Jerusalem

June 4, 2008
As I write we are in Egged #952 bus rolling south thru the Israeli countryside on Hiway 6, a freeway that runs north-south thru a lot of the country. We’re accompanied by Israeli soldiers, families with children, young hitch-hiking foreigners that occasionally pay for a ride or two…. We just passed a sign that said, in Hebrew, Arabic, and English: Jersualem, 55. We’ve passed fields packed with corn waving in the wind, sunflowers lifting up their heads to their own Sun above, groves of olive trees and grape vines on the ever changing and now rocky hillsides. Stands of evergreen trees populate the increasingly higher hills as we approach Jerusalem.

Listening to a nudge.... The days in Tiberias have been grand experiments in fine tuning our spirits with the Spirit of the Lord who is upon us. For example, two days ago we walked past a woman noodling over a book while reclining near a pool. I stopped and greeted her, on an impulse. She was reading a book by Watchman Nee on Gleaning from the Fields of Boaz. She said she worked in a House of Prayer a few miles away in Migdal. She said it was a Christian ministry and she was a volunteer from England. She gave me the card for Ted and Linda Walker, Directors of Beit Bracha (www.itac-israel.org/Migdal_tiberius). She took a day off every week to come and sit by this pool, have lunch, rest, and read. By “coincidence” we ran into her.

Following a lead... I woke up yesterday with an impulse to go visit this house of prayer. I set out walking after breakfast along hiway 90 heading north toward Nof Ginosar, the http://www.jesusboat.com/ kibbutz on the north shore of Kinneseret, or the Sea of Galilee. It was a wonderfully warm day to walk lakeside for 6 miles or so till I got to the turn-off for Migdal and walked my way up a snakey little street to the guest house that sleeps 28, holds conferences for up to 200, and is run by a multi-national evangelical group. I talked for a half hour or so with Ted, originally from San Diego, but now a resident in Israel for 15 years or so. We prayed and blessed each other’s lives, goals, ministries. I prayed for him in his work that he would be able to hold a handful of seed and see the harvest that would one day grow from those seeds. I took a blessing of having followed God’s leading. Who knows where that will lead?

Notes from Bethyl Joy: Entering Jerusalem on public transportation was different than my other trips here. I was aware of risk and felt called to pray much of the trip. I sensed the enemy’s presence. I guess I felt some reprieve as we got closer to the city of God. I was excited and moved to the front of the bus, camera in hand. The driver helped out by electronically moving the window shades all the way up so I could get better pictures. Once at the central depot, we rolled our suitcases behind us to a local bus and taxi to our small hotel district where a passing rabbi warmly assisted us in locating the door to our small inn. We left our bags and headed for the old City. A joy to be back, walking the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Quarters, down the Via Delarosa, over the Kidron Valley, and up to Gethsemene.

A closed door .... As we stood looking into the Kidron Valley, I shared with Vance my first experience in the Kidron Valley back in 1993. I ran down some steps, into the Valley, so excited to be there; only to be angrily pushed out by shepherds. As we came close this time, we found another route and again got down into the Valley only to be kicked out by a gardener. ?Is there a theme here? A good example of a closed door to us. So we left….

An open door?.......... In the late afternoon Vance was aware of wanting to follow up on a lead in Jerusalem that was given to him by George Gakamakis, a friend back home. He dialed Dave Parsons, a director of International Christian Embassy at Jerusalem, http://www.icej.org/ . We met at the Jaffa gate at 7 pm. It was a rough start since Dave left his car to run round a corner to meet us. When we all three trooped back to his car, parked illegally at a busy intersection, he was being given a 250 NIS parking ticket (about $100). Oops. We didn’t let that rain on our parade. We had a delightful time over dinner hearing of their work in responding to the needs of people in Israel, Jews, Arabs, refugees, and others. We talked of crisis training, ways to help. Who knows what will come of this contact. Maybe we will find a home there; a place to serve with a visa to stay in the land. We listened to the nudge of the Spirit to call and have dinner with Dave, we responded, we moved in obedience. God doesn’t guide a stopped car.

June 6, 2008

Shining examples.... We’ve had a wonderful couple of days here thus far in Cyprus with our friends Jim and Sue De Vries. They are also hosting another couple, Joe and Cathy, missionaries from Budapest. Joe and Cathy were in an auto accident on the island in which Cathy broke her pelvis in two places. They didn’t know a soul on the island at the time. An Anglican church caught wind of the situation and began to send helpers. One of them knew Jim and Sue, called, asked if they could send Joe and Cathy this way to recuperate. Jim and Sue have emptied their bedroom and moved to the roof of their home to sleep, ferried Joe and Cathy around, fed, and lived in the same house with them now for a few weeks. I’m humbled to be in their presence as they live out the gospel to strangers, who now are friends.

Teaching and being taught.... This afternoon Bethyl and I facilitated a regional member care meeting with a number of mission leaders from various groups present. Bethyl and I listened first to each person and then teased out each person’s areas of interest and need. Then we took some time to present early warning signs, symptoms, and treatment of burnout and depression amongst missionaries. It was the best few hours we spent all day! People ate lunch together, laughed, talked, listened, grew stronger with in-forming and encouragement.

Resting. Right now it’s late in the day. Pray for us, if you will, for continued encouragement and leading from without and within as we seek to hear and obey God’s own voice. We also need a dollop of energy, as the pace of our lives is wearing on us. As the old saying goes, if you move too fast you leave your soul behind. So… we’re interested in slowing down in the service of soul preservation. Good night.