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October 24, 2006 2 Cheshvan 5767 Dear Praying Friends,
The signs of approaching winter have come to the hills of Judea. The night air has turned cool and we’ve begun to use our electric water heater since the sun is often hidden behind clouds. There have been a few brief rain showers and the wind is beginning to pick up. Of all the elements of the winter experience in our new home, the wind is the most dramatic. Last year, the large very heavy planters on our terrace needed to be weighted down to keep them from blowing over. Even as the physical winds are rising on the land, so the winds are blowing across our souls and spirits. They are strong and pierce to the bone and marrow of our being.
Since the Lord called us to prepare a place for His Presence in Tel Aviv in 1997, there has never been a moment when opposition, trial, change, stretching or purification has not been consciously with us. We have contended for the vision of the ministry. We have contended for the financial provision. We’ve contended for our physical and emotional health. We have contended with spirits and we have contended with men. We have been in a constant state of war since the beginning. (It’s not that we think our situation is so different from the lives of so many others!)
Some years ago, in the beginning days of the Tel Aviv center, a friend had a vision and a word that the enemy had prepared a full-scale governmental attack against us. From every quarter...personal, family, ministry team, friends, brethren in the Land, brethren in the nations; and in every area...relational, functional, practical, spiritual, physical, emotional...the enemy had set plans in motion to bring about our demise and the destruction of the work assigned to Emmaus Way. In particular, since January 2005, when the Lord began to transition us from Esther House in Tel Aviv, the winds have blown non-stop at what we would describe as gale force. Yet we see the undeniable evidence of God’s Hand and leading in our lives as we continue to be stretched and broken.
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Two weeks ago, our son Jonathan, our ministry administrator and a member of our worship team, shared that the Lord had shown him his time with Emmaus Way had come to an end. He is praying about starting his own carpentry business. We are very grateful for the seven years that Jon has served the Lord at Emmaus Way. Alongside the normal pangs of separation, we are fully confident that God is leading him and his family and will multiply blessing and grace upon them. Another aspect of the picture is that Leanne, Jon’s wife, came from Australia with her family nine years ago to serve the Messianic body for a season of 2 - 3 years. In 2000, Jon and Leanne married and her family returned to Australia. Six years and two children later, the Lord has directed them to take a time of rest outside the pressures of the unrelenting fires of life in Israel. In the coming weeks, Jon and Leanne and Gilad and Orliyah will journey to Australia for a season of rest and renewal. This is a very important time in the lives of this young Israeli family as they press into the calling God has for them. When Jonathan was immersed as a child, the Spirit already spoke of his call to Israel even before the Lord called us to immigrate. We earnestly ask you to consider supporting them in prayer and however else the Spirit might indicate. They are stepping out on the water according to the word and leading of the Lord. Jon can be contacted at Jonathan@emmausway.org.
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Jon is in the process of handing the administrative baton over to Michael. Thankfully this is not a totally new area of work for Michael and we have every confidence that God has equipped him for the task. We would be grateful for your prayers for him in this time of transition.
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What a time we had at the New Age festival during Succoth! There were three groups of believers located in different locations over the festival grounds. Eight people gave their hearts to the Lord in our camp. One of our group prayed a drowned teenager back to life! Every year the hunger and openness to the Lord has been growing. By the end of the festival I (arni) was hoarse from speaking. There was only one person I spoke with that maintained a position of disinterest in anything spiritual. On one occasion, as I was walking back to my tent, my eyes met a young couple sitting on the ground. I asked them if they were searching for something. They answered, “Yes, but we don’t what.” We had a precious time of sharing together. One cynical 19-year-old told me he was a total atheist. An hour and a half later he committed himself to ask Yeshua if He was the Messiah. One young lady said, “I just read your book and I want to talk to you. Can I talk to you?” So many seeds were planted...not just scattered, but planted deep in good soil. One young man, who had not yet come to understand about Yeshua’s part in the whole picture, had already told God that he wanted to give his life to serve Him. (He subsequently received Yeshua and was in our congregation the following Shabbat).
Beloved, it is only a matter of time until we see the fruit. The richness of this harvest is unlike anything the world has ever seen. Our sense is that it will take a few years yet for it to fully ripen, but when it does it won’t be one here and one there. It will be an entire generation. At that time, satan will attempt to save his life. So it has been all through history. At the time of Moses’ birth, all the male Hebrew children were to be drowned. At the time of Ezra and the rebuilding of the Temple, Haman sought to annihilate the Jews. At Yeshua’s birth, all the Hebrew male children under two were killed. When Israel was to be reborn, Hitler rose up to wipe out the nation. And now, at the coming forth of the generation that will cry out, “Come Yeshua. Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord”, will the devil do less than before? Of course not. We expect that he will do more. We bring you an eyewitness report of a birth in process. It doesn’t take a prophet to look at a tree and know that the fruit is nearly ready.
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We were scheduled for a seminar on worship and Israel in Leipzig from November 16-19. That gathering has been rescheduled for February 8-11. The weekend before that, from February 1 - 4, we will be conducting a seminar on the same subjects in Oelsnitz near Plauen, about two hours west of Dresden. Details of both of these meetings will be on our web site.
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During Thanksgiving we will be in the New York area visiting family and then going on to Nashville. From November 30th - December 2nd we will be participating with our friends Suuqiina and Qaumaniq in the dedication of a worship and arts center they are establishing on their property in Portland, Tennessee. If you would like more information about the gathering you may contact them at ndigenus@cs.com. We would love to see you there.
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May God bless you from Zion!
Your servants… For the Glory of His Name, Arni and Yonit |