April 20, 2025 • 9 mins
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hello, I'm Caleb Burrows with the International Fellowship of Christians
and Jews. I'll be your host for today's podcast. We're
broadcasting from NRB, the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, where we'll
be talking with special guests about a variety of topics
as they relate to Israel, current situation there, and the
work that the Fellowship is doing there. Today, I have
(00:26):
the honor of welcoming Jordan Marcelino to the podcast. Jordan's
part of the Israeli delegation that NRB sponsored by the
Israel Ministry of Tourism, is the co founder, along with
his wife Hillary, of.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
The Beautiful Land Initiative.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Together, the two have pioneered environmental volunteerism in Israel. Since
twenty fifteen, they've engaged more than seven four hundred volunteers,
mostly international Christian tourists, doing environmental stewardship. Jordan is also
an international film producer, best known for his film The
Identical with Ashley Judd and Ree Lioda. Welcome to the podcast, Jordan,
(01:06):
Thank you so much for having me. That's quite a
diverse background from real Liota, from filmmaking to environmental volunteerism.
Can you tell me. How you made that transition.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
That's a great question.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Actually, So the film The Identical came out twenty fourteen
in September of that year, and I began really.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Feeling that there was a shift coming.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
And big part of that shift was my wife was
pregnant with our first baby, and I really always felt
that I was going to raise my family in Israel,
having immigrated there when I was a boy and living
there in different times of my life.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
You know, as I.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Began to really consider the next phase of our lives,
my heart began to burn to return to the land,
return to Israel, make an impact, contribute to society there.
I didn't do military service in Israel. I was It
was just not part of the timing.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
And also, you know, just just life.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
But I felt like this was a sort of a
national service that I could give back to Israel as well. Anyway,
I made that move in October with with Hillary. We
made it to the north of Israel and we started
our family. We had three more babies after after our first.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
So where did the idea for the Beautiful Land initiative?
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Come from?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Great question?
Speaker 4 (02:31):
When I was nineteen, I was I was in Israel
for a short, a short stint, and while I was
hiking on Mount Carmel one day, I was you know
where Elijah called down fire from heaven, right, And I'm
up there and I look around in every direction. There's
trash as far as I could see. And now, the
goal of beautiful land is not to shame. The goal
(02:53):
of the beautiful end is to beautify the land. So
when I say that, there they you know there's trash.
Well there's trash, but we want to deal with it.
And so I saw it in every direction, and I
just I said a short prayer, you know, I said, God,
if you ever bring me back here one day, I want.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
To clean up your land, right Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
And we came back years later and the problem was
still there. And we kicked it off in September twenty fifteen,
and our first group was sixty young people. They came together.
They were from all over the world. We went out
there and all of a sudden, beach goers started coming
up to us, and some of them were crying. They said,
(03:35):
we've never seen this beach clean before. And I was like,
that's that's unbelievable. It was like we've clearly touched a
nerve and it's like the people around here are coming
up and just expressing gratitude. So I'm like, let's do
more good. Let's do more of that and a lot more.
And so thank goodness we were able to by word
(03:55):
of mouth. Really people have heard and come. We've really
not done advertising. We do online, We've post videos of
our cleanups and stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
But that's about it, you said, people or even crying.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
I was just picturing that you're really able to take
ownership of your time in Israel by helping beautify it
as these tourists. You're not just going and getting a
chots key or seeing the cool stuff, which all of
that's great. Yeah, you're you're really being a part of
Israel today. So what what are some of the other
projects that you offer?
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I would I would love to touch on that last
subject you just said briefly.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Oh, yes, just about how it how it impacts people.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
And I think what it does as you were saying,
it connects people to the narrative, uh, to Israel's narrative,
and and they become a part of the story and
in a new in a new way, in a in
a modern way.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
So you have the faith and now there's a practical
opportunity to to connect and to be a part of
today's current story.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
So that's that's wonderful.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
The other programs we have, one of them is called
the Bin Project, and what we do there is we
raise the money for a bin.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Right there are one thousand dollars per bin.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
And they donate that to the Sea of Galley or
to the shores of the Sea of Galley or the
city of Tiberius.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Currently, and we're expanding this project into different cities.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
We've done about one hundred bins so far in Tiberius
and they're capturing at a about three thousand pounds per
year per bin. So that makes a huge impact. And
just knowing what kind of manpower goes into cleaning up
a location, you see that having that preventative measure in place,
(05:37):
it makes just an absolute massive impact. And so that's
a great program. Very proud of that, very excited about
that program. In recent years, for the last four years,
we've been doing projects with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
partnering with them on archaeological excavations in the north of Israel.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Oh wow.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
So whereas we would normally take volunteer for like one
or two hours for a cleanup.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
In this case, we'll say if you want to come
for like.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
One or two days or one or two weeks, we
can plug you into an archaeological excavation.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
But that's like a seasonal thing.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
So it's something we plan, it's something we do, and
we've been able to mobilize tons of volunteers to assist
in archaeological digs, which is awesome. Just touching the past
reminds you of Isaiah fifty eight, right. Isaiah fifty eight,
verse twelve says you will be called the repairer of
the breach and the restorer of streets to dwell in.
(06:35):
That's just such a perfect scripture for us to stand
on and just try to make an impact that way.
So and it also talks about in the same passage
that you will raise up the foundation of many generations.
So there's the archaeology too, and I just thought that's
so cool, you know. Lastly, I'll say that we're launching
a brand new program, a tree planting program called the
(06:58):
Israel Tree Project.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
So all of these things are happening.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
They're all related to environmental stewardship, beautifying the land, and
comforting the people. When you go to a beach Caleb
and you arrive on the scene and it's just absolutely gross.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
There's trash everywhere. It does something to your soul.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
You know, you're like, I don't have the same experience
when it's beautiful, when it's pristine. And not only that,
this is one of the four Holy cities of Israel.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
This is the Sea of Galilee.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
There's so much history there, you know, for Christians and Jews.
This is the pearl of Israel. In many ways, Tiberius,
to see galley, they're a pearl.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Tiberius was maybe the most beautiful spot that I saw
when I was there.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I loved it right there with you.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
So those are those are the programs, you know, those
are that's what we're doing.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
And if we talk about who's coming, who's participating, about
seventy five percent of our groupture are evangelical press or
all sorts of denominations, honestly, but mainly in the evangelical world.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
And then the other twenty to twenty five percent of
our groups are locals.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
And so that will span the spectrum from secular to religious,
to schools to the IDF to issue vo to you
kind of name it, and that has been one of
the most rewarding experiences for me, just being able to
connect with my people, you know, and to do good together.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
I know you're busy. I just have one more question
here before I let you go.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
For our audience when they're there visiting Israel, what is
the one.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Spot you would think is the most beautiful scene in Israel.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
That is a hard one, but I'm gonna have to
go with you know, from the mountains of enough Tali
overlooking the Sea of Galilee, right looking over the ridge
there and you're seeing the Galilee and you're looking down
about twenty five thirty miles. You're seeing the Jordan valleys
stretch out. You're seeing the fruit trees bursting, You're seeing
the fields being cultivated, You're seeing the houses being built.
(09:04):
You're seeing the restoration of Israel before your eyes. So
I would say, go there to the mountains of Tali
and look at the Sea of Galilee.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Look, you have sold me Jordan. That will be the
first stop next time I'm there. Thank you so much
for talking with me today, and our audience can learn
more about the Beautiful Land initiative and Jordan Marcelina, thank
Speaker 3 (09:23):
You, thank you so much, thank you, Caleb
Hello, I'm Caleb Burrows with the International Fellowship of Christians
and Jews. I'll be your host for today's podcast. We're
broadcasting from NRB, the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, where we'll
be talking with special guests about a variety of topics
as they relate to Israel, current situation there, and the
work that the Fellowship is doing there. Today, I have
(00:26):
the honor of welcoming Jordan Marcelino to the podcast. Jordan's
part of the Israeli delegation that NRB sponsored by the
Israel Ministry of Tourism, is the co founder, along with
his wife Hillary, of.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
The Beautiful Land Initiative.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Together, the two have pioneered environmental volunteerism in Israel. Since
twenty fifteen, they've engaged more than seven four hundred volunteers,
mostly international Christian tourists, doing environmental stewardship. Jordan is also
an international film producer, best known for his film The
Identical with Ashley Judd and Ree Lioda. Welcome to the podcast, Jordan,
(01:06):
Thank you so much for having me. That's quite a
diverse background from real Liota, from filmmaking to environmental volunteerism.
Can you tell me. How you made that transition.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
That's a great question.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Actually, So the film The Identical came out twenty fourteen
in September of that year, and I began really.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Feeling that there was a shift coming.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
And big part of that shift was my wife was
pregnant with our first baby, and I really always felt
that I was going to raise my family in Israel,
having immigrated there when I was a boy and living
there in different times of my life.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
You know, as I.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Began to really consider the next phase of our lives,
my heart began to burn to return to the land,
return to Israel, make an impact, contribute to society there.
I didn't do military service in Israel. I was It
was just not part of the timing.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
And also, you know, just just life.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
But I felt like this was a sort of a
national service that I could give back to Israel as well. Anyway,
I made that move in October with with Hillary. We
made it to the north of Israel and we started
our family. We had three more babies after after our first.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
So where did the idea for the Beautiful Land initiative?
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Come from?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Great question?
Speaker 4 (02:31):
When I was nineteen, I was I was in Israel
for a short, a short stint, and while I was
hiking on Mount Carmel one day, I was you know
where Elijah called down fire from heaven, right, And I'm
up there and I look around in every direction. There's
trash as far as I could see. And now, the
goal of beautiful land is not to shame. The goal
(02:53):
of the beautiful end is to beautify the land. So
when I say that, there they you know there's trash.
Well there's trash, but we want to deal with it.
And so I saw it in every direction, and I
just I said a short prayer, you know, I said, God,
if you ever bring me back here one day, I want.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
To clean up your land, right Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
And we came back years later and the problem was
still there. And we kicked it off in September twenty fifteen,
and our first group was sixty young people. They came together.
They were from all over the world. We went out
there and all of a sudden, beach goers started coming
up to us, and some of them were crying. They said,
(03:35):
we've never seen this beach clean before. And I was like,
that's that's unbelievable. It was like we've clearly touched a
nerve and it's like the people around here are coming
up and just expressing gratitude. So I'm like, let's do
more good. Let's do more of that and a lot more.
And so thank goodness we were able to by word
(03:55):
of mouth. Really people have heard and come. We've really
not done advertising. We do online, We've post videos of
our cleanups and stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
But that's about it, you said, people or even crying.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
I was just picturing that you're really able to take
ownership of your time in Israel by helping beautify it
as these tourists. You're not just going and getting a
chots key or seeing the cool stuff, which all of
that's great. Yeah, you're you're really being a part of
Israel today. So what what are some of the other
projects that you offer?
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I would I would love to touch on that last
subject you just said briefly.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Oh, yes, just about how it how it impacts people.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
And I think what it does as you were saying,
it connects people to the narrative, uh, to Israel's narrative,
and and they become a part of the story and
in a new in a new way, in a in
a modern way.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
So you have the faith and now there's a practical
opportunity to to connect and to be a part of
today's current story.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
So that's that's wonderful.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
The other programs we have, one of them is called
the Bin Project, and what we do there is we
raise the money for a bin.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Right there are one thousand dollars per bin.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
And they donate that to the Sea of Galley or
to the shores of the Sea of Galley or the
city of Tiberius.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Currently, and we're expanding this project into different cities.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
We've done about one hundred bins so far in Tiberius
and they're capturing at a about three thousand pounds per
year per bin. So that makes a huge impact. And
just knowing what kind of manpower goes into cleaning up
a location, you see that having that preventative measure in place,
(05:37):
it makes just an absolute massive impact. And so that's
a great program. Very proud of that, very excited about
that program. In recent years, for the last four years,
we've been doing projects with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
partnering with them on archaeological excavations in the north of Israel.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Oh wow.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
So whereas we would normally take volunteer for like one
or two hours for a cleanup.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
In this case, we'll say if you want to come
for like.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
One or two days or one or two weeks, we
can plug you into an archaeological excavation.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
But that's like a seasonal thing.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
So it's something we plan, it's something we do, and
we've been able to mobilize tons of volunteers to assist
in archaeological digs, which is awesome. Just touching the past
reminds you of Isaiah fifty eight, right. Isaiah fifty eight,
verse twelve says you will be called the repairer of
the breach and the restorer of streets to dwell in.
(06:35):
That's just such a perfect scripture for us to stand
on and just try to make an impact that way.
So and it also talks about in the same passage
that you will raise up the foundation of many generations.
So there's the archaeology too, and I just thought that's
so cool, you know. Lastly, I'll say that we're launching
a brand new program, a tree planting program called the
(06:58):
Israel Tree Project.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
So all of these things are happening.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
They're all related to environmental stewardship, beautifying the land, and
comforting the people. When you go to a beach Caleb
and you arrive on the scene and it's just absolutely gross.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
There's trash everywhere. It does something to your soul.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
You know, you're like, I don't have the same experience
when it's beautiful, when it's pristine. And not only that,
this is one of the four Holy cities of Israel.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
This is the Sea of Galilee.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
There's so much history there, you know, for Christians and Jews.
This is the pearl of Israel. In many ways, Tiberius,
to see galley, they're a pearl.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Tiberius was maybe the most beautiful spot that I saw
when I was there.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I loved it right there with you.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
So those are those are the programs, you know, those
are that's what we're doing.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
And if we talk about who's coming, who's participating, about
seventy five percent of our groupture are evangelical press or
all sorts of denominations, honestly, but mainly in the evangelical world.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
And then the other twenty to twenty five percent of
our groups are locals.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
And so that will span the spectrum from secular to religious,
to schools to the IDF to issue vo to you
kind of name it, and that has been one of
the most rewarding experiences for me, just being able to
connect with my people, you know, and to do good together.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
I know you're busy. I just have one more question
here before I let you go.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
For our audience when they're there visiting Israel, what is
the one.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Spot you would think is the most beautiful scene in Israel.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
That is a hard one, but I'm gonna have to
go with you know, from the mountains of enough Tali
overlooking the Sea of Galilee, right looking over the ridge
there and you're seeing the Galilee and you're looking down
about twenty five thirty miles. You're seeing the Jordan valleys
stretch out. You're seeing the fruit trees bursting, You're seeing
the fields being cultivated, You're seeing the houses being built.
(09:04):
You're seeing the restoration of Israel before your eyes. So
I would say, go there to the mountains of Tali
and look at the Sea of Galilee.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Look, you have sold me Jordan. That will be the
first stop next time I'm there. Thank you so much
for talking with me today, and our audience can learn
more about the Beautiful Land initiative and Jordan Marcelina, thank
Speaker 3 (09:23):
You, thank you so much, thank you, Caleb
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