The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry

When Elwood arrived at The Friends of Israel (FOI) in 1989 as its new executive director, he came with much support and many qualifications. A number of FOI's staff members were already familiar with Elwood from his earlier term of service as FOI’s Western States director. With his stellar reputation as a godly pastor in Virginia who loved Jesus Christ, Israel, and the Jewish people and maintained numerous warm relationships with local and national Jewish leaders, he was the Lord's perfect fit to assume the mantle of leadership of FOI's worldwide ministry.

Following the rather sudden departure of FOI’s previous long-term executive director, a change of leadership typically would have been disruptive, even potentially devastating, for any ministry. But Elwood's strong, calming aura of Spirit-filled leadership avoided that prospect.

Although I was already part of FOI's administration, I did not have the advantage of knowing him personally in advance of his appointment. However, I quickly came to value the life-impacting blessings of our day-to-day working relationship, which extended throughout the 12 years of his leadership as executive director. Little did I understand then Elwood's key role in paving the way for my 11 years as executive director to follow.

As a dedicated servant of Jesus Christ, with an abiding love for the Bible as the Word of God, Elwood was undaunted by trendy theologies and the shifting winds of popular culture. He inspired me and countless others toward a proper biblical love for Israel and the Jewish people. Very early in our relationship, I learned from him, as did many others, why Bible-believing Christians are Zionists, having an accurate understanding from Scripture of God's eternal promises to the Jewish people.

Elwood never appeared discouraged, and he never discouraged others. His upbeat personality extended to many FOI ministries for which he was uniquely gifted—radio broadcasting, writing, administration, and leadership. As an effective communicator of God’s Word, he shied away from being overly "preachy." Instead, his advice was, "Just speak to the people," and the people responded.

The numerous ministry resources and teaching aids he authored and introduced to FOI’s growing number of constituents helped undergird FOI’s financial base well into the future. Most importantly, Elwood impacted many lives for God’s glory.

Bill Sutter, former executive director of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry

The only time I’ve been to Israel was in 1997, and it’s a trip I’ll never forget. Elwood McQuaid and David Levy were the tour leaders. I was a little afraid of talking to Elwood because he was the executive director of The Friends of Israel and I was the wife of a junior staff member. As a Jewish believer, I had written a few articles for Israel My Glory for him and did a radio interview for him. But beyond that, he was virtually a stranger. All that changed on this trip, as God began turning him into one of the most cherished people in my life.

Elwood knew we didn’t have much money then, and the trip was gifted to us by our church and other friends. At the breakfast buffet in Tiberias, he walked up to me and said, “Try the herring.”

I told him I already tried it and that I’d never had anything so delicious. We chatted, and then I felt him quietly pass something into my hand. I looked down and saw a $100 bill. Surprised, I told him I didn’t need it. “Keep it,” he said. “Use it for lunches.”

On the bus, someone told me, “Elwood will take good care of us. He’s very paternalistic.” On that trip, my husband and I spent hours and hours with Elwood and got to know him as a deeply caring man of faith.

Two years later, he hired me full-time as an editor, and working with him was the greatest joy and privilege of my life. Our relationship blossomed into a deep, deep friendship based on mutual respect, a love for the Lord and the work to which He had called us, and a love for Israel and the Jewish people. I’ve never met a Gentile who loved Israel as much as Elwood did.

And he was like a prophet. He could see clearly into the world’s political future because he knew God’s Word so well. Fifteen years ago, when Russia was in deep financial trouble and many thought the country would never rise again, Elwood wrote, “Russia has not been happy sitting in the back of the bus,” and warned, “Russia and Iran are on the march, and they have evil intentions when it comes to Israel.” How right he was.

He foresaw everything that is happening today, and yet he always had deep faith in God’s love for Israel and God’s faithfulness to the Jewish people.

His sincerity, sense of humor, brilliant mind, masterful ability to articulate his thoughts, and his genuine humility of spirit endeared him to many, including officials in Israel. When then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was flying home from one of his trips to the United States, Elwood and his wife, Maxine, were on the plane. When Sharon learned Elwood was on board, he dispatched a member of his security detail to deliver a pillow to Maxine.

Elwood had casual friendships with four Israeli prime ministers, including Golda Meir, with whom he corresponded, and Benjamin Netanyahu. But one of his closest friendships was with David Bar-Ilan, the concert pianist and editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post who became chief spokesman for the Israeli government under Netanyahu from 1996 to 1999. After David’s debilitating stroke, Elwood visited him at his home in Israel until Bar-Ilan’s death in 2003.

Elwood has associated with dignitaries too numerous to name, yet on the 1997 tour, I watched him kneel in a puddle during a driving rain in Jerusalem to tie the shoes of an elderly woman.

When he retired as editor-in-chief of Israel My Glory and I took over, he continued to write regularly for the magazine until he decided to give that up too. A few years later, I persuaded him to write an article. When I heard from my proofreaders, one of them said, “I’m so glad you got Elwood to write. No one writes like Elwood McQuaid.”

No one does. No one will. He was a godly man of great faith, with the soul of a poet—which made him a joy for me to edit for the past 25 years and an even bigger joy to talk to. I’ve lost one of my very dearest friends. My consolation is that he and Maxine, who died in 2016, are now together. And someday I will see them both when we meet again at the feet of Jesus.

Lorna Simcox, author and consulting editor of Israel My Glory magazine

Dear Uncle Elwood,

I wanted this tribute to be addressed to you, not just about you, to honor you personally one last time.

From the moment you entered my family’s lives, you immediately became a family member; and I gained an uncle.

It was only natural that I introduced you as “Uncle Elwood” to my wife, Anat, when she and I got married, long before our Friends of Israel (FOI) journey began.

I can recall your smile, your calming presence, and your joyful spirit from as early as my childhood when my father, Zvi, instructed my siblings and me to perform our best for you on our various musical instruments. When I spoke with you, I always felt as though you were compiling a story or a song, for rhyming and poetry flowed out of you effortlessly, seamlessly, and endlessly. You were truly a writer and poet in every way, shape, and form.

As I recall countless conversations with you, all of them are enveloped by the feeling that you had an inexhaustible depth of wisdom, sharpness, discernment, and knowledge. How grateful I am to God for blessing me with you, with your scripturally based pearls of wisdom and influential words that guided so many a step. While one might think you were a chatterbox, the opposite is true. When your radiophonic voice was heard, you wasted no words. Every sentence dripped with value and meaning.

Uncle Elwood, my relationship with you and the warm and loving care that my family has received from you were out of the ordinary. Whether during the years you were my manager at FOI or before or long after, the attention you gave us is engraved in our hearts with deep appreciation.

I remember, relatively early on in our friendship, that I sat in your office and you asked me what kind of food I like. "Red Lobster," I answered immediately. For the next few hours, you set all the meetings you had for that week at the Red Lobster restaurant so that I could enjoy the food there until I couldn’t eat it anymore. To this day, I remember how fatherly that gesture was, how attentive, kind, and generous you were.

In matters of ministry, you read every word we shared, asked with deep interest about a variety of topics, and expressed loving care toward our personal lives. My children—Jael, Ronit, Daniel, and Michal—won another set of grandparents and all the gifts that came with you; and we were privileged to have a spiritual pillar in you, a lighthouse in a fallacious world.

But your impact and your meaning to us has gone even further.

We as a family owe you the depth of our gratitude, appreciation, and recognition for making my father’s legacy available and accessible to many. Your investment, commitment, artistry, deep love, and appreciation for my father laid the foundation for honoring the Kalisher legacy, by the grace of God. It was your patience, attention to both the small details and the big picture, and strong belief in the guidance of the Holy Spirit that led you to write Zvi's biography, which is an integral part of the history of the Holocaust and the Jewish people.

I am filled with mixed emotions to say goodbye in light of the richness and depth that your life generously contributed to all of us; but on the other hand, I know with joy and excitement that you are now in the presence of your Lord whom you loved and served with fervent allegiance. Thank you for a life full of sacrifice; faithfulness; art; and, above all, love for your Savior and the people He loves.

Uncle Elwood, we will miss you endlessly—until we meet again in glory.

In loving memory,
Meno Kalisher

Four Questions

I first met Elwood McQuaid almost 50 years ago when he was an instructor with The Friends of Israel (FOI) for our summer team in Atlantic City, New Jersey. His amazing knowledge of prophecy, Jewish history, and doctrine was coupled with great insight into people. He made a deep impact on my life. Four exchanges—all questions—stand out. I asked him one, and he asked me three. Truth be told, since he was my boss, his questions were more like commands cloaked in question marks.

Question 1: I had recently moved to Chicago to begin my ministry with FOI. An issue needing great wisdom and scriptural clarity came up, and I knew the man who could help me. Elwood was Western States director for FOI at the time, and he had no jurisdiction over me living in the Midwest; but that didn’t matter to me. I needed a spiritually seasoned leader to guide me, someone who had the capacity to steer with a steady rudder, someone to provide a calm response to the issues I faced. He was that man, so I asked for and received his sage advice.

Question 2: I faithfully promoted Israel My Glory magazine for years because I knew what 180,000 subscribers knew: It is an amazing magazine. Its authors are gifted and experienced theologians, and its articles are insightful. Years had passed since I asked Elwood, who had become FOI’s executive director, to advise me. He asked me to write for Israel My Glory. What an honor! I wondered if I could live up to the challenge. His confidence made it easy for me to say yes. Despite my doubts, he knew I could do the job.

Question 3: In December of 1995 Elwood called to ask me to become director of North American Ministries. I told him he had the wrong person and recommended a coworker I thought was more qualified. He said, ”I’m not asking the wrong person. I know my responsibility, and I’m asking you to take the position.” Once again, his confidence empowered me to say yes.

Question 4: Several years later, Elwood and I were scheduled to lead FOI’s Up to Jerusalem trip to Israel. Tour participants were meeting at FOI’s home office before driving to the airport. Elwood hadn’t arrived yet. Then I got a phone call—from Elwood. “Something came up. I can’t go to Israel, but I know you can handle it. Have a nice trip.” Click. He didn’t really ask me as much as he told me. As before, I wondered if I could handle the responsibility; but if he thought I could, I knew I could. Elwood will be remembered rightly as a great teacher, preacher, pastor, leader, director, and writer. He was all those things. But I will always remember him as the man who gave me great responsibilities and the confidence to carry them out.

Steve Herzig, Vice President of North American Ministries.

I was first introduced to Elwood McQuaid through his writing when I wrote a report on his book Zvi for my 9th-grade English class. I didn’t realize then that this was just the beginning of how the Lord would use Elwood to influence my life.

Later, when Elwood first became executive director of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry (FOI), he was my Bible teacher. I fondly remember his teachings on the Gospel of John. Much of what he taught about John is in his book The Outpouring. It is a shining example of how profoundly insightful the Jewish context of Scripture is for understanding God’s Word fully.

A few years later, I began working closely with Elwood as part of FOI’s radio team. He had a fantastic ability to make his audience feel like he was with them, speaking to them directly. In this setting, working alongside him for many years, I went from seeing him as a favorite author and teacher to knowing him as a visionary leader, godly mentor, and faithful friend.

My favorite memories of Elwood are of our weekly radio recording sessions. I marveled at how he could be laser-focused on the quality of content while bringing joy to the process with his great sense of humor. He was a gifted communicator who could mine the depths of God’s Word and passionately share what he discovered with others so that they would grow in their desire to study the Bible.

Elwood loved Israel and the Jewish people. He helped many better understand God’s program for Israel, the church, and the nations through a biblical lens. His insightful commentaries on Middle East news came from a deep connection with his long friendships with Israelis.

As a leader of an organization, Elwood had a great vision for how future advancements in media could be utilized to reach many with the Good News of the Messiah. On a more personal level, Elwood was a spiritual mentor. He not only communicated the truth of the Bible eloquently but also allowed it to change his life. Elwood's joy in his salvation fueled his love for helping others experience God’s love for them.

I rejoice in knowing that Elwood is with his Savior. His example will continue to inspire me long beyond his years here on Earth.

Steve Conover, executive vice president of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry