Speaker 1: Life audio.
Speaker 2: Well, I want to welcome you to the Out of
Speaker 2: Zion Show with Susan Michael, and I am very excited
Speaker 2: to have with me today a very special friend and
Speaker 2: special guest, Dean Michelle Bachmann, former Member of Congress and
Speaker 2: now she is the dean of the Robertson School of
Speaker 2: Government at Regent University, and she is doing such an
Speaker 2: amazing work reaching the next generation of Christian leaders and
Speaker 2: educating them, preparing them, training them, mentoring them for leadership.
Speaker 3: Let's take a break and hear a message from one
Speaker 3: of our sponsors. Welcome to the Israel Answer Series Connecting
Speaker 3: Israel the Bible, and you join Susan Michael as she
Speaker 3: explores timely issues and current events from a scriptural perspective
Speaker 3: to equip the Christian world with a balance and biblical response.
Speaker 3: Be sure to subscribe for future episodes which will ignite
Speaker 3: your faith and bring the Bible to life in your
Speaker 3: everyday world. Now, let's join Susan with your Israel answers.
Speaker 2: And so it's our real honor and privilege to have
Speaker 2: you with us today.
Speaker 1: Susan, thank you, I love being here with.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, we have a great partnership. Yes, we do,
Speaker 2: and we've been working together. But first I would like
Speaker 2: for you to share with our audience a little bit
Speaker 2: about how you became dean. I know you knew Pat
Speaker 2: Robertson and you say there would tell that story before
Speaker 2: we share and talk'd be happy to.
Speaker 1: Well. The background is that I was in the very
Speaker 1: first law school class at Regent University. This goes back
Speaker 1: to nineteen seventy nine, the very first year they had
Speaker 1: the law school. So I was completely sold on the
Speaker 1: university because they combined both high academics with high biblical
Speaker 1: worldview and that was exactly where I wanted to be
Speaker 1: and it was probably the best legal education I could
Speaker 1: even imagine. So I'm very proud of the school. And
Speaker 1: then from there I went on. I practiced as a
Speaker 1: lawyer and went into government and that kind of was
Speaker 1: the track that God put me on. And then later
Speaker 1: Pat Robertson called me and kind of closed the circle
Speaker 1: and he asked me if I would come and be
Speaker 1: dean at the University of the law school or i'm sorry,
Speaker 1: of the government school. And I told him, you know,
Speaker 1: I highly recommend you don't hire me. I don't even
Speaker 1: know what a dean does. I haven't spent ten seconds
Speaker 1: in higher ed since I graduated. And he said, no,
Speaker 1: you're the one. You're the one we want, and so
Speaker 1: I went by faith, and it's been just wonderful because
Speaker 1: the university is so open to new ideas and so
Speaker 1: open to the new relevant things that are happening. So
Speaker 1: on my heart was to start a PhD program, and
Speaker 1: I had learned that about thirty thirty five years before
Speaker 1: the university wanted to start one, and they hadn't, so
Speaker 1: we launched one. You were one of the first people
Speaker 1: who came to my office, doctor Susan Michaels, and you
Speaker 1: already had curriculum. You so encouraged my soul. My soul
Speaker 1: just saying when you came in and sat on the
Speaker 1: college in my office. So we began the PhD program,
Speaker 1: and we've now welcomed four classes of PhD students, fifteen
Speaker 1: students each year. We've already had our first pH PhD
Speaker 1: student graduated from the school. And now we also launched
Speaker 1: the Israel Institute, so we have five master's degree programs
Speaker 1: to teach about a biblical worldview perspective on government. We
Speaker 1: have our PhD program on government. But now we've launched
Speaker 1: the Israel Institute because we've seen so many young people
Speaker 1: don't have the basic understanding of Israel that maybe we
Speaker 1: did when we were younger, and so now we're bringing
Speaker 1: those students in. We want to get to everyone, and
Speaker 1: not just people at region. We want to get the
Speaker 1: knowledge of Israel every word, to other universities, to other students,
Speaker 1: to churches, to high school groups, college groups. So that's
Speaker 1: our vision. It's a big vision. And I want to
Speaker 1: thank you for your participation early on in the school.
Speaker 2: It's so critical and so strategic. I just want to
Speaker 2: share the story with the audience. You know, I absolutely
Speaker 2: love Pat Robertson and what an honor for you to
Speaker 2: have known hill.
Speaker 1: I have been a part of the.
Speaker 2: Initial class, but everything he started has been such a
Speaker 2: strategic and very impactful work, from CBN to Operation Blessing
Speaker 2: shar Regate University and so I went to Regent University.
Speaker 2: This is two and a half years ago now, I think,
Speaker 2: and I said, you need to raise the Israel flag. Yes,
Speaker 2: you need to have an Israel study program and take
Speaker 2: the leads because we're losing a lot of our Christian
Speaker 2: college as we are, and their support of Israel and
Speaker 2: their understanding of Israel. And you said, we want to,
Speaker 2: we want to. We've been talking about it, and I said, well, here,
Speaker 2: here's here's the first curriculum.
Speaker 1: An actually you helped with the first Seed money as well. Yes,
Speaker 1: because you can't you can't fly a rocket ship without fuel,
Speaker 1: and that's what you got put that and we're very great.
Speaker 1: That was a good thing. But you know, it's interesting.
Speaker 1: Pat Robertson, he was a tremendous student of the Bible,
Speaker 1: and you can't read the Bible and not see that
Speaker 1: Israel permeates Genesis to Revelation, and so he understood that
Speaker 1: and he saw that. As a matter of fact, the
Speaker 1: very first CBN broadcast, God put it in Pat Robertson's
Speaker 1: mind to launch the first satellite into space to bring
Speaker 1: the Gospel around the world twenty four to seven, and
Speaker 1: he launched that satellite from Jerusalem, Israel. The very first
Speaker 1: program was in nineteen seventy nine, and so Israel has
Speaker 1: always been on his heart. And so really, when we
Speaker 1: launch this PhD in the Israel Institute, this is just
Speaker 1: the next step in the line of what Pat Robertson
Speaker 1: in the ministry has done from the very beginning with
Speaker 1: the seven one hundred Club and the Christian Broadcasting Network
Speaker 1: and now of course his son Gordon Robertson is continuing
Speaker 1: that legacy. Everything is about Israel, and we now have
Speaker 1: CB and Israel. So you'll love this, Susan. We're taking
Speaker 1: our first trunch of students to Israel in about two
Speaker 1: weeks time. We're taking them over and we're taking them
Speaker 1: on the Ambassador of Israel's tour, Danny Dennan. We're taking
Speaker 1: them to Auschwitz first, the death Camp, and then we're
Speaker 1: taking them to Israel. And for your audience who've been
Speaker 1: to Israel, they know once you go to Israel you
Speaker 1: are forever changed because there's two things happen. For one,
Speaker 1: you feel like you're home. If you're a believer, you
Speaker 1: just feel like you're at home. And the second thing
Speaker 1: is you know that the Bible is true. You knew
Speaker 1: the Bible was true before, but you really have it
Speaker 1: in your heart the Bible is true, and you're never
Speaker 1: the same again. So if you haven't gone to Israel,
Speaker 1: it's not too late go. This is the time to go.
Speaker 2: And this is why I find it so exciting because
Speaker 2: I was one of those I was a nineteen year
Speaker 2: old student when I got to go to Israel for
Speaker 2: a study program. It's exactly the lately to treat with
Speaker 2: life and it affected the rest of my life. I'm
Speaker 2: so glad I went when I was so young. Yes,
Speaker 2: how my parents let me, I'm not sure because I
Speaker 2: kind of went alone and met up with a group
Speaker 2: over there.
Speaker 1: So what it was worth doing? And I did a
Speaker 1: broadcast together. You and I did a podcast together, and
Speaker 1: my story was like yours. I went at age eighteen
Speaker 1: and lived and worked at Kiwitzpery and then was back
Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy four. I thank God for that baseline experience.
Speaker 1: It turned and directed the course of my entire life,
Speaker 1: just like your story. That's why it's so important to
Speaker 1: get our young people. It changes their life for the better.
Speaker 2: Yes, and so you know, I just want to share
Speaker 2: that if anybody wants to seed money into the next
Speaker 2: generation of Christian leaders. Recent university, the Robertson School of Government,
Speaker 2: they are preparing Christians getting a PhD in government with
Speaker 2: an emphasis in Israel. We've set up a scholarship fund
Speaker 2: there and if you're interested in seeding, please contact us.
Speaker 2: We'll have links in the show notes for today.
Speaker 1: We would love to do it because we have undergrad masters,
Speaker 1: the PhD, the Israel Institute to reach everyone. And I
Speaker 1: know Susan has been extremely generous to seed that money,
Speaker 1: but we need more because I'll tell you one reason
Speaker 1: why students choose to go to another school is because
Speaker 1: they don't have scholarship money. And here's the big, little
Speaker 1: dirty secret. Katar is out there funding scholarships at universities
Speaker 1: all across America for students. We need scholarship money for
Speaker 1: our students too, and when they come to our school,
Speaker 1: you can be assured they will have a biblical background
Speaker 1: that is pro Israel with high academics. That's what we
Speaker 1: offer the students. And when they go to these other
Speaker 1: schools that are maybe funded by Qatar, they're getting a
Speaker 1: pro Islamic view that is anti Biblical. And so there's
Speaker 1: a real divide here, and so thank you for bringing
Speaker 1: that up. A lot of people don't realize that suits
Speaker 1: the universities. They are being funded by Islamic nations that
Speaker 1: don't have American interests at heart, much less Israel's. So
Speaker 1: that's why we're here Regent to advance the pro biblical
Speaker 1: view of Israel and Pat.
Speaker 2: Robertson would be so, he'd be thrill, he would be
Speaker 2: through he said it. I'm so blessed I have been
Speaker 2: a part of that story. Oh, and to be partnering
Speaker 2: with you. So let's talk a little bit about current events,
Speaker 2: like in the young people regent, your students and all.
Speaker 2: Do you see a certain trend or a lack of
Speaker 2: knowledge or do you see something that's influencing them that
Speaker 2: you could share with us for prayer and for greater
Speaker 2: understanding of the next generation.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'd be happy to. There is a real difference.
Speaker 1: The students are still sweet, wonderful, you know, they profess
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. But the difference is they lack discipleship. They
Speaker 1: lack a basic knowledge of the Bible. And the more
Speaker 1: Bible knowledge you have, the more pro Israel you are.
Speaker 1: And so if you don't have that background, basic discipleship,
Speaker 1: you tend to not have Israel, that understanding of Israel. So,
Speaker 1: for instance, when October seventh occurred, we just assumed all
Speaker 1: the students would know what's going on, But they didn't
Speaker 1: know what's going on. They didn't really understand. In fact,
Speaker 1: their world is TikTok, and so on their phone. It's
Speaker 1: seventeen anti Israel messages for every pro Israel message. So
Speaker 1: we immediately started showing pro Israel movies. We do one
Speaker 1: pro Israel event a week on average during the school year,
Speaker 1: not just one event a year on average, almost every week.
Speaker 1: So we movies, uh plays, books, speakers, authors, zoom, we
Speaker 1: zoom people and because we have we give us a
Speaker 1: regular diet to our students of reality because they're hearing
Speaker 1: lies on their social media. So that's the difference that
Speaker 1: we see. We are very intentional now, and so we're
Speaker 1: intentional not only with our region students. We have a
Speaker 1: wonderful cooperation with the local Jewish community, and Pat Robertson
Speaker 1: is the one who is wise enough to see that.
Speaker 1: So we cooperate with them, and so we let them
Speaker 1: know we're here because we want to support you. So
Speaker 1: we'll take students and we'll go to the local passover
Speaker 1: or the local feast dinner, and we're trying to foster
Speaker 1: those relationships between Jews and Christians because we serve the
Speaker 1: God of the Bible, the God of Israel.
Speaker 3: Let's take a break and hear a message from one
Speaker 3: of our sponsors. Welcome back to the Out of Zion
Speaker 3: podcast with Susan Michael.
Speaker 2: Well, it's so interesting you're mentioning movies and plays and
Speaker 2: this kind of thing, because one of the difficulties for
Speaker 2: us reaching the young generation is that it's actually your professor,
Speaker 2: doctor A. J. Neltik. Do I heard say this. He's
Speaker 2: the director of the Israel Institute. He said that we
Speaker 2: are now in a post literate generation, not that they can't.
Speaker 1: Read, but that they don't read. They take in their information, images.
Speaker 2: And videos and all on their phone. So that has
Speaker 2: to be very challenging for you at the university.
Speaker 1: Well, that is because there's an adaptation on teaching people,
Speaker 1: and yet we have standards. We have very high standards,
Speaker 1: and so we have to push people toward reading, and
Speaker 1: we do. We do very effectively. Doctor aj Nolty, he's
Speaker 1: completely blind and he's the director of our Israel Institute.
Speaker 1: Just an absolutely fabulous person. We have an incredible faculty,
Speaker 1: a faculty that understands Israel and gets Israel. I used
Speaker 1: to be in Congress, and what I saw when I
Speaker 1: was in Congress, Susan, is that a lot of the
Speaker 1: top credential people didn't understand Israel. What they understood was
Speaker 1: a very biased view they got during their PhD training.
Speaker 1: And if you're pro Isra, a lot of times you're
Speaker 1: blacklisted from even getting in these programs. And so that's
Speaker 1: why we need people to come in. We need to
Speaker 1: train them, we need to get them credential so that
Speaker 1: they can get out and work in the intelligence community,
Speaker 1: the Pentagon, the entire bureaucracy of the United States, because
Speaker 1: the reason why you have anti Israel policies in our
Speaker 1: government is because you have people who have been trained
Speaker 1: to be anti Israel through their education and then they
Speaker 1: go into government. So we're trying to be a part
Speaker 1: of the solution, just like you are with your organization.
Speaker 1: We're partnering together to be pro Israel. Pope to be
Speaker 1: pro Israel's to be pro Biblical. God is pro Israel.
Speaker 1: Jesus was pro Israel. So we're just trying to be
Speaker 1: in alignment with the word of God.
Speaker 2: Yes, a man, Well, it's got to be very fulfilling
Speaker 2: to it is that I wonder to know that you
Speaker 2: are mentoring the next generation.
Speaker 1: It is and we're taking our first tronch of students
Speaker 1: now over to Israel, and I can't wait. I'm praying
Speaker 1: already into that trip because I know, just like you
Speaker 1: when you were nineteen and me when I was eighteen,
Speaker 1: our eyes were open and forever change. And I'm asking
Speaker 1: God to be present and open their eyes of their
Speaker 1: part so they will see what we saw. And he will.
Speaker 1: He will to every generation. Yes, you know he will.
Speaker 2: So what is something else, like major misunderstanding that you
Speaker 2: encounter a lot with the students that you're working with.
Speaker 1: Well, I think a major misunderstanding is they are very
Speaker 1: sympathetic to the terrorists who killed Jews. They're very sympathetic,
Speaker 1: and they see that the terrorists are victims. Now, this
Speaker 1: is almost impossible to believe, but this shows how twisted
Speaker 1: and how Satan has gotten into the messaging to show
Speaker 1: that the people who seek actually the extermination of Jews,
Speaker 1: the death of Jews. We can't even believe that people
Speaker 1: would think that, but they've actually gotten Christians to be
Speaker 1: sympathetic to the point of view of those who want
Speaker 1: to kill Christians. And so we have to go into
Speaker 1: that world and that understanding and explain that the true
Speaker 1: victims have been the Jews since twenty twenty three. Well,
Speaker 1: does mean that.
Speaker 2: They got that in high school? And in in the
Speaker 2: school before they actually end well.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Oh and at the youngest ages now today, it's
Speaker 1: since they got their phones. People got their phones in
Speaker 1: about what two thousand and nine, So for students that
Speaker 1: are in college right now, that's only ten years ago.
Speaker 1: So they've you know, they grew up on their phone.
Speaker 1: That's right. They've had phones, i'd say, in their possession
Speaker 1: for about ten years, that's what I mean to say,
Speaker 1: usually their parents, but some parents give phones to their
Speaker 1: children when they're five. I think it's a terrible mistake,
Speaker 1: but they their entire life. They don't know their life
Speaker 1: without phones, so they're getting lies. That's what we need
Speaker 1: to understand. But the good thing is truth prevails over lies.
Speaker 1: So it's nothing to be discouraged about or despair over.
Speaker 1: It's just a challenge. And so at the university level,
Speaker 1: Veritas Truth. That's what we teach, Regent, and so the
Speaker 1: truth does overcome lies. And so but we have to
Speaker 1: be intentional. We can't assume they're going to get it,
Speaker 1: or we can't assume that they come in knowing truth.
Speaker 1: And that's the partnership that we've had with you. Because
Speaker 1: your curriculum is excellent. It teaches truth.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I say always say Pat Robertson was
Speaker 2: a man of destiny and what he built there at
Speaker 2: Regent University is just so.
Speaker 1: It's it's incredible. You're over thirteen thousand students now in many, many,
Speaker 1: many degrees, and what people have accomplished, the alumni of
Speaker 1: our school are phenomenal. With they've accompliled.
Speaker 2: I want to say, you also are a woman of destiny,
Speaker 2: and he knew it and that's why he chose you.
Speaker 2: And no one is more perfect than you with your
Speaker 2: background in Israel from young age to your of course
Speaker 2: that you were of that first law class there at Regent,
Speaker 2: and your time in Congress, and now you're able to
Speaker 2: bring all of that experience and knowledge and expertise to
Speaker 2: these young people. And I just want to honor you
Speaker 2: for your life's work and what you're doing. And do
Speaker 2: you pray the Lord bless you and use you there
Speaker 2: and really cross for may you have many more tens
Speaker 2: of thousands of students, and may we be able to
Speaker 2: have a full scholarship fund Amy scholars Man that is
Speaker 2: we Ehd's there at Regents cells our number one need. Michelle,
Speaker 2: thank you so much for joining us today, and I
Speaker 2: know that our audience has really enjoyed getting to know
Speaker 2: you and your work there at Regents.
Speaker 1: So with that, I.
Speaker 2: Encourage you to do a search in our files and
Speaker 2: find our first interview with Dean Michelle Bachman, which we
Speaker 2: did about a year ago, where she tells more of
Speaker 2: her story at that eighteen years old when she went
Speaker 2: to Israel, lived there in that Gaza border area in
Speaker 2: Israeli kibbutz that became the center of the October seventh attack.
Speaker 2: And so get to know her and her work there
Speaker 2: and get behind our partnership between the ICEJ and Regent University.
Speaker 2: We'll have links in today's show notes or on our website.
Speaker 2: Please get involved and support this amazing work.
Speaker 1: Thank you, what a blessing. Thank you. Hey, just give
Speaker 1: me one more minute. I want to offer you one
Speaker 1: of our free resources.
Speaker 2: We have wonderful resources in our show notes, and if
Speaker 2: you go to our website at ICEJUSA dot org slash
Speaker 2: show notes, you'll find links for a number of our
Speaker 2: free offers. We have downloadables to help root you in scripture,
Speaker 2: help you to understand the issues surrounding Israel and the
Speaker 2: importance be of Christian support for Israel and don't forget.
Speaker 2: Please follow us on Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn and stay connected.
Speaker 2: Thank you and God bless We.
Speaker 3: Hope you have enjoyed this episod episode of Out of
Speaker 3: Zion with Susan Michael. Be sure to subscribe to out
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