raising funds for a few, and the impact multiplying exponentially.  Such a blaze would intensify to become a holy fire of passion for the Father and His word as revealed to His people in His land!

This brings us to the purpose of this Open Letter to you, as a member of the body of Christ.  Fellow Disciple, your pastor does not have to wait until a grant for a free trip becomes available through Father’s House.  He can visit the Lord’s land much sooner if you and your church decide to share in our joy by raising the funds to send him.  Would you honestly seek the Lord about doing that?  With this letter, we sound the call, announcing loud and clear, “Church, your pastor needs to go to Israel and you can help him get there!”

Please understand.  It is very likely that your pastor is never going to ask you to help him go to Israel.  Even if you offer, he may turn you down!  Yes, he boldly asks you to give to the Lord’s work through your church.  He pleads with you to give generously to missions.  He may even invite you to support him on occasion as he participates in various mission trips and ministry opportunities.  In all those situations, he freely asks because it is someone else who benefits.  Ministry to others is his heart and his calling.  Touching people with God’s love and the Gospel is his passion.  Going to Israel, however, sounds too much to him like a non-essential luxury or a selfish interest – not in the same category as all those other ministries.  Indeed, it is the rare pastor who perceives BEFORE his trip to Israel just how much OTHERS are going to be blessed because he went, especially those who sit under his preaching and teaching.

Giving your pastor an educational trip to Israel is an investment in the Bible teaching and discipleship ministry of your church.  The more we all study the rich roots of our faith in Israel – the people, the traditions, the culture, and the land – the better we understand and reverence the Bible, all of it, from Genesis to Revelation.  Ask anyone who has been.  They will quickly agree that there is no substitute for going in person to the land God chose to reveal His glory – yesterday, today, forever – to the whole world.

Where do you start?

1. Tell your pastor about Father’s House Educational Foundation.  Ask him to go to our website, click Free Pastor Trips on the home page menu, and sign up to be on our waiting list for future trips.  Registering on the waiting list is free and there is no obligation.  If he will do that, you know he wants to go, but he may have to wait some time before a grant for a free trip becomes available.
2. Begin talking and praying with others in your congregation about what it would take to raise the support for your pastor and his wife, if at all possible, to go with Father’s House on one of our journeys (from 9 to 11 days long).  The cost is in the neighborhood of $3500 per person.  Dates for trips early in 2011 will be posted on our website soon.
3. The simplest and probably most effective way for you to raise support is to just set your goal, spread the word, and encourage people to give out of their love for the Lord, the Bible, and the preaching-teaching ministry of your church.
4. Investigate also the Father’s House Discount Card fundraising program as one way to supplement the gifts people give and to raise even more support.  There is no upfront charge to get involved, the church receives $15 for every card sold, and any unsold cards are simply returned to Father’s House when the promotion is over.  The church can use the Discount Card program to raise funds for ANY ministry the church wishes – youth ministry, benevolence, mission trips, camp…anything.  The $10 that Father’s House receives for every card sold goes toward Father’s House operating expenses so that church budget donations (there are a growing number) and individual, tax-deductible gifts to Father’s House can be applied to our mission and ministry as detailed on the website.
5. Seriously pray about going with your pastor and his wife to Israel when they go.

As your plans develop, please let Father’s House know.  You can sign up for our free newsletter and send us any messages by going to the Contact page of our website.

Thank you for taking to heart and seriously considering the message of this letter.

For the Lord and His glory,




Dr. John W. Turner, Jr.
Executive Director
Father’s House Educational Foundation