May 31, 2007

14 Sivan, 5767

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

I am sitting out on our lawn under a cloudy night sky with a nearly full moon breaking through the haze above.  The cool air is a blessed relief at the end of a day that saw temperatures in the high 90’s. It’s been a day of remarkable occurrences.  Actually, the whole last week has been amazing.  As I am writing to you on this balmy evening, the sky above is alive with lightening and thunder, telling us that things have changed in the Heavenly realm. 

 

Though there are a large number of different sections in this letter, we hope you will not miss the stirring report in the Emmaus Way news section.  In this letter:

 

-  Worship in Beer Sheva

-  Sharing the wealth

-  Intercession for the Middle East

-  A return to Arad

-  A testimony of healing and restoration

-  Emmaus Way news

 

 

Worship in Beer Sheva

 

Last Wednesday, on Shavuot, we went down to Beer Sheva to take part in 24 hours of worship with our friends Avner and Rachel Boskey and the team working with them.  We sensed that on this day, the anniversary of the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai and the coming of the Holy Spirit in a Jerusalem upper room 2000 years ago, the Lord God wanted to release an ancient anointing and restore the revelation of who we are (as a people).  Far from the heavily populated coastal plane and central municipalities, sitting at the edge of the Negev desert, the spiritual position and generational heritage of Beer Sheva is of foundational importance for the fulfillment of God’s chosen purpose for the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  It is uniquely the city of the patriarchs.  All three dwelt and met with the Lord there. We as a people need to have our spiritual identity restored.  Our understanding is that the pathway to this restoration runs through Beer Sheva.  And the heart of the matter is about a release of authentic, unbridled, passionate worship.  Time and time again, as we have joined with other ministries in Israel and the nations to stand with them in achieving their breakthrough, regardless of how many or few we were, the Lord has seen fit to use us through our simple offerings to help others release what is in them.  In humble recognition of the nature and measure of our gifting and calling, we stand ready to go where the Lord would send us and give ourselves for His Kingdom.  How much we love to join with other brethren in the places of their spiritual battles.

 

 

Sharing the Wealth

 

A few days later, we had the great joy of hosting an all-day retreat for about fifty staff and interns with the 24/7 worship ministry Succat Hallel.  You may recall that we are partnering together to build a recording studio, with a vision to help young Israelis record the new music they are receiving from the Lord.  This was the first time for most of their team to be at the Center. 

 

Every day we are so thankful for the place God has given us to live and work.  Though we are less than a half hour from Jerusalem, we are a world removed from the intensity of the spiritual conflict forever raging there.  So many that come here, even for just a day, testify to being refreshed by God’s Presence in the midst of His creation. Consequently, we are delighted every time we get to share this blessing with others that are laboring hard in contested fields. 

 

We are currently making an effort to meet with various Israeli ministries to make them aware of this facility right outside the city.  In one such meeting, we were told that our ability to host two-week intensive training sessions gave them a means and framework to reach the many young Israelis coming to faith with basic foundational teachings, for a minimal expense with minimal administration.  This really excited us.  We ourselves have things to teach, which we offer through our ministry schools, but we are equally pleased to have other ministries use the facility to present their own programs.

 

The contributions of friends enable us to make the Center available for whatever people can afford.  So our thanks to our partners is on their behalf as well. Those of you that followed the last letter’s encouragement to check out our needs page read about our new shade cover and lawn equipment.  If you click on the link here, you’ll see photos of the recent gathering which made use of these wonderful additions.

 

 

Intercession for the Middle East

 

Quite spontaneously, some friends of ours from out of the country were directed by the Lord to pray on the Israeli/Syrian border.  They spent Tuesday night with us and then proceeded on to the north; they had received the call to come only four days earlier.  Their coming in this way for such a purpose underscores the seriousness of the situation and sends a message from the Lord that our prayers can effect events in the coming days.  It also says to us that things are moving in a certain direction and that there are dynamics unfolding that the Lord would have be otherwise.  The Lord had not yet revealed the strategy, but a number of points or questions surfaced as we pondered the matter.  Is a military action being planned by Syria that the Lord desires to prevent?  Are we to take a position of authority in prayer to cut off the head of this serpent? Does God need to bring judgment on Israel through military means to get our attention, or is there another way? If a military conflict is imminent and necessary in the purposes of God, is He calling us to pray that the enemy will go no further than has been prescribed or initiate this action before its appointed time?  The Lord told our friends to bring children on this prayer journey.  At first this seemed strange, but then we understood the Lord saying to ask for mercy for the sake of the children.  This hearkens back to events of the Jerusalem Day celebration and a sense that the Lord was displeased with the present government and the generation it represents, but is going to pour out blessing on the youth.   Would you stand with us at this time to seek the Lord and intercede as the Spirit bears witness?

 

 

More About Arad

 

Visible in the ruins of this ancient city are the remains of a temple that reflected the pattern of the Temple in Jerusalem, with an area in it that was like the Holy of Holies.  Archeologists and historians believe it was built by King Solomon, which probably means it was where he offered sacrifice to the gods of his many foreign wives.  We were also reminded that until 1995 Arad was the site of a major yearly rock festival. That ended abruptly when an

out-of-control crowd trampled several people to death.  Aside from the fact that this is about false worship, it indicates that Arad has a draw for worshippers.  The battle against the King of Arad was Israel’s first military victory in the Promised Land.  It was an entry point into Canaan.  Several prophetic words to various people have indicated that Arad is a spiritual portal.  It has a special attraction for new agers and artists.  An ultra-orthodox group that has established a base there is vehemently opposed to the presence of believers in the city.  It is probably the number one hot spot of persecution (of believers) in the Land.  The Dalai Lama wanted to set up his world headquarters there.  We will be visiting with believers there again next week and would appreciate your prayers for clarity of direction.  We have a sense that the Lord wants to establish a tabernacle of worship there.

 

 

Healing and Restoration

 

For seven years, from 1993-2000, we were engaged in a partnership with Ari and Shira Sorko-Ram.  They were without doubt our closest friends in the Land.  We were involved with them in congregational leadership and the building of a Messianic center in Tel Aviv.  At the end of 2000 the building partnership was dissolved, in January 2001 we (Yonit & Arni) left the congregation, and in June of that year Ari and Shira left the center.  For many years we were unable to relate together or interact at all.  In the last year or so, as we have met in various public functions, the spirit between us began to change. This past week we all spent four hours together over lunch at our house.  And we are overjoyed to let you know that our relationship and friendship has been healed and restored.  We are so glad to have our friends back.  May this reconciliation be an encouragement to others and release a wave of relational restoration in the body in Israel.

 

 

Emmaus Way News

 

We find ourselves on the verge of breakthrough in a number of the areas in which the Lord has placed His burden on our hearts.  Our former pastor David Wilkerson once said that there is nothing more precious to a servant of the Lord than His burden; it is the fuel and the fire that propels our spiritual engine.   We are so grateful to the Lord for opening His heart to us and giving us His burdens for worship, Israel, Germany, First Nations people, unsaved Israeli youth, and the new wineskin.  As many of us have experienced time and again, as the Lord blesses and prospers us, the enemy has a hard time sitting by in silence.  Last November, our van was stolen.  Then in March, just following a wonderful time of counseling and personal healing in the US, on the night of my 60th birthday, our house was broken into and our computers were taken, along with a number of other valuables.  Last Tuesday, in the midst of the many blessings enumerated above, on the day Ari and Shira were coming for lunch, we awoke to find our other ministry vehicle, a 1999 Volkswagen Golf, was no longer parked 20 meters from our front door.  In the course of seven months, both our vehicles had been stolen.  This car had an alarm, a cutoff switch with a code, and a lock bar on the steering wheel.  My first response was to throw up my hands and say, “What can we do?  This is an unstoppable flood!”  My heart began to sink.  Then I heard a distant voice, seemingly from within, saying,  “Give up.  Throw in the towel.  It’s too much for you.  You can’t make it.”  (The enemy has no new tricks!)  I got into the vehicle we are taking care of for our son and family (who are out of the country for a season) and went off to the police station to fill out a report.  I was somewhat overwhelmed by our financial needs.  We have not been able to replace the much-needed van, we are just making our expenses from month to month, we stepped out in faith for a necessary shade cover and lawn mower, and now this.  Then…an awesome quiet settled over my soul from someplace deep within.  I knew we were in the hands of the sovereign living God.  He had set a course for us to walk.  He has allowed satan to touch our lives for some good purpose.  We have nowhere else to go.  We are His. We will do what He has called us to do, whatever the cost.  The darkness cannot put out the light.  God is with us and for us, no matter what it looks like.  He is working everything for good.  Our hope and joy is in Him alone.  We came back from the police station and ascended to the Tabernacle, where we bowed down in worship and proclaimed Him Lord and King and Father.  He is worthy.

 

* * *

 

May God bless you from Zion!

 

Your servants…

 

For the Glory of His Name, 

   Arni and Yonit

 

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