We left our fantastic Kibbutz Resort at Ginosar situated on the Sea of Galilee (also known as the Sea of Tiberius – where there are sulfur hot springs - and the Lake of Geneserat), and were informed that this "sea" is not actually a sea at all, but a large fresh water lake. It measures approximately 20 miles long and 8 miles wide, and is 630 feet below sea level, making it the lowest fresh water lake on earth. It was likely referred to as a sea because, quite some time ago, the local people just saw it as a large body of water which they would never cross. Seventy percent of all the miracles that Jesus performed took place around this beautiful body of water. Our last day took us completely around the Sea of Galilee, with several stops. Our first stop was at the Mount of Beatitudes. Overlooking the "Sea," this natural amphitheatre is on a bit of a grassy cliff with a vast plain between the higher ground and the water. This plain would easily hold five thousand people! In what are known at The Beatitudes ("Blessed are the…"), Jesus was not trying to change The Word (the first five books of the Bible), but was talking and encouraging the Jews to express their Judaism in a practical way, even as they were being oppressed by the Romans. At this holy place, Ruth played her violin after asking God to reveal to us what he wants us to hear or know. This doesn’t happen to me very often, but as Ruth played, I wrote the following: “God is wooing our hearts to see beyond ourselves. Make a difference! See the needs. Live generously. Love deeply to the point of pain. See God in all creation. Expect miracles. Know Mashiach (the Messiah) is near as the worst and best of humanity will be seen. Have faith!” One of the group, Pastor Steve, recited The Beatitudes from Matthew 5:3-10, and spontaneously we sang, “You are Worthy of It All”. Beautiful, full of awe time! We next headed for a place called Peter’s Primacy, where Jesus held an early morning fish fry for His disciples after He had risen from the dead. On the way to this site, we were informed that this area experiences a major earthquake approximately every 100 years. The last one was 1929. It was on this beach that Jesus asked Peter, who was broken-hearted over the apparent loss of his friend, “Peter, do you love me?” It’s such a wonderful reminder that, no matter how bad things look: don’t give up. Don’t quit. Here too we sang and worshiped, and Ruth had all those in full-time ministry stand in the middle of a circle of friendship, and had our new found friends pray over us. I had my eyes open, as I normally do and while the others prayed over us, I saw two large fish jump out of the water, not far off shore. I believe it was a sign that the harvest of souls are chomping at the bit to hear about Love. On to Capernaum, the city where Jesus spent most of His years. The ruins make out a well-organized city with the Synagogue as the centrepiece. It’s a large building. It’s likely that the dark lava rocks were the original building (the one that Jesus would have attended and taught in!), and the newer white large limestone "bricks" would have been built by a wealthy person. Also, Peter’s mother-in-law’s home is here – the home that housed some of the earliest house church meetings. It is a large home. The view of the "Sea" is breath taking from the shores of this city. Next we headed to En Gev, which was about three miles from Bethesda, a well-known fishing village. On the way to En Gev, we passed by the Golan Heights, which in the war in 1967, Israel took back from Syria, which was under the control of France. It is known as “The Land of the Waterfalls” and it is beautiful, fertile, and inexpensive land. There, on a cliff, were ruins of a church that marked the spot where Jesus cast the demons out of the pigs, which ran into the "Sea" and drowned. We arrived at En Gev and it was stunningly beautiful and well-kept. First, we went on a boat ride. The boat could have easily held 75 – 100 people. Just our group of about 20 were on it. With the crew, we danced to Jewish music, listened to more glorious music, sang the Israeli National Anthem, and a few of the women "flagged" at the front of the boat. For about five minutes the boat’s motor was turned off and we simply sat or stood and listened to the silence. After lunch we had a tilapia fish lunch on a large outdoor patio. Although I’m not a lover of fish, the local cats enjoyed sitting under my chair! One more stop on the way back to the Hotel Yehuda in Jerusalem took us to a date and spice market. Ian and I had to catch our plane in Tel Aviv at 12:45 in the morning, so we missed our last session together. We had an uneventful comfortable trip home to Toronto on El Al. What a trip! Thanks for joining in on our adventure. I would advise anyone to go. We will never be the same! Grateful. The adventure continues back home…. - Michelle
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... that just today, America issued a travel warning around the world?
That Beer Sheeba (the capital city of the Negev – with a population of 200,000) was the recipient of several missile rockets during the Hamas-led Gaza Strip upheaval? That Jerusalem’s Iron Dome (sold to them by the U.S.) constantly intercepts continuous missile attacks? That the word “Christian” still brings terror into the hearts of Jews, and that even those who have received Christ refer to themselves as “Jewish believers in Yeshua”? That around 324 A.D., during the Byzantine Period, it was declared that "Jesus is done with the Jewish People," and the Christians changed the Sabbath Day from Saturday to Sunday? That from ca. 1516 to 1916 the Jews, under the Turks Ottoman rule, started purchasing as much land in the Middle East as possible, especially undesirable land that no one else wanted? That the British and the Australians defeated the Turks and took control of the Middle East? That since 1948, when Israel became a state, they either discovered or developed the cherry tomato – 120 different strains of cherry tomatoes; the "drip system" that makes the desert highly productive; three desalination plants; solar energy; computer intel.; and the use of greenhouses over various palm trees to create a humid, jungle-like environment for fruit production? That Israel is primarily powered by coal imported by ship from Turkey? That Israel has just discovered natural gas and will soon be able to export? That King Herod the Great built the magnificent city of Caesarea, on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, strictly for pagan entertainment? That King Herod never visited the fortress of Masada, but had it built strictly to protect his family as he was fighting to maintain his throne? That today, Israel is the only democratic city in The Middle East? That most Arabs want to live in peace with the Jews, because they know it is the only place in The Middle East that they can live in freedom? That most Jews and Arabs get along, but the media reports only on the events of terror? And then…. With everything we experienced today, my highlights were still human connections. We went to an authentic Kibbutz just outside of Caesarea, and learned all about how they started and what they’ve become today. Kibbutz basically means "living off the land" – farming. Our guide was a lifelong friend of our tour guide and we got the royal treatment – a very unusual gift to us. We then went to a local restaurant called Rachelle, which is owned by a woman in her twenties. Her grandmother, Rachelle, had passed down all her authentic hummus recipes. We packed the restaurant, so we were a blessing to the young entrepreneur. Just as we were preparing to leave, a Jewish woman and her young son stood at the doorway with the idea of eating there, but saw it was full. She said something to her son in Hebrew. I said to her: “We are finished so in a minute there’ll be lots of room.” She said, “Oh, do you speak Hebrew?” I responded no and said that I had just noticed that she was looking for a table. She asked where we were from. I told her from all over and that we had come to learn about the history of the Jews and to do anything we could to help them recover. She was overwhelmed, and said she could feel our love, and also allowed me to give her a warm hug. Tonight we were blessed with an Israeli symphony cello player and a tenor – both Jewish believers in Jeshua – who played and sang for us. The cello player, Catherine, has studied harp and the scriptures with Canadian Michael Moon. Tomorrow is our last day, and I’m not sure if I can blog again until I'm back home. Thank you so much for traveling with me! One more day, - Michelle It was a big day today as we left Jerusalem and headed for the Judean mountains and desert, and the Dead Sea. Our new tour guide is Tali and our driver is Shlomo – not sure of the spelling of his name, but as a driver he is not "slow-mo"!
On our way out to the Dead Sea (south west of Jerusalem), we saw desert mountains with herds of sheep and Bedouin shepherds. Tali explained to us that only in the Middle East do shepherds lead their sheep, not follow them. The sheep come to know the voice of their shepherd. There are about 140,000 Bedouin people still living nomadically here in tents or portable huts. We drove to the lowest place on earth, to the Dead Sea. It sits 1300 feet below sea level. Because of the plunging elevation I "lost my ears" before I arrived there. I decided that, at only 9.30 a.m., I didn’t want to descend to the sea’s shore, lie in the 30% salted water, then cover myself with mud, then shower, then climb way back up the hill, dry off, get redressed, and fight off the flies (which were a real problem). Instead, I caused a little excitement when I used one of the toilets and wondered why men were invading it as I was exiting! My mistake. Whoops! As we traveled, to our next destination we got some stats from Tali: the Dead Sea is 48 miles long, 9 miles across, and another 1300 feet deep at its deepest point. Although nothing can live in the Dead Sea, it is rich in minerals, salt and many healing properties. The people of Israel are experts in desert irrigation and agriculture, and Israel produces some of the best fruit and vegetables on the earth, due to the small amount of salt used in the water, which makes their produce taste a little sweeter than most. Tali (a Jewish believer in Yeshua) told us this joke: There were three kids bragging about their dads. One was American, one French, and one Jewish. The American boy said, “my Dad built the Empire State Building!” The French boy said “my Dad built the Eiffel Tower!” The Jewish boy, knowing there are no tall buildings in Israel said, “my Dad is so great, he killed the Dead Sea!” Anyway… Next we went to En Gede, meaning the Goats’ Spring. Remember, this is serious desert – serious mountain desert – with no water other than the Dead Sea (and that isn't potable). En Gede is where soldiers came to get drinking water, and where King Saul was trying to kill David, who was next in line. In one of these enormous caves is where David could have killed King Saul, but didn’t. Where does the spring come from? It runs naturally from far away Jerusalem, due to the fact that we are well below sea level. Also, the limestone mountains hold any water that does come, and the water is released when needed. Next we travelled to Masada. This story is too big to tell here, so look it up if you can! Masada means 'strong, fortress.' It had been King Herod’s fortress and castle just before the fall of the Roman Empire (ca. 70 A.D.). This Empire had been ravaging all of the known world, and was in complete control of The Middle East during the time of Christ. The natural flat-topped mountain stands approximately 3000 feet above the plain below. The Jews had rebelled and were running for their lives, and ended up in the fortress. About 970 men, women, and children were hiding out there. The Roman army came with 9,000 soldiers and 15,000 slaves (captured Jews), and set up stations around the fortress’ perimeter. The ruins are there today. I saw them! Using the slaves for labour, the Romans built a ramp – I’m talking a 3000-foot ramp with wood, stones, and rock to get at the fortress! The Jews did everything they could to defend themselves, but when they realized that they could not hold off their enemies, they committed a mass suicide, so they would not be captured and put into slavery. When the Romans broke through, they found only the dead. Next we moved onto a Jewish settlement where a friend of Ruth's has a very controversial and powerful sculpture exhibit in his home, called "Fountain of Tears." The artist is a Canadian, Rick Wienecke. We ended up in Beer Sheba, where we are staying for the night. Everyone is tired! On the way here, we got a report from the news that starting today, only 45 Jews will be allowed on The Temple Mount each morning, and only 15 in the afternoon, and that they will require special permits to do so. Also, tour guides are now forbidden to say that the Jewish Temple once stood where the Rock of the Dome now stands today. Not good. The adventure continues tomorrow…. - Michelle Gil Pentzak and Ruth Fazal planned another exceptional day for us. They invited a very famous man to come and speak with us – just 30 of us. His name is Rabbi Yehuda Glick, and his first statement to us was: “You need to have a lot of faith to be an atheist today.” He is famous here in Jerusalem but, in spite of what happened to him, he is on a mission to represent Judaism as a loving and peace-seeking religion.
Up until 2005 Glick was a civil servant working for the Israeli government, assisting Jews from around the world to “make aliya” (meaning emigrating from countries around the world to come "home" to Israel). A man of great passion and conviction, he could no longer agree with decisions being made by the government, and so he resigned and served as the Director of the Temple Institute in The Old City until 2009. But he had a desire to touch his People. In 2010, he became a registered tour guide and was challenging the position of radical Muslims who had taken over the grounds that the Dome of the Rock – the third most holy temple for Muslims – stood on. To the Jews, this site is the most important place of earth – the place where their Second Temple stood until it was destroyed by the Romans in approximately 60 A.D. The Jews believe that this very site is where the Third Temple will be built. They desire, more than most people can comprehend, to go there to pray. Yehuda Glick devoted his career to going to The Temple Mount (where the Dome now stands) every day, although Jews are not allowed to do so. As a tour guide, he would take others to join him. On October 29, 2014 – just over a year ago – Rabbi Yehuda, along with an aide, was leaving the Old City after dark. His beautiful wife Yaffil was waiting the car for him as he put some things into the trunk. A man on a motorcycle drove right in front of Yehuda, apologized then shot him four times at point blank range in his body’s core. Yaffil, although she did not turn around, quickly tucked herself into the floor of the front seat of the car. Yehuda’s aid immediately ripped off his friend’s shirt to try to discern the damage. From the floor of the front seat of the car, Yaffil called a friend and said that her husband had been shot, where they were and to please help. The ambulance arrived in 13 minutes and the police located, then shot dead, the paid assassin. The damage was massive but, miraculously, Yehuda Glick recovered and came to speak to us today! He arrived, took off his bullet proof jacket, and there he was: packing a pistol, and full of the zeal of a crazed evangelist! He is known to be honest and frank. He has wild red hair, which makes him easily recognizable. He is scared to go back to the Temple Mount. But due to this act of brutality, there has been a great awakening among the Jewish people. What Yehuda started as a commitment to go into the grounds of the Dome of the Rock has become a movement of Jews – of all ages and streams of Judaism – banding together to go to the Temple Mount. They are also finding out that many Christians love them and are praying for them, and come to Jerusalem to encourage and comfort them. Yehuda Glick stated emphatically today that he believes that this holiest of places, the Third Temple that they are preparing to build, is for all people to come and pray together. In the afternoon, as a group we visited the Temple Institute, where they are hard at work preparing all the elements that will be placed into the Third Temple. Our hearts were broken tonight when we had to say goodbye to Gil, since he is going back to work tomorrow. He tried to express how overwhelmed he is with the love he feels from us. He doesn’t quite understand yet, but knows the feeling is right. We understand. God’s love is indeed overwhelming. Tomorrow, off to the Dead Sea! - Michelle I did not sleep a wink last night – the same as exactly a week ago! A week ago I didn’t understand why I was awake all night talking with God, mulling over the things of the day, at times fighting with Him and asking Him to please let me sleep, then finally succumbing to His voice and letting Him minister to my enquiring soul. Last night, the same – all night!
The Shabbat (or Sabbath – day of rest) lasts for 25 hours. From sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday, plus one hour to bring it into the coming week. This last ceremonial prayer is called the Havdalah (the close of Shabbat) which includes seven blessings from Scripture and is symbolized with a cup of wine that deliberately overflows its capacity; spices (myrrh) releasing a sweet fragrance; and a blue and white, six-stranded, wicked candle that turns into a torch of fire. I believe it was this Havdalah that kept me awake all last night mulling over and taking in all that happened over the previous 24 hours... Gil and Lea’s oldest son Tzur, aged 9, had emergency surgery to remove his inflamed appendix. Lea, Gil’s wife, was to join us at the hotel, along with their close friends, Machal and Nanaand and their four children, as they led us and shared with us their Shabbat celebrations. Instead, because Lea was at the hospital with Tzur, Gil’s mom and dad came to help him out with his and Lea’s four other children (ranging from 16 months to 7 years). Gil’s parents have been concerned about his involvement with Ruth Fazal and her Christian friends, and never would have come to us voluntarily. God made a way. After our Shabbat meal, which included much singing, prayers, and proclamations of blessings, all 36 adults and energetic children went back to our meeting room, and it was there that we fell in love with one another. Gil – who was translating – and his mother and father, Machal and Nanaand (who was single-handedly managing all the children, as men do on the Sabbath!), allowed us the privilege of asking them anything we wanted to ask. It wasn’t long before they all felt comfortable and knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, how seriously we take our love for Israel, the People –– that we stand with them, and that we are called to encourage and comfort them. One thing in particular stood out to me. Machal, who is a beautiful woman – expecting her fifth child in April – shared how she and her best friend, Lea, are acutely aware that the coming of the Mashiach (Messiah) is very near. As they have been commiserating on that a lot (as Nanaand pointed out!) they were, by God’s Spirit, very aware of the importance of the Woman in these last days. Once again, God confirmed to me that His instruction to me to write my book, The Woman, over this past summer, was indeed from Him. God is at work in both His Chosen People and their siblings through adoption. On Saturday, Gil and Nanaand led us into the Hotel Yehuda’s Synagogue, where Nanaand, a trained cantor, sang a portion of scripture from the Torah. He was shocked and nicely surprised when we asked him to sing more! Later that evening, just before our guests were leaving for home, Nanaand – who is shy by nature – got on the microphone and thanked us for receiving him and his family. He expressed that he could hardly believe the love and acceptance that he was experiencing from Gentiles. I was also able to look Gil’s mom straight in the eyes and thank her for sharing her dear son with us. I was able to hold her for a bit and tell her we love her, stand with her and her people, and that we pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Today, (Sunday) the adventure continues… - Michelle Today we left at 8 a.m. and headed north of Jerusalem into the region of Samaria. Gil, our Jewish co-leader, along with Christian musician Ruth Fazal, was careful to not give a political opinion, but to just let us see and feel in our hearts where we went.
He explained that this region has three areas: A, B and C. Areas marked "A" are Arab communities and Jews are not safe to go there. Christians would be safe unless, just like anywhere else, a radical Muslim decided to do something violent. "C" areas are Jewish settlements, and it’s unlikely that Muslims would want to go there. Areas designated as "B" are primarily highways that are maintained by the Arabs and policed by the Israeli Army. We had to travel right through Arab/Muslim cities to get to where we were going. Thank God for Canada! After stopping at Har Bracha Winery on Mount Gerizim, to pick up chairs for our first official destination, we travelled around an Arab city situated in the valley– clearly marked "A" (an Israeli sign greeted visitors to that city, stating that no Israelis were permitted entry there, or they may be killed) – and the bus climbed the mountain on the other side to Elon Moreh to a lookout that is believed to be the nearest we are permitted to where Abram heard from God, “'To your offspring I will give this land.' So he [Abram] built there an altar to the Lord, who appeared to him.” (Genesis 12:7) So we sat on our plastic chairs, in complete silence, looking at the valley below and the mountains beyond. Ruth played her violin there, and we prayed in silence. Next we traveled to a rural Jewish village called Itamar. We were greeting by Rabbi David Yitzik and his vivaciously smiling wife, Leah. Although they have been in Itamar for 30 years, Leah especially still has her Brooklyn accent! Ian noticed immediately that Rabbi David was carrying a pistol around his waist. There is a new synagogue in this beautiful place, built by personal donations in honour of an entire family who, four years ago, were gunned down in their home. Just six weeks ago a very young man was shot and killed on the edge of the village. Rabbi David and Leah were the eighth couple to try to settle this area. They were both 22 at the time. They’ve done a great job. Next stop was back to the winery for an incredible lunch at one very long table that sat 36 of us. Like all the meals we have had here, everything was Kosher and delicious! The grapes here are grown at over 900 metres above sea level, and it seems they produce exceptional wine. I had my tiny, tiny sip and, of course, got instantly tipsy! We bought some of this Israeli wine to take home! Our last stop was to Shiloh, and to what is believed to be the archaeological remains of the first Jewish Temple. It stood there for 359 years. The sun sets here at around 5 p.m., so we set back out for our bus which took us back to our hotel. There was a possibility that we could have been stopped when re-entering Jerusalem, but we weren’t. On our trip back, Gil informed us that his oldest son, Tzur (age 9), was waiting for emergency surgery for an appendicitis attack and that Gil would be going to the hospital to be with his son. He apologized. We prayed for the family. In honour of the Shabbat, which we will be celebrating at the hotel today and tomorrow, I will not be writing until Sunday. Sending love from this remarkable land, - Michelle It’s hard to explain what happened today. The depth of human beauty in the midst of human atrocities can only be described as "unspeakable."
A great honour was bestowed on us this morning, as our little group of 30 had the privilege of being the audience of Yehuda Bacon. Yehuda is a child survivor of the Holocaust. He is the only person from his Orthodox Jewish family that made it out. Between the ages of 13 and 15, Yehuda saw his father marched into the gas chambers, and saw his mother and sister die a few weeks before the liberation. He miraculously survived Auschwitz, Mauthausen (a work camp that Ian visited two years ago, which was designed to work and starve to death the Jews within three months of arrival), and three death marches similarly designed to kill the captives through starvation, dehydration, and exposure to the elements. On May 5, 1945, at the age of 15, Yehuda was liberated by the U.S. Army. Yehuda became a famous artist whose hopeful works hang triumphantly in the Holocaust Museum that we visited in the afternoon. There was not one ounce of bitterness, hatred, or sadness in Yehuda’s message of love to us. He told us about how, after he recovered in a convent in Prague, an amazing man named Premysl Pitter (whom Yehuda still refers to as Mr. Pitter) took the surviving children of the Holocaust to reside in his palacial residence and helped them to truly live again. In 1959, Yehuda went on to be a professor of graphics and design, after several study visits in Paris and London. His works hang in the most prestigious of places. He is a tiny man, small in stature, who needs some help walking. He is 86 years old, and full of nonsense and joy, and he yearned for our questions. He talked for over an hour and strongly urged us to make a difference in the life of every human being we encounter each day. He was asked how he kept his faith. He answered that he had learned The Torah as a little child, and he believed its words. He had just had his Bar Mitzvah before deportation from his childhood home. He knew that the Nazis may be able to kill his body, but that they could never destroy his spirit. I got a beautiful hug and kiss on the cheek from this precious man – a man I will never forget. “Beloved, let us love one another…” Overwhelmed, - Michelle Today, following a three-hour conversational session this morning between our hosts Ruth Fazal and Modern Orthodox Jewish Hebrew teacher Gil Pentzak, we travelled back into the Old City to have a guided tour of the Western Wall Tunnel.
The Western Wall, commonly known as the Wailing Wall – viewed and prayed at by millions of seekers each year – is only a small portion of the original 2500-year-old structure, whose ruins exist beneath the present Old City. We walked on gigantic stone cuttings that Jesus also once walked on. How does one describe what that feels like? Talk about gigantic stone cuttings! Directly under the Dome of the Rock, the Muslim Temple, and surrounding lands that occupy a huge portion of the Old City that only Muslims can enter, lies the very spot that the Jews call the Temple Mount, which once held the Arc of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies. When the Romans tried, 2000 years ago, to completely destroy all that was Jewish, they came upon a huge single piece of rock that is approximately 15 feet deep, 20 feet high, and 45 feet long, weighing in at over 600 tons! One piece! The Romans could not destroy or remove that single piece of rock. The Holy of Holies, the most sacred Jewish place – a portal connecting Heaven and Earth – was and is preserved, regardless of what has been placed on top of it. Our guide, an Orthodox Jewess, was amazing. She told us that it is believed that it was an Angelic squadron that placed the rock in that location, since there is no other explanation as to how it could have gotten there. She said that she couldn't share this particular information with many people, and could only tell us because she knew that we are people of faith. It is wonderful to hear, from the hearts of others from around the world, that we are more secure in our Christian beliefs as we learn and cherish the history of our Jewish relatives. The adventure continues… - Michelle Thirty people from the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and Denmark were greeted by Ruth Fazal, Sharon Dafoe, Gil Pentzak, and a photographer who is producing a video of our trip as a souvenir for us. We quickly made connections with a couple of people we know from the Oakville area, as well as with new friends who have come on this particular tour with the same heart to learn.
I want to know about the heart of our Jewish brother Gil. He was so open in saying how fearful he was when he first met Ruth. He shared tonight that if she had mentioned the Name of Jesus within the first year of meeting, he would have run away – fast! Instead, what has developed is a deep love and respect between the Hebrew teacher and the British-Canadian student, who also happens to be a grandmother. Gil shared how he and his wife, Leah, want their five little children to know that Christians are not their enemies. Both Gil and Ruth are shocked at how much we have in common. The greatest hope is that both the Jew and the Christian await the coming Messiah! Tonight, we worshipped together and talked a little about our week. We saw an old film clip of Rabbi Kabbahla, who in the 1960s rallied a call to his fellow Jews to simply love one another! Sound familiar? Tomorrow we go as a group back to the Old City. - Michelle As expected, there were lots of animals at the The Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem!
The zoo is in walking distance of our hotel – all downhill to get there, but of course we also had to walk back "home" – and upon returning, we slept for 2 hours. I am a keen observer of people. I love and am deeply curious about people. Today was Shabbut (Sabbath which runs from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday every week), which meant that Jewish people were not working, and that lots of families were out and about. I observed that many young families had several children – many had three or four children under perhaps six years of age. Moms and dads were both fully involved with the care of their vibrant little ones. It was good to see. But there is also obvious tension. Our Jewish shiroot driver commented about the trouble with Arabs in the Old City, and tonight a young Arab man serving us made a lot of disparaging comments about the Jews in Jerusalem. It seems that both groups are trying to get people on their "side," and it’s quite sad. In light of what happened in Paris last night, I wish I had the courage to ask both of these men, “Why can you just not love your fellow man?” Another observation: the Jews are very confident in God. They openly share their commitment to God and the scriptures. They are not ashamed of their history. To me, they are not arrogant, but confident. As a matter of fact, I was conscious of this all last night. I kept waking up and every time I did, I was clearly thinking about the young Jewish man who donned his prayer shawl on the airplane that brought us here, and how he said his prayers and read his book of Psalms, and how his face looked peaceful and full of confidence that his Great God would protect him that day. Tomorrow Ian and I will venture into the Old City and trust, with the same confidence in our Great God, that we will be just fine! Continuing with the adventure… - Michelle |
AuthorMichelle Sim - licensed Christian minister, speaker, author, founder of Northern Praise Ministries Inc., and supporter and connector of creative people. Archives
June 2016
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