Our Journey with Christ: Israel Testimonies: Holy Spirit Scavenger hunt

Posted by Dan and Carole McClelland

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.