Paul Calvert interviews Zac Waller, the executive director of HaYovel Now, about uniting Jews and Christians through volunteering on Israeli farms, and fulfilling scripture.

Zac: It's becoming a huge deal. The vineyard owners that we work for, it's incredible they started planting vineyards within the last 15-20 years and they are already winning gold and silver medals in international competitions. It's becoming a really big deal because God is blessing the land and the farmers.

Paul: What other things do you work with? What other things are grown in Israel?

Zac: The main thing we work with is the vineyards because that was the biggest need. With the vines when they grow and produce the fruit, it's very tricky to tell exactly when the grapes are ripe, there is a certain sugar level and a certain PH level that the grapes have to be. It's always a little bit different, so they are always trying to figure out when the best time to harvest is and a lot of time they can guess about a week. The work is extremely flexible and that is the way farming is in general.

These farmers need about 50-100 people to come out and work in their vineyards for just a few weeks, but most Israelis have their own thing going on, they have their full time job so they're not available to go out and help. Because of this we saw a huge opportunity for Christians to come and volunteer.

What is really crazy about it is that it's actually prophesied in scripture. Isaiah 61:5 says this, "Foreigners will come and be your ploughmen and your vinedressers," so it specifically says people outside of Israel will come to Israel and be your vine dressers, specifically to the vineyards, and so we believe that that's happening right now and we are so honoured to be a part of what God is doing here.

Paul: So you are actually fulfilling biblical prophecy here in the land of Israel?

Zac: Yes. When we first came we weren't really looking for that.

A lot of people hear about what we do and the prophecies and they say that were just chasing after the prophecies, but really we came with a heart to serve the Jewish people and to bless the land of Israel. All of a sudden the Jewish people, the farmers, took my dad out of the vineyard and opened up the Bible and read to him Jeremiah 31:5, they were the ones who showed us.

In our culture today we overlook a lot of agricultural things, we are disconnected from agriculture because now you can go to the store and buy things by the carton. To go back and read the Bible and to see that this is actually happening and being fulfilled; these 3000 year old prophecies are actually being fulfilled down to the detail, it's really exciting to see the word of God coming to pass.

Paul: Are you fighting the BDS movement, the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement?

Zac: We are not necessarily in ourselves, in our organisation, going out and fighting against it. We started 14 years ago so it's been a little bit more recently that it's really taken off and become a big deal. Probably in some ways we are, but it's not a focus of ours. Obviously we are helping businesses in Judea and Samaria in the so called West Bank, so in a way, yes we are doing things that are hurting the BDS movement.

Paul: What is the Joshua and Caleb Report?

Zac: Going back to the Bible, there is a story of the Israelites coming up out of the land of Egypt, but before they arrive there is this story that takes place where 12 spies go into the land and they come back and 10 of those spies say "There are giants in the land and there is no way this is going to work, we can't take the land." Joshua and Caleb the two good spies come back and say "God promised this land to us and our descendants for ever so we can come in and it is possible, with God anything is possible."

We like to work by this idea. We have twin brothers named Joshua and Caleb. They used this idea and said, "Were going to focus on the good things about the land." A lot of people focus on the terrorism, on the hardships, the conflicts, but we said no. We wanted to be the two spies who come in and say "Look there are beautiful vineyards that are winning Gold medal prizes all over the world, and there are beautiful people who live here and have real everyday lives."