How My Study Abroad in Israel Transformed My Faith & Purpose
By ICEJ USA President Dr. Susan Michael
This post is excerpted from Susan Michael’s book Every Generation’s Story: 75 Years of American Christian Engagement with Israel, which follows the unique experiences of 18 American Christians representing 5 generations who responded to God’s call to go to Israel—and how it changed their lives forever. This is the author’s own story of how her study abroad in Israel changed her life.
When I was a teenager, I hated history and, as a result, knew little of it. I also avoided studying languages and justified it by thinking I would never leave the United States. But God had His plans, and by the time I was 19, I was already on my way overseas to Israel, where I would study Hebrew and become fascinated with history.
I was a biblical studies major at Oral Roberts University (ORU) when I met others on campus who had studied abroad the previous summer. I thought that sounded like fun, so I asked one of my professors, Dr. Roy Hayden, if he knew of any study programs in Israel. He enthusiastically responded, “Absolutely! And go, if possible, because it will change your life.”
My time studying in Israel made the Bible come alive—it went from being two-dimensional to three-dimensional—and was a life-changing experience that ignited my faith and brought greater passion and purpose to my life.
I landed at Ben Gurion Airport for that summer study program in 1978 knowing nothing about Israel or the Middle East. All I knew was that Israel was the land of the Bible. I did not know the Jewish State had not existed for close to 2,000 years or about the defensive wars the reestablished State had to fight with their Arab neighbors in 1948, 1967, and 1973 or that historic peace talks were taking place that summer between Israel and Egypt.
During my five-week study program, I took one course called “Historical Geography of the Bible Lands,” where I studied with the Bible in one hand and a map in the other. After studying about a particular region in class, we would board a bus and go to the actual site. This experience transformed how I read the Bible and developed my love for maps! The second course was “Modern Israeli Society,” which I found fascinating. It introduced me to the Jewish faith and the diverse mosaic of Israeli society. So after I finished my bachelor’s degree at ORU, I returned to the Institute in 1980 to pursue a master’s degree. The small school only had three degree programs, and I was not interested in Hebrew language or archaeology. So that left the degree called Judeo-Christian Studies.
Choosing that course of study was proof that I had no career plans! But it was undoubtedly God’s choice for my life. It was an excellent introduction to the history of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—as well as the modern history of the Middle East.
God’s Perfect Timing
The timing of my studies in Israel placed me in the center of a historic moment that was far more significant than the courses themselves. In the summer of 1980, the Israeli Knesset passed the Jerusalem bill, establishing all of Jerusalem as the eternal, undivided capital of the State of Israel. There was a considerable uproar about this in the Arab world, which responded by threatening oil embargos on any country that recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. It was a traumatic moment for Israel when all foreign embassies in Jerusalem moved out to avoid recognizing the city as the capital.
At the same time, there was a prayer group of Christian leaders from several different countries who were living in Jerusalem at the time. They had been praying about two things—one of which was to begin celebrating the biblical Feast of Tabernacles.
Few Christians in the 1970s were aware of the meaning of this biblical Feast or that the prophet Zechariah foretold that all nations would one day celebrate it. These visionaries in Jerusalem felt they needed to bring an understanding of the holiday to churches around the world. So they organized the first international Christian celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, held one month after I arrived.
The second idea this group of leaders had was to create a Christian organization in support of Israel. The director of the Institute at that time, Dr. George Giacumakis, was one of those leaders, and it is thanks to him, I knew about these developments and was privileged to be involved.
I also have Professor Ray Pritz of the Institute to thank for his role. During my first week of classes, he called three of us aside and asked if we wanted to start an Intercessors for Israel prayer group. We said yes and invited another student, Timothy (Tim) King, to join us. During our first prayer meeting, Dr. Pritz met with us to teach us about prayer. Before our prayer group met on its own the following week, Dr. Giacumakis had asked Tim to be the financial director of the new organization they were starting—the establishment of which would be announced at the Feast of Tabernacles event. His decision became our first prayer request.
The Feast celebration took place at the Anglican School, and some 1,500 Christians from over 15 countries attended. During the event, the organizers announced they did not support the evacuation of embassies from Jerusalem and were opening an international Christian embassy in Jerusalem. This Christian embassy would represent the millions of Bible-based Christians around the world who understood the significance of Jerusalem to the Jewish people and stood with Israel in making it their capital city.
These bold leaders launched the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) from an empty three-bedroom apartment for an office and without a penny in the bank. The receptionist sat on a suitcase with an old black rotary dial phone in her lap! And I stood in the front yard with a backpack on my back, witnessing history in the making.
… That day Dr. Giacumakis became the founding chairman of the board, Tim the financial director, and our little prayer group focused on the birth pangs of the ICEJ. During one of our meetings, we were praying about opening a branch in the United States, and Tim mentioned they wanted the head office to be in Washington, DC. During that time of prayer, I knew God was calling me to Washington, DC—a city I had never been to and one in which I knew no one.
A few weeks later, one of the founders of the ICEJ, Jan Willem van der Hoeven, asked me what I was planning to do once I finished my degree. I said, “I don’t know, but I think I am supposed to go to Washington, DC.” He excitedly threw his arms in the air and said, “We just returned from DC, where we met with the head of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee—AIPAC. You must go and work with AIPAC on our behalf!” A proposal was sent to Tom Dine, AIPAC’s executive director, who agreed to take me on for six months as an intern. I moved to DC in 1983 and remained there for 29 years, where I helped establish the USA Branch of the ICEJ. This is also where I met my husband. But let me share how, unbeknownst to both of us, we had met several years earlier in Egypt.
The Egyptian Connection
As soon as Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979, tourism opened between the two countries, and a steady flow of Israeli tourists began visiting Egypt. A fellow student, Marta Rios [Escarcega] from California, and I went to Egypt with one of those groups. …
After we checked in at the St. George Hotel across from the Cairo Zoo, I asked at the front desk where I could find a pharmacy and was given easy directions to one nearby. It was dusk as I made my way across a huge highway full of cars to enter that pharmacy.
At the time, I didn’t know that the man God had destined me to marry was an Egyptian pharmacist named George Michael (Mikhaeel in Arabic), and most late afternoons, he was in that pharmacy. … It was in a medical building that George frequented as a pharmaceutical sales rep, so he would often visit his friend in the late afternoon. While there he would help wait on customers, many of whom were tourists.
A few years later, George and I met for the second time—this time on the other side of the world at a church in Washington, DC. When he heard of my interest in the Middle East, he wanted to know why, and his first question was what I thought about Israel. I said, “I love Israel. I lived there for two years.” He said, “Good. Me too.” I passed the test, and we were married in 1988.
I could never have done what I have for Israel had it not been for George’s continuous support. The Middle East is a complex arena made up of issues that are a mix of historical, cultural, and religious elements. George’s knowledge, biblical worldview, and insight into current events informed me—and gave me great confidence in my calling.
George and I share a love for the Jewish people and a love for the Arabs, and we have continuously endeavored to bring this into the teaching and message of the ICEJ. We appreciate the special, biblical calling on the Jewish people to bless the world with God’s redemptive plan and know that He chose them and initiated His plan because of His love for all people. God’s choice of the Jewish people was for the sake of a world He loves.
Connecting American Christians to Israel
I am so grateful for the role Israel has played in my life—it literally opened the world to me and was a steppingstone into an appreciation of history, cultures, and world affairs. My Bible became what I call “the most exciting book on the planet.” In return, I have done—and continue to do—everything I can to connect Christians with Israel so they can have this same experience.
Washington, DC
In the early 2000s we began focusing more on educating churches and developed several half-day seminars and small group study series for them. The feedback we received confirmed the need to put even more effort into building educational resources.
In response to this need, we built the Israel Answers website to present the facts about Israel, Christian Zionism, and antisemitism. We now offer online courses under the banner of ICEJ U and are developing course curricula that can be taught for credit in Christian colleges. In addition, we lead an array of study tours to Israel for pastors, young adults, and churches and are publishing books like this one under the imprint Embassy Publishers.
After years of collaboration with other leaders in Washington, DC, we formed a powerful network of Christian leaders who not only speak for but to tens of millions of Americans. The American Christian Leaders for Israel (ACLI) network has carried out several joint initiatives and events. Another facet of my work in DC was that I had the joy of pioneering Evangelical-Jewish relations. …
We did all of this while raising funds for our ICEJ headquarters’ projects in Israel—including assisting over 170,000 Jews in making Aliyah to Israel, sponsoring the largest home for Holocaust Survivors in Israel, and placing more than 180 bomb shelters that bring security and peace of mind to many Israeli communities. Over the years, the ICEJ has blessed every village and sector of Israeli society.
The Privilege of a Front Row Seat
I am so thankful for that prayer group of visionaries in Jerusalem who, in 1980, birthed a unique, global organization that currently has a presence in over 90 countries of the world. I am equally thankful to have been born in this generation and to witness the miraculous return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland. We are watching prophecy be fulfilled and rejoice in the faithfulness of God to His Word. To be on the front lines of what God is doing in Israel and around the world is a privilege and a blessing.
See Israel for yourself! Join a life-changing ICEJ USA tour to Israel.
Dr. Susan Michael is the ICEJ USA Director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and has been a pioneer in furthering Christian engagement with Israel and the Jewish people for more than four decades. She is an author, gifted teacher, and international speaker. Her experience, studies, and travel to Israel over the past 45 years have equipped her to handle complex issues surrounding biblical and modern Israel with extraordinary clarity and grace. She is the author of Encounter the 3D Bible: How to Read the Bible So It Comes to Life.
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