Israel Testimonies: Rabbi Shabbat Dinner, VFCC and Janne

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 Israel Testimonies: Rabbi Shabbat Dinner

By: Kari Olney

We got on the taxi bus toward the specific address we were given to go for the Rabbi Shabbat Dinner. When we got off, it was not hard to find because there were a lot of people lining up for the Shabbat Dinner already! So we followed the pack. When we entered, we found many tables taken by a few or a whole. So we had the request for a table where we can all sit together in order to receive an ASL interpretation. They were thrilled to hear about us and welcomed us in an instant they asked a group of men to leave a certain table for us. When we sat down, we started to notice that all the tables were grouped by either woman or men. Different genders do not sit together expect for us. We also noticed some young visitors (non-Jewish) from the hostel there.

The Rabbi of this Shabbat Dinner who owns the house and has a huge family, 14 kids. He and his wife host the dinners for 30 years and their kids helped a lot. There were 120 people there. We were served 4 courses for the meal: 1st-included challah, tomatoes (pickled with onion), hummus with oil and spices, corn, cucumbers with red peppers, pickles, fish, horseradish dip and more! We ate until we were full not knowing that we had 3 more courses coming! The 2nd was chicken broth with veggies and chicken in it. The 3rd was baked flavored whole chicken. And the 4th was ice cream. 

While we ate, we began to discuss about a theme of the meal_the teaching of Joseph and his story. The Rabbi explained about Joseph and then asked us all to take turns in teaching. Some spoke in Spanish, Hebrew, Portuguese, and English. It was interesting. At one point, I decided to stand up and teach in ASL and Carole translated it into spoken English, I shared:

When Joseph was young, his brothers rejected him. When Joseph underwent many things, God lifted him up into a high position. God was with him, but when his brothers came, he instantly embraced them as his own without revenge and forgave them for what they had done. And that story reminds me of how God taught me Psalms 133, when sisters and brothers dwell in unity, God will pour down the oil upon the Mt. Hermon and it flows down. So when I had difficulties with my roommates disagreeing about the spaces we use. And I went to bed feeling lousy about the situation and asked God what to do. He told me to give up the space. What?! Yeah, I realized that it is not all about fairness, but the “power of influence” that God has give me. I was reminded of Prov. 19:11 “It is glory of a man to overlook an offense.” So I went and did it. And it brought unity to the house. In the same way, we had to remind ourselves to forgive the others to bring unity.

After this everyone applauded with their arms lifted high! I thanked them and sat down. 

We do not have any pictures from the night as the community could not use technology during Shabbat but one of our team members got a sneak picture during the dinner. 

After a few other teachings, Renca had her turn. She stood up to share: I wanted to say thank you all for hosting this free dinner and welcoming us. You helped the visitors to understand what Shabbat is all about and bring the unity to the community through this. I can feel that you have a big heart and it is real. And now I want to understand, how did you start all of this and why are you doing it? When she finished, everyone applauded and were touched. The Rabbi responded: wow, Thank you! We have been hosting this simply because hospitality is something to be valued and brings blessing upon the people. Just like how our patriarchs, Abraham, blessed and welcomed strangers.

It was amazing. And when we completed the 4 courses of the meal, we heard the last speech from the Rabbi saying that there were meals the next day at 130pm and 430 pm. Wow! They must be very busy!

The people surrounded us, asking us some questions. Elizabeth talked to a guy there who escaped from Iran and he said that hes so glad that we were all Christians and thanked us. He also commented that we have the teaching and heart, meaning that one of us had the spiritual knowledge and application. He shared gratitude and welcomed us into the community! Wow! 

One of the Jewish men that walked with us back to our Hostel

More Pictures connecting with Deaf people in Jerusalem 

By: Carole McClelland

There was one Deaf Pastor in the whole country of Israel, a man named Janne from Finland!  He lives Jerusalem but travels all over Israel and the West Bank serving the Deaf communities in Israel.  It was a blessing to meeting him and be able to encourage him as he is working alone! He gave us a great tour of Jerusalem with a lot of history in the city! 

Earlier in the stateside part of the outreach, we had the opportunity to connect with VFCC, Valley Forge Christian College and the students there.  Well, we learned that they were making a trip to Israel during the same time that we would be in Israel! God is so crazy!  So we were able to connect with them in Jerusalem as well! Below are some pictures from when we got to see them! We love them!

Israel Testimonies: Holy Spirit Scavenger hunt

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 Holy Spirit Scavenger Hunt 

A Testimony by Renca Dunn
(one of our amazing new staff!) 

On December 3^rd, 2013, ASL YWAM had a Holy Spirit scavenger hunt in Jerusalem. The point of this hunt was to explore the city and listen to what the Holy Spirit was saying. We split up into two teams. My team was Liza, Brandon and I. The other one was Kari, Josiah and Shelby. The leaders, Dan, Carole and Kayla gave us a list of what to see and what to do.

The list looked like this:

Western Wall

Temple Mount

Garden of Gethsemane

Other

What to do at the location:

worship

Pray

read scripture

make declarations

talk with people

Prayer with a Jewish person

Pray with a Muslim person

Bless someone with lunch/coffee

Bless someone with a souvenir

Prayer for healing for someone

Do a drama in a public place

Ask someone who is to Jesus to you

Share a testimony and the gospel with someone

Get a picture with someone with red hair

It was an unbelievable experience for all of us. We learned how to listen to the Holy Spirit TOGETHER! As we sought the places, my team was led by the Holy Spirit to do more things that what was on the list. We met many wonderful people and we got to pray with a Muslim person. One divine encounter happened in God's favor. As I mentioned, we split up into two teams. Both teams went in different directions. My team was exploring one cemetery that was not part of the list but we ended up bumping into the other team! My team was on the top of the hill near Dung gate, I spotted some of the team member’s clothes at the bottom of the hill. My team screamed and waved to get their attention. The timing and place were least likely to meet, but we actually did bump into each other! Only God! We got together and began worshiping. My team asked where the other team was heading to and they were headed to the same place as we were going! The temple mount. We decided to walk together to the temple mount. We all were wondering why we would met just right when all planned to return tot Dung gate and to got the temple mount. Not until we entered the temple Mount that we realized why God wanted us together. 

The other group was found, two teams together

We were definitely under God’s protection. As we were lining up for the Temple Mount, we noticed that the security guards were checking people's bags and taking items away. We knew they would take the bibles too. Some of us tried to hide our bibles in our pockets and purses. I hid my bible in my shirt. I walk up the stairs to the security point and the bible fell out of my skirt. I freaked out and immediately put it in my purse. No one noticed! But I was worried about my purse since I did not have time to hide the Bible properly in my purse. I prayed that the guard would not notice it. The guard inspected my purse and he never saw it even as it was very visible! The guards never saw the bibles in Kari, Liza purses and Josiah pocket! The guard did take away Brandon’s Bible because he was holding it in his hand.  We all were heart-broken that the Bible was not allowed, but the Quaran was allowed. However, we were so thrilled that the guards never caught our Bibles in our bags. God was obviously protecting us.

We went in the temple mount and all of us grieved together because Jesus was not glorified on the temple mount and got on our knees. The place really belongs to Jesus, not to Christians, Jews or Muslims. We began to pray and sign to the Lord in front of the people there. Jesus was all that matters. We got up and decided to do a prayer/worship walk around the temple. I pulled out my bible and said out loud the verses of John 3:15-17. I had a map covering my Bible when I read to be discreet. It looked like I was looking at a map. In a sense I am because the Bible is a map for our lives! Anyway, we felt moved to go around the temple 3 to 5 times. After that, a huge burden was lifted. We knew that Lord heard our cry. We prayed for the truth of Jesus to be revealed on the temple mount. We left the temple mount, continuing our journey. 

Temple Mount, the Dome of the Rock

We split up once again. My team was led to meet a man who was warm and touched by meeting us at his restaurant. We wrote him an encouraging letter with Bible verses. He was a Muslim, but we did not care, we wanted him to know that Jesus still loves him. And we gave him a souvenir of a 1 dollar bill from America.

The day ended by my team going to the Garden Tomb. We all felt a whiff of peace and joy. In Jerusalem, there are several debates on where Jesus was crucified and buried. Many churches claim their markings of where Jesus was crucified and buried. My team went to visit some sites where the churches were planted on top of what they perceive Jesus was crucified and buried. My team did not feel peace with our hearts until the Garden Tomb. We felt the Holy Spirit was there. It was a feeling we can not explain. But does it matter? No, Jesus is alive-living inside each of us as that is what the people of the Garden Tomb emphasized! The whole scavenger hunt was amazing. It is really easy to Holy Spirit! We go to sight see and do ministry at the same time. Nothing beats the time seeing where Jesus walked and sharing Jesus' love for the people. Israel is truly, truly, truly the Lord's land. Keep praying for peace in Israel.

 

Dan and I at the Garden Tomb the next day


Picture with a man with red hair

Another store owner that we met along the way

Israel Testimonies: Jordan Valley Kibbutz, Hagi and Amela

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Many of you already know but Dan and I have the honor and privilege of working with an amazing group of new staff this year focused on sharing Jesus in the Deaf community! So I thought as I share Israel testimonies I could introduce our new staff at the same time! So I asked each of our staff to share a testimony so that you can met them as well as hear more about what God did in Israel. To meet all of our staff and read a profile about who they are visit www.asldts.com/school-leaders/ !

So it is an honor to introduce one of our first staff: Elizabeth Brandow.  She is sharing a testimony from Tiberias, North of Israel, which in is Upper Galilee, where Jesus grew up, Nazareth, and lived during this ministry, Capernuam. After her testimony, I have pictures of other opportunities, ministries and fun times we had during our week up North. 

We spent a week in Tiberias and worked a little bit with Bill Rogers. Really, Bill scheduled many of our events, throughout the week. Everything from food ministry to even inviting us to join for worship at the Battle of Hittin. We even did worship songs at the local Messiah church he attends but one of my favorite ministry days was when we went to Jordan Valley and spent some time at the First Pioneer Kibbutz.

From my understanding from the few people there the we meet, a Kibbutz is a place located in several places in Israel. Passed down in the last 100 years to the second Jewish immigration to Israel. At some point, young Jews began to rebel against religion and tradition wanting freedom but still hold onto their Jewish inheritance. So they formed communities or settlements where people worked and the majority of their income goes to the community which pays for housing, food and basic necessities. People eat, sleep and breath together since 1912. But because of Shabbat, it was very quiet and only a few people around.

Picture with Hagi and us

I thought we were walking into the show called “lost” for a while until we finally met a man named Hagi. He said he was born and raised there. Jointed the Israel military for two years, where he fell in love with his wife. But did not marry until they both returned to the Kibbutz. He was the one who took a few moments of his time to explain about the Kibbutz and his own history. He said he worked in environment reserves for many years and then retired. But he still helps in his community.

We walked around for a bit and met a few other people and then we started walking towards other school buildings but saw a door open and of course we were curious and walked in. We found a woman working in her office and she was delighted to see us. She said her husband had come home for lunch and was talking about three beautiful and very nice American girls. Then we asked about her husband to see if it was the same man that we had met earlier that day, Hagi. I got so excited because when Hagi mentioned he had a wife, I began to pray about meeting this wife, Amela. And God lead us right to her! She told us to help ourselves to coffee/tea and cookies and sit outside. She was actually delighted to have someone come and take her away from her work and did not mind waiting until Sunday, as it was Friday afternoon and Shabbat would start soon.

Amela's office, Liza with some tea 

We talked for an hour.  She has been a student, music teacher and during the 6 day war, she managed to care for cattle with just a 16 year old boy when all the men where at war. But she said it was her favorite thing to do! She talked about Hagi and her children for a little bit. Shared her desires to travel more because Hagi does not like to. We began asking about her faith. She mentioned God but did not care for religion or traditions. She really believed in woman’s rights and she said she hated the Crusaders and everything they did. Renca and I agreed and mentioned we do not believe in taking God's name in vain that way and simply followed Jesus. She began to soften up and agreed a little. We do not think she was a believer. We began to encourage her. As we were able to leave, she began to open up about her son who passed away and losing her father and brother. Her father went to war and her brother was taken and never seen again. We encouraged her to have hope and continue to be strong and she just welled up and started crying. We hugged and asked for a picture and then said good bye. As we were leaving, we prayed God would soften her heart and encourage her and Hagi. I prayed their marriage would be strong and they will be able to keep on.

Us and Amela, Hagi's wife

It was honestly encouraging to see a couple married happily and have a sense of humor. To support each other through their trails. It was hard to hear that she hated Christians because of the Crusaders and the people who hurt her family over the years. I wished we had more time so I could share about the Father's heart but I know God has other plans for her and the simple prayer of guiding us to Hagi's wife was an amazing blessing.  

Worship at the Battle of Hittin where we joined another YWAM DTS from Kona

 

Mt of Beatitudes, the traditional site where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mt

Bill Rogers teaching us in Capernaum, where Jesus lived during this years of ministry 

 

Dan and I at Capernaum in ruins of a Jewish Synagogue where Jesus taught

Yardneit on the Jordan River, a possible site where Jesus was baptized

Renca and Kari got baptized there! 

Hannukkah outreach in Tiberias, playing Dreidel

 (the older people had more fun then the kids!) 

Talking to people afterwards and sharing Jesus 

Packing food boxes for families in need

Jewish Shabbat traditional Dinner that Kayla made us

Our team leading some worship songs at a Messiah Jewish congregation 

Israel Testimonies: A Bridge for the Deaf community

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On the prayer walk, we had the first day after meeting Greg again, we continued and arrived to a gated building called  "Ephphatha" Dan recognized the word from when Jesus healed the deaf man's ears in the Bible.  He said Ephphatha which means be opened. We stood around for a few mins and finally I went up to the gate and pushed the intercom and said "Hello, we are from America" and immediately the gate opened.  

We had a warm welcome by nuns from Italy who we learned ran an oral school run. Oral school means the teachers teach Deaf kids through spoken language and do not use sign language (in Bethlehem they use Palestine Sign Language) as a way to teach.  The school is the largest school of the Deaf in Palestine and have around 200 students.  

I used my Spanish to talk to a nun who only spoke in Italian (which was really FUN). Where we asked if there was someone who spoke English.  We met Rania, a nun from the country of Jordan at the school and some of the students, who spoke English. We did some dramas for the few students that were there. The students were so surprised to meet Deaf people from other countries as one of the girls expressed, "I thought the Deaf were only in Palestine."  It was amazing to open their world to other Deaf people and sign language and gestures, as they did not sign.  We had a candid discussion after dramas with Rania about the teaching sign language to the students at the school, which was heavy on our team's heart.   She shared she would love to learn Palestine sign language and one day have classes for students who would like to learn. Her heart was so good and so open.  We then prayed  for the school, the teachers and nuns there.  After we prayed, Rania, was so moved by our prayers she said "You pray from your hearts! Can you pray for me personally?" Of course, we said yes and she shared some of her personal prayer requests and we prayed for her! We all were in tears by the end of the prayer! I love how God orchestrates everything and that we only needed to walk with him and trust him. We talked about another time when we could come and do a program for the students. 

Renca giving her a hug after the prayer

A few days later had the opportunity to serve at the House of Hope, a school that serves students with special needs in Bethlehem.  When we arrived, we were excited to see and meet Halimeh, a woman who works at the school who is Deaf! Our group connected with her immediately and after we had a dance party and played with the kids, she gave our group a tour of Bethlehem.

Some of our girls with Halimeh and some of her students

Dance party with the students at House of Hope

Throughout our time in Israel, we were able to connect again and again with Halimeh and her family, who were all Deaf, her mom and two sisters. She invited our group over to her house for lunch and we all enjoyed an amazing Arabic style lunch and a great time of getting to know each other until late in the night. We shared about why we had come to Israel with her and her family, which led to sharing Jesus.  We were so blessed that God crossed our paths. During our time there, we learned they are from Jordan but have a heart to serve the Deaf in Palestine so moved back, as her mother grew up in Palestine and went to the Oral school that we had visited a couple days before! God was planning something! We knew it. 

Halimeh

Dinner on the floor Arabic style

I LOVE washing dishes! 

We had an amazing time taught them how to play "Nijia" an American game that our group LOVES! You try to get other out of the game by hitting their hands with your hands with a one swift movement. And we play story cubes in ASL, where there a cubes with pictures and you need to roll the cube and get a picture and then continue a story using the picture. Below are some pictures!

Not only did we have an amazing time of fellowship but we were also able to invite them to come with us to the school, after asking the nuns if we could, to bridge two worlds, oral and sign, in the Deaf community in Palestine.  The second time we went to the Ephapheta, Halimeh's two younger sisters, Amineh and Nadia (who are in the picture above) were able to come and join us. We had so much fun playing games with the elementary students and doing dramas for the older students, with help from Amineh and Nadia (as they knew the Arabic and helped us communicate).   Below are some pictures from our time there!

Afterwards, our team,  Amineh and Nadi,  and Rania came together for cookies and drinks.   We were able to start the discussion about introducing or have a sign language class available for the students who want to learn.   It was awesome how God used our team to be a bridge for the Deaf community in Palestine. We know that God has great plans for both this family and the school.  We look forward to see their partnership grow and His plans as they are revealed!