June 10, 2025 • Stuart Brown

CPMA Coordinator Travels to Israel

The week of April 20–26, 2025, God granted a desire I’ve had for a long time: to visit the Land of Israel. This blessing was even sweeter as I made the trip with our General Overseer, Bishop Oscar Pimentel, Field Secretary, Bishop Robert Strong, and World Missions Coordinator, Bishop Robert Hawkins. I thank the Lord for safe travel for us all.

Our drivers (whom I feel had previous NASCAR experience) raced us to our first destination of Tiberias/Galilee. The speed of that drive was a true reflection of the racing excitement we all felt to take in as much as we could. Words fail to describe the feeling of physically being in the place where we’ve read of many great things that happened in the Bible. “Surreal” was a word that popped up many times.

Our first marker visit was to Mt. Hittin. As we drove closer to its location, we could see the marker standing boldly on a clear sunny day. “There it is!” I said to myself, filled with an eagerness to make that small climb to the grand reveal. The stone still speaks even though there have been attempts to deface it. All the words (English, Hebrew, and Arabic) that speak of the establishing of The Church of God are still clearly seen. Mt. Hittin is a beautiful location. I felt joy in seeing this miracle marker, which brethren in our past worked hard to get installed, still serving its great purpose. What an added honor it was to be in Israel and to have ice cream for Bishop Strong’s 80^th birthday! Strong in name and nature, he literally took all that walking in stride!

After a few days in Tiberias, we made the drive to Jerusalem. For me, personally, this was another “WOW” moment! To have a full understanding of the sight and feeling of God’s city can only be fully appreciated by being there! We were met by our friend of the Church, Amos, who led us on a walking tour of the streets of the city, and we were blessed by his sharing great knowledge and Jewish history. During one of his talks, a man from the street interrupted and asked if we could pray for him. He asked for a blessing, so we proceeded to pray for the man. After the prayer, he left and was giving thanks.

As we moved around, Bishop Hawkins had tracts to distribute that were passed on to different people who were willing to accept them. Over the next few days, we were able to see the other two markers, one at Golgotha and the other at the beautiful Garden Tomb area. Again, I was filled with joy to see these markers still drawing attention! I observed people from Nigeria to Norway taking pictures and studying the surroundings. There was even one precious soul from China who was doing a live stream from her device to brethren back home. She was warm and accepted some tracts. We prayed for her and her audience that the Spirit of God would move upon them and lead them to another encounter with The Church of God. It was deeply moving to have a prayer in the Garden Tomb! We didn’t go there to look for Jesus or mourn a dead body, we already knew He wasn’t there because He arose triumphant over death! It was fitting that we were there over the Easter season! Hallelujah, Christ arose!

Space here will not allow the sharing of all we witnessed and experienced, but I’m glad I was able to go and that The Church of God has a presence in the holy land! My prayer and desire as the CPMA Coordinator are to maintain and develop good relationships with those friends we have, grow our connections, and see God draw souls in Israel to His Church as His markers call out! Our marker program is working!