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June 7, 2006 11 Sivan, 5766 Dear Praying Friends,
The wonderful music and dance program presented at our moshav by the group “For Zion Sake” from the U.S. was a bold step into hostile territory. As a result of the posters having been torn down, the man who gave us permission to use the community center, arranged for a police detail to be on hand. It was a good thing he did, because a few of the local “hot-heads” came by looking for a fight. The FZS team stayed after the program to wash their costumes, and the border police went with them to the laundry room! That was a first...probably for everyone concerned. Several mothers and children attended with several other residents. The presentation appeared to be well received. The Presence of the Lord was in the room. Afterward, as comments filtered in, we learned that certain aspects of the program did not go over so well. In particular, a gentile men dancing with a talit felt to several like an “outsider” was touching something that didn’t belong to him. We all took this as a valid point and agreed that there needed to be a greater level of awareness of how such things land in the traditional Jewish soul. However, and perhaps most importantly, beyond the natural response, we believe God gave us a sign that something happened in the spirit realm.
Some of you will remember that last month friends from Germany were here and we spontaneously dedicated the Tabernacle, even before it was finished. As we went to our house to get our instruments for worship, we found the lock on our door was jammed and we needed to go through the window. There wasn’t a clear word about what that meant, but we sensed there was something prophetically significant about the incident. After the program in the moshav community center, one of our team went to lock the door of the hall. As he took the key out of the lock, the tumbler came out also. The lock had broken and the door could not be locked. First something was locked we could not open and then something was opened that could not be locked. How are we to think about this? The two events picture what appears in Revelation 3:7 about the key of David. Both these events were firsts involving both worship and warfare. The first one was in a hidden Tabernacle and the other in the public arena. We are encouraged. Even though our door was locked, which we took as a point of opposition, the plan went forward unhindered. We take the community center’s lock breaking as saying that something was opened in the spirit that would not be closed. For sure, the Spirit of God has been released here and He will bring change and draw people to Himself. There will be a fight, but the Captain of the Lord’s armies is with us. (We really want to thank those of you who prayed for this event at the moshav. We know God did wonders in response to your prayers).
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On the heels of the above, I (arni) considered the subject of evangelism -- in general and concerning Jews and our village in specific. Many and diverse are the thoughts and approaches to this question. Isaiah 40, which calls for the preparation of the way of the Lord, begins with a word of comfort to Jerusalem. For a people that have suffered rejection for three thousand years, this is not strange. The phrase “prepare the way” is more accurately translated “clear, or open, the way”...i.e., remove the stones and stumbling blocks. For sure, many are the testimonies of people being saved through discarded literature and demons fleeing at the mention of His Name. But short of God supernaturally removing the veil from a heart, especially where modern-day traditional Jews are concerned, the soil needs to be prepared through loving trust and intercession before the Name of Yeshua can be received as anything other than a symbol of our national suffering. Among the youth, since many do not consciously identify with our national heritage or identity, this hindering aversion is largely absent. What all this says to us is that we will need to invest our hearts and time to reach the people with God’s love in a way that they can receive it. An incident from the life of Helen Keller (who could neither hear nor see) speaks to the essence of this point. After she learned to communicate via sign language traced on her hand, she was told about Jesus. She replied, “So that’s His Name!”
Please join with us in this burden from the Lord’s heart. We believe, as a result of the miraculous way God brought us here and other things that we have seen since, that this moshav may be a spiritual stronghold and a key to the region. We are looking for committed worshipers and intercessors that will come for a few days, a few weeks, or more and pour themselves out before Lord, that His glory would fill this village. Can you come and help?
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We had three stops on our last trip to Germany. We first met with a group of worshipers and intercessors in Stuttgart. The stated plan for the morning meeting was for their worship team to lead us in a few songs to help people wake up, and then for us to speak on the subject of worship. The Spirit took over and we worshiped for an hour and three quarters. During this time, one of the singers on the worship team delivered a prophetic word that “Israel is the point of the spear; put her in her place.” So, contrary to what we had expected, we ministered about God’s heart for Israel and the connection between Israel and Germany. In the afternoon a brother from Freiberg who has pioneered a worship ministry there spoke on worship, saying a good part of what we would have said in the morning! It is a blessing to be led by God.
We next spent several days with friends that direct a YWAM base in the south. For those who may not know, YWAM has historically had a leaning in the direction of replacement theology. There were opportunities to speak to the base team and a prayer group that prays for unreached peoples in countries closed to the preaching of the Gospel. The room where the prayer group met had a large map on the wall with all the Moslem countries in green and tiny Israel in blue right in the center. We did not feel that it was our place to shift their focus from praying for the hundreds of millions of lost souls represented on the map. But here is what the Lord spoke: “We cannot bless what He has cursed.” Everyone and every nation that hates or lightly esteems Israel is under a curse, according to Genesis 12:3. The tiny blue speck in the sea of green is the key to opening the heavens over the world of Islam. They must renounce their hatred of Israel or remain under God’s judgment. We also shared about preparing dedicated rooms for the Presence of the Lord as a tool to break through the darkness, especially where open public worship of Yeshua is against the law of the land. At this, the brother leading the prayer group exclaimed that the Lord had already told him that. As a businessman, He has had opportunity to present leadership seminars in the Arab world. He asked us if we could teach his team on the subject of establishing dedicated places of worship. The Lord spoke about this to us long ago, and we believe it is a stealth strategy that cannot fail. It is very much on our hearts to sow light into the darkness of the Moslem world. We would appreciate your prayers for the actualization of this vision in the near future.
From there we traveled to our friends at TOS in Tubingen to participate in a conference called “The Road to Jerusalem.” It was a very special event for us. All the speakers, worship leaders, musicians and those on the conference team were dear friends. One brother we had met briefly only once but were knit heart to heart instantly. We have dreamt about a conference like this for years. We were all together with the Lord for the whole time, seeking Him day by day and meeting by meeting for who should do what. It was beautiful to watch the Lord weave it all together. We felt that every message was from heart to heart...His to ours. CD’s can be ordered from the TOS media shop, at www.TOS-medienshop.de.
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On one afternoon, not directly connected with the “Road to Jerusalem” conference, we joined together with a number of friends and leaders from around Germany for a discussion about the Lord’s call to the Fourth Generation and their importance to the future of Germany. Everyone agreed that we are at the hour when the burden of the Lord for Israel needs to be passed to the German youth or Germany will not fulfill its destiny. We agreed to come together again in the next few months for a day of worship, prayer, and seeking the Lord for the next step.
These are defining days for His Body worldwide. It is now or never for many of the issues before us. There will be consequences to not responding to the word and call of the Lord. For the five “foolish” virgins, their loss was irretrievable. May we not be found numbered among them.
May God bless you from Zion! Your servants… For the Glory of His Name, Arni and Yonit |