Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts

Sunday, January 25, 2026

#1 Amazon Best Seller! "Back To Jerusalem" by Steve Martin

 





DEDICATION

For 24 years (1987-2010), I worked with four international Christian ministries, served on several church and ministry boards spanning 33 years, and prayed a long time before starting Love For His People ministry in 2010, with my good wife of 48 years (and counting), Laura Jean Martin (aka Laurie).

 

Steve and Laurie Martin, December 2025, near Abu Ghosh, just west of Jerusalem.

When we took three months, the last part of 2025, from October to December, with a few weeks in January 2026, to serve in Jerusalem, Israel, it was an incredible time. I call it a “deployment” and expect many more in the future.

Christian Friends of Israel, founded in 1985 and located in the heart of Jerusalem, with over 20 worldwide representatives and offices, was our landing place. Lord, Lord! Thank You, Lord!

With the current personnel of 30, drawn from many nations and continents, we have immediate friends and support. Loving the Lord’s people, the Jews, the Christian Arabs, Druze, and more, supporting the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), assisting new olim (Jews making aliyah), Holocaust survivors being cared for, future brides with little funds having their entire wedding party fitted and ready as needed…the list goes on and on.

 

CFI staff and representatives worldwide.

November 2025 in Jerusalem.

If I were ever to recommend an international ministry to love and support, Christian Friends of Israel is undoubtedly at the top of my list! With that said, I dedicate this book to you, our many friends and fellow servants at CFI Jerusalem and worldwide.

Steve Martin

Jan. 17, 2026

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

 

INTRODUCTION

                               

From Oct. 16, 2025, to Jan. 12, 2026, my good wife Laurie (48 years of marriage and counting) and I had the most incredible time in Jerusalem and many parts of Israel. We had come to serve with Christian Friends of Israel Jerusalem, as needed.

As I sit on the back veranda of the apartment they provided for us, I watch the sun rise over the southeast as another of His glorious days begins. My heart is full of the love of Yeshua (Jesus) for this, His chosen city, His chosen Land, and His chosen people, the Jews.

We came to bring comfort to His people coming out from a heartbreaking war on the eight fronts the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were fighting, after the horrendous, murderous, home destruction years since October 7, 2023. The Israelis had been fighting for their lives, their families, their land promised to them by the Living God of Israel. We hoped to bring His love to them as Christians, standing on His Word.

God the Father did not fail them. In so many miraculous ways, He protected them, united them, and caused them to cry out to Him for His salvation.

Over 1200 Jewish civilians were lost that day. Over 1000 young men, women, and reserves have since been lost, destroyed by the enemy who seems never to go away.

“We just want peace,” is the cry of our friends’ hearts here in Jerusalem and the surrounding hills.

But, when the Messiah Yeshua returns to this very city, Jerusalem, they will know Him as their Peace King, their Shalom Most High.

 

Come Jesus! Bo Yeshua!


As that time of His return quickly approaches, we joined with several hundred Christians, coming fromthe nations, to comfort, stand in support, and let the love of the Father work through us for them.

In this, my 40th book, written during my 30th trip to Israel since the late 1990s, I share some of my stories. Some chapters are in the “present tense” because I wrote them at the time they occurred.

Many Jews are returning to their Land now, as prophesied centuries ago by Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Yeshua Himself. Christians are going to Israel to comfort and support them in their return.

And then Jesus (Yeshua) will return as the King of kings and Lord of lords.

I desire that the Lord Himself will touch your heart, and you, too, will join Him in this glorious work, to see His salvation come to the Jews and Arabs of Israel.

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin, Love For His People

Jerusalem, Israel, Jan. 7, 2026

 

My hand on the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem.

#1AmazonBestSeller #BackToJerusalem #SteveMartin #Jesus #Yeshua #Israel #Jerusalem #travel #inspiration #ChristianFriendsofIsrael

Saturday, October 4, 2025

The Luggage Tag of Derek Prince, Jerusalem. Message by Steve Martin

The Luggage Tag of Derek Prince, Jerusalem

He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.” Daniel 2:22, NKJV

 

On Sept. 30, 2025, as I was looking in my bedroom closet to see what else I had in our travel storage bins, for anything I could yet use on my 30th trip to Jerusalem, Israel, I was “shocked” when I found an extra luggage strap among several in the third bin from the stacked top. When I looked at the tag under the plastic area to make sure it had my current information (our address had not changed in 30 years) Derek Prince’s name and address were on it! Wow! This luggage tag is over 22 years old. I must have forgotten that this strap had been his and I now have it. 



To have served on Derek Prince’s international home base office with Derek Prince Ministries, as Director of Operations and Finance, for a total of eight years, first in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for three years (1987-1990) and then again in Charlotte, North Carolina (2000-2005), this has special meaning for me.

The luggage tag has his Jerusalem address written on a yellow piece of paper, enclosed under the plastic cover. It appears to be his handwriting. (See comparative photos below.)

When we are in Jerusalem for three months, Oct. 16-Jan. 12, 2026, we will be living in an apartment just a mile from his final home of 15 years in Jerusalem. He passed on to glory in 2003.

When I then turned the name tag over, just to see what was on the other side, if anything, it had a USA home address in the Fort Lauderdale area (Plantation, FL), where he also resided during the 1980s. The address written was 201 SW 38th Ave. in Plantation, Florida, a suburb. (This may have been David and Anna Selby’s home address, for security reasons.) It also appears to be printed in Derek’s handwriting.

When we moved from Michigan to Florida in August of 1987, we lived in a rental home in Plantation on 17th Ave, not too far from this address printed on the back.

David, the International Director of Derek Prince Ministries, son-in-law of Derek, and my boss for a total of eight years, must have given me Derek’s luggage strap after his passing. I will save this strap!

      A close up of a label

AI-generated content may be incorrect.   A hand holding a book in front of a bookshelf

AI-generated content may be incorrect.  

 

     A close-up of a paper

AI-generated content may be incorrect.      A close-up of a document

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

(The printed name on the luggage tag appears to be in Derek’s handwriting, when I compare it to the other autographs I have of him. His greeting and signature to me in his Foundation Series book in 1988 also matches, as does the office memo to David Selby, the International Director, regarding an edit.)

Derek also had a condominium in Hawaii that he and his wife Ruth used when he taught annually in January at YWAM (YOUTH WITH A MISSION) for a month. He must have bought this strap there, for it has “Hawaii” on the end.

 A blue wallet with a yellow label

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

The state of Hawaii embossed at the end of the luggage strap.

So, what is the big deal?

First, to have in my possession a piece of history, a luggage strap used by my favorite Bible teacher, Derek Prince, whom I served on his staff, is priceless to me. To know that this strap went with him all over the world, and especially to Jerusalem, Israel, is a “sign” to me of the Lord’s hand on my life too, as I also travel to Jerusalem often. A part of his legacy I am living.

Second, to know that the Lord directs our steps, each of us, is heartfelt. The One who is so gracious to show us “small signs” of His blessings through directive actions, as ordained and conducted by the Holy Spirit, means a lot to me.

I bless and honor the legacy of Derek Prince, especially his love for the Land and people of Israel. He blazed the trail for many of us in the 1970s-2000s, in biblical understanding and especially the truth about God’s chosen people, as he lived what he believed as Bible truth.

I bless the Lord Jesus (Yeshua) for allowing my good wife Laurie and I to serve in Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel in Hebrew) as we have and will continue to do, even as the Lord leads.

Ahava (love) and Shalom (peace),

Steve Martin

P.S. In less than 10 days Laurie and I head to Jerusalem, Israel for three months. You can read further here: The Martins in Jerusalem

We welcome your prayers and support as we together bless Israel and His people in their Land.

Contributions are welcome online on our webpage. Look for the little DONATE button on the right-side columnDONATE HERE.

Love For His People Ministry     P.O. Box 1113     Pineville, North Carolina 28134 USA

Message #19 in my series (2025): “Derek Prince luggage tag" – Oct. 3, 2025

              
I received 2 plagues for service at Derek Prince Ministries. After 7 years, in 2004, the first one was given. Then after staying on an extra year, I received the 2nd one in 20-5, for “8 years”.

Steve & LaurieMartin, Derek Prince
December, 1987 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

#LuggageTag #DerekPrince #Jerusalem #Israel #DerekPrinceMinistries #travel #serviceplagues

Thursday, October 2, 2025

"It was there for the last 22 years." New message from Steve Martin, Love For His People Ministry

 

The luggage strap of Bible teacher Derek Prince (died in 2003 in Jerusalem, Israel)


“He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.” Daniel 2:22, NKJV

On Sept. 30, 2025, as I was looking in my bedroom closet to see what else I had in our travel storage bins, for anything I could yet use on my 30th trip to Jerusalem, Israel, I was “shocked” when I found an extra luggage strap among several in the third bin from the stacked top. When I looked at the tag under the plastic area to make sure it had my current information (our address hadn’t changed in 30 years) Derek Prince’s name and address were on it! Wow! This luggage tag is over 22 years old. I must have forgotten that this strap had been his and I now have it. 


To have served on Derek Prince’s international home base office with Derek Prince Ministries, as Director of Operations and Finance, for a total of eight years, first in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for three years (1987-1990) and then again in Charlotte, North Carolina (2000-2005), this has special meaning to me.

The luggage tag has his Jerusalem address written on a yellow piece of paper, enclosed under the plastic cover. It appears to be his handwriting. (See comparative photos below.)


When we are in Jerusalem for three months, Oct. 16-Jan. 12, 2026, we will be living in an apartment just a mile from his final home of 15 years in Jerusalem. He passed on to glory in 2003.

When I then turned the name tag over, just to see what was on the other side, if anything, it had a USA home address in the Fort Lauderdale area (Plantation, FL), where he also resided during the 1980s. The address written was 201 SW 38th Ave. in Plantation, Florida, a suburb. (This may have been David and Anna Selby’s home address, for security reasons.) It also appears to be printed in Derek’s handwriting.

When we moved from Michigan to Florida in August of 1987, we lived in a rental home in Plantation on 17th Ave, not too far from this address printed on the back.

David, the International Director of Derek Prince Ministries, son-in-law of Derek, and my boss for a total of eight years, must have given me Derek’s luggage strap after his passing. I will save this strap! 

    A close up of a label

AI-generated content may be incorrect.   A hand holding a book in front of a bookshelf

AI-generated content may be incorrect.  

     A white paper with writing on it

AI-generated content may be incorrect.   A close-up of a document

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

(The printed name appears to be in Derek’s handwriting, when I compare it to the other autographs I have of him. His greeting and signature to me in his Foundation Series book in 1988 also matches, as does the office memo to David Selby, the International Director, regarding an edit.)

Derek also had a condominium in Hawaii that he and his wife Ruth used when he taught annually in January at YWAM (YOUTH WITH A MISSION) for a month. He must have bought this strap there, for it has “Hawaii” on the end.

A blue wallet with a yellow label

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

The state of Hawaii embossed at the end of the luggage strap.

So, what is the big deal?

First, to have in my possession a piece of history, a luggage strap used by my favorite Bible teacher, Derek Prince, whom I served on his staff, is priceless to me. To know that this strap went with him all over the world, and especially to Jerusalem, Israel, is a “sign” to me of the Lord’s hand on my life too, as I also travel to Jerusalem often. A part of his legacy I am living.

Second, to know that the Lord directs our steps, each of us, is heartfelt. The One who is so gracious to show us “small signs” of His blessings through directive actions, as ordained and carried out by the Holy Spirit, means a lot to me.

I bless and honor the legacy of Derek Prince, especially his love for the Land and people of Israel. He blazed the trail for many of us in the 1970s-2000s, in biblical understanding and especially the truth about God’s chosen people, as he lived what he believed as Bible truth.

I bless the Lord Yeshua for allowing my good wife Laurie and I to serve in Eretz Y’israel (Land of Israel is Hebrew) as we have and will continue to do, even as the Lord leads.

Ahava (love) and Shalom (peace),

Steve Martin

We welcome your prayers and support as we together bless Israel and His people in their Land.

Contributions are welcome online by clicking HERE on our webpage. Look for the little DONATE button on the right-side columnDONATE HERE.

Love For His People Ministry    P.O. Box 1113    Pineville, North Carolina 28134 USA

Message #19 in my series (2025): “It was there" – Oct. 1, 2025

Derek Prince - photos on the Charlotte, NC office

An official portrait of Derek Prince - late 1990s.

Steve Martin leading worship at the Derek Prince Ministries office 2001. David Selby on the right.

Steve Martin stopping by the DPM office in Charlotte, NC 2023

#Itwasthere #22years #Newmessage #SteveMartin #LoveForHisPeopleMinistry #DerekPrince #luggagestrap #Jerusalem #Plantation #Florida #Israel #travel #YWAM

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Ami Horowitz just traveled to Swedish no-go zones and discovered something horrifying - Israel Video Network

daily israel update banner 2
ISLAM-rape-daughters-email
Rape and violence has exploded across Sweden due it's immigration policies. Watch to see what Sweden has done to itself.


Sweden has become the rape capital of the world despite the reputation of it being a harmonious place to live.
More Islamic immigration has spread across Sweden than any other country.
Swedish culture and Islamic culture just simply do not go hand in hand.
Sexual attacks at rock concerts have happened multiple times to multiple victims.
The world is changing and especially in Sweden.
The European Union has made a horrible mistake and especially Sweden has made a horrible mistake in working to help the immigrants.
Published: January 9, 2017

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Ahava Adventures Word from India Pastor

Ahava Adventures Experience
John Ebenezer from Hyderabad, India

John and Steve in Jerusalem
Nov. 2013

Dec. 14, 2013
  
Dear Steve,

Shalom. I have just sent emails and news from Israel and other festival dates which I needed (to the ones we stayed at in Jerusalem), saying thanks for their prayers and care of our stay, wishing everyone from us a blessing.

I am at Mucherla with our team and pastors, They have seen the DVD and photos from my trip to Israel with you. Everyone saw you walking with me. All are surprised about the trip of Israel. Praise God! I am so blessed to have travelled with you. God provided for me to be with you as a partner with mission. I thank GOD.

Our team of five each has two going from house to house lighting the candle for Christmas. Many have seen my baptism at the River Jordan, praising GOD for the chance which I have with you. Many thanks for your goodness and love. I will come again 2014 and planning to bring few with me, but the cost is higher for them.

One Catholic sister, whom I gave her a rosary, was very much happy to see you travel with us. Let us pray Yeshua will open the doors for many people from India to be with us.

Please send the details of festivals and holidays in Israel so I can pray for us many. David, Lucie and Joseph were very much happy to see the DVD and photos from Israel on the Ahava Adventures trip in November.

John in Jerusalem with book
"Ahava Love Letters"

 You are all in our prayers. Please say hi to Ben (Martin, who joined us on the trip) from me and your family too,

 Ahava, shalom,

John Ebenezer
Pastor, Lighthouse of India Ministries , Hyderabad, India



John and Ben Martin on bus in Jerusalem

John and Steve - with the Eastern (Golden Gate) 
across the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem


Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Ahava Adventures Trip For The Next Generation - Help Sponsor A Young Person!

Ahava Adventures for The Next Generation
- Help Sponsor Them To Go!

Danny Boy's gift shop in Jerusalem
- Ben Martin on Ben Yehuda Street

Jerusalem

Our annual Ahava Adventures trip to Israel


When I was 23 years old, a measurable time ago, a Bible teacher named Derek Prince began to impact my life with his teachings on Israel, and specifically our debt to the Jewish people. I have never been the same since. And subsequently have been to Israel ten times.

Having served with three ministries, from 1987-2010, that have truly blessed the people of Israel  (Mahesh & Bonnie Chavda Ministries, Derek Prince Ministries and Vision For Israel & The Joseph Storehouse - Barry & Batya Segal), I grew in my love for the Lord Jesus' plans and purposes for that nation and His Chosen Ones.

Camel rides

Now, a major goal of our ministry, Love For His People, is to connect the next generation - yours and my sons and daughters, and grandchildren, to Israel and the Jews. Introducing yours and my family of friends to their family of friends. It becomes an eternal connection.

Will you help us do that?

Every year we will take a number of our young loved ones to Israel, but we need your sponsorship to make it happen.

If you have ever been there, the land where Jesus walked and now His people live, you know the impact it will have on these that are able to go. (I like how the Israel Ministry of tourism puts it, "You (they) will NEVER be the same.")

If you haven't been able to go yet for yourself, or simply can't go for whatever reason, can you help another one go, with a supporting sponsorship contribution? Even $5 will let them eat a falafel on the streets of Jerusalem.

A pleasant place to be!

Our trip this year is set for November 2-11. More on that time can be found on our website Love For His People , where you can also give an online contribution through our PayPal link.

If you prefer to send a check, please do so:

Love For His People, Inc.
12120 Woodside Falls Rd.
Pineville, NC 28134

All gifts to sponsor another of the next generation are tax deductible, and you will be given a tax receipt. We are a 501(c)3 ministry.

Blessings on ye head. We will give much appreciation to you for your gift! And know that you will impact another's life for eternity. I firmly believe that.

Ahava (love in Hebrew),

Steve Martin
Founder


Photos below were taken by me while in Jerusalem and other sections of Israel.

Ben & Dov

Bedouin tent

Young men of Jerusalem

Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum) - Children's Exhibit entrance
Arm in arm.

Dad and son Ben, after a hearty lunch in Jerusalem.
Dead Sea experience!

Masada - We pray along with the Jewish people, "Never again."
Dead Sea mud. Get covered!

Young Jewish boys walking home from school.

Ben Martin and young man near the Old City of Jerusalem.

Wedding photo on Tel Aviv beach
 - Mediterranean Sea

A new friend at his coffee shop 
- near King George Street in Jerusalem.

Walk the streets where Jesus did. 
And now His descendants.



Ahava Adventures for The Next Generation
- Help Sponsor Them To Go!

Israel and the Jewish People

Derek says, 'Growing up in England, I would never have been anti-semitic, but I didn't know or care much about the Jewish people. I had two Jewish friends at Cambridge, but they were totally assimilated.'

When the British army posted him to Jerusalem just at the end of World War II, Derek watched in awe and amazement as the Jewish people returned from many different countries after nearly two thousand years of exile. As he read Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, he realized he was seeing biblical prophecy fulfilled before his eyes.

As a guest student at Hebrew University (the only Gentile at that time), and in daily life with Lydia's six Jewish daughters, he came to see the patience and faithfulness of God ? and the tenacity of the Jewish people in enduring every kind of pressure and indignity. He says,
We owe the Jewish people an enormous debt. Without them, the church would have no patriarchs, no prophets, no apostles, no Bible and no Saviour. My most precious possession in life is my Bible, and I owe it to the Jewish people.

Through his booklet, Our Debt to Israel, and his spoken messages, Derek Prince has awakened Christians throughout the world to their responsibility to Israel and the Jewish people. His book, The Last Word on the Middle East, examines in detail prophecies currently being fulfilled and expounds God?s plan for the Middle East as the age draws to its close.

In another book, The Destiny of Israel and the Church, he lists seventy-nine occurrences of the word Israel or Israelite in the New Testament, concluding that Israel is never used as a synonym for the church. He explains how the church needs to recognize the special destiny of Israel, and to align itself with God's purposes.

In nation after nation, Derek has unfolded the current worldwide fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:10:
Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.'

Then in Jesus' words he has concluded: ?Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing? (Luke 4:21).

Challenging his listeners to a positive response, he cites the three parables in Matthew 25 and says:
In each parable there were those whom God judged and rejected. Why? All had this in common: apathy and passivity. It was not what they did, but what they did not do. We are either with or against, either gathering or scattering, either building up or tearing down. There is no middle ground. God requires us as Christians to comfort and pray for Israel.


Derek demonstrates his own confidence in the prophetic Scriptures by living in Israel and standing with the Jewish people through the pressures and trials of daily life. He views intercession as his primary assignment, praying for God to fulfill His Word and to bring salvation to the Middle East, to Jews, Muslims, and nominal Christians.