Israel Trip 2005

2006-01-16T17:17:00.000-08:00

Well, Shalom everyone, for the last time from Israel.
It is very early here (3:30am) on Tuesday morning, and I will be heading home in less than 21 hours!!! So, this will be my last post from Israel. I promise one final post after I get home for those of you that won't be seeing me any time soon. (Red Sea and Aqaba, Jordan in the background)

So, I just got back from Eilat a couple of hours ago. Collin and I had a blast as we explored the desert playground of Israel. We stayed at the Shelter Hostel. The Shelter is a Christian hostel and the owners/leaders of it are very focused on outreach. Friday night we had an amazing, international, gospel service. Then, on Saturday, we went to church with the people from the hostel. It was another amazing experience. On Friday we had brothers and sisters in Christ from: China, Korea, Arabia, Israel, Ethiopia, South Africa, Sweden, Holland, Germany, UK, Canada, USA, Mexico, South America, Russia, and Ukraine all in one area, all praising the Lord and listenning to the gospel (through translators). Saturday service was conducted in Russian, Hebrew, English, and Spanish.

On Sunday, Collin and I hitched a ride with a guy we met at the Shelter out to Timna Park. Tom (our guide/driver) works at a recreation of the Wilderness Tabernacle located in Timna Park. He gave us a tour of the life-size, Biblical, recreation of the Tabernacle. This was just a great time to hang out with our new friends Daniel (from Eilat), Francois and Elizabet (sisters from Holland but working in Jerusalem) and to just relax before the rest of the day. After Tom had fed us, and given us coffee and water, he took us across the valley to Solomon's Pillars: a towering mass of sandstone rising straight-up from the desert floor and leveling off in a spectaular plataeu. Tom showed us (Collin, Daniel, and myself) a crevice that he had found that we could climb up to reach the top of the pillars. So, we began to scale the walls. Now, for those of you that don't know, I have NEVER been rock-climbing in my entire life. I have no idea what I am supposed to do, or what I am not supposed to do. But, the fact that I am writing this to you now, means that I made it down in no more than 1 piece. Oh, did I mention that I was carrying the pack at the start too? Yeah, it was a little scary. About half way up, I remembered that I am at least a little afraid of heights. Actually, I don't know how to describe it: my legs and arms start to shake uncontrollably and I feel like the ground is pulling me towards it especially hard. But, like I said, I made it. And I am so glad. Because, as you can see in the next picture, the view was more than worth it!

Once we reached the top of the climb, Tom took us out onto a ledge that overlooked most of the Timna Valley. I have to say, it was some of the most spectacularly breathtaking scenery I have every seen. To look out at the vast bleakness, and to know that there is no-one and nothing out there is a very awe-inspiring thing. As was took a moment to just listen to the silence of the desert, I learned what peacefulness is. Tom told us something about the birds, but I don't remember much. My ears were ringing with the silence of the day. So, Tom left Collin, Daniel and Myself to find our own way down the cliff (there were stairs...) and he drove back to the Tabernacle. We had a great time hiking around for about an hour and a half in the desert, and then made it back to the Tabernacle. After that we headed off to lunch/fellowship. From there we left the park/Tabernacle to go to an abandoned copper mining pit. They dug a pit so deep that they actually went below sea-level in their quest for copper from the oldest copper mine in the world. Then, the pit began to fill with water, and so the mine was abandoned. But, they left a nice several-hundred-feet-deep hole in the ground, that is full of water in the bottom. So we threw rocks... In the same area, in the quest for copper, the company had pulled up huge boulders of Eilat Stone (a blue-green semi-precious stone that happens to be the national gem of Israel) and just left them sitting in piles. So, we found an iron pipe and began breaking chunks off. I picked up several very nice pieces, and will show them to you when I see you. But, that was the end of our day. In all, it was one of the best days I have had in a long time. The fellowship, plus God, plus God's creation just equalled an amazing thing!

Today, Collin and I went to the Dead Sea. Which, J.M. posted on that. It was pretty much the same experience. I had a blast, and the trip as a whole has been awesome. I have made new friends and met new Brothers and Sisters in Christ from all over the world. I have seen God do amazing things, and He has grown me so much.

Signing off for the last time from Israel! Laila Tov (Good Night).

2006-01-09T08:58:00.000-08:00

Shalom All! Your fearless blogger and Israel-lover here. Another update from the land that God loves: As you can see above, even I have my bad hair/face/clothes/everything days. Yesterday (January 8th, Day 32 of my adventure) we made an excursion to the famed Caesarea of Herod the Great. This site is also known as Caesarea by the Sea, in order to distinguish it from the multiple cities named after and dedicated to Caesar. We started the day with a 45 minute bus-ride from Jerusalem to Tel-Aviv. We made our way to the train station. Once there, after a bit of confusion, we got a train going north. Little did we know that the Qesaria stop was literally 10km from Caesarea, so we started walking once we got off the train. We figured, I can see the stacks from the power plant that I know is on the beach, so, it can't be that far (those of you from Morro Bay can attest to the fact that are smoke stacks are visible for more than 5 miles down the 1). So, we eventually called a taxi - thank the Lord for Taxis! The picture you see above was taken after almost 5 hours of travel, which I hope explains a lot.

Once we got into the site, it started pouring! I wish I had pictures, but I was afraid of ruining the camera. It was literally raining and blowing so hard that we could hardly run to the restaurant – our only hope of shelter. Praise the Lord that the restaurant was open for lunch. So, we got some food (since we hadn’t eaten since before 8am and it was now after 2pm), and waited for the weather to clear up. Which, of course in God fashion, the weather did clear up, as you can see from the following pictures. It really turned into a beautiful day! Above: Grace and Collin.

Below you can see Stewart and Michael. Stewart is a new friend, and Michael is the son of a lady in the fellowship here. Michael and his family are originally from Peru. So anyway, once we finished lunch, the weather had cleared and left us a beautiful archaeological park to enjoy. King Herod the Great (the last true king of the Jews) built Caesarea as a tribute to Caesar. It originally was one of the largest man-made harbors on the Mediterranean with very extravagant break-waters. The city sported multiple palaces, temples, and entertainment venues. Of note, this is the town where Paul offered his defense of his Christian faith before King Agrippa. It is also the location of a dedicatory inscription that bears the name of a governor of Judea that “never existed” so the experts used to say: Pontius Pilate.

What really amazed me more than anything, was not the beautiful (destroyed) architecture, or the location, but the way the Lord painted a picture for us before we left. Don’t get me wrong, it was very touching to be in a place where we can say for absolute certain that a man of faith proclaimed the truth to the king. It was also very sobering to walk the sands of the stadium (hippodrome) where both Jews and Christians were killed for their faith. But the amazing way that God showed up as I just sat and watched the waves and the sun and the clouds blew me away. We went to some amazing places on the trip, and I have been to some more since leaving the team, but I think that God really got a hold on me as I sat on the walls of the stadium overlooking the sea, feeling the strong breeze against my face, and watching the masterpiece of art being painted before me on the clouds.

So, please pray for me! I want to realize that every day is an absolute gift from God. That every day He is trying to amaze me, all I have to do is look to see what He is doing. I am reminded of the movie 50 First Dates as I think of the Lord’s romance. Every day His mercies are new, and He wants our love to be renewed each day. So, He goes out of His way to woo us and wow us everyday. I want to see His love and be amazed every day!

2006-01-04T11:35:00.000-08:00

Day 28
This morning I was awoken by a rude little bird pecking at my window. I'm not sure if he was looking for food, or trying to defend his territory against his reflection, but that is beside the point. The point is, he started pecking at first light, and there was absolutely nothing that I could do to make him go away. We had a little bit of rain today, so hopefully that will keep him in his nest for tomorrow.

I spent the afternoon walking around downtown. I met up with Collin (some of you may remeber him) and we just hung out and had some sweet fellowship in the Lord for about 2 hours. We are planning on doing a couple of side trips together while we are both here. So, for those of you that are counting, or wondering if I am, I have 12 days left here in Israel. My flight leaves at 0030 (thats 30 minutes after midnight) on Wednesday, January 18th. That means that I will be back in the good old USofA by 11am on the 18th. It sure will be good to get home.

So, if you can't tell I am getting a little homesick, although I really do feel at home here... odd. Anyway, I miss the youth-group, and I miss Nate and Brian and the rest of my amazing friends. I miss the solif fellowship and accountability that I get at Shoreline, and I miss my dog. So, if you could please pray for me to not feel so home-sick, and to really make the most out of the 12 days taht I have left, I would really appreciate it. I am stoked to get home and rolling on the Bible College classes, as I should be graduating in June!!!

Alright, well, God bless you all, and Laila Tov.

2006-01-02T12:56:00.000-08:00

Erev Tov! (January 2nd, 2006 / 2 Tevet, 5766)
Today was an amazing day. Not only did I wake up to the probably one of the most amazing morning paintings by the Lord, but I got to see a fabulous sunset as well.

Today was the day of coffee, I have decided. You see, I really enjoy coffee, but I usually just don't get around to drinking it. But today I had a little extra time, and felt a little extra tired after getting to bed last night around 2am, just to lay awake in bed listening to the creepy noises outside my room for the first time. So, I have no idea what time I actually went to sleep, but I am guessing at lest 3am. Matias made us some amazing chicken for lunch today. It is really a very ingenious idea: date honey and soy sauce make a super thick tarayake style glaze for chicken wings. Once you pick around the bones, feathers, hairs, and left-ove bits of feather quill from the inadequate butchering of Israeli chickens. each wing was worth about 2 bites of meat. So, I think I ate 8 or 9 of them at lunch today.
Afterward, it was my unfortunate duty to clean the kitchen, and all the mess that was made in the preparation of or feast. Go figure, the ONE DAY that I don't cook, I end up clean-up for the messiest lunch every. But, I am not complaining. It really was a blessing, as it left me time to get some practice in playing guitar and singing through a sound system (a first for me).

But I couldn't have asked for a better end to the day! I went over to Bradly's house for dinner (which was amazing). We had a little Bible Time, and I got to play with Danny and Isaac all night. I also go to hang out with Bradly's daughters and just have a good time. We talked about movies and music and books, you know, the kind of things that a 23 year old talks to 7-12 year-olds about. Anyway, it was cool.

On a more serious note, spiritually, today was a blessing. I was occupied most of the day with serving, and so things went quite swimmingly, as it were. Thanks for your faithful prayers, they help a lot, I'm serious. But, in all the hustle, I didn't have any time to get into the Word on my own today, although we had devotions twice here and then once at Bradly's place.
Baruch HaShem and Laila Tov
-Phil

2006-01-01T11:10:00.000-08:00

Shalom everyone!
Here is another update from Israel and For Zion's Sake, this one for December 30th (hey not bad huh? only 2 days after the fact. Anyway, I'm pretty proud of myself.) So we met some new friends that brought us a bunch of home-made bread and jams. So, we thought, "what a great opportunity to bless the families in our fellowship!" And so, we set about the task of bagging up loves of bread and little jars of jam to give out to all the people that came to service on Friday night. I had a great time loading 10 tiny jars of jam into each and every bag, as you can see to the right. My coworker and friend, Grace, (as seen below) had a blast stuffing home-made, extra hardy, bread into the sacks. We also put a nicely framed copy of I Corinthians 13 in every bag in either Hebrew or Russian. At the end of the day, they gave me one too, mines in Hebrew!

Things have really been on the move here as of late. Pastor Daniel and his wife and young child visited us friday night (sorry, no picture). They are from New Jersey and have a major heart for Israel. They are here to "spy out the land" and see if there are opportunites for them to minister here. Below is a picture of Sasha (short for Alexander). He is from Russia. He's one of the "main guys" here at For Zion's Sake. He gives people rides to service, he helps out doing all kinds of things, and he is trying ot teach me Hebrew. Anyway, Sasha is a really great guy and I am glad that I have a picture of him to put up.

So, for me things have been interesting and a little rough. I've talked about it before, but the little teeny-tiny cracks in the path of my walk with the Lord have turned into HUGE chasms. Every little thing that I hardly ever even think about back home has become a mjor issue here. I feel like I fail and fall into sin more often than I resist it. Like I said in my Christmas post, the spiritual battle here in Jerusalem is as tangible as can be. So please, keep praying for me. It is really hard being away from all my accountability and everything that I know.

Grace and I, and possibly Matias and Stewart as well, are going down to Ben Yehudah street tonight to kinda celebrate the last night of Hanuka. (If you have never celebrated Hanukah, might I reccomend it? it is a very cool celebration, and one that we know the Lord Jesus celebrated...) So, I promise another posting soon - hopefully tomorrow evening. Until then, thank you for your prayers, your words of encouragement and just general, all-around, support. God bless you all.
-Phil

2005-12-29T00:08:00.000-08:00

Day 18 (Christmas)
Another back-ordered update: this one from Christmas

Shalom Everyone!
Today is Christmas! I just woke up about 15 minutes ago, but I was out last night until 3am. Grace (one of the other volunteers) and I went to Bethlehem last night. We had an amazing time! We went to her friend, Jamal's, house. He is a Palestinian Christian and definitely on-fire for the Lord. We talked and ate for hours. It was really an amazing time. It almost felt like home, almost. At least it was a family to celebrate and fellowship with. Not to mention it was some of the best food that I have eaten in a very long time.

After dinner at Jamals, we went down to Manger Square and went into the "Orthodox" half of the Church of the Nativity. That was ehhh... I'm not big on old churches. Although, it is very cool to see a church that has been standing for almost 1700 years. They sure knew how to build buildings to last back then. After the Church of the Nativity we went back to Elias' (another friend of Grace's) house and just sat around and talked for another couple of hours. At about 2am we started looking for a way home, and after some confusion (and not a few shekels) we ended up back at FZS at about 3am. Note: it was no-where near this nice (as the picture shows) of weather when we were there. It was feezing cold and pouring rain.

As I sit here writing this to you my window is being assaulted by BB sized hail. It was coming down so hard last night that it woke me up and it hasn't really relented at all since then. Things are starting to feel more normal now. I spent several hours playing with Pastor Brad's kids after the Christmas party yesterday afternoon, which was a realy blessing. I also helped his oldest daughter with her algebra homework. (they go to school Sunday through half-of-friday here). Other than that, the Lord has been moving amazingly to just calm and comfort everyone. On that note, it is amazing the difference between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Bethlehem, which is under Palestinian control and 80% muslim, is much more peaceful than Jerusalem. There is a spiritual oppressiveness here in Jerusalem that seems to lift the father away from the city that you get. Bethlehem is only 10 minutes out of town, and the difference is like night and day.

God bless you all, In Christ

2005-12-28T23:58:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay in posting - I have been very busy here,
Also, I'm sorry that I don't have many pictures to post, since I lost my digital camera.

Anyway, J.M. asked me to keep this blog going while I am in Israel. So, I will make several posts today (back email updates) and then try to post every-so-often. By the way, I'm Phil, and that is Val and Beth behind me. They had a little fun with my hair and a rubberband on the bus one day.

Day 16 (December 23)
Erev Tov everyone (good evening),
Just a quick update from my first day at For Zion's Sake:
We found out today that we (the ministry) has been "discovered" as a missionary organization by the orthodox community. We have been here for 6 years in good relations with the orthodox, but as of today, we are no longer on good terms. They have labeled us as missionaries to Jews and as such they feel that we are trying to "steal the souls of Jews". This is very disheartening and a little frightening as the ultra orthodox have many anti-missionary groups (Yod Lechim is one of them). These groups basically harass and intimidate missionaries. So, prayers for safety and renewed boldness are greatly appreciated. Also, because of the circumstances of it all, there is a great possibility for division within the ministry team. Please pray that we would stand strong and united; that this would not be an opportunity for the enemy to cause division and strife. Also, on a personal note, please be praying that CCJ steps out in faith to begin rabidly evangelizing. In my mind, if they (the Orthodox Jews) are going to label us as missionaries, then we might as well live up to it in full and be all the more bold for Christ!

On a side note, I saw the Chroncles of Narnia tonight (Sifori Narnia in Hebrew) and it was amazing. It may actually remove Braveheart from my choice as "The Best Movie Ever". The Christian parallels are blatant and unaltered (except possibly enhanced) from the book. I have to wonder what all the "Jewish" people around us were thinking as they watched the movie...

Well, it is late (11pm) and I will be awoken at 4:15am by the Muslim Alarm (call to prayer) so I had best get to bed.
I love you all, In Christ our Lord
Lielah Tov (Good Night)

2005-12-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

Dear friends, family and prayer partners. I am excited to let all of you know that we left one of our team members behind in Israel. Well, I'm not excited that we left him behind. I'm excited because he is going to be doing some amazing ministry while he's there over the next few weeks.

Phil Coleman is working and staying with the ministry "For Zion's Sake" in Jerusalem. This ministry works with many of the needy in Israel -- providing clothing, food, housewares and many other things to individuals and families. *Click the image to see it full-size! For Zion's Sake has a very special ministry to those immigrant families coming into Israel from around the world. Best of all, they are able to share the Lord with these families, demonstrating His love by helping meet their physical and spiritual needs. Starting now, Phil will be posting updates about the ministry here on the Israel blog. This blog is called "Israel Trip 2005"; but it will be extended to bring you into the hearts and lives of "For Zion's Sake" over the next few weeks -- well into 2006. Please consider making a committment to checking in here from time-to-time to hear what's going on with Phil in Israel. Phil is committed to bringing prayer requests and stories of what the Lord's doing among these people. There is already a storm of spiritual warfare brewing around this ministry. So, Phil and the others in this ministry will need your prayer and encouragement as they are in the thick of the battle.

Additionally, you can count on seeing more stories and pictures posted here from the Israel trip. The Lord accomplished some truly amazing things in and through us. These stories need to be told, to encourage you and to bring Him all the glory and honor and praise.

Thank you for sticking with us -- on behalf of Phil and the entire Israel team!

J.M.

2005-12-22T21:30:00.000-08:00

Home at last --

Praise the Lord, we made it home safe and sound from our Israel trip. The last few days were completely prohibitive for internet access. So there was a tapering of entries. But there remain so many stories to be told. We observed miracles and other wonderful events on more than one occasion. And I truly believe that not a single member of our Israel team walked away from the experience the same person they were when they left.

Our last day in Israel began with a final breakfast at the hotel. Most of the team members chose to pack up at that point, but Pastor Tonye and Ronnie (our tour guide) managed to negotiate a 2:30pm check-out time. We headed out of the hotel, and found ourselves driving out toward the old city and Hezekiah's tunnel. (There will be more to come on Hezekiah's tunnel a litte later.) After the tunnel, we ran back to the hotel to change out of wet shoes and wet shorts. Half the team headed out to the Arab Quarter for shopping and food, while the other half took a ride over to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to visit the world-famous "Aroma Cafe." Contrary to the name, the cafe didn't carry any particular smell; but rather offered some of the most inexpensive and delicious food of our entire trip. Best of all, each meal was accompanied by free wireless internet access (this is where I was able to get online for the entry previous to this one.) We returned to the hotel and packed up the dozens of suitcases and carry-on bags which needed to make the long trip home.

Once we were packed up, we took a trip toward a place called the "Garden Tomb", the current front-runner for a probable location of the tomb where Jesus was buried and later rose to Eternal Life. Again, I should have more on this posted a little later. As we drove in the direction of the airport to board our flight, we stopped over for dinner on a kibbutz. It was, of course, a fabulous meal! And we had a bit of fellowship with a man named Smiley, who our church has been praying for over the last couple of years.

We hopped in the bus, stuffed full of food and dessert, and drove to Tel Aviv to Ben Gurion airport. The layer of security and intricacies of the immigration department in Israel is mind blowing. On the highway to the airport, we were stopped at the entrance by armed guards. Our driver and guide were questioned as a matter of course. The bus continued -- for over a mile before we came to the actual airport! That means that the Israeli government had placed a HUGE security barrier around the airport. It was simultaniously disturbing and comforting.

But one-by-one, our team members made it through security and aboard the plane. Once we finally touched down in Los Angeles, we had traveled (not adjusting for time zones) 28 hours. As of the time that I am writing this, I haven't seen an actual bed for 40 hours. Now, don't get me wrong, I spent quite a bit of napping along the way. But, i am in desperate need of some shut-eye. My body is in one time-zone, while my brain seems to remain in another.

I committed to presenting the details of our travels to Israel on this website to help update family and friends of our team members, provide prayer requests, and to encourage everyone about what the Lord is doing in our midst. While our trip has come to an end, there are still some stories to be told. And I won't feel quite right until I have finished telling them. If you are so inclined, please check in again soon on this travelogue. I promise you will be blessed for doing so. Meanwhile, I'm going to get some shut-eye.

Prayer Request: Please pray that the team members would adjust quickly back to our normal time-zone, so that they may enjoy the Christmas holiday with their loved ones.

Thank you for sticking with us; I'm looking forward to the next update soon,

J.M.

2005-12-21T03:20:00.000-08:00

Dear beloved prayer partners:

Please forgive me for the break in reports from Israel. We had an outreach, combined with the hotel running out of internet access cards. So, we haven't been able to update anything until now. Praise the Lord, I am sitting at the Aroma Cafe on the campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Rather than try and give a detailed account of the many adventures we've had over the last couple of days, I am going to go ahead and post several pictures with captions. Enjoy.

12/18/05

This picture was taken during our visit to the Mount of Olives. These are two Palestinian children with their donkey.

This is a view of Jerusalem from behind us on the Mt. of Olives. Tonye taught a bible lesson with us on Jesus' last day, beginning here.

Here is the "Beautiful Gate" of Jerusalem close up.

Here we entered into the garden of Gesthemene for a teaching and reflection time.

Here we have a 2,000 year old olive tree. Yes, I did say 2,000 years old! It was in the garden when Jesus was betrayed.

I will continue to update when I have breaks along the way. Everyone is healthy and blessed. Thank you for your prayers.

In Y'shua,

J.M.

2005-12-18T14:51:00.000-08:00

Saturday (Shabbat), 12/17/05

We woke up and headed to breakfast this morning, not knowing if we would be facing a heavy schedule, or if this would be a nice time of rest (which many of the team members needed.) And for the most part, it was a wonderful and gently paced day.

Everyone hopped in the bus and drove to the Shrine of the Book. As you may remember from a previous entry on the travelogue, we had the chance to visit the caves at Qumran where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered. Most of the documents were brought to Jerusalem for preservation and study. We had the privilege of visiting the Shrine of the Book in which many of those documents are on display. This campus was also the location of a wonderful Jewish art and archeology exhibit.

Within the Shrine, we viewed a facsimile of the Isaiah scroll; Abra and some of the others were able to read the ancient Hebrew, and compare it with modern English translations that we had brought. It was hard to believe, but the two matched up word for word. The authorities wouldn’t allow any photography within the exhibits. Other documents included other portions of scriptures such as the end of the Book of Ruth and the beginning of the Song of Songs. And there they were, right in front of us – actual scrolls and manuscripts used in the translation of the Word of God into what we have today. What a blessing to see!

Our tour guide, Ronnie, really stepped out in faith that afternoon. For the first time in all of his years as a tour guide, he decided to bring one of his tour groups home with him for a nice homemade lunch. Ronnie prepared a batch of good old-fashioned American chili; it was awesome and the team members completely gorged themselves it was so delicious. After eating, half of the team headed out for a round of basketball, and the other half stretched out an took a little nap. I don’t remember what happened that afternoon, so I must have been in the napping crowd. Afterward, Ronnie took us to the place where David slew Goliath with a slingshot. It just so happened that Ronnie had his bible-style slingshot with him. So he grabbed a handful of smooth stones, and went for it. He was actually not bad at it. Although I believe he was going more for distance than accuracy.

We returned for dinner that evening, and then took on what was perhaps the boldest activity of our entire trip. An organized team of 15 from our group headed down to Ben Jehuda street in the heart of Jerusalem for some Saturday night activities. We decided to go out and meet the people of Jerusalem, and to make ourselves available to anyone who might have questions for us. Quite a bit of prayer went into the activity. Ben Yehuda street is the place to be in Jerusalem to have a good time. The street is lined with cafes and restaurants. Different people of all ages and from all walks of life congregate their to have a good time and just to talk. The Lord was so good to us. By the time we were finished with our time there, we had talked with a couple of dozen people (including many orthodox Jews) about the gospel message and our belief in Y’shua as the Messiah. The response was tremendous. A total of 6 unbelieving Jewish people gave us their names and e-mail addresses to pass on to Calvary Chapel. I am working hard on getting some of the team members to come on the blog and to share their stories of what happened that night.

At one point in the evening, Pastor Matt had gathered everyone up because some were heading back to the hotel, while other were planning on staying for a while longer. While Matt was giving instructions, someone walked up to Steve. All I heard was something like, “Hey man, I have that same jacket at home. I’m from Philadelphia.” When I looked up, three orthodox students were talking to Steve; and the jacket that Steve was wearing was a lacrosse jacket. It seemed miraculous, but God brought two people from two different parts of the United States to Israel, where they would both meet, and connect because they both owned the same lacrosse jacket. Just like John the Baptist, Steve boldly shared his beliefs with all three guys. And they were genuinely interested in hearing about Y’shua.

Prayer Request: Please pray for all of those people we were able to share with. Especially pray for Pepe, a Jewish student from Mexico City whom I was able to talk to at length. He is very opened to the gospel, and wants to keep in touch with me in the future via e-mail.

As always, your comments have touched and encouraged the team members. Please take just a minute and leave a quick note building them up as we go out to serve.

Working for the Lord,

J.M.

2005-12-18T14:20:00.000-08:00

Friday, 12/16/05

Friday morning, we caught a beautiful sunset over the Dead Sea (see yesterday’s entry for a picture of it.) And first thing in the morning, we headed out into the Judean Wilderness to meet King David. After driving past Masada and along the Dead Sea, we came to En Gedi. This was the place that David lived and worked as a shepherd boy. Later on in his life, it would be the place where he fled from King Saul and hid in caves.

Upon entering the park, we were almost immediately greeted by small herds of animals, which looked like a cross between a deer and an antelope. Forgive me, but I have forgotten the name. The animals seemed to be used to all the visitors, and we were able to approach them pretty closely. We then continued on a rigorous hike up into the valley and hills of En Gedi. It was positively spectacular to see the rock formations, beautiful waterfalls, exotic plants and amazing animals in this place. It became easy to see how David could have communed in such a real way with the Lord during his time here.

Pastor Tonye was able to lead us in a step-by-step study in the life of King David; including his trials, victories in the Lord, and his failures. At several points, we were joined by other hikers of families, students and children, all exploring this beautiful and ancient place. It would have been a bit of a distraction. But, the yellidim (children) had such an intense joy; we couldn’t help but be uplifted. By the time we were done hiking, we were pretty beat, but it felt good to get dirty and to seek the Lord in a place such as this.

We were back on the bus again. The further we continued through the wilderness, the more exotic our surroundings became. At one point, we pulled up along side a Saudi man and his son, driving a herd of camel. This is a sight one doesn’t catch often in a place like Morro Bay. The next time I saw a camel, we were pulling up to a road-side restaurant for lunch. A camel sat patiently in the parking lot, waiting for tourists just like us to come along and take a ride. At the food stand, the guys offered schnitzel (a pretty common delicacy in these parts), falafel, chicken dumplings, and something I hadn’t seen during our whole time in Israel – hamburgers. I stopped, looked around at the stand, and spotted a familiar logo on the hat of our waiters. We were ordering a fine middle-eastern meal from the Golden Arches of the Judean Wilderness. And I must say, the food turned out to be the best McDonald’s I’ve every eaten – hand’s down.

Once the team was packed full of hummus and pita, we headed over to the waiting camel. Jen Pottenger was the first to take the plunge – before anyone knew it, she had a leg-up on the camel, and was trotting around the parking lot being lead by the Arab guide. Pretty soon, team members were lining up to take their shot at it – including myself. By the time I dismounted from my ride on the camel, I had a bad case of “saddle sore” and had adjusted no less than four of my vertebrae.

Our next stop in the Judean Wilderness was a visit to a full-scale model of the Tabernacle of the Lord, used by the Israelites during their time spent in the desert. Our guide, who was (ironically enough) and Arab Muslim, was completely knowledgeable on the topic of the tabernacle. He was able to quote chapter and verse for virtually every scripture dealing with the construction and maintenance of the tabernacle and sacrificial system. It was fascinating to see this model. It first struck me as much less impressive that what I was anticipating. But, as we made our way deeper and deeper into the interior of the tabernacle, it became obvious that this was indeed a special place. We weren’t allowed to enter the recreation of the “Holy of Holies.” Instead, we were able to view that portion of the tabernacle through a window on the back of the display. The reverent mood was shattered rather abruptly when we heard the loud bleating of a goat. Instantly, our guide reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell phone, and answered the incoming phone call. He had set his phone’s ring-tone to the sound of a goat!

The team dozed a little on the bus, and we made our way down a lonely highway for quite awhile. Ronnie, our tour guide, woke everyone up with the announcement that we were now entering the city of Jerusalem. This was something I wasn’t quite prepared for. We passed through a tunnel under the Mount of Olives, and there we were. We had just entered the city which I have dreamed of visiting my entire life. Here we were, and I was completely, mentally, unprepared. To make the experience even more overwhelming, the sun was setting over the city, it was starting to rain and Shabbat was now beginning. We rushed to check into the hotel – we still had a full evening ahead of us.

After freshening up a bit, we headed out to visit Calvary Chapel of Jerusalem for Friday night church services. By now, we were caught in a steady rain. We brought several large tubs of relief supplies for the ministry there, and we had to find a way to schlep them into the building without getting drenched. Calvary Chapel also helps oversee the ministry of “For Zion’s Sake”, an organization reaching out to immigrants and the impoverished of Jerusalem with relief. They are also very committed to sharing the gospel message of Y’shua with anyone wanting to know more. Pastor Tonye and Pastor Matt blessed the congregation by leading them in an amazing time of worship. Most of the people who attend are Russian immigrants – so there was a bit of a translation barrier there. But that had absolutely no effect on the people’s ability to worship the Lord. PT went on to preach a fantastic message from Joshua, chapter 1. The response to the message was great – two people made first-time commitments of faith in Y’shua. We had to rush out of the service to get back to our hotel. But the short time we spent with them was great.

Prayer Request: One of the congregation members is trying to immigrate to Israel from the U.S. under the law of return; he is Jewish and wants to serve the Lord there. However, the Israeli government found out that he is a believer in Y’shua, and might deny him entry. I will find out his name and more information. But in the meantime, please pray for the Lord’s justice in this situation.

We would love to hear your comments, questions or prayer requests. Simply click “Comments” below.

In His service,

J.M.

2005-12-18T13:44:00.000-08:00

Thursday, 12/15/05

Thursday, we packed up our hotel rooms and said our final “farewell” to the Sea of Galilee. The day began and ended with (at least some of) our team getting wet. We drove down the Jordan River Valley, and came to the sight for baptism on the Jordan River. Four of our team members wanted a chance to be baptized in the same river where John the Baptist ministered and where he baptized Jesus.

At first glance, the site seemed rather…commercial. There was a gift shop with bottles of Jordan River Water, rosary beads, bed & bath products and a myriad of other “stuff.” But we walked down to the waters and the Jordan came alive. Pastor Tonye was grinning like a little kid on Christmas, as he shared the significance of baptism. There were other “pilgrims” looking to be baptized, and they asked Tonye if he was willing. He was more than happy to accommodate. One at a time, the people testified of their belief in Jesus as their savior, and then were immersed the cold flowing water. The experience was so powerful; I imagine that Val, Liz, Steve and Karelisa will never forget that moment as long as they live. They will probably also never forget the 3-foot long muskrat that was swimming around in the water just a few feet away.

A little later in the day, we came to Bet She’an – the largest and most active archeological dig in all of Israel. Bet She’an was a metropolis which thrived for many years until, in the second century AD; a massive earthquake struck and virtually leveled the city. From that point on, Bet She’an was never again rebuilt. Tonye presented a message from the center of an Amphitheater that was nearly 3,000 years old. Imagine walking through ancient ruins, amidst all the ancient things. There were chips of 2,000-year-old Roman glass and pottery shards strewn along the ground; it was as common as litter. The highlight for some was visiting an ancient gathering place at Bet She’an where some of the greatest minds of the day gathered to discuss the important things of life – the public restroom. And, yes, we were able to try out the seating for ourselves. It was actually pretty comfortable.

Our next stop was none other than Gideon’s Cave, and the small brook where the Lord assembled Gideon’s small but effective army. Pastor Matt gave us an object lesson on trusting the Lord to fight the battle for us. MP picked out a few of the team members and had them drink water from Spring of Harod. We hit the road right away and soon found ourselves driving through Gilgal. I was a camp counselor at Camp Gilgal with Jews for Jesus a few years back. My camp counselor name – Captain Crunch! So driving through Gilgal had a little extra significance for me. At one point, we hit a pretty bad traffic jam. The problem turned out to be a kid on a donkey herding a flock of sheep across the highway. But it was no problem; we were able to enjoy a beautiful Gilgal sunset as we waited.

Finally, we arrived for a bathroom break, and a chance to drop into a gift shop. It didn’t really occur to me where we were until we hopped off the bus, and I found myself standing face-to-face with the Essene caves and community a Qumran – the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. In the 1940’s, a shepherd boy lost one of his sheep in a cave in the Judean Wilderness. He threw a rock into a cave to hear if his sheep was hiding in there. Instead, he heard the sound of a jar breaking. Thus began one of the most significant archeological finds of the last 2,000 years. Archeologists found jars containing ancient documents relating to the culture and religion of people living before Jesus was born. Included among the finds were portions of Old Testament scripture, including the entire text of the Book of Isaiah. When scholars translated this scroll of Isaiah, it read virtually word-for-word with all of the other manuscripts which we had been working with up to that point. This means that God has miraculously preserved, completely intact, His word for all generations. I was able to capture some images of the Essene colony and some caves before the sun went down completely.

Later that evening, we pulled into a hotel on the shores of the Dead Sea. In our trip from Gideon’s Cave, we had descended 1,500-feet below sea level to the lowest point on the entire planet. It was so fascinating to feel the change in the climate and to experience the sights and sounds of that exotic place. None of our team members were brave enough to venture out into the salty waters of the Dead Sea (the salinity of the Dead Sea [aka. The Great Salt Sea] is approximately 36% -- much higher than even the ocean). It is said that the water of the Dead Sea is wonderful for all kinds of different ailments. Thankfully, the luxury hotel we were able to stay at featured an indoor pool with water from the Dead Sea. So everyone took the plunge.

The water was nice and warm. But, everyone had to make an asserted effort not to splash the water into anyone’s mouth or eyes – as this would cause them to burn like battery acid. The salt level in the water caused each and every one of our team members to float to the surface of the water like a buoy. I hopped in the water, and immediately I became keenly aware of every single nick, scratch, hangnail, pimple, blister, rash and sore on my entire body. Since we had been out and about, hiking around all of creation for several days in a row, I had no shortage of any of these things. It was an overall unpleasant experience, but it was something I needed to try. (As a foot note: In less than 24-hours, I had no sign of any of the things I mentioned above. The water from my short dip had sterilized, dried out and helped heal every single lesion.)

Prayer Request: We have so much to see and so much to do. Pray that the Lord would quicken our minds and soften our hearts to take in everything from this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Thank you for all of you kind comments. You would be a continued blessing and encouragement to the team members by leaving a quick note. Simply click “Comments” below.

Loving the Lord and enjoying the Dead Sea,

J.M.

2005-12-18T13:30:00.000-08:00

Meet the Team

Here is the Israel 2005 team from left to right:

(Top row) -- Garret: Recently, Garret adopted the “trucker look”; at this point, I don’t think Garret’s afraid to try anything. So, he will be an excellent resource on our outreaches. Staci: Hold her back everybody; the Lord has planted zeal in her heart, and she’s ready to go! Flora: Flora is so gracious, patient, understanding and soooo cool – we could all sit down with her and take a lesson. Brian A: Brian A. is kinda like a Swiss army knife – he’s the one guy you want around when a challenge arises. Karelisa: Karelisa has a smile for everyone and she has a genuine quiet beauty about her.

(Middle row) -- Beth: This girl goes with the flow and knows how to have a good time – we need her level head. Liz: Always there with open arms, Liz quite an encourager; quick to forgive and showing kindness to everyone. Kathy: It’s official, my mother has become the Mama bear of the team; I guess I’ll have to learn to share. Pastor Matt: Matt is a seeker of truth and a lover of the Word – plus he can be a lot of fun. Jenn P: Like a hidden jewel or buried treasure, there’s so much more to Jenn than meets the eye – and look out for that smile! Jen D: Jen is a real firecracker, but she’s got a heart as big as they come!! Caitlyn: Caitlyn is the official “Little Sister” of the team – growing in the Lord, and seeking to be an encourager. Pastor Tonye: Well...PT is pretty much unlike any other pastor you have ever met – spilling over with the Spirit of the Lord! Phil: Enthusiastic and level headed; plus he’s been to Israel before (he likes to remind us frequently.)

(Bottom row) -- Jim: Well, everyone tells me that my dad is absolutely hilarious. I guess he learned from the best… Jamie: This guy gets up every morning at like 5am and jogs a few miles; crazy if you ask me, but everyone loves Jamie to death! Valerie: Everyone would agree, Valerie is the personification of the joy of the Lord. Steve: Steve is eager to explore Gods creation and character; he’s like a kid in the candy shop of creation. J.M. (aka. Resident Journalist/Blogger): They keep telling me I’m the life of the party – but common knowledge knows that this is just A.D.D. in all it manifestations. Abra: The Lord has made Himself very real in Abra’s life on this trip; now she is on a quest for His wisdom & knowledge. Brian G: Love, joy and peace – Brian G. has these qualities from the Lord radiating off his face. Brian C: God has gifted Brian C. with an eye to see all the things that no one else sees. Ronnie Cohen (aka. Our Illustrious Tour Guide): Ronnie can pull a story out of his hat in a heartbeat; topics vary from the Roman seige of Masada to his making out with Barbara Hershey in the stairwell of the Jr. High they both went to in New Jersey (true story.) He's the best.

Prayer request: We have just entered the city of Jerusalem -- the fulfillment of a life-long dream! We have already stirred things up quite a bit. In the first 6 hours here, I was able to share the gospel openly with 5 Orthodox Jews. Pastor Tonye was able to lead 2 people to Y'shua during a Shabbat service at Calvary Chapel Jerusalem. Amazing things are happening. Please pray for more.
The team members have read your comments -- and they LOVE them!! It has been like a cool cup of refreshment in the arid desert of the Judean wilderness. We now call it "Mail Call" when we go on and read the comments out loud for everyone (we especially like all the sweet talk from Peggy Pottenger [Pastor Matt's schmoopy!]) Please take just a moment and help us pack our "Mail Call" bag full of comments. And feel free to comment to the individuals on the team. Simply click the link "Comments" listed below.

Loving Y'shua in His holy city,

J.M.

2005-12-16T14:27:00.000-08:00

We had a technical glitch here. The "Meet the Team" entry is listed above. Comments for it are listed below here.

2005-12-15T14:36:00.000-08:00

12/15/05 10:45pm Dead Sea, Israel Time

Yesterday was absolutely jammed packed with activities. The morning began with our usual breakfast at our hotel located on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Our Maitre’d is a Bedouin gentleman named Omar. He’s a phenomenal host, waiting on us hand and foot; fulfilling our every need. If I didn’t know better, it would feel like something out of a classic movie like “Laurence of Arabia” or “Casablanca”.

On this particular morning, we hit the road on the way to the territory of Dan in the North of Israel. On the way, we were able to drive past Mt. Hermon. As many of you know, we have a Mt. Hermon Christian camp in Central California. I have spent my life visiting off and on; it was a favorite resort for my grandparents in the 50’s and 60’s. This was the Mt. Hermon for which the camp in California was named. And it was great being able to see the biblical location. Eventually, we reached our designation – the ancient land of Dan. Dan was a section of Israel given by God to Dan, the son of our patriarch Jacob. The word Dan means “judgment.” Running through Dan is the Jordan River. The Hebrew word Jor or Yor means “flowing” or “flows from.” Thus the Jor-Dan River literally means “flows from judgment.” The idea of this took on a new meaning as we visited.

In the heart of Dan, we found a pristinely preserved park of rivers and trees. It was absolutely spectacular. The team members wove their way through the under brush, and through the branches like a snake in the jungle. At one stop, we were given an object lesson on the three tributaries flowing into the Galilee. Our poor team member, Valerie, volunteered and went up to act as a visual aid, only to be covered in shaving cream by Pastor Tonye (the shaving cream was the snow on Mt. Hermon.) She was more than a good sport about it. Afterward, we moved on to the sight where King Jeroboam set up an altar in the northern kingdom. This, of course, was something forbidden by God, since sacrifices would only be made in Jerusalem. Pastor Matt did an excellent job in explaining so much of this powerful section of scripture.

Our lesson was located directly on Israel’s border with Lebanon. And it added a bit of excitement to our lessons, as we sat and hear tank fire and mortar explosions going off in the distant background. We were never concerned for our welfare since whatever was happening, took place very far away. Later on, we would find out that the IDF (the “Israeli Defense Force”) had been conducting exercises earlier in the day, and that was apparently what we were hearing. As we continued down the road, we casually walked past an ancient gate that was being restored. In the 2 minutes that we were there, we snapped a couple of shots. But, it wasn’t until we walked away that it sank in what we had seen. The people were restoring the gateway that our father Abraham walked through when he entered the land of Canaan.

Next, we went on a drive to Caesarea Philippi. Until now, this place had only a limited significance for me. But, we came to discover that this was a place, filled with a temple, individual porticoes for individual gods worshipped by the Greeks and Romans – this place was one of the centers of pagan worship in the time of Jesus. And it was in this very place that the Jesus asked the Disciples, “Who do you say I am?” And Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, Son of the Living God.” Jesus and His disciples knew full-well how dead the gods in the place were. And it was here that Jesus fully revealed Himself to the disciples as the true living God; and then began preparing them for His pending substitutionary death on the cross. Directly adjacent to this sight is the entrance to a cave, which was know in the ancient world as the “Gates of Sheol (or hell)”.

We immediately left from that place by foot, and began a long hike, up and down hills, through pathways and forested areas, and along a fast running brook, until finally we came to the water falls. The water itself was clear like crystal, and we were all so hot and exhausted. But the falls were so beautiful. Mist rose up off the surface of the pools like a cloud, and then came to rest on the hot brows of our team members. It was amazing. A little later, we took a drive up to the Golan Heights, and watched as the sun set over the mountains. The shadows fell long over the heights, and we used the last few minutes of light to look out over some villages over the border in Syria. The moon rose right in front of us – it was a breathtaking sight.

After a few more activities, we returned to our hotel; completely spent, but so blessed in the Lord. We had all taken something with us through our experiences in Dan, Caesarea Philippi, at the water falls. The meal was wonderful, and helped us gain just enough energy for our evening activities. Half of the team found a basketball court near the hotel. They played basketball and hung out until about 1:30am. During that time, they had the chance to witness to some of the guys from town, who were hanging out playing soccer. The other half of the team (including myself) headed into downtown Tiberias to enjoy some freshly brewed mint tea, and a bit of dessert.

The bible often speaks about the treasured laid up for us in heaven. And as believers in Jesus, the Lord has stored up infinite treasures of truth in life in His word, the Bible. As we travel on this trip, we are indulging in the greatest treasures of the kingdom this side of heaven. And we are committed to sharing those treasures with those who need the message, including all of you, our loved ones.

Prayer Request: Please pray that the number of activities that we are taking part in wouldn’t distract us from opening our hearts to the Lord speaking to us. It seems like a simple thing, but it seems to be the biggest struggle at this point.

Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts. Please leave a quick note by clicking “Comments” below. And know that God wants to bless you with every treasure in heaven and earth.

Love in Y’shua,

J.M.

2005-12-15T14:04:00.000-08:00

12/15/05 10:20pm Dead Sea, Israel Time

Posting this travelogue has been a continuous challenge. During our time here in Israel, we have seen more, studied more and experienced more than I could possibly write about. Our days have been full of trips throughout the country; running down bumpy roads and busy highways; climbing up and down hills. Combine this with limited internet access and the Israel Blog has suffered.

I have, however, attempted to vary my entries between poignant moments of reflection, rundowns of our events and activities, and words of encouragement from our Bible lessons. I am even contemplating posting an entry here which is a collection of pictures with captions. We thought this might be something that everyone would enjoy seeing. Remember, you can click on any image to bring it up full-size on your computer. Also, please know that your comments have been received and have been so encouraging for the family members to hear. Your prayers have been felt, and have been very effective. To date, no one on the team has experienced any physical sickness beyond occasional nausea or a headache. The Lord has been good to us, and we are safe in His hands, having the time of our lives.

This group is one of the more enthusiastic I have ever spent time with. They are full of life and joy. And every bit of it comes from the Lord. The chemistry of our team members means that everyone has gotten along famously. Traditionally, there has been one or two “weak links” or “squeaky wheels” on these types of trips. But, I would be hard pressed to identify any such challenges on this trip. All of the team members love one another and have been working together incredibly well, sometimes under rather challenging conditions.

Thank you all so much for spending your precious time to check in and see how things are going. As I already said, your prayers are really being felt here. And they are invaluable for the team members. We love you all and can’t wait to see you (well, actually, we are going to fully enjoy the time that we are here. Then, we will love getting back to see each of you.)

Prayer Request: Please continue to pray for those ministry opportunities to come along, including divine appointments where we are able to share our faith with those around us. We are wrapping up a night at the Dead Sea right now, and heading into Jerusalem tomorrow.

Please continue blessing and encouraging the team members with your notes. Simply click the “Comments” link listed below.

Thank you, and blessings to you in Y’shua,

J.M.

2005-12-14T12:44:00.000-08:00

12/14/05 10:55pm Galilee, Israel Time

Today, Tuesday, was a difficult day on an emotional level. We were hosted by the Organization for Victims of Terrorism in Israel, a center assisting in the rehabilitation of survivors and family members of terror attacks. During our time there, we got to know the director, whose own daughter was killed in a bombing in Tel Aviv (on the very Promenade where we conducted our outreach on our first Shabbat.) It was gut-wrenching to talk to the surviving family members of those who had been killed. We heard other stories of the terror victims losing limbs, sight, hearing and walking away full of holes in their bodies. Worse, was the realization that these people were suffering emotional injuries that may never heal.

The testimonies that we heard from parents who lost children in terror attacks were worst of all. It’s unimaginable, the agony that these mothers and fathers have gone through. As I looked into their eyes, I could see the lines and crevices, etched into their faces by endless hours of bitter weeping and mourning. They graciously invited us to play some music for them; it was as much a blessing for us as it was for them. Pastor Tonye sat down at a grand piano and played a song that he had written for the memorial of his brother who had died just a few years earlier. Afterward, we offered to join hands and pray for them. We did pray for them, and for peace to fall on the land so that not another life would be lost.

There was a memorial wall, bearing the names of the children from this particular small town who had been killed in terrorism bombings. Each plaque bore the name of an individual child, the date they were killed and the symbol of a ner tamid (this is the eternal flame which is displayed at the memorial of a loved one who has died.) It was difficult enough for us to stand there, looking at name after name of children who had been killed. But the most difficult part was the hopelessness. The last panel bore only one plaque with a single name on it. And there the panel waited with 7 empty places for 7 more children to be killed, and for their names to be displayed. I looked into the eyes of the parents, and read the look of hopeless expectation. There was no peace in this place; but worst of all, there was no hope.

We left them with one final blessing. On the front steps of the center, Tonye asked me to offer the Aaronic Benediction in their honor. And it was a privilege for me to recite the blessing first in Hebrew, then in English: “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you; and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. In the name of Jesus the Messiah, the Prince of Peace. Amen.”

Prayer Request: Please pray that these parents would find comfort in the Prince of Peace, and that they would identify with the sacrifice that God made by allowing the murder of His own son for their sin.

Please take just a moment and leave a note for the team members. They would be blessed! Simply click "Comments" listed below.

Blessing in Y'shua,

J.M.

2005-12-12T11:52:00.000-08:00

12/12/05 9:53pm Tiberias, Israel Time

This is going to be a relatively short entry. Today was jam packed with activities, and we are all exhausted. It will be a good night's sleep. My apologies for no pictures. We were in downtown Tiberias and I took the opportunity to blog.

I can't believe that I just helped devour an amazing dessert from a little shop in the downtown mall. It was called (English translation here) an Ice Cream Extraveganza! The discription on the menu included: Five (that's right, five) scoops of ice cream; a fudge brownie; tons of whipped cream; cherries; (and here's the Jewish part) fresh fruit salad in the middle (so you don't experience too much guilt while you're eating it. Plus, you can tell your mother, "I had fresh fruit for dessert!) You just will convieniently forget to mention that the fresh fruit was surrounded by 58 grams of saturated fat and 122 grams of processed sugar. But, that's ok; on Yom Kippur, the Jewish people say a prayer [the Kol Nidre] which covers both sins of commission [like, "I smashed a bowl of ice cream into my little brother's face!"], as well as sins of omission [like, "I devoured a disgustingly rich dessert, and only bothered mentioning the fresh fruit part of it to my mother when she asked me."]) Wow, that was a bit of a tangent, wasn't it? I guess you just got a quick snapshot into the Jewish mind for a moment there.

Let me give you a quick rundown of the day's activities. I'll add some pictures a little later. We began with a bus ride to the Mount of Beatitudes, where Pastor Tonye taught on, you guessed it, the beatitudes from Matthew 4-8. We actually sat down on the Mount, and were able to look out over Galilee while being taught. We walked a bit, and took a quick hop over to Capernaum, the home town of Simon Peter, and Jesus' headquarters during the main part of His ministry on earth. While in Capernaum, we sat inside a 4th Century synagogue, built on top of a first century B.C. synagogue. There, we learned about the healing of the paralytic and Matthews commission as a Disciple. Next stop was to Kafar Kedem, which is a small village south of Capernaum. The village residents have gone to great pains to completely recreate the First Century experience. During our visit, we put on robes and head coverings; were instructed in making bread -- from the growing of the grain, to the harvesting, to processing, to grinding, to mixing and cooking. We ended up eating pita bread we made by hand (somewhat.) We were served an amazing lunch of pita, hummus, tomatoes, rice and shish kebab. The best part of that experiece was when we were all able to ride a set of donkeys down a trail and back. You'll love the pictures once I get them up here.

Finally, we headed into downtown Tiberias, where the team went out and bought shoes, coats and toys for some underpriveleged children at a school/project in town. We headed out where we wer brought into a reception. All the kids were out of this world -- they sang for us, danced for us -- and then we passed out the gifts. This is where we captured some great video. I am hoping we can put together a great video presentation to show at Shoreline once we get home. I promise we'll post some pictures of this soon. So much to do -- so much to talk about -- God is good and we have been blessed beyond belief on this trip!!

Prayer Request: Please pray for us a we will be heading to Nazareth to visit our bus drivers church tomorrow. While there, we will be looking for ways to bless the pastor, and to minister the gospel to many unbelievers in that town.

It would be an amazing encouragement for our team members if you would take just a minute and leave a quick note for them. Simple click the link "Comments" right below.

Basking in the love of God,

J.M.

2005-12-12T06:41:00.000-08:00

12/11/05 10:15pm Tiberias Time

We woke up this morning to the rich blessing of our first sunrise over the Sea of Galilee. It was positively spectacular to see the rays of the sun piercing the clouds; providing a pink and gold backlight to the palm trees and houses of Tiberias. As we sat and watched the peaceful scene, a wave of black swept across the lake in front of us, and seemed to flow into a puddle just a few meters off the shore. A closer examination showed wave after wave of black birds, flying swiftly in perfect formation over the tops of the water. Hundreds upon thousands of birds flew in and settled down together. What a treat from the Lord, to see the beauty of His creation on display and proclaiming His glory.

The day began early with a great breakfast. Then the whole team piled onto the bus. We were deposited on the shore of the Galilee, where we boarded a large motorized boat, fit for about 100 people. This was our opportunity to sail out into the Sea of Galilee and view this beautiful lake and all the regions surrounding it. Pastors Tonye and Matt took their guitars out, and led all of us in worship to the Lord, right there in the middle of the lake. Each one of us spent time with the Lord, reading through the word, soaking up the environment around us.

Honestly, I had a tough time really breaking through to a place where I could concentrate, and experience more of an intimate time with the Lord. After nearly three hours, the captain of the boat finally fired up the engines, and we headed toward the other shore. Tonye led us in one last song: "I Stand in Awe of You." I turned around to lean over the side of the boat, and looked out over the shores and cliffs of the Galilee. As I gazed on the landscape; the beautiful fields; the steep cliffs; the blue sky; I saw the hand of the Lord over His creation. It literally brought tears to my eyes as I sang the words: "Your voice breaks the cedars of Lebanon; Your hand holds the raging seas; Your ways are from everlasting to everlasting; and I stand in awe of You." It was a breakthrough for me; a place where I was able to become more vulnerable as I waited on the Lord to touch my heart. And the fact that it happened in a place where Jesus walked on the water, and ministered to the hearts of his disciples, was even more significant.

On the other side of the lake, we were able to visit the remains of a fishing boat dating from the time of Jesus. The boat was discovered in the 1980's along the banks of the Galilee by a couple of kibbutzim. Afterward, we stopped in at a kibbutz, and had a fresh fish lunch. Of course the fish was great; but the setting made all the difference. We were able to look out over the lake and imaging what it would have been like to eat fish with Jesus and His disciples along the shoreline.archeologicalgical discoveries included nails and other artifacts as well. To imagine that a wooden boat from two-thousand years ago could have survived was almost beyond imagination. But there it was, well preserved for all to see.

For lunch, we stopped over at a Kibbutz, which specialized in serving freshly caught fish called, "St. Peter's Fish". I'm actually not a huge fan of fish, but this was another story. It wphenomenalminal experience.

Later that evening, we pulled over on the road just below the Golan Heights, to a sheer cliff overlooking the Galilee. This particular spot was the place where the Israeli Army conducted a raid against an enemy outpost in the early 60's. But much more significant than that memorial was the fact that this was one of the only places along this side of the lake which featured a steep cliff and naturoccurringuring caves. Therefore, inprobabilityility, this was the very spot in which Y'shua healed the dpossessedessed man. If you remember the story, Jesus cast out the demons, and drove them into a herd of pigs. The pigs then ran themselves off a cliff. And Jesus was asked by the people of the village to leave. At this time, Tonye shared his testimony of salvation with us. It was this man of the Bible that Tonye most identified with. He told us of his violent and broken past -- filled with disappointments and failures. And how the Lord redeemed his life and healed him of everything that he was, giving him a new identity as a child of God. The testimony was capped off with a spectacular sunset, and a memorable time together as a group.

Prayer Request: The Lord has been amazing in protecting the health of our team members. Please continue to uphold them in your prayers as we travel throughout the countryside.

You can be a blessing and encouragement by leaving a quick note with our team members. Simply click "Comments" link below.

Blessings in our Lord,

J.M.

2005-12-12T06:31:00.000-08:00

12/11/05 6:00pm Tiberias, Israel Time

During our outreach at the promenade, I was approached by an older Israeli couple. They walked by and heard the music and saw all the people talking. So, she walked up to me and asked what we were doing. I told her that we were a group of Jews and gentiles who believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah. She had a very surprised look on her face, and said that we Jews don't believe this. So I told here she was looking at a Jew who does. Her loud response was that our Rabbis teach us that this is not true. Respectfully, I said that the Rabbis were wrong. I said that there was irrefutable evidence in the Tenach for the fact that Y'shua is the Messiah. Again, she said that Jews do not believe that. So I asked here if she had ever taken the time to read the Tenach herself. "Of course not," she replied. This is what the Rabbis do, and they said that it is not true that Y'shua is the Messiah. As she and her husband walked away in disgust, I implored her to try and think for herself; to read the Tenach and see what it says.

A little while later, the same woman walked up to Abra. She was on a mission. The woman began speaking, almost yelling to Abra in Hebrew. Even though Abra's Hebrew is somewhat limited, she was able to understand exactly what the woman was saying: "That man over there, do you see him?" Abra nodded. "He is going around, spreading propaganda and lies. Watch out for him. He is trying to deceive our people," the woman announced. With a look on concern on her face, Abra responded to her in Hebrew, "Ze ba'ali," which translates into English, "This is my husband!" Abra smiled. The woman threw up her hands, rolled her eyes, and walked away. Here last words were, "Yoffi!"; a sarcastic response: "Beautiful!"

Prayer Request: Please pray for the salvation of this lady and her husband, along with the dozens of other people that we had the chance to share with. We'll be going out again to minister soon.

Please encourage our team members by taking just a moment to leave a quick note by clicking the link below entitled "Comments".

In Y'shua's name,

J.M.

2005-12-10T12:05:00.000-08:00

12/10/05 10:07pm Tiberias, Israel Time

As I write this, I am sitting in an internet cafe in the ancient city of Tiberias. It's a very strange juxtuposition of old and new. We will be staying here for about 5 days, and there is no reliable and economical internet connection in our hotel. So I am hoping to have a chance to leave a posting at least once per day.

This morning began with a beautiful breakfast buffet, followed by a walk down to the Tel Aviv Marnina. We quickly packed our things, and headed off to a worship service with the friends at Calvary Chapel Tel Aviv. They meet in a building called "Esther House", along with several other congregations. The service was not unlike something you might hear at Shoreline Calvary Chapel, including a lot of singing and good teaching from the word of God. A good deal of the time we spent with our brothers and sister was in preparation for an outreach to the people at the Tel Aviv Prominade. The church had quite a bit of relief good stored up, and they were just waiting for someone to come along and help them distribute it. That someone was us.

(Out side the building, we spotted this sign. It's a little gross, but communicates a certain truth found in any language around the world: Pick up after your dog!)

The weather has been absolutely spectacular -- unseasonably warm. Following a short nosh (snack time) we hit the road for the boardwalk. Part of our group was assigned to help with the distribution of the goods. We saw many different types of people come along, from the desolate homeless, to spectators, to people simply poking around out of curiousity. Pastors Tonye and Matt spent some time playing music and giving testimonies over a sound system. This only served to bring in a larger crowd. We took the opportunity to make the rounds and talk to several people who seemed curious about why we were out there. One of the team members, Steve, had a fruitful conversation with a man from London, who was just visiting. He curiousity was piqued when he saw the people standing around talking about Y'shua (Jesus). As it turned out, the man's roommate had just bought him "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis to read. And now, Steve was taking a further opportunity to share with him.

Abra was approached by a 90-something year old woman. It turns out that she was Jewish, and had made Aliya (immigrated) to Israel with her parents in 1936 from Iraq. With beaming pride, she took out here original passport and showed it to anyone that was interested. She was only marginally interested in the message of the gospel, but didn't hesitate to grab a partner and begin dancing to the music on the sound system.

I had many, many witnessing encounters -- including 3 or 4 discussions with Orthodox Jews about why I believe what I believe. They were interested, and it was exciting to fulfil a life-long dream of meeting my people in the Holy Land. I'm sorry I have to cut this blog short. We're out of time and the team has to run. But, I promise there will be many more stories to come soon.

Please encourage the team by leaving comments below. Please pray for us as we tour Galilee over the next couple of days.

Blessings in Y'shua,

J.M.

2005-12-09T14:54:00.000-08:00

12/10/05 12:15 am Tel Aviv Time

We’re here – we’ve finally set foot on the soil of the Holy Land, and it’s absolutely amazing. As we flew over the Mediterranean, I caught my first glimps of Israel. And immediately it hit me that I had just left one coast, and flown nearly 9,000 miles to another coast which didn't look all that different. Either way, it was a beautiful sight. The people are terribly exotic, and yet somehow quite familiar. Our first real adventure of the trip began upon disembarkation into the David Ben Gurion International Airport terminal from our plane.

The luggage and relief items made their way down the baggage conveyer belt. A line of team members removed and stacked our items one by one until they lay in a great heap in the middle of the terminal floor. One at a time the team members scrambled around, looking for personal bags. None of them could be found. We realized that virtually every one of the team members were missing at least one item of checked luggage. Within an hour, we found ourselves in line at the “Lost and Found” counter, filling out forms, and scratching our heads. It seemed pretty improvable that the baggage crew had managed to ‘misplace’ 20-something items of luggage from the same group. Within an hour and a half, new pieces of baggage came flying down the conveyer belt; and one by one team member ran to retrieve their scuffed and travel-worn suitcases: Crisis averted.

We walked out the door in a single-file line into the fresh and cool air of the Tel Aviv night. It was sundown, and the Sabbath had arrived. The sky was dark, and the stars were trying hard to peek out from behind the wispy clouds of this December evening. I have spent my life dreaming of celebrating Shabbat in the Holy Land. It just hadn’t occurred to me that my first one would be spent trying to estimate the replacement cost of my underwear at a lost and found counter in the airport.

Our tour bus took us to the Basel Hotel in downtown Tel Aviv. We’ll be staying here for only one night. But the accommodations are not too bad. All of the furniture and fixtures in this hotel seem to be scaled down from what we are used to – I’m feeling a bit like the ‘Jolly Green Giant.’ As a matter of fact, the bed-side clock tells me that it’s now 12:55 am; and I’m totally exhausted (that would explain the Green part of the 'Green Giant'.) Please be a blessing to our team members by taking just a minute and leaving a quick note of encouragement. Simply click on the link below entitled “Comments.”

Prayer request: Please pray for our team as we will be going straight from a morning church service at Calvary Chapel Tel Aviv to an outreach at a nearby beach. Pray that we will be effective in reaching people with the gospel of Jesus the Messiah, and that the Lord would bring in a harvest.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. In His service,

J.M.

2005-12-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

*Click on any image to view it full size. All aerial images were taken from one passenger seat in our plane.

12/9/05 3:30 am Tel Aviv Time

A lounge in Toronto: A place where a soul could get lost. A place where many have transitioned into oblivion; an abyss of geometrically patterned carpet and eye straining fluorescent lighting. What does one do on a two-hour layover in the ostentatious Capital of Canada? The possibilities seem endless. And yet, they ended with a roped off lobby and a coffee/tea dispenser; not to mention the well armored security guard, blocking the only exit from our bench seating prison. With all optimism, I believe that he is protecting us from certain death at the hands of the -3 degrees Celsius winter torrent outside (-3 degrees translates into something like -162 degrees Fahrenheit [aka. American temperature].)

The first leg of our trip, all five hours of it, is well behind us. We took flight on El Al #106, and enjoyed a bird’s eye tour of the most amazing nation on the face of the earth. In that short period of time, we crossed the climates of America, varying from the marine coast of Los Angeles to the desert canyons and rock formations of Arizona and New Mexico; from the snowy valleys of Utah to the soft white peaks of the Rocky Mountains. Soon, the sun began to hug the horizon, painting long shadows over the perfectly flat tundra of the Midwest. A patchwork quilt of lines and squares and ovals spread out before us as far as the eye could see. The aluminum skin of our airplane caught flecks of gold, pink and bronze; the remnants of a sunset from 30,000 feet up in the air.

Now, here we sit; sustained on caffeine, catnaps and airline snacks. But what waits before us defies the imagination. We’re entering a new world, as old as the world itself. We're on our way to the Holy Land. It still hasn't sunk in. But that doesn't matter. We just need to make this trip, and experience all that the Lord has planned. They’re grabbing us now; beckoning us to embark once again. This leg of our trip will last more than twice as long as the first. But every last mile is worth it just to get where we're going.

Prayer requests: Please pray for an Israeli man who was on the flight over with us. Jim & Kathy Morgenstern (my mom and dad) had the opportunity to share with him our belief in Jesus. They even took the opportunity to open the scriptures with him. I’ll write back with his name a little later.

Please encourage our team members by taking just a minute to leave your comment, question, prayer request, or praise report. Simply click on the link below which says, “Comments.” Thank you for all of your prayers until now.

Blessings in Jesus,

J.M.

2005-12-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

One day to go...

The time is at hand. And I can't believe it. Frankly, the reality that I am about to travel 9,000 miles to the other side of the globe has not sunken in to my brain yet. Here, you can see a recent brain scan, which may go a long way in explaining why I haven't been able to process the reality of this trip. Further evidence of my recent reduction in cerebral retention and higher function is the process of packing for this trip. I have already caught myself thinking such thoughts as "I wonder if they have soap in Israel" and "Gosh, I hope our hotel has showers." This is, of course, absurd -- yes, they have soap in Israel. And, to the best of my knowledge, hotels generally offer indoor plumbing, which includes...you got it -- showers!

On a much weightier note, 5 people were killed and 60 injured yesterday when a suicide bomber set off explosive just outside the Sharon Mall in Natanya. This is a mall which has been targeted on numerous occasions by terrorists. It's a little intimidating to imagine that there is a real potential that we may find ourselves in the midst of such a scene at some point on this trip. However, stories such as this, and so many others like it have not served to quell my zeal. On the contrary, I am more motivated now than ever before in my life. You see, I carry with me to Israel the message of new life. I am absolutely convinced that the only hope for peace was born in the middle east. His name is Y'shua ha Mashiach. And I believe that the only way that people will stop torturing, oppressing and slaughtering one another is when we come into a relationship with our creator. It is only then that we will be able to look into the eyes of our fellow man and see the Face of God.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this." Isaiah 9:6-7

Please be praying for safety on our trip. And pray that we'll have many opportunities to help meet the physical and spiritual needs of Palestinians, Jews and anyone else in need during our upcoming trip to Israel. Thank you in advance for all of your thoughts and prayers. Please encourage the team members by taking just a moment to leave a comment or question. Simply click the link "Comments" listed below.

Thank you, and God bless you!
J.M.

2005-11-30T14:12:00.000-08:00

Greetings. Preparations continue for our Israel trip. We are at the one week point, getting ready to pack and spending extra time in prayer. And as the time grows closer, it looks like we will be able to schlep (Yiddish for 'drag' or 'carry') more than a half-ton of relief items for people in need. We will need your prayers as we are facing quite a bit of travel, and the logistics in getting 22 people there in one group.

Feel free to leave a comment by clicking below. And thank you for your ongoing thoughts and prayers for this exciting time of ministry.

Yours truly,

J.M.

2005-10-17T16:46:00.000-07:00

We will be posting many entries before this trip rolls around. And, we're anxious to hear any comments and words of encouragement from those of you who have already been to Israel.