Tuesday, February 16, 2010

In the Promised Land

Well, after the adventure of getting to Israel, the 3 weeks there were really amazing. We stayed most of our time at Living Bread Ministry house in east Jerusalem, which is run by a lady called Karen Dunham. She took us to lots of places around Jerusalem and other cities in Israel.


On our second day there, we went to the Jordan River. We didn't go to the tourist place though - we went to the place that both Jordan and Israel believe is where Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land. This involved being escorted by the Israeli Army through minefields to the river. Once there, we had a time of praise and worship right next to the river. We were there with arabs from Jericho who had become Christians, and it was amazing to see them get baptised in the Jordan River. We also got baptised in the river, which was great.


The next few days we had morning worship and teaching on healing, which was great. During the afternoons we visited the room of the last supper, the pool of Bethesda, and other places in the old city of Jerusalem.
On the Sunday we went to Abraham's well in Beersheba and to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob's tombs in Hebron.
The next week we again had worship and teaching each morning, and then visited places in the afternoons. We went to Jericho to meet with Palestinian Christians there, and to the prayer tower at King of Kings Church in Jerusalem. Wednesday we spent all day visiting places - En Gedi (waterfalls in the wilderness), the Dead Sea (where we floated for a while) and the Mount of Temptations.


On Thursday, we visited what is believed to be the Garden Tomb, and I'm pretty convinced that's where Jesus was crucified and buried. God's peace was definitely in that place.
On Friday night we went to Jerusalem House of Prayer For All Nations on the Mount of Olives, run by Tom Hess. Us twelve interns and leaders took the slots for 24 hours, eaching leading for 2 hours. It was awesome to worship God there, and so amazing to cry out for Jesus' return on the Mount He's returning to.


The next week was more prayer and worship each morning, and in the afternoons visiting more places. We went to Solomon's quarry under the old city of Jerusalem, which is where it's believed Solomon got the stone to build the Temple. It was really great to pray underneath the old city and to cry out to God for Israel.
We also visited Succat Hallal house of prayer, and also a house of prayer right by where they're excavating David's palace and tabernacle.


On the Thursday we went up to Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee. It was awesome to see these places where Jesus spent a lot of His ministry. We then went to Nazareth, and then up to Mount Carmel.
We spend a few days on Mount Carmel, staying at the Carmel Assembly, where David and Karen Davis minister. We were part of a night of prayer and worship there, which started in Hebrew, then Arabic, then Russian, and then we led in English. It was amazing to hear and see what is happening in Israel, and I learned more of Israel's importance to us and in the end times.

After that we had a few days in Jerusalem before we left. In that time we went to the Garden of Gethsemane, under the Temple Mount, and then actually on the Temple Mount, where the dome of the rock is.

Overall, we spent a lot of time worshiping and praying. This was really good, and it was amazing to intercede for Israel in Jerusalem. It felt intense at times, especially the spiritual atmosphere. But we were there to give of ourselves, and God taught us all a lot through the trip. It definitely taught me to press in to God more.

Oh, and leaving was loads easier than getting there, praise the Lord.

1 comment:

Michael said...

Sounds great, I never thought i'd say this but after a year of meeting Israel lovers and being told a thousand times I should go and now hearing about ur trip I actually really do want to go one day... Looking forward to learning a thing or two from you on intersession when we are back in England... Bless you John!!!