April 28, 2005

19 Nisan, 5765

Dear Praying Friends,

It’s the season to remember the Lord’s Passover...the first month of the year.  Old things are passed away.  New beginnings are the order of the day.  In a moment of time, generations of bondage gave way to freedom.   Burning desert sands disclosed a burning bush lighting the pathway to the ever-burning heart.  Today we are poised to cross over a deep valley.  The other side is not yet visible.  Every day the Spirit adds pieces to the puzzle.  The Lord continues bringing things out of the depths of our beings and opening our eyes to see as we have never seen.  As our understandings evolve, we are trying to relate to you all the steps as they unfold so as not to leave you wondering how we got from “here to there.”   We very much want you to be able to walk through this with us.  

In a former letter, we explained the reason for our current financial situation as being the result of having an obligation that was originally to be carried by another.  As true as this is, the Lord has thankfully opened our understanding to a higher perspective.   When God created man, it was not His plan that man would fall.  However, the provision for sin was made before the foundations of the world were laid.  (How far above us are His ways?)  Yeshua’s death on earth was no surprise.  Long before the fact, it had become part of the plan.  It is important that we relate to our state from the standpoint of being exactly where we are supposed to be.  Our state of affairs is in keeping with the Lord’s sovereign plan for us.  One of our personal challenges has been to get beyond the unexpected turn in the road and rest in the fact that we are in the hands of the Lord.

* * *

Just prior to the purchase of the building, we had a sum of money and nowhere to spend it.  (Our hopes of finding suitable land were dashed by a combination of factors).  In a way, facing the prospect of moving the Worship Center from our present location puts us back to where we were seven years ago.  However, there are a few differences worthy of note.  Then, we had significant funds. Today, we are at zero.  Then, we had a call and a burden without delineation or definition.  Today, we have a wealth of tried and tested markers and principles able to even help others with similar callings to find their way.  Then, Emmaus Way was Arni and Yonit.   Today, we are a community of eleven (in Israel) woven together with experiential knowledge and fused in the furnace of many testings.   Then, we owned a couple of acoustic instruments and four rooms of furniture.  Today, we have the furnishings for a Tabernacle of worship, administrative offices, six households, a tepee village, and equipment for outdoor festivals complete with a portable sound system.   The Lord has greatly increased our borders.   And the most precious thing of all is the community.   The glory God is wanting and waiting to pour out on the earth can rest only on a foundation of living stones fitted and joined together by the Holy Spirit in love, accountability, and transparency.  

The image of the alabaster box has come up from time to time in our communications.  Its contents, a woman’s life savings, were poured out on the feet of the Lord.  When it was done, it was done...forever.  When the fragrance dissipated, all that remained was the memory of Yeshua having been so loved, honored, and appreciated.  Ever since the building was purchased on April 21, 1998, we committed all that we had to see God’s purpose fulfilled in this place. It never entered our minds that we were embarking on a project that might last only a few years.  Our time and investment in Tel Aviv has become as an alabaster box.  Short of divine intervention, Emmaus Way is leaving Esther House.  We have already begun packing up our offices and will be working out of our residence for the time being.  As we’ve prayed, we all witness that the call the Lord gave us in 1997, to prepare a place for His Presence in the region of the inheritance of the tribe of Dan, is still upon us.  We are in need of additional finances to help with the rather significant expenses of moving and storage as we begin searching for the next place we are to pitch our tents.  

We are in awe of God’s grace as we face the once-unimaginable thought of moving with acceptance, peace, and assurance.  He is our dwelling place, a shelter from the storm, and our strength in time of weakness.

May God bless you from Zion!   

                                                        Your servants...

                                                             For the Glory of His Name,

                                                        Arni and Yonit