Category Archives: Church

November 1, 2013 · 7:53 am

Feel Like Praying?

The children of South Asia are among the most vulnerable in the world. The United Nations estimates that 1 million Asian children are traded every single day. In India alone, 45,000 children are reported missing each year. Thousands more are missing, but their families have not reported their absence to authorities.

The majority of these missing children come from Dalit (“Untouchable”) families, from tribal areas or from families that live in extreme poverty.

Children in South Asia go missing for many reasons. Some are abducted by strangers and put into forced labor. Others are trafficked or exploited in the sex trade or sold to other families to work as domestic help. Some missing children have simply run away from home or were forced to leave home because of difficult circumstances, such as the death of a parent or the introduction of a stepparent into the household.

India has the largest population of poor and vulnerable children of any country in the world. Nearly 44 million children live on the street as beggars. Millions are orphans. Others may be the children of migrant workers, commercial sex workers or prisoners. Thousands are also child soldiers who have been forced into armed conflict.

Sadly, there are many waiting to exploit these vulnerable children. One of the most common ways children are misused is by being forced into the adult workforce. India has some 13 million children younger than 15 in its workforce—more than any other country in the world. Some estimate that the real number of child laborers is close to 100 million. That’s about five times the population of the state of New York.

How to Pray for Them
Even though these children’s parents may not know where they are, their Heavenly Father knows them and cares for them. The following list describes some of their prayer needs:

Pray for the children to be rescued, reunited and accepted back into their families.
Pray for Gospel For Asia-supported missionaries and workers who reach out specifically to the runaway children, especially those who try to rescue the thousands of street children in Delhi.
Pray for the physical needs of the children. Most do not get enough to eat, and the physical labor they are forced to do can cripple their young bodies. Pray for the Lord to provide for them and protect them from harm.
Pray for the girls—and boys—forced to work in the sex trade. Ask the Lord to bring the brothel owners’ and customers’ misdeeds into the spotlight and for the love of Jesus to permeate those dark places.
Pray for a radical attitude shift in South Asian society so that citizens of these countries will demand an end to the exploitation of children.
Pray for more sponsors of Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope Program.

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October 25, 2013 · 3:50 pm

Update on Cyclone Phailin

Rains continue to batter the countryside of India in the aftermath of Cyclone Phailin, as hundreds of thousands of families find themselves displaced and without electricity. Recently, a Gospel For Asia Compassion Services team was able to travel to one of the districts in Odisha that was the most affected by the cyclone. They provided relief materials to 440 families.

Pleaser pray for these people who have suffered so much and if you can, pray about helping them with financial offerings. You can check it out at Gospel For Asia Cyclone Phailin.

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October 20, 2013 · 2:22 am

Inside Israel

Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua. Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is …

I was very naive when we made aliyah (immigrated to Israel), and so it surprised me how incredibly many things were different from what I was used to. The small and intricate, basic workings of simple tasks were different, and one that had struck my culture-shocked self right away as unnecessary was the fact that I had been spoiled by the ease with which western medicine was distributed. Of course, there we would receive a huge bill, where as here it is considered a right.

However, it didn’t make sense to me that when I was feeling so ill, first I would have to go to the doctor. Next, I would have to travel in the other direction to the lab. Then back across town the other way to do an x-ray. “Why couldn’t it all be neatly in the same building?” I complained. Thankfully, I now both understand our system and why it is this way, AND have accepted the grace of the light yoke to not complain about these very small inconveniences.

So, this week, although it was physically necessary to take a taxi several times due to lack of any strength, when I could take the bus and train, I did, I noticed something. Some of you who have read these letters over the years may remember me speaking about the ways of mentally handicapped people on the buses. Mentally handicapped (and otherwise handicapped) people are treated very differently here then in my past experience. They are mainstreamed (even in the army where possible) and, rather then people looking at them with any measure of pity or embarrassment, they are sort of everyone’s children.

Anyway, I won’t repeat some of the poignant stories right now, but as I got on the bus, a rather raucous man sitting behind the bus driver was bouncing up and down in his seat and saying, “No more news! Get some nice music on the radio! No more news!”

I smiled as the driver reached up to his radio, smiling in the mirror at the man of about 40 with somewhat exaggerated and unkempt features, continued to direct him and bounce up and down in his seat. “Turn it to GLAGALITZ (army radio)! Oh, there you go. That’s nice music! I don’t want anymore news!” He had picked some quiet music and the driver turned it up loudly for him. He turned around to smile at everyone in the bus and everyone smiled back at him and assured him that he had chosen very nice music indeed.

Since I had missed a week of work already by this time I had a fresh eye for remembering the specialness of these moments, and it occurred to me: I DON’T SEE THESE PEOPLE ON THE TRAIN. Very rarely do I ever see them there and it hit me: on the train, there is nothing personal and no driver. Unless they ride with the same people every morning, who will tell them when to get off or take them home if they forget their stop? On my way to work there is a regular crowd of about 10 or so people who seem to work at the same sheltered job, and I enjoy watching the daily care and interchange.

Continuing on my way to the lab, I was thankful that it is right near the shuk, as our food supply had run low while I lay in bed. I got off in front of the bakery where I planned to buy bread. Those of you who have been here have all commented about how blessed we are to have such an abundance of great bakeries, and you are right. I recently found a tiny place that sells excellent home made 100% rye bread, straight from their stone oven, so I thought I would stop by as it was along my path. I looked toward it and there was a line in front as the owner was JUST pulling up his metal covering (not a door…just seals off his space).

This seemed odd to me as it was already after 9:30 and they are usually open around 6 or 7am. I joined the elderly crowd, mostly Russian, and I propped my weak body against the counter listening to the colorful conversation. As I did I had some time to observe this very unique bakery and to be there in time to witness a rare treat. This bakery is a Bokhara bakery. Now here we open a fascinating chapter because there is a Bokhara neighborhood in Jerusalem – a wonderfully mysterious old neighborhood. A very mysterious, colorful history, but I am speaking about the bakery now and if you want to glimpse a bit take a look at here or here.

But back to the tiny bakery which consists of a kiln oven in the wall, a Persian Uzbekistani painting on the rest of the wall, and perhaps a 5 feet long counter and a table. The whole space is probably 5 feet by 10 feet. As I watched, the man cracked open the oven and I looked inside at a rounded clay oven perhaps 5 feet high, 4 feet wide and 8 feet deep. Wood fueled flames licked up the sides between clay bricks, and the man threw cup after cup of water into the oven, on to the breads as well, all around putting out the fire and sending up clouds of steam. I saw my rye breads between bricks (no pans needed, the bricks are the pans) but before he deftly pulled them out with towels, he got a long wooden pallet as I had seen used in other stone ovens and the pita ovens, and, and he scooped the unusually shaped breads from all across the walls and ceiling, where the dough had been placed the night before. He put my hot rye bread in a bag and I handed him my 10 shekels, well spent. Come and visit and I will take you to this shop. Even as I was in pain and weak, I was thankful to have caught such a moment.

You know, the Lord is just so incredibly GOOD. I was lying there in a great deal of pain and there was temptation to be discouraged. Yes, I gave in and had a pity party for awhile and then repented, but some of the things that I remembered and thanked Him for were rare moments that I have had that He made to delight my heart.

I know that you have had them too, and sometimes, we miss them, so perhaps it’s good to be reminded to look for them. I have always loved animals and He has spoken to me much through His creation. Over the years He has allowed me to watch the rare entry into the bay of a pod of killer whales on the hunt, to have a bald eagle hover by my window just a few feet from my face, to watch Alaska grizzly brown bears up close as they scavenged and played in our local dump, to pet a totally startled wild hyena, which I mistook for a strange looking huge dog while walking to work at dawn on a cloudy morning, to watch herds of elk and caribou up close and mountain rams fight on a mountain top, to live under the northern lights, to have a pony and ducks and run with wild dogs in the hills, and well, the list went on. I was soon weeping with thanksgiving, that a God, MY GOD, Who knows me so intimately, cared enough to bless me with all of these- well hundreds of spontaneous blessings − small details that He KNEW would delight my particular heart.

And now I can add watching Bokhara bread appear from a stone oven as a token of love from God Who comforts us all along the way.

This is the very same God Who knows we need housing, and will open and provide the way and the same God Who knows of your most secret need.

I have also been hearing the rumblings of planes as I lay at home sleepless. Several nights ago the planes continued to fly overhead for at least 10 minutes without stopping. They are preparedness flights, not the real thing. There has been much scoffing at our Prime Minister’s insistence to stand firm concerning Persia. He’s been called a paranoid warmonger and told that the world is tired of hearing him. Our Knesset just opened the winter session and I listened to the opening speeches. The opposition leader (Shelly Yakamovich of Labor for those who follow) mocked him and repeated the worldview to his face. “You have isolated us! We are just a small country and you are making us the fools in the eyes of the world. Everyone else is wrong, and only WE are right,” she mocked him.

I have caught just a glimpse of understanding the heart of God concerning COVENANT. It is not hard to understand, but WE BREAK THEM ALL THE TIME. HIS idea of Covenant is so far above my understanding that I can only bow to it. I have read through my Bible for the past few years with a notebook, particularly for making note of every promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for the inheritance of their descendants to the land of Israel. I knew there were many, but I just didn’t expect to fill a notebook with promises.

My ray of light came during one reading of Gen 24:3-6. This is where Abraham has his servant put his hand under his master’s thigh and swear to find a wife for Isaac among his own people, the descendants of Shem (Noah’s son) and NOT to have him marry a wife from the people of the land of promise, namely from the Canaanites the sons of Noah’s son Ham. This was the son whom Noah cursed (Gen 9:25) Ishmael (AND Esau, by the way) took wives of the sons of Ham. GOD had chosen a seed and the enemy will do everything to rob that seed. GOD had a plan. The enemy had a plan. God still has a plan to work out and so does His (and our) enemy, and the challenge for me is STILL to always take His side and His view and His path, no matter HOW wrong it looks in the sight of the world.

Lord knows I could never do that on my own as the enemy would be oh so quick and happy to take advantage of my imaginative and sometimes extreme fleshly nature. God forbid that I would formulate opinions without the guidance of The Holy Spirit in these deceptive times. HOWEVER, JACOB, WHO HAD HIS PROMISES AND HIS COVENANT, LOOKED WITH HIS FLESH for the expected results when his sons stood up, not in a very compassionate manner, for the Covenant and plan of God.

And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.

But that was NOT the result.

And guess what? That is just what the opposition is saying to Netanyahu. This is what the world is saying to Netanyahu. This is what Netanyahu has to stand against. We know that he believes the Old Testament (the Tenach and the Prophets) and studies it both alone, with Knesset members, family members and receives many believers (local and foreign) and values their advice as well. We continue to pray for Him to come through to receiving Messiah. But I’m seeing the responsibility that this man has to take that COVENANT before God and find out how to STAND in opposition to the entire world – mockery from within and without. May we see clearly to stand also with God’s Word by His Spirit.

Until next time, I send much love,

your sis J

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October 18, 2013 · 11:41 am

Prayer for the Persecuted Church

“My life in prison was not in vain,” said Pastor Samuel who was imprisoned for eight years for preaching the gospel in India. Could you or I say the same after such a long separation from our families? We may never find out, but the persecuted church suffers such tragedies everyday.

On November 3 (or any Sunday in November), join churches across the nation in lifting up the persecuted through unified prayer.

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October 13, 2013 · 8:43 am

Inside Israel

Yesterday I was a witness to something that I must grow in my understanding of, but it was a unique window into a part of the Jewish world that many of you pray for: the ultra orthodox. The 93 year old spiritual leader of Israel’s Shas political party died. He had also been the Chief Sephardic Rabbi for many years. His name was Ovadia (meaning, servant of God) Yosef.

And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. (Matthew 23:9)

“My father! My father!” were the cries that went up as passionate grief and sometimes hysteria rippled its way through gathering throngs of people. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef was a colorful, controversial figure considered by many to be a great Torah sage, perhaps the greatest of our generation, in spite of the fact that he was often mocked by the media for saying politically incorrect things and questionable statements. His words were constantly picked apart and quoted out of context, but now he was appearing bigger then life in his death.

He entered the hospital about a month ago with deteriorating health. Huge prayer meetings were called on his behalf as his health went up and down. He rallied several days ago, but yesterday he suddenly lapsed and family was called. The president of Israel was at his side when he died in Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital. At the time, the halls and area of the hospital were jammed with his followers.

Although I was watching the events unfold while at work on ynet internet news, I was not prepared for what happened next. It was a cultural departure from my westernized Jewish upbringing. He died around 1:30 and I went home at about 2:30. At 4:30 I heard lots of sirens and helicopters. I thought, it’s either a bomb (pigua) or Rabbi Ovadia’s funeral starting, so switched on the TV to see. I saw live coverage on every channel of the masses of mourners gathering and the footnotes said that the funeral would begin at 6 PM.

According to Jewish law, the funeral is to take place the same day, before sundown when possible. The bodies are not buried in coffins here, but in shrouds.

I had an appointment downtown at 6 PM so decided to leave early. However when I arrived at the train station I was surprised to see throngs of people walking silently but swiftly along the tracks, in the streets and sidewalks toward the center of town. I remembered former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s funeral following his assassination, but this was totally spontaneous. A flashing sign at the station told me that train service was discontinued due to the expected crowds. It was soon obvious that there were also no buses getting through. Very shortly, neither were cars.

I went home and turned on the TV to get an overview of what was happening. At that point ½ million people were expected for the funeral and the security forces were gearing up for crowd control, but even they weren’t prepared for what happened. Now, you have to understand that our total population is 8,012,400 of which about 20% are Arab and at least 40% are children, so half a million pouring down the narrow ancient streets of Jerusalem to attend a funeral is a LOT of people.

It turned out that this was an underestimate. Soon the highway coming up into Jerusalem was completely blocked with walkers as people abandoned their cars on the sides of the road and began walking from many miles away. Inter city buses were stranded along with all commuters. EVERYTHING ground to a halt. Ambulances became hospitals as crushed or injured people were being treated in ambulances that could not get through to a hospital.

It is estimated today that upwards of 850,000 people packed the area around the cemetery. There are no estimates on how many failed to make it that far. Although the funeral was to take place at 6 PM, the body could not be moved through the crowd to its final resting place until 11:30 PM. There was a human surge, the likes of which I have never witnessed before in Jerusalem. I encourage you to examine some of the links and get an idea through photos or video. You can see them here, here and here.

Even these do not convey the intensity of the event.

What I watched were people grieving, beating their chests, and crying, “Abba! Why did you leave us alone?” My heart was wrenched and grieved for a people following mortal man as if he were a god. Many of the prayers had been prayed for this man’s life were prayed on the graves of the patriarchs or prophets or other idolized rabbis. As I watched, I prayed for the day to come when they will, with even deeper passion, weep for Him Who was pierced for them.

And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem…” (Zechariah 12:10)

In THAT day their weeping will be turned to joy and they will no longer be left alone, just as you and I are not.

Yes, it was a powerfully emotional event we witnessed yesterday, the result of my people seeking for Truth in the darkness and finding the death which can not rend the grave.

Until next time, I send much love,

your sis J

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October 11, 2013 · 10:02 am

What are the Three Deadliest Words in the World?

The UN estimates there are 200 million missing females in the world because of gendercide carried out through abortions, infanticides, murders, and the abandoning of female children. One of the nations with the worst record on the gendercide issue is the world’s largest democracy, India, which comprises almost a third of the total population of Asia.

In India, 50,000 females are aborted each month just for having XX chromosomes. The reason is simple: it’s a family business decision. For a poor family, children are a major drain on family income. What was barely enough money for a husband and wife to live on becomes strained even more when a child arrives. A baby boy has the potential of providing future income to the family, but baby girls have little potential of helping the family. Thus, baby girls are aborted to save the costs of feeding and raising them.

Almost 10 million girls, between the ages of 4 and 11 years old are abandoned by parents on the streets of India. Over a million of these end up in prostitution rings. Others are coerced into being a part of the 50 million children from ages 4 and up who labor from morning until night to survive. Many beg. Many steal. Many die.

Question: What are the three deadliest words in the world?

Answer: It’s a girl.

Gospel for Asia’s Bridge of Hope turns these situations around for good. Children are educated and nurtured. Families experience Christ’s love. More than 60,000 children have been helped so far and thousands of families have found faith in Christ as a result.

If you’re interested in learning more about Bridge of Hope, click here.

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October 6, 2013 · 8:05 am

Inside Israel

Dearest Sisters and Brothers,

I greet you in The Name of The Lord, Yeshua, Jesus. May He be glorified and blessed and may you be blessed.

Today as I write, the world has taken, again, another rapid leap toward “the end of the story” and, as is written, we here in Israel find ourselves at the center of much of the conflict. It MAY come as a surprise to some of you that we are generally very thankful for what we heard last night from our Prime Minister. As a matter of fact, I personally saw a number of directly answered prayers. (Full speech may be seen here.)

We saw our Prime Minister stand against the entire world in a hostile environment and speak the truth. We saw our Prime Minister speak honestly about our purpose, vision and intent, without a “forked tongue.” We saw him stand tall and, MOST important to me, and a direct answer to prayer, we heard him quote the scriptures from the prophet Amos:

“In our time the Biblical prophecies are being realized. As the prophet Amos said, ‘They shall rebuild ruined cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. They shall till gardens and eat their fruit. And I will plant them upon their soil never to be uprooted again.’”

At this point he quoted the verse in Hebrew and stood even taller. It seemed to me that The Lord strengthened him. He ended the speech with:

“Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Israel have come home never to be uprooted again.”

He told the world that we were willing to stand alone against Iran, but he knows that it is written in the book of Daniel that Michael, the angel of our people, stands with us against the prince of Persia, and we are NOT alone. I don’t believe that I am alone when I say that his speech filled me with a joy and peace because he found the strength to withstand the world and to stand. I am NOT afraid. If we are in God’s will, we are safe, although we may lose our lives. If we are OUTSIDE of God’s will we are NEVER safe, although we may save our lives.

I used to look at the scripture in Luke 21: 16-18 that says: “And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.But there shall not an hair of your head perish,” and wonder, how can I be killed but my hair be ok? But it IS easy to understand when we look at it all according to God’s economy.

Oh the incredible JOY of being in the center of His will! I don’t think any of us would trade that for an extra minute on this earth. I firmly believe that when we are in the center of His will, the enemy has NO AUTHORITY to take us a minute before the boundaries that The Lord has set for our times.

So, I am NOT afraid NOR am I shouting, “Doomsday War.” I don’t know the times that are in God’s very able Hands. Now THAT is PEACE!

Well, I also know that the American government shut down and am aware of the practical problems that this causes for many. Yet, there are severe problems in other nations as well, not to mention all of the personal mountains in our private lives. But for those of you who are praying at this time for Israel, would you continue to pray for protection over Prime Minister Netanyahu’s life while he is in America? He plans to be there, I believe, until Friday, and he is greatly hated by many.

Oh my, it is late. I must be up at 4:30 and off again at 6:30. I still like the buses much better then the train but am using my train time to constantly turn to The Lord and keep my VERY fleshly nature in check, bringing it again and again to the Cross. I am tired so will close but our personal prayer requests remain. We need to be able to find a new place to live after 19 years and are not finding suitable affordable housing. We need peace and to be led by Him. Our younger daughter, now 6 months pregnant, and her husband are still living with our older daughter and are unsettled. She is also still sick. Thanks for helping me carry my load. Can I help you with yours?

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

Don’t you just love that?

I send much love,

your sis J

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September 27, 2013 · 11:01 am

Do The Two Most Important Ones First

(Actual letters from children)

Not too long ago, I found myself with three writing projects and wondered where I should start. As I sat there, a gentle voice whispered to my heart, “Do the two most important ones first.”

“What?” I said, not knowing which two were the most important.

“Write replies to the two letters you just received.”

I pushed aside the three writing projects and reread the two letters, sitting on a to-do pile next to the computer. One letter was from an 8-year old girl named Joshni, who lives in Tamil Nadu, India, and the other from a 5-year old boy named Anupam, who lives in West Bengal, India. Both are Dalit children who attend Bridge of Hope schools and are sponsored by Carol and me.

I wrote letters to both and included three pictures in each envelope. The pictures reveal life in California and my family to them.

I’m a small potato in the writing world, but to these children, I’m probably the big enchilada. You see, my letters are most likely the only ones they will ever receive. A few words can make a difference in their lives.

And the Lord seems to agree with me.

If you are interested in knowing more about sponsoring a child in Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope program, check it out here.

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September 22, 2013 · 10:40 am

Inside Israel

5 Sept 2013 – My elderly neighbor’s voice was very loud as he was on speaker phone to a friend. I worked in the kitchen and went to close the window when I caught his words basically saying: “Yes, and the Suez Canal was not that far…” I began to listen. This is the day that the 40^th anniversary of the Yom Kippur war is being commemorated. I listened as he and his friend recounted their minute by minute experiences. “No. That was Thursday and I still didn’t know what was happening. Rumor said that there would be a cease fire (hafsaket esh) but we were still fighting.”

I had listened to a stirring account given by a man on the radio news this morning. He said that in the first day of the war alone he lost 85 of his friends, family and unit. The interviewer asked how he had survived and he immediately said, “That was only God.”

It was better then listening to the news where I heard a disappointing statement given by our Defense Chief this week saying that Israel can depend on no one but herself, her capabilities and the IDF (our military). I gasped with grief, not a mention of The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God have mercy!

I said out loud: “We depend on You Lord! Our eyes are upon You!”

Dear Brothers and sisters, Shalom. May The God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, by the power of The Holy Spirit. May you be blessed and may The Lord be glorified and blessed.

I wrote the above several days ago and then time ran out and I lagged several days behind.

“Succot Sameach. Happy Succot!” we said yesterday to bus drivers, vendors and strangers on the street, rushing home after work to prepare the dishes to bring out to the sukka. There was a heavy air between my husband and me this year as we put up and decorated our succa. Some family issues weighed heavily upon us, as well as the uncertainty concerning our move and the lack of family with us tried to block out the joy of the holiday. Finally, however, the succa was up, and I added new scripture verses this year to the ones I normally hang in Hebrew and in English. Our visitors usually include local believers, Christians from the nations here for the MANY feast related meetings and prayer watches, and local friends and neighbors who are not yet believers, some of whom don’t yet know what we believe.

The scriptures therefore have a multifold purpose: to glorify Him, to remind us of why we are sitting in the succa, to spur us to Him, to declare Him and His purposes both to those who come in and go out and to the very heavens above, to stand in agreement with Him.

So I carefully pin the computer generated hangings I too hastily put together on our walls made of strips of different material I have collected over the years. My husband cuts the palm branches from a few date palms around our house and puts them on top of the lattice of loose sticks that are laid across our clothes line. Usually I am able to get some willow and other branches added in, but this year it is just date palm. As tacky as it sounds, I then put up the ‘plastic’ fruit hangings − grapes, pomegranates, peppers etc. − I have collected over the years, much like Christmas ornaments. Then I put up the fresh fruit I bought at the shuk yesterday: pomegranates with their stems and leaves and boughs of early yellow dates.

Finally, I head out through the area in search of boughs and colorful flowers. I come back with lots of fragrant myrtle, branches from the red pepper trees laden with red peppercorns, a blue hanging flower, and various lovely leaves and fragrant herbs, and I hang them where there are spaces. I have to be careful that the pomegranates are not hung above where someone will sit as they can HURT when they fall! Bowls of huge sweet grapes, dates, all colors and varieties of fruit and nuts sit on the table. The living Thanksgiving offering is prepared in a living tabernacle to house living stones hoping to be a sweet smelling savor to Him. Time to enter in.

This is my “close up view” of yesterday’s preparations.

Around us swirl a huge flurry of events including a spiraling amount of convocations hosting Christians from around the world. What a cacophony of activity. When we first made aliyah, there was ONE Christian Feast of Tabernacles’ conference which hosted believers from all around the globe. It was one of the biggest events in the general Jerusalem calendar yearly. Over the past few years groups have split off and other groups have come in, depending upon persuasion and emphasis of doctrine, and perhaps geographic area of the world. The result has been multiple large conferences going on simultaneously.

How blessed we are to have many, many thousands of believers from all over the world gathering to pray and intercede for the nation and to worship The King. Although we don’t often get to go to partake in any of the meetings due to work constraints and so forth, we often get meet encouraging visitors during the holidays. Our kehila will be full of visitors tomorrow night. One was with us last night in our succa from California. She joined, with a pastor friend and his wife, as we sat under the Jerusalem stars sharing The Word, testimonies, and His glory.

Along with the Christian feasts, there are both huge and small Jewish gatherings in individual and group succas. The secular make it a “nature feast” and travel and camp and have fun. Each morning thousands of people wend their way to the Western Wall or to synagogue with their “four species:” a palm branch, called a lulav, two willow called the aravot, minimum of three myrtle branches called haddasim , and finally one citron called an etrog. They pray and say special blessings. There will also be the ‘Blessing of the Cohenim, the proclaiming of the priestly blessing over the people sometime later this week at the western wall.

AND there will be the Jerusalem March where believers come front and center: marching through the streets of Jerusalem often in traditional dress depicting their home countries and with banners proclaiming scriptures and promise. The streets are all closed and lined with joyful spectators, amazed that Christians come to bless them. What a season!

Leviticus 23:33 “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. ³⁵On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary workon it. ³⁶For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.

³⁷‘These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day— ³⁸besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord. ³⁹‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. ⁴⁰And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹You shall keep it as a feast to theLord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ⁴²You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, ⁴³that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I amthe Lord your God.’” ⁴⁴So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord. (For a few of the MANY other references in scripture see: Deut 31:10,Zech14:16, John 7:37, 2 Chron 5:3 and 2 Chron 7:8-end (amazing celebration)

I must continue to work during Succot so it is a particularly busy time for me. The first and the last days of the feast are both proclaimed days of rest. I don’t work on those and neither does public transportation or anything else. Yet how I love to see the succas lining the streets as I make my way to and from work, and to hear the noise of people inside. Occasionally, if I have a moment, I will drop in to a stranger’s succa and become an immediate friend. The succas are open to all. Strangers are welcome. It is a law in Jerusalem that every house must be built with a place for a succa, even if that is in the street out front.

The last day of Succot is Simchat Torah, or Joy in the Torah. It symbolizes the end of the yearly cycle of reading the torah scroll and the beginning again at “In the beginning GOD…” ( Gen 1:1)

A dear friend who was just in our succa for lunch today told us how it just hit her they are not talking about reading the Bible, but THE SCROLL. It is rolled out through out the year, and at the beginning of the new cycle of reading through the scroll, it must be manually and carefully rolled up to start again, which is no small job. What an interesting thought: someday this world will be “rolled up as a scroll” and there will be a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness. We do long for such a day.

It is time to go and prepare the evening meal. I do love sitting outside and hearing the wind in the trees and the birds signaling the different times of day. It’s like hearing The Lord signaling the different seasons. May we have ears to hear.

Brief family update: our new son-in-law whom I’ve told you about, and whom I’ve asked for prayer, is suddenly becoming very “religious.” This is a shock and actually a panic. I told you that our daughter has been a backslidden believer and her husband a backslidden Haradi orthodox Jew. I have been praying The Lord would pursue them unto Himself as they both truly seem to want and be looking for His Truth.

Suddenly, however, he met a rabbi who is very cultish and has taken him in − hook line and sinker. They are currently in California living with our older daughter and family. It has become VERY strained, painful and grievous on many levels. Our younger daughter who is pregnant cries all of the time. Thank you for praying for them as there is tremendous tension now where there was joy. May we ALL – and our families and our generations − be found IN HIM FOR HIS GLORY.

I want to take a moment to thank you for caring. I mean that. Thank you for caring for us, our family, this people, this nation. Thank you for caring for the Church worldwide. Thank you for loving God and being Light in such a dark world.

Blessings to each of you,

Your sis in Jerusalem, J

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Tagged as Christianity, Church, Israel, Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, Prophecy

September 15, 2013 · 6:11 am

Inside Israel

Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, the day of repentance, the day of dread, the day that it is said all the hearts are examined, and those who are appointed for death, will be written for death, and those appointed for life will be written for life. Then the books are closed and sealed.

“G’mar khatima tova” is heard every few minutes. Literally it means: “may you finish with a good signature stamp.” We wrote in English − in my childhood days − “May you be inscribed in the book of life.” Others wish me also “tsom kal’’ or an easy fast and I respond, “tsom mashma’oti” or “may you have a MEANINGFUL fast” and then we enter into a short conversation concerning the true meaning of a fast before God.

A Hebrew language teacher advised me to say “tsom mo’il” or may you have a beneficial fast.

“What?” I asked. “Why is that better then a meaningful fast?”

My boss was quick to answer: “I want my fast to give me points.”

Wow! Talk about saying it as it is.

“Well, when I fast, my desire is to draw closer to God and to find those things that stand in the way of a deeper relationship, and repent from them,” I said.

He thought and said, “You must be ahead of me.”

But I added, “No. I could NEVER have enough points to win my way into the book of Life. I am way lower then you.”

His answer was from the teaching of the sages: “Those lower are far ahead…”

So it is at the time of Yom Kippur. The seriousness of it impacts the entire nation, a nation of people seeking to secure their place in the book of life. I am in the midst, SECURE that my name IS INDEED written in THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE. How wonderful to be both without fear or dread, and be assured that I have the adequate atonement.

It is almost sundown and the streets are silent as people finish up their last meal. I caught the last bus and train home from work. The buses stopped at 1:00 and the trains at 2. The television and radio stations shut down at the same time, and our airspace and airport are also closed, along with all of our borders. We are effectively sealed off from the world to be sealed in with God and here in Jerusalem it is silent.

Many of the believers take this time to fast as well, not to obtain atonement and gain points to get into the book of life, but hopefully, after spending special time asking The Lord to examine our hearts for any sins of compromise, presumption, unforgiveness, hardness, whatever we may have been blind to– to pray for the blinders to be taken off our nation and our people. For the veil must be be stripped from the eyes and YESHUA must be revealed as He says is Zech 12:

“And they shall look upon Him Whom they pierced and mourn for Him as for an only begotten Son.”

The Pascal Lamb IS among us and His once and for all time sacrifice IS sufficient and oh what reason for rejoicing! Zechariah 8:18 speaks of a day:

Zech 8:18 “And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.”

The entire chapter, indeed the book, is full of promises yet to be fulfilled, but I have heard people say, “How can a fast be a joyful feast?”

Oh, what joy to feast on The Lord and His heart for Israel during this fast. To me it already is a joyful feast and I long for the day that it will be for the entire nation.

The synagogue service is really a culmination of a month of prayer. For the past ten days many have been praying prayers of slichot or forgiveness at the western wall or in their synagogues at 4:30 in the morning. There have been daily special prayers and reading of scripture mid day and evening and into the night. Many, if not most, of what is read in synagogue and being prayed is directly from scripture and very passionate. But as is true in Christian churches, so it is in synagogues, people can sit hardened and unrepentant under The Word. People can harden their hearts, stiffen their necks, close their ears and remain blind.

On shabat, our Pastor’s wife challenged us to examine our own hearts once again concerning this issue of forgiveness before The Lord’s supper (tsudot h’adon in Hebrew):

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

“So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”

“And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”

“Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Years ago, as I was struggling and losing the battle to forgive a sister who seemed continually to hurt me, I suddenly understood my unforgiveness had the power to bind her so she could not be loosed in heaven. The awful understanding so horrified me that I seemed to stand on a precipice looking at the power we had toward one another, and The Lord set me free to forgive. Although I still struggle at times, the impact of that view has stayed with me all of these years. I have been forgiven MUCH. How dare I not forgive everything? I stand in the midst of a people who long to know that forgiveness.

This morning at prayer, a sister visiting here from another country for this season of feasts and conferences, shared that last night after being at a prayer conference, she had been able to witness to a group of 5 locals. She was amazed at how hungry and open they were to hear the good news. I envied her ability to share so freely.

Most Israelis will accept much more willingly the testimony of a gentile believer then a Jewish one. Indeed, today at work I had a strange experience that used to be much more common and it took me a bit aback. Some new immigrants came in to see the doctor where I work for the first time and we began to talk. They just arrived a week ago from the state of Texas. When they asked where I was from and I told them, suddenly the woman took a deep breath and looked askance at her husband and I remembered that look. She had been warned about me. She began to ask some specific questions which left little room for doubt.

I don’t feel worthy of the title: dangerous.

Years ago large groups of people were warned by their rabbis to stay away from me as I was such a dangerous woman, but I thought my lack of fruitfulness had stripped me of that distinction. But of course, the knowledge of Him – His Name – is dangerous. Dangerous to the enemy and to all we hold dear in this life, and the knowledge of Him so radically changes EVERYTHING.

Years ago, before we moved here, a young Israeli man stayed in our village to work in the fishing industry there. We became very close and I talked to him much about The Lord. One day I said to him, “I can not convince you. You ask Him yourself. Ask Him, ‘Do you have a Son, is He The Messiah, and is His Name Yeshua (Jesus)?”‘

He bowed his head and did just that and to my shock, he crumpled in a heap on to the floor. He began to weep and to pray. But when it was over he said to me, “Do you know what I just did? I have separated myself from my people, my nation and my family.”

Well, I knew that feeling partially. I remember thinking, “Uh oh. I’m Jewish. What will happen to my parents,” but I didn’t understand then Aam Israel – the people/nation so ancient and so veiled. I had been in the captivity (dispersion or diaspora or scattering) for too many millennia to fully understand.

So, the kitchens of Israel or at least most of Jerusalem are closed now for 25 hours. Darkness has fallen and the synagogues are full. The vehicle-free streets are full of children riding bikes. Although we are sealed off and silent, today also marks 40 years since the Yom Kippur war and 20 years since the disastrous Oslo “peace accords” were signed.

People are dying as I write in Syria. Iran is plotting our demise and the world stands on the precipice. It is the right moment to stand sealed off before The Lord.

And, of course, Wednesday night we get to, once again, to dwell in our little succa’s (booths) for a week and rejoice together. What a great great God we serve. He certainly knows what is best.

If you choose to fast and or pray along for this nation, it might be a good time to read the book of Hebrews. It is so rich in truths which are still hidden here.

Thank you so much for caring and for even reading what I write. I am so blessed by you, dear sisters and brothers.

Lovingly, your sis J

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Tagged as Christianity, Church, Israel, Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, Prophecy