Romans 8 "37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
After meeting the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem and Bethlehem I got a new insight into this Scripture. When I got to talk to some of the disciples it was clear to me that they were more than conquerors.
Each story that I heard leaves you amazed at how God can work through anything. There was one sister who as a young child witnessed her parents die in fron of her face. They froze to death after getting lost in the woods. The sister led her siblings out of the forest and thankfully found help. Today she is a faithful disciple of Jesus.
Then there is the sister that group up in a Kibbutz (click on the word to read a Wikipedia description). She didn't grow very close to her parents because all the children in the community lived in a different home from their parents. Not to mention the fact that she grew up Jewish. Today she too is a faithful disciple of Jesus.
Then there are the brothers who have grown up in the West Bank. They have lived all of their lives in less than ideal situations. They have lived and still live in a very tense environment that is defined by violence, poverty and oppression. Some of the brothers come from religious backgrounds that could bring intense persecution and perhaps could prove deadly. Yet they serve the Lord faithfully as disciples of Jesus.
These are just a few of the stories of the disciples in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It is clear that although many of them have reason to be bitter, or discouraged towards God, they are more than conquerors because nothing that they have gone through has been able to seperate them from the love of God that we all have in Jesus. As the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1...
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
Let's keep our brothers and sisters in Israel in our prayers that they may bring others the comfort that they have received through their relationship with God.
P.S. The next update will be of some of the sites that I saw during the week.
Fish Out of Water
Some of the Tel Aviv disciples
When you read the title you will immediately think that I am referring to myself as the “fish out of water,” but actually I am not. You’ll be surprised to know that I am actually referring to our brothers and sisters in Tel Aviv.
The Tel Aviv church was planted by several churches in Russia beginning in December of 1999. Eleven Russian speaking disciples were sent off to plant the church in Tel Aviv with little or very little experience in leading bible talks let alone planting a church. Although a few of them spoke English none of them spoke Hebrew which is the native language in Israel. Some of them left great paying jobs and businesses to go to Israel and start from scratch without knowing how they would make a living. Nonetheless they took a leap of faith and moved to a country that was not there own; all for the sake of the gospel. Many of the disciples had a Jewish background but mostly through ancestry and not by practice. Meaning they weren’t very familiar with Jewish culture at all. Yet they packed their bags and moved to Israel.
Seven and a half years later, although all of the disciples have jobs and speak Hebrew things have not gotten much easier for them. They still face very different cultural challenges and have to work many hours to make a living. Almost all of the brothers have to work 6 days a week. Conversions here happen much slower than what the disciples were used to in Russia. Their observation here is that people are tired of religion and don’t even want to talk about it. So they find themselves having to build relationships for a long time until people are actually willing to study. One of the brothers that I spent time with here is named Rachamim who is from Kazakhstan; he took over two years to become a Christian. Although the disciples here are not in familiar surroundings and often have to battle discouragement they continue to fight the good fight and do their part in spreading the gospel.
On Monday, I went with a couple of brothers to the local market to buy groceries for our Passover meal, and I saw something that reminded me of the disciples here in Tel Aviv. While in the market, which was much more like an auction because of the yelling of prices only from several different directions, we heard a woman scream. Everyone immediately turned around to see what happened to the woman. All of a sudden she, as well as everyone around her, started laughing. Apparently a fish that was being sold for consumption was still alive and kicking and jumped right out of the bucket that it was in. It was a fish out of water that refused to give up. Those are the disciples in Tel Aviv, fish out water who refuse to give up. Unlike the fish at the market though, the disciples will live forever because they are being sustained by the very hands of God.
I am so grateful for their hearts and how they have persevered. My time with them has been both convicting and refreshing at the same time. Please continue to keep our brothers and sisters in Tel Aviv in your prayers.
P.S. I’ll be posting a couple more updates in the next 24 hours. I have seen a lot of sites and will be seeing more today.
My First 24 Hours
I
have now officially been here in Israel for 24 hours. I arrived in Tel
Aviv at 4pm (Israeli time) yesterday afternoon. The flight went much
faster than I thought, the ten hours "flew" and I was thanking God for
that (thanks to all who prayed for my flight as well). Tel Aviv was
nothing like what I imagined. I knew it was off the coast of the
Mediterranean Sea but I was not expecting to see so many palm trees and
people surfing along the coast.
From the airport I went straight
to a park where the disciples from the Tel Aviv church were having a
picnic. Some of the disciples from Jerusalem and Bethlehem came up and
joined them. Dave & Angela Hooper from the Austin church were also
in town as well. They had been here for the last few days encouraging
the disciples from Tel Aviv many of which they knew from their time in
Russia together.
Later we met for dinner in, believe it or not,
a Chinese food restaurant. The food was great, but they did not have
orange soda so I had to drink water .
The thing I will remember most about the dinner was seeing bags being
checked before people were allowed to come into the restaurant. I found
that strange so I asked why they were checking bags for a restaurant.
One of the brothers told me that it was a security precaution in case
someone wanted to bring a bomb into the restaurant and blow it up. It
was my first dose of reality of life in Israel. What was more amazing
was that the disciples did not appear the least bit concerned or
nervous. Unfortunately for them it is a way of life.
The next morning we went out to a town called "Joffa" which in the Bible is translated Joppa. It is the place mentioned in Acts 10:5-6... "5Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea." That house is now St. Peter's Church and it is pictured to the right from two different angles and as you can see it is "by the sea." It was really amazing to see the Bible come to life right before my eyes.
This
is all for now. I will be spending the next two days with the disciples
from the church here in Tel Aviv. I hope to put up another update after
we have midweek together on Tuesday. So look for an update Tuesday
evening. Please continue to keep me in your prayers as well as all of
the disciples here in Tel Aviv.
Shalom, Johnny
P.S.
In case you are wondering I have had some authentic Israeli food. Today
I enjoyed my first cup of Hummus. I actually really liked it.
.
The thing I will remember most about the dinner was seeing bags being
checked before people were allowed to come into the restaurant. I found
that strange so I asked why they were checking bags for a restaurant.
One of the brothers told me that it was a security precaution in case
someone wanted to bring a bomb into the restaurant and blow it up. It
was my first dose of reality of life in Israel. What was more amazing
was that the disciples did not appear the least bit concerned or
nervous. Unfortunately for them it is a way of life.
