The End is Only the Beginning

Walking where Jesus walked, going where Jesus went, feeling a small portion of what Jesus may have felt, seeing a little bit of the plan and detail that went into saving the world from deep and embedded sin. It's gut-wrenching and it's liberating. It's raw and it's beautiful.

It's hard to come back from the rich encounter that we just experienced. All of us coming back to our jobs, whether full time mommy or full time workplace, or even both. All of us struggling, at least mildly, with total body exhaustion and jet lag as the cherry on top. And the questions have come...
"What was your favorite part?"
"What did you learn?"
"How was it?"
"Do you feel different?"
"What was it like to be in Israel?"
"Can you describe everything?"

Forgive us if we look at you with vacant stares or give general answers like, "it was great" or "it was really amazing" or "God really showed up"! We promise to give you more detail, insight, and, undoubtedly, pictures as our processing abilities are reinstated with rest and time.

We will never understand why a Perfect, Gracious, Merciful, Just, and LOVING God would ever do what He did for us. We will never see all of the connections and details that God outlined for His people, starting with the Israelites and extending to all nations and all peoples, to you and to me. We will never be able to fully describe the way God was present and working in our lives and our team on this trip, but we do hope to give you snapshots into all of these areas. We hope that you will be moved by our stories enough to realize that God is at work in our world; even a world filled with darkness, evil, sadness, and confusion. We hope that we can convey the depths of His love for each person from the ways we were able to experience it.  And we KNOW that God's love is overwhelmingly beautiful and sacrificial.

So as we wrap up this trip, say goodbye as a team, and step back into your lives we ask that you'd walk along with us and continue your love, support, and prayers for us. We realize that the end of this trip is only the beginning of the great and wondrous works that the Lord has planned for our lives. We ask that you'd pray we wouldn't be the same, that we'd fall in love with our Savior more than we ever have in the past, but that we won't just ride on the high of this great experience, but let it sink in deeply. We ask that it would take root and grow into a relationship that honors and benefits everyone around us, but mostly our precious Lord and Savior. 

Thank you so much for caring for us and following along with us. We can't thank YOU enough for supporting us through your prayers and love. It was felt and we are beyond grateful.

Below are the groups from WLDF that were represented on the trip (as well as the faithful men!):

The men. 

First Thymes

Forget Me Nots 

Shamrocks 

Forsythias 

Lilies

Crocuses 

Orchids 

The Last Day

It's funny, really, the way God works everything out; the way He makes His point and shows us how much He really does care about the intricacies of our lives. Is it any wonder that one of our brave and hardworking team members who struggles with knee problems made it through the entire trip, climbed mountains and hiked through all of the sites, just to have it give out on the very last day when we talked of Jesus' suffering and submission? Or that the men in our group lovingly carried her through the steep streets of Jerusalem, one after another, while we talked of Christ's sacrificial act for all people? Or that at our final stop, a replica of a tomb that Christ could have been buried in, displayed a sign that declared "HE IS NOT HERE FOR HE IS RISEN!" solidifying in our minds that our Savior is ALIVE and at work?

No, it's not a wonder at all. It's the way our God works. It's His kindness to us to confirm His presence. It's his tender, shepherding voice leading us to know Him more. What a privilege to serve and know a Holy God in such an intimate way.

******

Our final day of touring and learning began at the City of David. Pastor Jim outlined Jesus' careful plans to save the spiritually "lame and blind" through setting aside a limited law and making way for a new, all-encompassing way to give abundant life. He also showed us how Jesus' received His authority by, again, replacing the old for something newer, better, and stronger. These arguments were all made stronger as we sat by the pool of Siloam after walking through the tunnels that run under the city and seeing where Hezekiah and the Canaanites set up their elaborate underground network.

After seeing these places, we went on a journey up Mount Zion toward St Peter's Church which was the site of Caiaphas' House in the New Testament. This is where Jesus was taken when He was arrested. We went down in the prison where Jesus would have been kept before trial and we read Psalm 88. As we read, emotion flooded all of us and we got to feel a little bit of what it must have felt like for Jesus. Alone. Abandoned. Death looming near.

When we emerged from the pit, Pastor Jim brought us to the precipice of Christian belief by explaining how important it is that Jesus is both fully human and fully God. It is this fact that we all have the chance to be delivered from sin. Through the perfect union of man and God in the person of Jesus Christ, He has won. The law has been broken. Death defeated. All this because God's elaborate plan worked! He has emerged victorious, able to bring life and salvation to ALL people. This was our final lesson from Pastor Jim and what a message it was! Jesus is the hinge on which all of Christianity turns and He is the single greatest miracle that God has ever performed. HALLELUJAH!

Our very last site, again, was the Garden Tomb. This was a site that replicated a tomb that Christ was laid in. A beautiful reminder that He is not there. He is Risen.

After our time out in the city of Jerusalem we all went back to our hotel, packed up, showered, and got ready to head to the airport. We said a long goodbye to Stephanie and Arika as they were heading back to France and Zambia (they have both arrived safely back to their families) and we took off to the airport to head back home to all of you, our loved ones.

Here are pictures from our last day:

Entering the City of David 

Ruins of David's city - Jerusalem 

Walking in the tunnels 

More tunnels 

Scott emerging from the tunnels 

The pool of Siloam where Jesus healed the man blind from birth 

Our long ascent 

A group shot and a short break from walking 

Stephanie bringing out her inner harpist! 

Being Jesus to each other! 

In the courtyard of St Peter's Church, the place where Caiaphas' house once stood 

Down in the pit where Jesus may have been kept 

Steve on the merry go round at lunchtime 

At the garden tomb 

Beautiful truth. 

Saying goodbye 

Fear Not

We all come to this world with fears. Fears of public speaking, spiders, and tight spaces. Fears of being alone, a failure, and rejected. We all have a set of fears that Satan can use to bind us up and take hold of our hearts. Sometimes we even give in, take our eyes off of Jesus, and begin to panic and doubt, but as we were reminded in nearly every one of our discussions today, we as God's children, do not have to be afraid.

We need to believe. We need to believe that God will protect, provide, guide, carry, and show us His faithfulness. We need to step out boldly and wildly for God's Kingdom when He asks us to. He does His part, we must do our part. God called Abraham to kill Isaac. God allowed David to negotiate with death. God (in the form of Jesus) asked the man at the pool of Bethesda if he really wanted to be healed. God asked Jesus to die a terrible and painful death as a sacrifice for many. What is God asking of you?

Whatever the answer may be, we must not fear. We cannot let it cripple us to the point of inaction. We cannot allow it to become a tool for Satan. When we believe in faith that God will come through for us and in our situations, we will see the amazing things that God can do with us in helping us utilize the gifts He gave us. We must be obedient through our fears and the suffering that God might call us to.

*****

It's hard to sum up a day like today, beginning on the Mount of Olives we joined together for the most incredible church service overlooking where the Temple Mount sits, where Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice in giving up His life for our sins, where He was buried, but where He rose again in victory. Seeing with our own eyes the way that God made a way for the entire world to be saved, is truly too much for words.

After church we went to the Garden of Gethsemane. We then made our way to the Pools of Bethesda and St Anne's church and heard from Pastor Tom. What a refreshing and moving message. Jesus stirred our souls and we shared stories how we have seen God's miraculous healing. These healings weren't merited by us, but as we sat at Bethesda (literally House of Mercy), we became overwhelmed by how true that is in our lives. Our Great and merciful God can heal and mend the brokenness inside each of us. This moment was just one more on a great list of many where God knit us even more into the bonds of community and, wow, was it powerful!  

We then walked the Via Dolorosa, - the road of suffering - in Jesus' footsteps and identified with the pain and suffering He must have been feeling carrying His cross in a very public place. Once finished on the road, we entered the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and saw the final stages and lengths of His obedience to the Father and His love for us. We entered the tomb, but many of us realized that HE IS ALIVE! No need for sadness, no need for fear, Jesus is alive. The tomb is empty! Hallelujah!

After lunch and a little time in the local market to purchase our last few souvenirs, we visited the Western Wall where we offered up our prayers to the Lord. We then went back to the Mount of Olives. Pastor Jim brought a message of great encouragement to us based on the Olivet Discourse. Christ WILL come back, the plan is already in process, and we must be vigilant and without fear in preparing for that return by our actions! We cannot waste time! If we do the consequences are grave. We must work for the Kingdom, bringing it glory and giving our all in preparation for His glorious return to the Mount of Olives for the final battle where He will emerge VICTORIOUS!

It was a life-changing day. THANK YOU for your prayers. We think of you all back at home and we are excited to get back to our bigger community and work together to serve our God and our King!

Here are some pictures from today:

Jerusalem's skyline

Church. 

Leta sharing her testimony, LIVE! It's like we were with you Calvary! 

The Garden of Gethsemane a sober reminder of the anticipation of the cross 

Shelly reflecting 

Pastor Tom teaching at Bethesda - house of mercy 

Before entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher 

Going up to Golgotha 

A man praying at the slab where they laid Jesus after taking Him down from the cross 

The empty tomb! 

Prayers at the Western Wall 

Those tall Americans...

Jim preaching on the Mount of Olives 

Prayers to our Lord and Savior 

Our little community in Israel 

The sun setting over the Jerusalem skyline. Promises that Jesus will return! 

 

The Battle is the Lord's!

Whatever you're facing, whatever Satan has put up against you, GOD is stronger. He is bigger. He is searching and blessing those with hearts that completely trust in Him! Just like David when he looked upon, from human perspective, something too strong and unbeatable and realized he had God, we too should realize that God can intervene. He looked at David and found his heart to be true, a man of devotion and complete confidence in the Lord and His power. We must cultivate a heart such as his. We must know that without a shadow of a doubt, God reigns in all majesty and can defeat the forces of darkness that invade and threaten to overtake.

Or take Mary, a woman called to see to completion an impossible task in mothering the true Messiah. She withstood inordinate amounts of social pressure, left behind the plans she had made for herself years before that angel appeared to her, and lived with the foreboding realization of extreme suffering. Yet she did not falter, she did not question, she looked upon the Lord for His strength and realized that she was a blessed woman BECAUSE of our great God and His ability to conquer all these things.

No matter what kinds of spiritual battles you're up against, if you have a heart fully devoted to God and not based on human strength and spirit, you can remember and say to your foe, "...the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD's and He will give you into our hands (1 Samuel 17:47b).

Today, this is what we heard and proclaimed. We are the Lord's and He WILL win the battle if we have hearts that He can see are true to Him and Him alone!



We started our day in Bethlehem where we did a bit of shopping, and then went to see the birthplace of Jesus, now the site of an ornate and beautiful church. We proceeded to the field of the Shepherds where we learned what it takes to be a good shepherd to a herd of sheep and the parallels of the Lord as our Good Shepherd and then we went to lunch.

After lunch we went to an overlook that provided a bird's eye view of the Elah Valley where the story of David and Goliath took place, we heard another amazing teaching and remembered that the battle is the LORD'S!

Finally, we made our way to Ein Karem where Mary visited her cousin, Elizabeth while she was pregnant with Jesus and where she recited the Magnificat and recognized herself blessed.  We heard a fantastic perspective of Mary from Lisa and we were all touched in the knowledge of what Mary had to go through being the mother of Jesus, the Lord, Savior and TRUE Messiah, but how God was faithful and loving toward her.

God has been present with us in innumerable ways and for that we are not only thankful for His provision, but thankful for the many who have prayed and are praying for us back at home. Your prayers are working. We are all healthy, we are being refreshed and renewed, and we have been safe thus far in our journeys. We are so grateful for all of you!! You are beautiful, shining examples of our Savior.


Highlights in pictures from day five:

Cindy soaking in the sun and the memories of what God has given her in this place 

The Church of the Nativity

Waiting to go see the birthplace of Jesus

It is believed that this is near the place where Jesus was born - by that star

Angela, Katie, Carla, and Emily waiting for our bus to arrive

Susan, Cindy, Shelly, Stephanie, and Cindy waiting for our bus

In a cave where Shepherds went with their flocks

Kathy emerging from the cave

Overlooking the Elah Valley where the Lord overcame evil!

Finding stones in the once brook where David found his 5 stones

Ein Karem - where Mary visited Elizabeth

The Magnificat in many, many languages

The beautiful church in Ein Karem

Thanks again for following with us!