It was a very emotional time to visit the Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane where our Savior prayed and the disciples slept! I read from Luke 22 in the Garden and again had trouble reading. The Golden gate of the city is in clear view from the Garden. Later we went to Caiphas house and walked the stone path Jesus would have walked on his way to be tried by Caiphas. We went in to the pit where Jesus spent the night in Caiphas house after Peter denied Him. Believe it or not a cock crew as we walked up to a statue reminding of Peter's denial. In the pit we sang of our Savior and I read Psalm 88. It is a powerful place!! It is hard to comprehend the Love of our Lord to suffer as He did for us! I wish our whole church family could visit this place!
We also visited the upper room where our Savior had the last supper with his disciples and washed their feet.
We had a wonderful service in the hotel tonight with songs and testimonies of how the Lord has spoken to hearts along the way today.
The Lord answered prayer and gave me a good opportunity to witness to our Jewish guide, Reuben, at the end of the day today. Pray for his salvation. He is very friendly, kind, and an excellent guide, but needs his eyes opened to the deity of Christ! He knows history and the Scripture, but does not know my Savior.
4 comments:
Israel Team,
I am glad that you had the opportunity to wittness to Reuben. I will be praying for his salvation. I am glad that you are enjoying Jerusalem and learning much. When you visit the pool of Bethesda, don't forget to sing in the church. How Great Thou Art has a nice ring in a stone chapel :) If you could record it, I am sure the church would enjoy listening.
Praying with You!
Jonathan Shafer
Thank you so much Pastor, I am having trouble being able to see to type this though my tears. Thank you so much for your vivid portrait of your journey while in Israel.
I have been blessed by reading your postings. And I so thankful for each one that you have written. Thank you for taking the time out to do this for all of us.
I am sure there was a seed that has been planted in Rueben heart. God's word does not return void. I will be praying that he will come to know our Savior as his own.
Annette Hesson
I don't know how much longer you all have over there, but I pray that you will enjoy your last little bit and make it very memorable.
Have a safe trip home! God Bless You All!
I realize that updates from Israel are sparatic due to time zones and constant touring within the country. Here is some info that may help in praying for our team.
The MMBC Israel Team will be leaving for the airport very soon (chicago Friday night/ Saturday morning). They will lose 7 hours on the flight home (around a 10 hour long flight). They will arrive in Atlanta, GA on Saturday morning and then fly to Chicago to arrive around 11:30 AM on Saturday at O'Hare on Delta. Bethel Baptist Church will be picking up the team from the airport.
Pray that they would be able to get through the Tel Aviv security in leaving the country. This is well known as the highest security in the world. I got quized last year representing our entire group :) Pastor Brad Smith will probably take the lead for this team.
The Security process can take over 1 hour. Everything is searched individually.
Pray that their books, teaching materials, Bibles, bags ... all make it home safe. Usually you leave your bag on the floor with several hundred others at security praying that it gets loaded unto your flight on time.
Pray for wittnessing opportunities on the flights coming home. Almost anyone will listen to info on Israel, and it leads to the gospel naturally.
Praying with You!
Jonathan Shafer
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