We are moving to Arizona!

A Decade Recap

2014 – Carissa and I joined Chosen People Ministries with the dream to start a guesthouse ministry in Brazil to host Israeli backpackers. 

2015 – God affirmed this dream when we volunteered at a guesthouse ministry in Argentina and stayed up until 2 or 3am every night talking with Israelis about Jesus!

2017 – God prevented us from moving to Brazil to start one guesthouse, and He enabled us to start a network of thousands of guesthouses around the world! 

2020 – God gave us a new vision for our original dream, and we began praying about starting a campground in the U.S. to host Israelis.

2021 – We took a cross-country vision trip to see where God might lead us to start this campground ministry, and God placed Northern Arizona on our hearts.

2023 – I flew out to Arizona for my Fall speaking tour and God gave us clear confirmation that this is where we should go next.

Why Arizona?

In Israeli backpacker ministry we have identified two opposite groups of Israeli backpackers: (1) the Backpack Crowd tends toward nature, is generally more serious about life and more receptive to the Gospel; and (2) the Suitcase Crowd tends toward cities, is generally more into partying and less interested in a Gospel conversation. 

The Grand Canyon is probably the largest natural attraction which draws the Backpack Crowd, making it an ideal area for us to receive large numbers of the right kind of Israeli backpackers. And after one year of running the Host Israelis network with 60+ hosts all over the U.S. we saw that our 4 hosts near the Grand Canyon received more requests from Israelis than hosts almost anywhere else.

Goals for this Trial Season

After much prayer and consideration, we plan to move out to Northern Arizona next month for a trial season of possibly six months or more. The purpose of this trial season is to:

• make sure the location, climate, and environmental variables are suitable for our family – especially for Carissa’s health complications
• test hosting Israelis, make sure the location is makes sense for a campground ministry, and confirm this is where God would have us stay
• gain experience in campground management before starting our own campground

Please pray with us for God’s clear direction and provision during this time and for wisdom as we determine details for our trial season. Thank you for your faithful prayers and support for our family and our ministry.

Love,

BJ, Carissa, Ari and Aviya