As I write this, I am jetlagged but excited. Earlier this week I returned from a long trip through Asia and the Pacific Rim. My final stop was Seoul, South Korea, where we recently began working. The Christian community is thriving — and growing — there, and many of these people of faith support Israel and the Jewish people. We can’t wait to get our Korean operations up and running so that we can help these Asian friends understand the Jewish roots of their faith and provide a way for them to stand in solidarity with Israel.

Prior to Korea I was in Australia telling the good people “down under” about The Fellowship’s lifesaving work and helping to launch our operations in that country. I was delighted to meet so many people in Australia who have a deep love of Israel and are eager to stand with her and her people. These new international expansions add to our already thriving base of support in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America.

We’re working on other new initiatives as well. At the end of last year we launched a program geared toward younger people called 4Zion. After I spoke at Oral Roberts University last fall I realized that many in the younger generation have a natural affinity toward Israel and are hungry to learn more about her land and her people. They are ready to stand up against the anti-Semitism that has taken hold on many college campuses and in the media. It’s a special pleasure for me to see our Fellowship team engage these young people and help equip them to become advocates for Zion.

I share these new ventures with you not only because I can’t contain my excitement, but also because I suspect many of you have friends and family members living abroad or who are high school or college age. We hope you will share about these new projects with them. In addition, I hope you will join me in prayer that God will bless these new avenues of ministry. Psalm 127:1 tells us that “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” We sincerely desire for God to build these new international and intergenerational efforts. After all, He helped us launch The Fellowship 29 years ago we are always counting on His leading and blessing.

With these new efforts at expansion, we pause and praise God for the new ways he is working in our midst, and that He chooses to use us to accomplish His purposes. Something worth celebrating indeed!

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein