Last November, we asked our ministry partners in Israel one simple question:
They didn't ask us to launch another program.
They asked us to help build relationships.

This spring, we watched that vision begin to take shape.

First, Dr. Meno Kalisher, together with Yael Kalisher and Becky from Connections Global, spent time with pastors, churches, and ministry leaders across South Texas, sharing a vision for building friendships between churches in Texas and the church in Israel.

Soon afterward, despite the uncertainty surrounding the war, we welcomed our first Israeli guests for a hospitality beta.

Looking back, I realize God gave us two opportunities to experience the same truth.

First, He let us hear the vision from our friends in Israel. Then He let us watch that vision come to life around ordinary tables throughout South Texas.

That's really what this story is about.

Baruch, Yael and Emunah were a joy from the moment they arrived. Having recently completed their IDF reserve service earned them immediate respect, but it wasn't their military service that people remembered most.

It was their kindness. Their humility. Their willingness to simply say "yes" to every opportunity.

One thing made this beta test a little different. Rather than staying overnight in host homes, the team stayed with us during their visit.

At first, I wondered if we might miss something. We didn't. God simply used different tables.
Almost every day our guests found themselves around someone's table.

Sometimes it was over dinner with a family. Sometimes with pastors.
Sometimes with students. Sometimes in a living room full of young adults.

Every conversation was different, but something remarkable kept happening.


One evening we found ourselves around another family's dinner table. The conversation wandered naturally—from life in Texas to life in Jerusalem, from military service to grandchildren, from everyday life to following Jesus.

By the end of the meal, strangers had become friends. It reminded me that some of God's most meaningful work happens when people simply make room for one another.

One afternoon we visited the senior class at The Classical School in New Braunfels.

There wasn't a presentation. There wasn't an agenda.

The students simply asked questions.
Our Israeli friends answered them honestly. 

One of the things I appreciate most about Israelis is that they rarely tell you what they think you want to hear. They simply tell you the truth as they see it. Sometimes that honesty is refreshing. Sometimes it's challenging. But it almost always creates meaningful conversation.

For nearly two hours, questions flowed back and forth.

The students were curious.
The Israelis were candid.

Nobody seemed interested in watching the clock.

Later that afternoon, one of the mothers sent me a text.
She said her son's very first words when he got home were:

"That was life-changing."

Sometimes the conversations with the smallest agenda become the ones God uses the most.

I was equally encouraged by the maturity of our Israeli friends.

There were several moments when conversations drifted toward subjects they could easily have debated or corrected.

They didn't. They listened. They smiled. They asked thoughtful questions.

Again and again, they chose the relationship over the argument.

They understood why they had come. We weren't trying to win debates. We were building bridges.

For many people we met, this was their very first conversation with an Israeli.

Headlines suddenly had names. Stories. Faces.

As friendships grew, so did a desire to understand God's story more deeply, the Jewish roots of our faith, and the believers who faithfully follow Jesus throughout Israel today.

Driving home after those two weeks, I found myself thinking about the ordinary places where God had met us. Not on a stage. Around a table. In classrooms. On front porches. During long conversations.

It reminded me that disciple-making has never been built around events.

It has always grown around ordinary people sharing ordinary life while following an extraordinary Savior.

One of the greatest lessons from these two visits wasn't simply that people enjoyed meeting Israelis –  It was discovering how naturally friendships begin when people share a meal, ask honest questions, and make room for one another.

That's why this partnership means so much to us.

When Israeli travelers return home, Connections Global helps reconnect them with evangelical congregations near their own communities throughout Israel. Those local believers continue nurturing relationships that first began around tables here in Texas.

We help begin the relationship.
The church in Israel continues what God has started.

Watching that unfold reminded me that none of us ever sees the whole picture. We simply have the privilege of faithfully playing the part God has entrusted to us.

And that's a beautiful place to begin.

– Alice