JoAnna Dias Sanchez, PsyD.MA, a clinical psychologist and founder of Gracious Gifts Ministries, said her visit to Israel took on a new dimension when she met a survivor of the October 7 attacks.
“I work with people that are clinically depressed on a regular basis, and so to witness that ... I really wished that I could meet him, and encourage him, and bless him,” she told The Media Line. “The things that I’ve witnessed from afar, they really came to life being here.” She described the encounter as a moment that revealed the human weight of the tragedy in a way she had not experienced before.
“My first trip was in 2011. … Almost every year since, until October 7, I was coming to experience the land,” Dias Sanchez said. “This tour just solidified that experience for me.” She explained that witnessing the aftermath of October 7 deepened her understanding of the emotional weight carried by those who survived. She described how the land, its history, and its people shape the way she approaches suffering and resilience. The trip, she explained, offered a kind of spiritual clarity, an insight she hopes to carry back into her practice and her community. Seeing the aftermath of October 7, she said, reaffirmed her responsibility to help others confront difficult truths with honesty and compassion.
The largest-ever delegation of American pastors and Christian leaders walked silently among the Nova music festival memorial, searching for words equal to what they were seeing. Many had ministered through crises in their own communities, but this was different. For many pastors, the testimonies they heard and the photographs lining the site crystallized a level of human loss that had remained abstract from afar.
Their visit to Re’im, close to the Gaza border, began with freed hostages Emily Damari, Tal Shoham, Moran Stella Yanai, and Aviva and Keith Siegel, who joined the delegation and received the “Here Am I” Award for their advocacy work. For many pastors, meeting them at the memorial transformed a distant tragedy into an encounter with real people whose lives and families had been irreversibly marked by October 7.
Dr. Cynthia Mitchell, a Baptist professor of education from Memphis, Tennessee, said the visit transformed distant headlines into a visceral, personal experience. “I felt the heaviness,” she told The Media Line. “It’s one thing to hear it, but it’s another thing to actually feel it and see the faces of people.” For Mitchell, the encounter offered a framework for moving forward—one grounded in honesty, empathy and moral clarity, and rooted in the spiritual bond she felt while walking the land where Christianity began.
The delegation also heard from Tal Shoham, who survived Hamas captivity after being kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri. Returning to the Nova site, he said, was emotionally demanding but meaningful. “It’s really heartbreaking to see all of the pictures and recall what happened here,” he said. “In contrast to that, to see so many people who left everything they did and came to support us, to advocate for Israel, it’s absolutely amazing. A thousand pastors together, a thousand people of faith, it’s amazing.” Shoham’s reflections, pastors said, highlighted the spiritual and moral dimensions of the moment. His call to “fight for basic humanity,” as he put it in a separate exchange with the delegation, resonated across the visit.
As the pastors moved through the memorial, several former hostages addressed them, thanking the group for their support and for making the journey. For many visitors, the emotional weight of the site became a call to act—not only to remember, but to speak clearly and accurately once they return to the United States.
Eric Alldedge of South Carolina’s Mount Zion Baptist Church said the unity of the gathering was unlike anything he had seen. “The United States is a huge country, and we’re from all over,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll grow to more than a thousand, to 10, 20, 100,000 or more.” What began as a large delegation, he added, felt instead like the start of a broader movement.
Americans struggle to understand October 7
Pastors John and Dawn Cross of First Baptist Church in Sarasota, Florida, said the visit expressed what many Americans still struggle to understand about Oct. 7. “We love Israel. We have been many times, and it was an honor and privilege to return during this difficult period,” John Cross said. “Our church has been praying for Israel since the demonic attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7.”
He added that much of what the delegation witnessed is not reflected in coverage abroad. “A visit by the mainstream media to the Nova site, and meetings with victims and their families, might help correct the narrative they often communicate,” he said, noting that even basic terminology shapes perception: “For instance, the ‘West Bank’ is Judea and Samaria.”
The Crosses said they intend to keep speaking openly about antisemitism and about what they saw in Israel. “We stand on God’s word for life, including our loyalty and love for Israel,” John Cross said.
The group's diversity was on full display. Chief Joseph Riverwind, representing the Arawak Taíno Tribe, said this visit carried a weight unlike his previous trips to Israel. “I have been here before, but something is completely new,” he said. “I feel deep for the loss of those young people. It’s very sad, and at the same time, it encourages us to fight for this not happening again ever.” His wife, Ambassador Laralyn Riverwind, emphasized the power of presence. “Words are cheap,” she said. “Putting our feet on the ground gives force to fighting antisemitism.”
For Pastor Matthew Dodd of Oregon, the challenge ahead lies in translating what they witnessed into teaching. After founding Blessers of Israel in 2023, he said he encountered more hostility than expected. “I knew there was antisemitism, but I didn’t realize how much of it exists inside the Christian church,” he said. He warned that many young evangelicals are absorbing distorted narratives about Israel and Oct. 7. “There’s an opportunity here like never before to seize upon this and help turn the narrative,” he said. “Culture leads politics, and the church must lead culture.”
Behind the scenes, the visit has a clear strategic aim. Organizers described it as part of an effort to prepare pastors to serve as advocates in their communities and on US campuses. The effort is tied to the Friends of Zion Ambassador Program, marking 10 years of the Friends of Zion Museum, and carried out in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Much of the week unfolds at memorial sites, security installations, religious landmarks, and cultural venues.
As the delegation moves across Israel, from Shiloh, the first capital of ancient Israel, to prayers at the Western Wall and to large evening forums with Israeli officials, participants say they are gaining a layered understanding of the trauma, history, and debates shaping the country today.
A symbolic moment came when 1,000 ambassadors received official certificates from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Friends of Zion Museum organization, recognizing their commitment to advocate for Israel and confront antisemitism in their communities. For many pastors, it formalized the sense of mission that had been taking shape since their first steps at Nova.
At the closing ceremony, evangelical leader Johnnie Moore eloquently addressed the scourge of antisemitism and the army of allies who will rise to the challenge of combating it. He said, “On October 7, we saw horrors that should have shaken the conscience of the whole world,” but instead, “crowds poured into the streets to condemn” those who lost their friends, loved ones, and brethren. “The press even demanded Jews explain themselves.”
On college campuses and streets of major cities, Jews have been targeted. Moore recounted, “Masked protesters at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles screamed hate at Jews entering a house of worship.” He called upon the leaders assembled and evangelical Christians around the world to rise and defend Jews: “There are a thousand evangelical leaders here, but more than 700 million of us everywhere … and together, we pledge: If hatred comes for our Jewish neighbors, it will have to get through us first.” He concluded with, “God bless the State of Israel. God bless the United States of America.”
FOZ founder Dr. Mike Evans told The Media Line he hopes the effort will extend far beyond a single week in Israel. “We are launching in 2026 a global online ambassador program to train one million pastors and one million churches with this concept,” he said, describing it as an investment in shaping international understanding.
For JoAnna Dias Sanchez, the visit deepened what she sees as a spiritual calling. After more than a decade of traveling to Israel, she said this trip offered greater clarity about why she continues to return. “I want to embody Jesus in everything I think, say, and do, and who I am to others,” she said. “I want my presence to be a healing presence to them.” Meeting survivors and walking the land, she explained, brought that mission into sharper focus.
Back at the Nova site, where the week began, Mitchell’s words continued to echo among the delegation. “We can’t stop at the pain,” she said, a reminder, for many of the pastors, that remembrance is only the beginning of their work ahead.