Adventures in Israel: DAY 8 - Never Forget and healing by the beach!

You've heard the stories and read about it and interestingly, some even try to deny it ever happened! Yesterday we started by visiting YAD VASHEM, which is the official momorial in Israel to the Holocaust, where 6 million Jews were killed, murdered, gassed during the 2nd world war. You could see a film collage of how life was before the unfortunate event and then the gradually progression of events that led to almost complete annihilation of a particular people, just for being different. I laboured through the winding paths and the hall of names where you looked up and saw in a spiral pictures of people who lost their lives brought it all home. You heard a sniff from practically everyone of our group that came out. By the time we then went into the Hall of remebrance where you saw the names of some on the floor, the eternal flame, now regarded as a holy place, the tap works got turned on. Couldn't hold the tears.

BETHLEHEM

We then moved on to visit the birth place of Jesus where it all begun. This was the wierdest part of our trip for various reasons. First our guide could NOT follow us into Bethlehem. She had to be dropped before, and once we got in, another guide jumped aboard. Coming through the entrance, the reason became clear! Citizens of Israel (read Israel Jews) were not welcome in Bethlehem! Well, we need to rejoice that we at least could see the place. We saw the wall of separation, but then visited the place believed to be where Jesus was born, where a church (of the nativity) now stands. Rebuild by different people, it has the Armenian, Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic sides to it. Like our guide said, if you lived in modern day Bethlehem, you'll get to Celebrate Christmas three times! Kid's delight :-) It is an area under the Palestine government, not too much to see but then new buildings and the major attraction being the nativity square where Christmas eve is celbrated in december and the Church.


Final Healing service at Ashdod


Ashdod is the fifth-largest city in Israel, located in the Southern District of the country, on the Mediterranean coast, with a population of 210,000. Ashdod is an important regional industrial centre. The Port of Ashdod is Israel's largest port accounting for 60% of the country's imported goods.(Wikipedia)and has a great beach! We got back quickly to the hotel to change and were on our way to Ashdod. For once this was flad land as we were used to in the Netherlands. No hills or mountains. We saw that it was the market day and man was the place theming with people. Here we had the last of the 3 planned services. First we were treated to a big dinner 3 course meal 210 of us! The service:The pastor Avi prochter said a few things. This was the first time in their history that they held a service outside their church walls, and the hall was full, well some party was going on downstairs :-( Secondly the mayor of ashdod would have been their but for previous engagements and sent his greetings welcoming us to the city and that they would be building resorts and new hotels to host more christians in the future! This was unheard off. Pastor Zijlstra sent a message back acknowledging the gestures. There were lots of Russian Jews and Ethiopian Jew present, all evidences of the Aliyah (return of jews from other countries to their homeland) And the service was powerfull- great music, and I was asked once again to sing a special )by the way I have literally sung a song as solo or led the group in songs every day since we came here, it is a miracle I still have a voice to sing. God has been faithfull and helped me indeed. This time I sang again the song `He is Jehovah´ Contrary to what happens when i sing this in Holland, everyone was on their feet singing along and dancing along.What a sight! Again we gave an offering to be a blessing to the work of the messianic jewish congregation and loads were headed by God. Notable and funny was seeing deaf people who got healed suddenly trying to adjust to the presence of sound again. And an invitation was made for people who will acknowledge Jesus (Yeshua) as their saviour some 15 people came out to do that. This was unheard of in Israel, as people normally do this secretely. We thank God for this breakthrough .

Adventures in Israel: DAY SEVEN - Dedication and Salty swimming!

Sometimes in life you get inspired by other people, and sometimes you are used to inspire others. It is a great thing either way. A brother (fellow pilgrim) drew my attention to the happenings since we started our trip. I was supposed to be in a Bus ONE, but a day before we were told where to be in the preparatory meeting, I was 'shifted' to bus FIVE! On Bus 5, once we arrived in Israel, I entered the Bus and unlike me, rather than sitting in one of the forward seats, ended up in one of the seats at the back. Here comes the crunch, I could have been moved to bus TWO or bus SIX. (Those Buses and the people in them did not make the trip as a result of the Volcano eruption travel disruption). At the back of the Bus, I seemed to have hit it off with all the people surrounding me, said a word that has really encouraged them, helped them discover what God's call or plan for them could be, brought a smile et.c THAT is what I call being used to inspire others and God ordained fate!

Today, we made a trip to MASADA. What about that? This was a place where a terrible thing happened. The last part of Israel standing up to the Roman invaders, after Jerusalem the capital had fallen in 70AD. The end result was that these brave Jews when confronted at the very end with the possibility of being captured and being mercilessly punished by the Romans, decided NEVER! and sadly, killed one another till the last person topped himself! Horribly history but showed how people showed courage and defiance till the very end.Inspiring. Till Today, the Israeli army has the practice of having a swearing in on top of the Masada fortress, and state that Masada will never be taken again and dedicated themselves to the fact to be ready to die literally for their country! Wow. We got there and had to get to the top of this table like mountain via a cable car.
We were led around by our guide to see the palace that Herod built and what the Romans made of it afterwards, creating a luxurious settlement. Then had a very short service here and got on our knees,pledged allegiance and dedicated ourselves to God and God's people - Israel as bible believing Christians. That was something.


The Dead Sea and Scrolls
Fast forward to the last century. Qumran, where Beduin shepherds discovered the earliest bible scrolls ever, the dead sea scrolls. We drove past it on our way and came back to visit it and see how the Essenes sect lived as well and the caves. BUT, we went to this spa at the Dead sea. I have heard of it but now I have seen it. It is true, you float on it and it is SALTY! I put my hands in the water and what did I come up with big lumps of salt crystals. I heard that 33% of the water is salt. I laid me down back and front easy, for someone who is not an Olympic material swimmer :-)We had to wash off the salty water and then had a regular swim in the swimming pool. And then we went back to our hotel.



As we have been doing almost every day, we held a debrief and prayed together after dinner. One more major activity day. This has been momentuous.

DAY SIX: What the camp Davids, Oslo etc could not do...Proclamation

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Yesterday we had another service, this time in the Messianic Jewish congegation at Dugit under Pastor Avi Mizrachi. Won't bore anyone with further details of the fantastic band, the impressive violinist, the healing of literally everyone that came forward for prayer et.c BUT at the begining of the service Pastor Avi, a Jesus believing Jew called up an Arab Pastor, who lead a Jesus believing israel-arab congegation and together made a gift presentation of a shawl to Pastor Jan Zijlstra (Christian from the Netherlands). They opened it up and put it on Pastor Jan. He then came in the middle of the two Jew and Arab and put his arms round them. What a PICTURE!Jew Christian and Arab United in Yeshua Amachia (Jesus the messiah). Wow!What the politians could not achieve, we HAVE in Christ!

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TODAY 26/04/2010

This was a day we all looked forward to with various reasons. We had a stategic plan and you must keep those to youself mostly, before you get sabotaged. Will come to that.

We started the day, by heading for the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem. This is the place you did not know about, discovered by an English fellow and bought off a Greek that wanted to develop it to something else, but had no water source. It's supposed to be the tomb that Jesus was laid in . Wow. The garden is beautiful and you can sit, pray, meditate. We actually held a communion service there. It is an EMPTY grave, Jesus rose, we believe. And then, Just across the road is Golgotha mountain. Speechless!



PROCLAIMATION and a T-SHIRT
We went for Lunch, yea, some Schoarma (Pitta bread, filled with some chicken and vegetables) and some had de Fallafel (always vegetarian) and at this eating place, the manager always tried to address us in Dutch(language of Holland) but really? ends up speaking german to us. Dutch and Deutsch(German) eh.. not the same thing. I finished eating and took a short walk round the corner. On returning back to the cafe, was stopped by this muslim store owner, sitting down and praying with his beads. He saw my T-shirt and asked where it was from, I said the Netherlands, and he read what we had written on the back ISRAEL we love you, then proceeded to say , I believe you are a smart person (well?) But if you love some people , doesn't that me that you do not love the others? I smelt 'trouble' and excused myself that I've got no political agenda. Asked his name . He was Ibrahim, and I could hardly get a word in, he was going on about occupation, and the danger of openly supporting Israel in some areas, and even if we were on a Godly mission, it should be in our hearts only, by this time another man came by. I told him I can always express my love for anybody even my wife, and that I loved Ibrahim too! he smiled and laughed and I just walked away . Phew! What if I had told him, we were planning to go as a group of 250 Christians from the Netherlands to the Jaffa gate in the Jerusalem wall and PROCLAIM our love and support for ISRAEL as most Bible believing christians will and should probably do???? WELL, That is what we DID! We went quietly to the Jaffa gate, made the long climb via the Ramparts to the top lined up in three rows and made proclaimations, sung, Blew Shofars (Jewish Horns), waved Israeli and Dutch flags and released 10 meter high banners from the Top of the wall, DECLARING: Israel we love you, Israel we are praying for you and for the PEACE of Jerusalem. And what amazing scenes of Joy and celebrations! Then , we made this Looong walk on the walls. The wall is solid and broad. Thank God, no accidents of any kind. I can now call myself like my mother did. A JERUSALEM Pilgrim. Glory to God! 2 more days and we'll be home. Keep reading. Shalom !

Adventures in Israel: DAY FIVE - Rest and Healing

We had a rest day today. Had breakfast and lunch at our Kibbutz hotel. Really glad I have an internet connection here. Have been able to make some 177 photes available on a site for family at home to watch. Yesterday, something interesting happened. I always wanted to take a photograph with an Israeli soldier. It sounded like some kind of dare. So at one of the gates, while our lady guide was explaining a few things to the group, I saw one bent over an army truck door and chatting away to some colleagues, so I went over and explained that I really would like to take a photo with him. He first goes to me, well, the problem is if I do this then more people will want to do the same, but he later conceded to allow one with me and no more. Was I glad. Got one of my co pilgrims and the deed was done. Hey, follow your dream :-) .

Service in Tel Aviv Tonight, there will be a healing service in Tel Aviv and we believe that God will do wonderous things again. Looking forward to it

Adventures in Israel: DAY THREE and FOUR - Jordan: The source, Yerusalaim and Shabatt

Big day today. We were at the the Source of the Jordan and after a few places moved on to jerusalem. O Jerusalem. The Western wall, the last remain part of the old Jewish temple. (called sometimes the wailing wall) and the prayers and the orthodox Jews Wow wow and wow. It is awesome to think that Jesus came here quite a few times and taught, drove off money changers and quite a bit of drama leading to his eventual cruxifiction took place here. We visited the Western wall while it was still not filled with too many people, BUT our Jewish brothers mainly were there praying and meditating. Tables for study and books. Shaking their heads back and forth and close to the beginning of the Sabdath started to sing and increased the intesity.



Day Four

It's Saturday. There is something about this Shabatt /Sabbath. It is very serious business here. It is REST for creative activity we learnt. Even Lifts are customised! You have the Shabatt lift that starts and goes to every floor without you having to select the floor you are cgoing to. Got back to my room after our outings and met an unmade bed in the hotel. Called reception and duh.. they nicely explained that it was shabatt! Today , after eating we headed for the Old city of Jerusalem again, got first to the mount of Olives (which is on the Arabic side while Mt. Scopus is on the Jewish side) and visited quite a few places: first stopping to take a group photograph. No mean feat with 200 plus people! Then I saw a panoramic view of the golden city, Breathtaking. It blows your mind. This is the city that is the source of lots of contoversy, is fought over and is a 'holy city' all in one.



We then descended the steep steps into the valley. You could see tombstones of people that wanted to be buried them to be the first to ressurect! We visited as well Bethesda were Jesus healed the man who'd been sick for 38 years, and Gethsemane garden (Jesus prayed and dripped sweat of blood here. We visited the Santa Anna Church and I had the priviledge with Sisiter Esther Tims and Pastor Zijlstra to lead the 200 plus group in a few songs in this church with amazing accoustics!We then went through the Via Dolarosa and even the traditional place for the last supper with the disciples. Very moving

Adventures in Israel: DAY TWO - Walking on water

Yawn! about 5.30 am (4.30 am C.E.T in my head) the birds started chirping 3 or 4 different species and never stopped! Talk about a wake up call and the origin of the early bird. We are in the Jordan valley area and really a nature reserve. The flowers and vegetation are a feast for the eyes. Had our first breakfast and started our first journey at 8.30 on the way to Ein Gev, a resort where another group was staying. After a song a short word of welcome from Pastor Zijlstra, we moved out and headed for Capernaum where a few things took place in the bible, involving Jesus, and then moved to visit the mountain of the beatitudes where the famous blessed are the ... words were said to have been spoken by Jesus to the crowd, but the fun was yet to come. After seeing quite a few places, churches and synagogues of old, which were really impressive for the stone work and the peep into history, we moved to see the Sea of Galilee and had our lunch close by. Most of us took the fish dish which featured the 'peter fish' quite nice. We visited Tiberias and actually got on the sea by boat like Jesus would have done! A group of about 250 on 3 big boats . On our boat, something happened that brought a tear to a few faces. The flags of the Netherlands and Israel were raised in that order AND accompanied by the national anthems. That was moving. Then our boats which all started in a staggered manner gradually came together and were placed side by side hooked by ropes. And we had a time of celebration in the middle of the sea of Galilee. I got a shock and a first in my life, being called upon to lead the people in the 3 boats in a song of celebration. Wow! We sung 'He's the Mighty one of Israel' lustily with two guitars backing me and half way through got a boost as one of the Israelis on the Boat brought out a drum and followed us giving solidness to the music . Amazing. Then, Brother Hans shared a word on the storm in your life and how that with Jesus you can overcome. Then we sung again. Only to have a band on the boat called the Hava Nagilla band really get everyone dancing with a couple of songs. This is definitely a high point.

Service on the mount.
Just when I was recovering from the beautiful time we had at Galilee, we had a an early dinner and headed off to a planned service at the Mount Carmel church in Haifa. Well, this was a drive up the same Mount Carmel where the showdown took place between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. We arrived just about when the praise service started and filled the church and wow! what a feast, what a celebration!- the Israeli way. With solid music and dance. The worship leader Karen Davis was just amazing. We all from the Netherlands gave an offering to encourage the work of the church. Then I sang a special and my did the people go along with me. That set the stage nicely and Pastor Zijlstra preached in Dutch, while Brother Hans translated to English and somebody translated to Russian. At the end of his sermon, he invited a few people to be prayed for. They all got healed without exception. What a night! loads experienced healing from God. And people responded to the call to start a relationship with Jesus. At least 10 people came forward. It's almost 1 am, time for bed.

Adventures in Israel: DAY ONE - The arrival

Arrived at the airport for 11:00 to see loads of our fellow travellers.
Also a few faces from church who I did not know were on the trip, well
with expected 300 plus in number, how could you know everyone?
The queue snaked round a few crowd control poles, till we got to the first checking.
A dear Israeli lady introduced herself and I expected her to begin with the customary questions but no, on looking at my passport discovered I was British, born in London, confirmed that and smiled, flipped through the pages and we both agreed
that I travelled a lot, seeing the numerous stamps from my twice yearly foray in the
US and a few other non EU countries. Then she had this look on her face, saw my second name - that doesn't look English, and she then said ' what mean this name' I explained that it was Nigerian, then she had to go and check with someone else.
Don't blame her. What with the crazy Nigerian boy who wanted to blow up a plane the last time! Then a gentleman came back with her and asked more questions. I however produced a joker :-) We have from work, a special card similar to ones used by people who work with embassies with special privileges. That must have helped and then confirmation of my pastor as well as how often I went to church and how long I had been a member of the church! Then, they were satisfied. Phew! A few questions about my baggage and my ticked and box got stickers and I was allowed to
check in. Ah the joys of flying. The flight was uneventful. Arrived at Ben Gurion airport at 7.25 PM (Israeli time C.E.T +1) and after collecting baggage and some getting Shekels off the ATMs moved into our buses by number and left the beautiful airport at 8.PM. We had a 2 hour drive to our lodging place- a kibbutz .This is actually one of the first kibbutz build in Modern day Israel, in 1920! It is on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and is called Kibbutz Degania Bet. We were welcome with some fruit juices and fresh dates. A taste of the Mediterranean. The rooms look just like your regular guesthouse. Now to sleep.

Time to fly...

After 2 days of uncertainty what with the domino effect of the volcanic ash from the unpronouceable place .. I gather its 'AY-YAH-FJET-LA-YO-KUTL' in Iceland, I get to flay todat to Israel with our group of 325 Christian brothers and sisters! Glory to God. It's onna be a trip of a lifetime. Lost 2 out of 12, not bad considering many round the world experiencing travel misery. Strangely enough. I was very peaceful about it. God indeed fills us with perfect peace if we keep our eyes on Him. Real peace really is not the absence of war, but rest in the midst it, or the potential to erupt.
It's like being in the centre of the storm. Thank God for his Shalom-wholeness- the I'm cared for, whole, feeling.

Shalom (שָׁלוֹם) (Sephardic Hebrew/Israeli Hebrew: Shalom; Ashkenazi Hebrew/Yiddish: Sholem or Shulem) is a Hebrew word meaning peace, completeness, and welfare and can be used idiomatically to mean both hello and goodbye.[1][2][3] As it does in English, it can refer to either peace between two entities (especially between man and God or between two countries), or to the well-being, welfare or safety of an individual or a group of individuals.