Let not kindness and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy neck, write them upon the table of thy heart; (Proverbs 3:3)

Instead of surfing in the Pacific Ocean, a group of young Californians decided to spend their free time visiting Israel on a humanitarian and spiritual journey. The group Tikvat Am Yisrael organizes trips for Christian Zionists to build and renovate bomb shelters to demonstrate their love for the land and the people of Israel.

The team of young volunteers recently spoke to Breaking Israel News affiliate Yishai Fleisher. Fleisher discussed many of their charitable programs, including their time in Naharia helping restore bomb shelters in the city, which is close to the northern border.

Fleisher reported that “there’s a resurrection, one of a friendship between the Jews and the peoples of the world, a rebirth of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. There’s also a growing sense that G-d is revealing himself in spirituality, which is being channeled through this country to the people of the world.”

Mica Vargas, a 17 year old from Orange County CA, told Yishai, “we have a peaceful attitude in California. I came to Israel because the people here in the part of the world needed love. I am excited about visiting the sites, but he was really looking forward to connecting with the people of Israel.” Fleisher responded by noting “There’s a resurrection- one of a friendship between the Jews and the peoples of the world, a rebirth of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. There’s also a growing sense that G-d is revealing himself in spirituality, which is being channeled through this country to the people of the world.”

When speaking to the nobel volunteers there was a strong emphasis on the different attitudes and lifestyles of Israel and America. The interviewees noted that many in the US, and particularly in California, are driven by materialism.

According to one of the participants named Carlos from California: “The love of my heart goes for this people (of Israel) and that the Jewish people is hard-wired to love.” Carlos added that his trip started as humanitarian and became more spiritual by coming closer to G-d.

When asked by Yishai how he avoided getting inoculated by lies Carlos said he realized that his former materialism did not get him anywhere. “There’s something about the resolve of Israelis,” Carlos said, “in the States, they can’t deal with crisis. They go to alcohol and drugs… We need to bring back the love from Israel to the materialism in the US.”