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)
