More on Zichron Ya'acov

I wanted to give you a picture of my friend, Ohad, from an earlier post. This is his wonderful wooden toystore, Noah's Ark. We've already been able to bring some of our friends here, 2 by 2!

In the late 1800's when Zichron Ya'acov was established, it was under the control of the Turks as a part of the Ottomon Empire. It was illegal to build a synagogue, so they got around it by building a haybarn which they needed for their farming operations. It was not illegal to convert an existing building into a synagogue, so soon their barn became what is the oldest continuous synagogue in the Land.

Shabbat

We delight in the Shabbat! (Isaiah 58:13) After the rains, it was wonderful to bask in some sunlight. Our morning started with breakfast with treasured friends of the community. Conversation centered around family, the greater family of Israel, and the heart. How thankful this German couple is for their 15 years in Israel. Plus…all of their five children and grandchildren are here…two of their children are Yehuda and Ephraim. They were born on the same day…3 years apart! (and they were given these Hebrew names at birth while living in Germany). The children endured much anti-Semitism just because of their names! He also spoke to us about Yeshua having two flocks (John 10:16). Those two flocks will be joined together under one Shepherd…our Messiah Yeshua! And the very picture our host spoke of is displayed in his own family! At the end of our breakfast, they gave me a special gift. It is an interlinear Brit Chadasha (New Testament) in Hebrew and in English! This is a treasure to me!

Later this morning we had a Shabbat service with the community. It was on the heart and I was especially touched by this verse:

Isaiah 62:6 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of YHWH, do not keep silent,

This is what we see here amongst these people. They are constantly interceding for His people and for Jerusalem. We have seen a picture of what "day and night" looks like.

Isaiah 62:1 For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, And her salvation as a lamp that burns.

The afternoon brought a bit of midrash for some of us visitors here. When Cal and I walked outside we were so touched by a boy (14 or so) sitting on a bench with his grandfather. He had his arm around the elder and he greeted us saying, "This is my grandfather." The elderly are so treasured here. They are given an elevated position. All have some sort of a job to keep the kibbutz running. Many of the elderly work on making down filled quilts and pillows, but their main job is to pray for the community and for Israel. Thus they live in what is called the "Priests house." The job of the priests, as you know, was to assist the people in coming near to the Almighty with their sacrifices. The elderly here are priests according to the order of Melchizedek (means King of Righteousness - Hebrews 5:6), as in the name of Yeshua our Messiah they lift us the needs of the community and the praises of the King of Righteousness.

We ended the day with a time of fellowship with the English speakers at the Kibbutz. Many testimonies and great singing. EVERYONE who lives here sings. And I mean with a beautiful voice. One of the young men here told us that it was only last year that he discovered that there were people who couldn't really sing! Well together we were all able to make a joyful noise.

Erev Shabbat!

I'm sorry, I don't have any pictures of Magen Sha'ul right now. We will be returning. Magen Sha'ul means "shield of Saul". There are community believers who also live in this town, situated very near the Palestinian city of Jenin. In fact there is an electric fence right in their very back yards. These believers have positioned themselves as a "shield" between the Palestinians and the Jews of the city of Magen Sha'ul. As we relaxed in one of the homes with a precious family, we heard the speakers go off. It was erev Shabbat and the time when the daily prayers turns into a time for political incitement and they throw out their curses against the Jews and the people of the city of Magen. Truly an eerie sound. However, we threw ourselves into worship and praise of our Messiah and fully covered over the evil!

Shabbat Shalom! We were so grateful to our host for such a pleasant Shabbat. Our first in the Land! The food was beautiful and amazing. We ate, worshipped and sat around to midrash. Daniel spoke to us about the power of forgiveness. He and his wife told us of a time when they were in a restaurant, and she received the wrong meal. The lady was so apologetic and Carol was quick to tell her that it was OK. She would try it and perhaps it would be just fine. The waitress was still apologizing and told her she would get her the right meal if she did not like it. Carol actually did not like the meal so asked for another. It was brought to her, but the girl was still apologizing and even brought the manager. Finally it occurred to Daniel what the waitress needed. He told her he knew that she made a mistake, but that "they forgave her". Wow! It ended it all. They all got what they needed! They took a couple steps back and accepted their forgiveness. It ended it all! Forgiveness! That is what we all need most from our Messiah. But it is also required that we give it to each other. Matthew 6:14 - If you forgive men their tresspasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Daniel spoke much more about forgiveness, especially at what Messiah Yeshua has done for us, but we all have the same Book! Shabbat Shalom!

February 26, the rest of the day

Tel Jezreel - not such a popular destination for most tours, but an important place just the same. Underneath this ground would be the remains of the ancient city of Jezreel, home of the wicked king of the Northern Kingdom, King Ahab and Jezebel. Jezreel was united during the time of David and Solomon's kingdoms, with the split of the tribes ocurring with Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. Ahab was worse than any other king at mixing the truth of the Father with pagan practices. This was the whole reason why Elijah confronted the priests of Ba'al. In the Bible, repenting is the process of returning. Returning to what? Returning to the ways of the Father. Yeshua came to show us how to do this. His first words in Mark - The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel! Yeshua came to do what was written in the prophecies...return us to the ancient paths. So we took some time in prayer on this hilltop to repent and return. And as written in Daniel 9, to repent for our sins and the sins of our forefathers. After Daniel's prayer, it says in Daniel - ... while I was still in prayer, he was told by the angel Gabriel, "Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding."

I challenge you to read and pray the prayer of Daniel in Daniel 9.

February 26th - Rain!

This is a welcome sight in Israel this time of year. Those clouds threw a lot of rain on our day and NO ONE complained. Rain is such a blessing in the Land!

I call this picture...Is this Minnesota? Wow! It is amazing how lush everything has become with the rains. This is the forest on the road to Mt. Gilboa and an overlook of the valley below. Actually this forest wasn't here several years ago. The Israeli's have been planting trees since they entered the Land and it is not longer an empty wasteland. The Land has responded to Yehuda's return.

We saw an ancient tomb along this same road, not unlike the tomb that Yeshua was laid in. See the large flat rock? This rock has a trench that it rolls in to seal the grave. Amazing what you find just along the road. Only in Israel!

In between the rains, we stopped and got a view from Mt. Gilboa. The Bible says that this mountain is where the Philistines fought against Israel and many were slain, including King Saul and his son, Jonathan. Today you can view many fishponds down in the valley from here. The ponds are just a flooded field. After awhile, they remove the fish, drain the field and flood a different field, leaving the richness of the fertilizer for the crop. I will have to finish the rest of this day later!

To Samaria!

Today we took a day trip to the beginning slopes on the west side of the hills of Samaria, commonly referred to as the West Bank. Our destination was Alfe Menashe, which means “thousands of Menashe” and comes from Devarim (Deuteronomy 33:17) where Ya'acov (Jacob) is blessing his sons. The city itself is one of the gateways into Samaria and the gateway to the Mount of Blessing and the Mount of Cursing in Samaria. Alfe Menashe is surrounded by 5 Arab villages. Each village has 5 mosques and each mosque gives a call to prayer 3 to 4 times a day...more during certain times of the year. The Arabs not only use the speakers for a call to prayer, but also for polical incitement against the Jews on Fridays. Jewish believers in the city proclaim the Name of our Elohim and are praying and blessing His Name.

Both of the above pictures are of Alfe Menashe, a beautiful spread out city. Many of you would probably like to know that this is also the city of our friends Ephraim and Rimona Frank.

We were blessed to spend time with Charlotte and Uzi. Charlotte was born in South Africa and Uzi was born on a kibbutz at the foot of Mount Tabor (the Mount of Transfiguration). When the Yom-Kippur War started, he was called up to fight in the bitterest of battles in Sinai, as a reservist tank-driver. His battalion commander was Israel's former Prime Minister, Ehud Barak. During the last hour of the war, he was injured by a piece of shrapnel penetrated into his skull. This head injury left him paralyzed in both legs, for 17 years.

During 1990 he was sent to South Africa for business. He was lonely and disabled. But here he found Yeshua! And two months later, he met Charlotte. Then in October 1990, on the exact day of the 17th anniversary of his injury, he was healed from his paralysis! Since then, they have been serving Yeshua and worshipping Him through praise and worship.

Following are some of the beautiful flowers from Uzi's (name means strength) yard...

Bird of Paradise

This rose was as big as it looks!

A beautifully manicured olive tree in their front yard.


The following couple of pictures are of a memorial in Alfe Menashe of the 1st Lebanon war in 1997. Israel is very big in remembering its fallen. There was a tragic accident that occured in the Galilee area. 73 combatant soldiers were killed when two helicopters collided. Two were from Alphe Menashe. The double stone is actually made from one stone, memoralizing the two from the city who lost their lives.

A final story from Uzi and Charlotte's...we spent time singing and praising with them. Uzi is actually a Levite and at the end, he blessed us with the Aharonic blessing in Hebrew! In fact he came around and placed his hand on each of our heads. Let me share these verses with you in English:

The LORD bless you and keep you. The LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Now see what follows these verses in Numbers 6 - So they will put My NAME on the Israelites, and I will bless them.

I can only tell you, it was an awesome moment for us to be blessed by a Levite and have him place the Name on each of us in the hills of Samaria. Please pray for the area of Alphe Menashe and for the believers there who minister and serve their own brothers.

Now for one last thought from tonight - We met with elders in the community tonight to share our stories and here is what one of the elders spoke to us in the end...We wish you all would lose your heart here in Israel. We live no more for ourselves. We have a target, a direction. We've got a job to work together with Yeshua. Live only with Him - in a frame called the end of days. One promise after another will be fulfilled. Seeing these things happen strengthens us. Go with love.

Shalom and lila tov!

Ardelle and Cal

Message from our host

One of our host brothers gave a message on the Kingdom. He began with Luke 12:32 and pointed out that the Father has already given the Kingdom to His “little flock”. The Kingdom is eternal and not earthly. He asked us to see where our focus is and where our joy comes from. Is our walk worthy of the calling? He ended with such beautiful verses: 2 Peter 1:3-10 ... as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Adonai Yeshua the Messiah. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;

A bit of history

I know you just probably want to see pictures and I hope you don't get tired of me going on and on, but I wanted to start to give you a bit of the history behind Zikhron Ya'acov. I will give it to you bit by bit and try to get some pictures to go along. For now, bear with me.

In the 1800’s, a Zionist Congress was held in Europe. It was actually promoted by Jews and non-Jews. No one really liked them in Europe. Of course this battle goes all the way back to the Garden and the attempt to keep YHWH’s people away from His Word. Get rid of the people…get rid of the Book.

The Ottoman Empire was in Palestine (eretz Israel) at this time. Actually, the Muslim rule was better than the Pogroms which were occurring in several countries at this time. There was a hill called Zamarim Hill purchased in 1882 by the first settlers. But Zikhron Ya’acov was one of five communities established in the late 1800’s. They are known as the first Aliyah communities. Zikhron Ya’acov is not on the list of most tours from outside of Israel. But IN Israel, school children, the IDF, all make trips to the city. It is a part of their heritage. It is really the beginning of brother Judah returning to the Land. It’s “Remembering Jacob”…I see it in the same way that the Father remembered the Israelites when they were in Egypt. In Hebrew, the word for “remember” means to begin to act on behalf of. After hundreds of years, the Father once again began to remember…once again to act on behalf of His people. Brother Judah first, just as always. Surely, according to the promises, the rest of Israel shall be “remembered”. All this preceded the state of Israel in 1948. There’s always a remnant that begins the process….

An unrolled Torah Scroll museum with tiles picturing the history of the city -

Ohad's story

Here is the story of Ohad that I promised you. Ohad is the Jewish owner of a toy store. I’m not a shopper (except of Israeli things!), but 5 years ago I walked into Ohad’s wooden toy shop and fell in love with his unique wooden toys. I spent a lot of time in there, looking at each particular toy. I actually ended up carrying many of them home in my suitcase (you were allowed 2 bags at 70 pounds back then). We also had wonderful conversations with Ohad. Last year, I was excited to take several friends to Ohad’s store to not only see the fun and unique items there, but also to meet my wonderful friend. Ohad remembered me, greeted me, looked at my crowd of friends in his small store and proceeded to tell us that we were only to enter a couple at a time. I was a little surprised to hear him say this, and my friends politely shopped for only a minute or two and we all left. Now…I must tell you what Ohad had to say when Cal and I walked in this week. He greeted us and told me that he remembered me coming in last year with a bunch of friends. Then he asked us…do you know the name of my store? I actually didn’t and he said, “Noah’s Ark.” He continued softly, “Last year when you came in I asked you to come in two by two. I was making like a joke, but I’m afraid I offended you.” Get it? Two by two into the Ark! For a year, this Jewish man, the Hebrew root of his name meaning "unity", had carried the burden of offending his brother. He seemed so relieved! Well, I am excited to take new friends to Noah’s Ark this year. And perhaps I’ll even take them…two by two! And you can bet I'll slip something into my suitcase!

In Zikhron

Our wonderful friends picked us up from the airport and took us to the city of Zikhron Ya’acov, a little south of Haifa. This is where we'll be staying for the next 4 1/2 weeks. The beautiful town is on a high bluff, with some overlooks to the Mediterranean.

Zikron Ya'acov literally means "remembering Jacob". It is a city where Jews and believer live together in beautiful harmony. It wasn't always like this, but today there is a beautiful presence of servant-like believers who love on brother Judah. Cal and I and several others will have the privilege of learning from these servants of Yeshua the Messiah. We hope to share much of what we learn of this wonderful point in time when the Father is restoring and "Remembering Jacob".

Not any more time to write, but later I hope to share with you a wonderful story of a Jewish store owner who I met five years ago. Last year, although I didn't know this, he feared he had offended me and several others in our group. He had carried this burden for a year and when we entered his shop he was eager to explain his comment. I was so touched by this man and

you will have to return to get...the rest of the story!

Journey continues

Feb 21/22 – On our journey to Israel, we were constantly reminded that the Father was in control. Our plane left late out of Cedar Rapids, arriving late at Chicago with only minutes until our next flight. We ran…I mean we raced to our next gate when Cal decided he had time to use the restroom. He started to walk away and I said, “NO! We’re going to be LATE!” I picked up all four pieces of luggage (only 2 on wheels) and headed in the direction of the gate. They called our names before I got there…we were the last two to be assigned seats, ducking in just under the wire. It was an uneventful and pleasant trip from Chicago to Philadelphia to Tel Aviv.

Our very first sight of the Land. This was my 6th trip to Israel and Cal’s 2nd and I wasn’t quite expecting the flood of emotions when we sighted Land. Cal thought I might need a bag over my head (hyperventilating), but the emotion was sweet. Every little sign, every little memory brought a sigh and a tear. Home! The Land of Promise for the children of Israel! It is so wonderful to be in the Land where the Father has placed His Name!

We were so blessed to be “serenaded” by a group of young Jewish boys as we made our way to the baggage claim. They were also returning from “somewhere”, wearing kippas and many wrapped in the flag of Israel. As they broke into song about “Yerushalyim”, the tears started all over again.

These Jewish boys went to the line to pick up their bags...you can't really read the sign, but it says "Warsaw". As is typical for Jewish youth, they had been to view the concentration camps. They returned with joy in their hearts for the Land. A few minutes later, they circled up and began to sing and dance, purely worshipping the Elohim of Israel.

From Iowa to Israel...truly aliyah! The temperature was mid 70's! So much more to write - I hope I can keep up. We have met some incredible people, and have learned much history about early Zionists. I hope to see you tomorrow! Shalom from the Land! Ardelle and Cal, too!

Leaving Iowa

Oh, what a nice reprieve to get away from the cold and snow of Iowa! This was taken on our way out of town.

Leaving from the Cedar Rapids Airport. Nothing but snow, everywhere you look and the looming warnings of 8 - 12 inches of snow at our next airport destination! Can we beat it?

Shabbat before the big day!

Peggy does a little lesson with some of our youngest members.

Cliff has something to say!

A couple of our friends made this Tabernacle model which helps us picture what we're learning. At the end of study today we had an awesome sendoff from all of our friends who laid hands on us and prayed for all the details of our trip! Next time we write it will be from Israel!

Erev Shabbat

Our last erev Shabbat at home. This is our youngest daughter, Laura, lighting candles (and number 14 grandchild also making an appearance).


Beautiful challah! Shabbat Shalom!

Shalom to the Family

A week of farewells. This is my Mom who many of you know from my emails. She is doing so well in the Care Center where she lives. She has learned how to let her light shine and be an encourager to the other residents.


We are so blessed to have all of our five children live near us. One of our daughters had the whole family over for a farewell dinner. This is just 7 of our 13 grandchildren, one of our daughters, and My Mom.


Cal and I would like to share the family with you. This was taken a few months ago, but it includes our 5 kids, their spouses, and our 13 grandchildren. Aren't they so beautiful?!! We will miss each one!




Cal's Mom and Dad live only a few blocks from us. Look closely at Cal's right hand. Those are the cookies that his Mom always has ready for him!! He doesn't usually get those at our house!