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Two Updates by two participants on the A.I.M Missions Trip to Israel
1/7/2004 By: Jason Davidson, participant
Jan 7
Today was another great day. They have all been great days, but today, for once, we actually had somewhat of a schedule that we had planned to stick to. But fortunately, the Lord had decided to change our schedule according to His will and today we had many amazing things happen (as we have every day so far on this trip). It started with us arriving at the Dugit center at 9:00 A.M. to meet up with one of their leaders that works at the distribution center. Dugit was expecting large shipments by truck with containers full of clothes and food. Dugit gives these away each month to about two hundred families. The truck, according to them, takes about a day, possibly two, to unload, so they needed all the help they could use. As planned, the leader took us over to another one of their offices in a different section of Tel Aviv to unload the truck. However, when we got there the truck had not yet arrived. We then took that opportunity to help Dugit catch up on some other chores and odd jobs that needed to get done. During this time, Mike and Eldaly went quietly to another room for a time of prayer and intercession, obviously sensing the presence of the Lord. After they had finished, still feeling the calling of the Lord, they decided to leave for a little while and go out to minister a little bit since the truck had still not arrived. I, feeling a slight tug from the Lord myself, decided to go with them while the rest of the group had a time of fellowship with one another and prayer for us. It was raining fairly hard today and the wind was rather gusty to say the least. We decide to buy some umbrellas and hand out our tracts to those that really looked like they needed it. We found a local stand and bought 11 umbrellas for 10 shekels each and embarked on our mission. Walking through the driving wind, rain, and flooded areas we helped people cross the streets, gave them the umbrellas and handed out our tracts. It was amazing to see the look of surprise, shock, disbelief, and gratefulness at our kindness. I actually think it was more amazement than anything else that three crazy Americans, soaking wet, were just giving away umbrellas. Perhaps they will remember this as a witness later on. We stopped at a local deli and got schnitzel (some type of weird chicken, but good) sandwiches on fresh baked bread and ate for a few minutes and chatted with the guys that run the deli. As most of our conversations go with the locals, we got around to inviting them to come to some of the services at Beit Immanuel hostel and handed them some of our tracts. They were very receptive and we headed back to the distribution center. We arrived but the truck still had not, so we took that opportunity for more prayer, scripture reading and fellowship. We prayed over the people that run the distribution center and anointed them with oil as we sought for God's will and presence. After a couple of hours had passed we learned the truck was not coming, so as a group we decided to head back to the hostel for a team meeting of prayer, worship, and communion. While we were still at Dugit praying, I was reading my Bible and came across Proverbs 22:9. It says, "He who has a generous eye will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor." Those words spoke true conviction to my heart. So on our way back to the Hostel I stopped off at a bread shop spending about 90 shekels on 36 loaves of bread. I got the rest of the team to carry some and on our way back we began passing them out to the locals with our tracts. Some were in such a state of disbelief that they wouldn't accept it; others were so shocked that they asked if they could distribute some to people they knew. Once we got back to the Hostel we had our team meeting and it was a rather powerful one. We had a time of worship and great prayer, interceding and praying for one another and time of communion that lasted nearly three hours. It really rejuvenated those that had been tired and really made us all closer.
As I close, tomorrow we will be going back to Dugit at 9:00 A.M. to (hopefully) unload the truck that (hopefully) will arrive. But if it is God's will to change course, that is what we will do as we have every day so far. So tomorrow will just be another day of Adventures in Missions that you will hear about later.
1/7/2004 By: Mike Cory, participant
1/6 Report
It's Wednesday night about 9pm. Jason just finished doing today's report. I (Mike) am doing yesterday's report. You know how it goes on those trips. Sometimes things don't always get done when you want them done. So, yesterday's report is getting completed tonight.
Tuesady was a special day. It was the day we went to Jerusalem. As I think of yesterday, trying to recapture the awe and great anticipation we felt entering the holy city I am reminded of the Psalm: "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its cunning. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy." (Psalm 137:5-6) How incredible our first view of the city was! We were on a tall mountain just south of the city with an aerial view of the southern side of the city in front of us. The southern tip of the Mt. of Olives was toward our right, Mt. Zion on our left and Mt Moriah beneath the old city in front of us. Breath taking!
Shortly thereafter we entered the city through the Jaffa Gate (west side) where we embarked on our walking exploration. I want to share our experience (Jason, Eldaly and me, Mike) with you. (I almost have to, since we got separated from the group about midday.)
We all took off together from the Jaffa gate. The three of us lagged behind. We stopped and prayed for the Lord to take us where He wanted to take us and for us to see what He wanted us to see. "Baruch haShem!" (Praise God in Hebrew.) We had a cool day!
At the start of our journey we went to the Wailing Wall where each of us prayed. Yes, it is an incredible experience: awe inspiring, humbling, tranquil yet tinged with a sense of anticipation. I saw a young orthodox man and felt compelled to say hello, which I did. He said he had just returned from dipping his long, curly locks in the Pool of Siloam. That was it, we had to go and do that too. So off we went out the Dung gate on the southeast corner overlooking the Mt. of Olives, down the street, into a largely Arab district, taking a left into the Jewish National Park of the Old City of David.
Cool Lord. What are you showing us?
We descended down many flights of ancient stone steps through the Old City of David en route to the Pool of Siloam. This part of Jerusalem is what King David conquered from the Jebusites and set up the original and first city here (1 Chronicles 11:4-9). At the bottom we couldn't find the pool. Jason said, "Let's go this way." Prophet! Sure enough, immediately we met an Arab man who said, "You seek the Pool of Siloam? Follow me." Off we went. So many times the Lord has given us people to point us in the direction He wants for us. We not only found the pool, but the man, Adam, was the one in charge of the pool, and he gave us shorts and old shoes to wade into the pool and even more. We walked up through Hezekiah's Tunnel under David's city. It is an ancient, underground water system used during the First Temple period. It was so neat. Then the three of us prayed over each other standing in the pool and pouring the water over each other as the High Priests did in ancient Israel. Adam was such a gentle and loving man. The one room hut where we changed was his house! No family, just him. And he had been doing this since 1942. He made us some peppermint tea in an old, rusty tea pot he held over an open flame. We all exclaimed that it was absolutely the best tea we had ever tasted.
Later on we ended up in an audio/video exhibit of Jerusalem during the First Temple period. Personally, I believe the Lord is trying to teach us something by what we experienced yesterday. I haven't had time to pray about it and study up on it. We're not getting a whole lot of that kind of time!
The rest of the team? They saw the Wall, the "Upper Room", Tomb of the Sepulcher, and the Garden tomb. You'll have to get the details from them. The writer of the daily report gets first dibs on what goes in the report! Ha ha
What an incredible day. The Lord is with us and has been confirming that to us in so many ways. Thank you for your prayers. Keep praying!
We expect David Schiff to join us soon, completing our team. We're doing great.
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Psalm 119:104Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. 105Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
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