Dear Friends,
Recently, Mark Levitt spoke about my position with the ministry and used the analogy of fighter pilots. I’m not really a pilot; but some time back I struck up a conversation with a guy who shared with me that he was a pilot for American Airlines. In response to my question of how he got into that vocation, he shared with me how he began as a Marine aviator, flying Harrier “Jump-Jets” to support combat troops on the ground.
I had known about the Harrier jets for quite some time. Those are the jets that double as helicopters: they can both hover in the air, keeping level and still, or they can speed through the air, being jets as well. Fascinating! But I had a question. I wanted to know exactly how a pilot in a complicated, multi-million dollar jet/helicopter could actually support ground troops hidden in brush, a thousand feet beneath.
Think about it. Pilots function in an extremely busy cockpit environment, surrounded by panels of complicated aviation instruments, vested with responsibility to keep abreast of radio traffic, monitor radar systems, engage weapons systems and, all the while, have to keep their eyes on the sky around them, with a mind to support the troops beneath them. Sounds like a challenging job, doesn’t it? At one level, I am used to busy environments, myself. As a cop, I spent myriad hours in squad cars with radar, computer systems, radios, lights and other distractions. I have engaged in police chases where I had to keep abreast of radio traffic, coordinate with other officers and more. It gets busy there, too—though not as busy as a cockpit. Appreciative of that, I wondered: How does a Harrier Jump Jet pilot know what to focus on?
I asked him and he answered.
He said that the pilots are trained to reduce the complexities down to three focal points, and to focus upon these three factors primarily—and in this order: (1) aviation, (2) navigation and (3) communication. First thing you have to do is keep the plane in the air: aviation. If one fails at this, he said, the rest doesn’t matter. Made sense to me. When in the air, secondly, he said that you need to know where you are going: navigation. Made sense to me, as well. While en-route, thirdly, he said, you need to keep in contact with command, with fellow pilots and with the ground forces beneath: communication.
Ok. Interesting. But, why am I telling you this?
As with Harrier jets, life can get real busy and incredibly complicated. With so much happening around us, and with so much to keep track of, we can get disoriented and crash the plane. If this is correct, and I think it is, it makes sense to boil life down to a few guiding principals. Applying this logic to the life of Zola Levitt Ministries, I come up with the following.
(1) Aviation.
With God’s help working through your kindness, the Levitt Jet flies. Frankly, there were concerns whether individuals would continue with us in Zola’s absence. Happily, you have proven the doubters wrong. I want to thank you for that personally—and I sincerely mean it. We haven’t lost altitude or diminished the thrust in our engines. As for fuel, the mail keeps coming in and with it come letters of personal affirmation and some with financial support. You have kept us in the air.
Though we give God all the glory and Him the credit, we know, too, that we aviate because you serve as His vehicle to provide the “wind beneath our wings,” as the song goes. Thanks.
(2) Navigation.
While we are up in the air, we need to know where we are going. On a weekly basis, many hundreds of thousands of people (Stateside and in Israel) tune in and hear the Gospel from a Jewish perspective through our Gospel According to Isaiah television series. Following on the heels of the Isaiah series comes one on Daniel. Shot on location in Israel—as always—the Daniel series will explore Bible prophecy in this very mysterious “end times” book, and pay special attention to Daniel’s predictions of last days’ wars. We have released a new book entitled The Iranian Menace in Jewish History and Prophecy which, in like manner, serves up a steady fare of information for those interested in Iran and prophecy. (I am already at work on another book, but more on that another time.)
On a different altitude, we have had discussion after discussion, meeting after meeting, and e-mail after e-mail as we work through particulars associated with a soon-coming, expanded and enhanced website. The new site will include archives of Zola favorites; frequent, new, television-standard video on newsworthy events and issues, publication of a host of articles on Israel and prophecy-related events, and more. It’ll be a fun site, too.
Why are we upgrading www.levitt.com in our mission expansion? A few weeks ago, Sandra Levitt gave me a Dallas Morning News article contrasting the viewing habits of generations. My wife and I, along with Sandra and many of you, are of the “channel surfing” generation, are we not? The “remote control” was invented and from our couches we indulged, didn’t we? The DMN newspaper article claimed that the next generation doesn’t “surf channels” nearly as much as they “surf the net”— the Internet.
Believing this to be the case, and in addition to all else that we are doing, we are intentionally and knowingly investing energies in reaching the next generation, in part, by going to the viewing world they like to inhabit—and we’ll go there with a bang. A new site for the new generation is planned for the beginning of the new year. Stay tuned for announcements and a pre-launch viewing.
(3) Communication.
Were you to visit our ministry offices, some of you would be in for a surprise. Those who watch Zola Levitt Presents and perceive Sandra and me as celebrities might expect that a ministry reaching millions should reflect such success and be housed in a million-dollar facility. Ours is so non-ostentatious that you’d be astonished by the simplicity and by how we do not invest in appearances. If this didn’t surprise you, then seeing our staff working in blue jeans would. Beyond this, you’d be amazed by how few workers we have. We allow flex time and telecommuting to minimize management costs. Because we are not all under one roof, success is predicated, in large part, upon—and here comes the word—communication. Staffers have to communicate with each other, and we have to communicate with you—something we do through the TV, the Levitt Letter, personal letters like this and through the evolving website.
For reasons of which you are no doubt aware, it can be said that this ministry has come through an extremely trying year. The tough transitions have tested the endurance of Sandra, Mark, and the staffers, much as it has tested you. I trust that you are pleased with us. Judging by the volume of mail we receive and the contributions that come with it, I am not only confident about the present, I am optimistic about the future.
Speaking of which, the March tour is one of the last opportunities to see Israel in this lifetime. The Lord will be taking us all on a thousand-year tour, to say nothing of eternal life in the New Jerusalem. Check it out before you begin that endless residency there! The Deluxe Tour of Israel is scheduled for March 18-28, and the Grand Petra Tour to Israel and Petra is March 18-April 1. Call Tony immediately at 214-696-9760 during business hours, or 1-800-WONDERS (1-800-966-3377) anytime.
Because the future entails the production of new television programs, along with a hefty outlay of expenses for the production of a next generation website, let me ask you to please support our endeavors to meet God’s will.
If you can help us, great—please do; if not, we love you anyway. Do pray for Jerusalem’s peace irrespective, and please pray for us as we continue to aviate, navigate, communicate, and chart a course to a preferred future. And again, always remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
Your messenger,
Jeff Seif
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