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| Tel Aviv |
ToTheStreets International was on our second trip to Israel and this time around we were anxious to hit the streets hard with the gospel. We knew someone who had freely preached on the streets in Jerusalem and so we knew that it was possible (to preach) despite all the protests from different people.
We arrived in Tel Aviv and planned to stay there for a few days before leaving for Jerusalem where we had booked two rooms in the home of a missionary. We had met her two years earlier and had been exchanging newsletters from that time on. I was relaxing on my bed in our hostel when I got an email from her which said, "Kim, can you find another place to stay? My current roommates do not feel comfortable with your coming. I will be gone and they are afraid you will bring trouble through your evangelizing. Thanks for understanding."
To say I was shocked is putting it mildly. I was hurt, puzzled and bewildered. Before journeying to Israel, I had looked and looked for a place to stay in Jerusalem that was affordable for us. Finally, I realized that her home was the cheapest for us (even though it too seemed expensive) and I was so thankful when she said we could come. She knew that we do evangelism and she agreed to our dates and did not express any concern until just before we left Germany. I responded back right away that we would respect her wishes and be extra sensitive. She thanked me. So, to have gotten that email from her just days before we were to leave for Jerusalem with no other place to say seemed just unbelieveable. I could have written back and said, "You made a verbal deal with me" but after prayer, we felt that we should respect her wishes and trust the Lord that He had something better for us.
The next day we took a walk down to the beach and were taken with its beauty. The water and sand were clean, the sun was shining and the warm air gently wrapped her arms around us. There was a row of huge, tannish-gold colored rocks on the beach, some of which were cut flat so you could sit on them. I decided to lay on them, on my back so I could gaze up into the sky yet also turn to see the ocean. The clouds in the sky were particularly stunning, large and white. As I gazed up at them, they materialized themselves into the large form of a face - which looked just like the face of Jesus. I saw long hair, a beard, long nose and kind eyes. While I was gazing at the face, Jesus spoke into my spirit and said, "I want you to enjoy my land while you are here. ENJOY MY LAND."
I turned to Thilo who was sitting next to me and I said, "Thilo, look up into the sky! The clouds are formed into the face of Jesus." He looked up and when I turned back to look up, the face was gone. No matter how I searched, I couldn't find the same formation. I thought, "Oh, the clouds must have moved" but then I noticed that there was not a single breeze and not one of clouds was moving.
Then I knew. It was truly Jesus. He had spoken to me by showing me His face in the clouds.
I was still very upset about not having a place to stay in Jerusalem. It was there that I really wanted to evangelize. I knew from my previous internet searching that we could not afford the housing in Jerusalem and so we made the decision to go to Tiberias instead. Yet my heart was unsettled. "Why, Lord, why?" I was asking. I knew we would want to explore all the footsteps of Jesus once we were in the Galilee region and that we might not make so much time for evangelizing. Too often I find it hard to relax. I want to work and work for my Lord and I worry too much about what our supporters think but He was not worried or wringing His hands wondering why we were not evangelizing. He knew beforehand. He understood and He was rejoicing that we had an opportunity to 'enjoy His land', His beautiful Israel where He will one day return to rule and reign.
The next day we found a hostel in Tiberias and after our arrival, we rented a car and got to see Capernaum, the Jordan River, the Sea of Galilee and the Mt. of Beatitudes. There were hardly any people where we stayed in Tiberias and it sort of felt like a ghost-town. We passed out tracts and tried to have conversations with the cafe owners but it was not near my imaginings of what we might have done in Jerusalem. If my Lord had not spoken to me and told me to "enjoy His land" I may not have not felt such joy in the beautiful flowers that were still blooming (in November) nor felt such peace in allowing myself to be a tourist.
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| Mt. of Beattitudes |
I have to admit, I even failed at having perfect peace. Now that I'm home and pondering on it all I wonder, why didn't I try and see more? Why didn't I fully grasp what the Lord was saying to me? He is so good and kind. I can still feel the excitement in His voice when He said, "Enjoy my land." Oh what wrong perceptions I have of Him. How often I forget that He is living in complete joy and freedom. How often I don't see His heart that longs to bless and give to me. I am my own worst task-master. He simply says, "Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the scriptures declare, 'Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.'" (John 7:389). All I have to do is look to Him, and allow that living water to flow out of me, whether it be sight-seeing or preaching on the street. It can happen all the time, even when "enjoying HIS land."
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| The Sea of Galilee |
