Re-gathering the Flock

"But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking," says the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:3-4)

We had the great privilege of seeing these verses fulfilled before our very eyes as we spent the day helping Brian Slater (Chosen People Ministries) with his outreach to the Jewish Russian immigrants of Netanya, Israel. For a couple of hours we unpacked boxes of good, used clothing and set the garments on tables. In the kitchen two lovely Russian women of the Beit Asaph congregation were cooking soup and making salads and bread for those we would soon be serving. Then Brian arrived with his SUV loaded to the gills with fresh carrots, the most gigantic beets I have ever seen, boxes and boxes of cookies, sacks of fresh bread and big red cabbages. We carefully laid these foods, as well as tubs of hummus and some chocolate pudding cups, on tables from which the guests could pick and choose what they wanted to take.

When the doors opened, many local Russian Jews came bursting in and it was such a blessing to serve each one dinner, pour water for them, and sit down to visit with them. Yes, they had left their lives of poverty behind in Russia, but the cost of living in Israel is so tremendously high that it is extremely difficult for them to survive here as well. Yet, as the Scripture prophesies, there are a few shepherds who have a heart for these dear people whom the LORD has regathered from all the nations where He scattered them. Brian is such a shepherd, and he works tirelessly all week to reach provide for the needy and reach the lost to bring them to Messiah. The pictures show one of the volunteers with a giant beet (God grows things supernaturally large in Israel!), Brian to the left of a table of guests, and myself at the keyboard. I sang worship songs in Russian while they dined, and we could tell they were greatly blessed by hearing the love of Yeshua sung in their own tongue.

We were generously blessed by the hospitality of a mother and daughter from the Beit Asaph congregtion while in Netanya. Neris is from Cuba and she and her daughter have just made aliyah to Israel. We worshiped in this congregation last Shabbat, and heard Hebrew, Russian, Spanish, English and French spoken in one service, with headsets to translate into all these languages! Surely God HAS re-gathered His people and truly is bringing them back into their folds!

Waiting in the Jaffa Gate for transportation we were struck by the many teenagers of the Israel Defense Force. Military service is mandatory for both girls and boys at the age of 18. Can you imagine going to your child's high school graduation service, only to kiss them goodbye and send them off to defend the most hated nation on earth? We encountered them everywhere, usually with AK47s or M16 machine guns strapped to their backs. We always stopped to thank them and tell them we are praying for them; here we got a picture of some of the girls, looking like any of our high school girls back home. For a mother like me, it was heart-wrenching to know what they face.

Today we had the great joy of returning from Netanya to Jerusalem and meeting up with Marty and Michael Gale and their Celebration Dance team at Jaffa Gate. One hundred thousand young people are converging upon Jerusalem today, gearing up for Jerusalem Day tomorrow (commemorating the re-capturing of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War). As Marty's dancers whirled and twirled joyfully to the Hebrew music, Israeli kids of many backgrounds were drawn to them, and began to join in the dancing. It was obvious they had never seen these dances before, and they were so very excited to be part of it! I smiled as I observed their eagerness to learn the steps and become part of the jubilation; truly this Gentile dance team was provoking the Jews to jealousy!

A young generation is rising up in Israel with a new courage and a new heart. Pray that they will be the generation to come to faith in Messiah Yeshua and usher in His return! Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem!

We will be winging our way home to Colorado June 4. Thank you for all your many prayers over us as we have traversed Europe and Israel. It has been a very fruitful trip.

A Fountain in Israel

I mentioned in a previous blog the place in Budapest where many Jews were shot and tossed into the Danube River in December 1944. John and I walked up the river later and visited this simple, deeply stirring memorial. There they stand in the silence, on the riverbank: men's shoes, women's shoes, and the shoes of little toddlers. All I could do was weep. There were no words....

Now we have made it to Haifa, Israel, where we have spent the last four days on Mt. Carmel participating in the conference "The Sound of the Abundance of Rain." This ministry led by David & Karen Davis is multi-faceted and filled to overflowing with God's grace and favor. Together with other devoted, gifted staff members (too numerous to mention) they are truly the hands and feet of Messiah Yeshua in this Land. They are taking the Gospel to Jew and Arab alike. Their worship team is made up of Jews, Arabs, Russians, Japanese, Americans, and Germans worshiping Yeshua together on the mountain where Elijah once called down fire from heaven and proclaimed, "The LORD He is God!" They also have a women's shelter filled with women, children and babies who are refugees from Sudan. And the House of Victory, the original beginning of this ministry, is still in full force there, delivering countless men from alcohol and drug addiction. We heard so many testimonies from these men who were once hopeless, and are now serving their Savior by bringing others off the streets and helping them to find a full life in Yeshua. One young ex-Muslim man named Mohammed touched us deeply with his testimony, and his new-found love for his Jewish brothers.

We are spending hours in worship and prayer, calling forth the "one new man" of Ephesians 2, and literally seeing the fruit of these prayers lived out in Haifa. Not only are Jews and Arabs being reconciled here in the love of Messiah, but there is also a ministry of Jewish youth going into Germany, visiting the areas of the concentration camps, and offering love and forgiveness to the Germans. This ministry was introduced to us today by Eliel, a young Jewish man married to Lydia, a young German woman. Their adorable one-year-old daughter Sapir was a living testimony to the power of repentance and forgiveness!

Also yesterday the staff of this ministry went into the poorest area of Haifa and delivered food and supplies to 250 people, spreading the pure love of the Lord.

Tonight as the Shabbat settles in over this beautiful Israeli city on the Mediterranean Sea, I find myself asking God for mercy for the United States of America. Following Obama's devastating announcement that Israel and Jerusalem must be divided, and the land carved up, we can know for certain that judgment will be soon-coming just as it came in the form of Hurricane Katrina a few short days after the Jews were expelled from their own land in the Gaza. This is heavy on my heart -- but I am consoled by the great fountain of salvation and unity Yeshua is opening up in Israel. Truly we are in the days spoken of by the prophet Zechariah, and it is most amazing to be alive in these times. PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM - the ONLY PEACE THERE CAN EVER BE: THE RETURN OF THE KING OF JERSUALEM!

"The LORD who stretches out the heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth and who forms the human spirit within a person declares, 'I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. On that day when all the nations are gathered against her I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it with injure themselves.'" (Zechariah 12:1-3)

Restoration!

The message of Restoration continues unabated in Bulgaria! Yesterday we ministered first in Christian Centre Sofia, where I again had opportunity to sing my song "Two by Two" and illustrate for the people the two sticks of Ezekiel 37, becoming ONE in the Father's hand. They received this message with joy and were on their feet dancing and singing! We blessed the children under the tallit (right) and following the service both of us had opportunity to pray with the people and most of the congregation came forward for prayer. The pastor of this congregation strongly supports Israel, but now I believe they will understand how they are also a part of Israel!

When evening came we were taken across the city of Sofia to a totally different area, and ushered into a very small building where we had one of the most amazing spiritual experiences of our lives. Both of us felt we were given a rare opportunity to glimpse the Restoration work that YHVH is doing in the earth right now in our time, and it was a fulfillment of the parable in Luke 14:16-24: "Then he said to him, 'A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at suppertime to say to those who were invited, 'Come for all things are now made ready.' But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.' And another said, ' I have bought five yoke of oxen and I am going to test them. I ask you to excuse me.' Still another said, 'I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come.' So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind. And the servant said to the master, 'It is done as you have commanded, and still there is room!' Then the master said to the servant, 'Go into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house might be filled! For I say to you that none of these men who were invited shall taste my supper.'

Irena and Stefan, the precious couple who invited us to minister in their Reformed Eastern Orthodox Church, had invited about 20 people to come for the Sunday evening service and hear about the Hebrew roots of their faith. We wondered what the Lord could be doing in this small place, in a church that has been Orthodox in the past, but has a priest (pictured at right with his family) whose heart is now filled with a longing to bless the Jewish people! As the evening progressed we became more and more awed by the Presence of the Ruach (Holy Spirit) and the work that He is doing here. Many of the people originally invited did not come. So who were the 55 people John counted who did come? It turns out many were Jewish people. Some of them told me they were from Jewish families who were forced to confess Christianity in past generations. And many were literally "street people" - the homeless and the poor, the lame and those suffering with addictions. Just as in the parable, the Servant had gone into the streets and invited all who would come fill His hall, when those in the Church remained apathetic and asleep!

On the altar of this church was a lit menorah and two flags: one of Bulgaria and one of Israel. When I went to the piano to worship I sang the great old hymn "Holy, holy, holy" in English and they sang in Bulgarian. Then we sang "Kadosh" all in Hebrew and I explained to them that we were able to join in worship in ONE language because as Zeph. 3:9 tells us, "For then I will restore to the people a pure language." Those whom the Father is drawing into His hall to be made ready for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb are also learning to worship Him in His one pure Hebrew language!

When I taught this group of people they entered in with great hunger and enthsiasm and began to embrace one another in total UNITY of spirit, in one accord! The priest came forward and delivered a message of the history of the Jewish people, from their captivity in Babylon through their persecution by Antiochus Epiphanes, to the Spanish Inquisition, the Russian pogroms and the Holocaust! He called this small gathering of people to unite themselves with Judah as one family in prayer and blessing for one another. Then all came forward to share the Body and Blood of Messiah and the priest called John and me forward to lift the bread and the cup and say the Hebrew blessings! The Kabod of the LORD filled this place and when John prayed over the people at the end, we know that miracles were taking place, not only of physical healing, but also of salvation for those who did not yet know their Messiah! And in fulfillment of a prophecy that has been spoken over Bulgaria as a "healing for the nations," a Russian woman embraced me in sobs and said, "I am Russky...you are American. Hate! Hate!" And I consoled her and said, "I love you and you love me." It is a beginning!

Already our dear friend Lyubka has begun to organize a Hebrew Roots conference for youth and adults in Varna, Bulgaria for summer 20121 The foundation is being laid. We thank you for your continued prayers as we travel tomorrow to Budapest, Hungary where we will minister in three churches, spreading again the message of the Restoration of all Israel (Romans 11:25)!

Life of Victory in Bulgaria!

After 18 hours of travel we reached Sofia, Bulgaria safely, but utterly exhausted. Our dear host, Lyubka, left her apartment to us and went to stay with her mother so that we could have 12 hours of quiet and uniterrupted rest. This is the gracioiusness of the Bulgarian people.

Yesterday we traveled by train from Sofia to Russe, Bulgaria, on the northern border of Bulgaria and Romania. The Life of Victory Christian Centre welcomed us with great joy and I write to you with overwhelming excitement about all that God did among the people there last night. Without a doubt I now see and understand why He brought John and myself together - to be a team of missionaries who can teach His Word, lead the people into deep worship, and intercede in the power of the Holy Spirit. I taught this congregation the Hebrew roots of their faith from the Scriptures and they received this message with great excitement. Pastor Iliawas especially thrilled to learn the true meaning of Ephesians 2:15 as the Restoration of all Israel when "the two become one!" John led a time of prayer afterward while I continued the worship music and he tells me he prayed over many with depression, diseases and curses over their families. Almost every single person in the church came forward for prayer, and the Lord God met each one and answered!

Pictured here are Pastor Ilia, Kelly, John and Lyubka. Continue to hold us in prayer as we speak to the businessmen here in Russe tonight. They are all Jewish men from Israel who have businesses in Russe. It will be an amazing time for testimony of our faith and encouragement to them that many of us pray for and stand with Israel in this troubling time. Please pray also against the threat of a third intifada in Israel on 15 May. The Palestinians and Arab peoples are organizing an uprising against Israel on this, their day of Independence. Pray Psalm 83 over Israel each day, my friends.

On Saturday we take a train back to Sofia and on Sunday we will minister in Christian Center Sofia. Monday Lyubka is going to take us to the Sofia Concert Hall for a musical concert of various Slavik artists. We are being graciously cared for in this humble, beautiful land. The people have very little, living in poor conditions left to them from the Communist era; but these churches are filled with great faith and courage and they are so hungry to learn how they are grafted into the Olive Tree of Israel! They pray for her with passion and I believe the seeds we are sowing here will spread far and wide to help stamp out anti-Semitism in this land.

Love and greetings to you all from Bulgaria!

Kelly & John