Tuesday, December 31, 2013

All Joy & Peace

We rejoice in the things the Father has given us as we look to the close of 2013 -- new life, new friends, and new opportunities to share His love and truth with Israel and the Nations. Before we moved to Jerusalem we sold our home and our car, left our families and congregation for the sake of knowing Yeshua and making Him known and we can see His Hand in our lives. The blessing of living in Jerusalem for two years is priceless and the relationships and knowledge we've gained are eternal. Moving back to Kansas City means we have to start over, in a way, but with new eyes and new hearts. We're seeing how the L-rd wants to use the experiences and knowledge from our life in Jerusalem and our unique testimony, and are excited to use our gifts to teach, disciple and share the Good News of Yeshua . We seek your prayers to implement the vision that the L-rd has put into our hearts, for great success as Tom pursues his doctorate at King's University, and for His provision as we seek a new home, vehicle and all the necessities of reestablishing our life in Kansas City (which should be much easier than moving to the Middle East!).

As we step out in faith during this next season we ask that you will continue to partner with us. Please consider giving a one-time, year-end donation to help launch us into this next year. You can donate online by clicking here or mail checks to Tikkun International, PO Box 2997, Gaithersburg, MD 20886-2997. Include a separate note indicating your donation for Remember Jerusalem.

We look forward to seeing many of you again and rejoice that we get to share more meals and laughter with you. Until then, here's a brief look at some of the highlights we've experienced in the last year. Blessings to you, friends and supporters.

"Now may the G-d of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Romans 15:13
 

 

Thursday, December 19, 2013

A New Season

Once we returned to Jerusalem in September we began praying into what the L-RD did during the five weeks we were in Kansas City. He powerfully provided the finances, through you, to keep us here through this semester. He partnered us with so many who share a heart for unification between Jew & Gentile through Yeshua and the importance of Israel.

Even though we anticipated being here in Israel for several more years, we both felt that we were to pray and ask the L-RD if He wanted us to stay beyond February.

In asking this question we prayed into many factors, not just finances, in our desire to do His will. We were both in agreement that we desired to serve more. While we definitely serve here in different capacities, Tom is limited because of the amount of time required for his studies. The language barrier also prevents us from serving more within the Messianic Jewish body. At some level, we feel we have come to a crossroads as to whether to begin a very serious modern Hebrew language study program or move on to a new season as the L-RD leads.

Through much prayer, wrestling, and affirmation from our spiritual authorities and the Holy Spirit, He showed us that this season in Israel is coming to an end. And He has even begun to put an excitement in our hearts for the next step in our journey. In coming to this unexpected decision, we reviewed our main goals for being in Israel:

1. Connect with and serve the Messianic community in order to join the Gentile body with the Messianic body here in Israel
2. Study the Bible in its original context to bring more depth to Tom's teaching gifting
3. Learn Biblical Hebrew to strengthen Tom's gift for teaching


He has graciously allowed us to achieve these goals in the 21 months we've lived here and we've gained so much more. But the obvious question is, What about Tom's PhD if you leave Israel?

The academic experience here has proven invaluable -- both inside and outside of the classroom. Tom's calling is to teach, and he is eager to share more about everything that the L-RD has shown him through his studies and living here in the Holy Land. The plan is to continue his doctoral studies at The King’s University (founded by Jack Hayford) in Dallas, Texas. The degree is a Doctorate of Ministry in Messianic Jewish Leadership/Studies and is the only program of its kind.

We believe this is a perfect fit for us. The program is designed for people to continue in their full-time ministry positions while also pursuing a doctoral degree. Therefore, it is set up so that you only come to the campus three times per year (9 days at a time). This is very exciting for us because it will allow us to be in full-time ministry/teaching while also pursuing the doctoral degree.

We plan to return to Kansas City after this semester, in the early Spring, and the L-rd has begun giving us vision for this next step in our ministry. We once again ask for your prayers for our lives and specifically our future ministry. We desire to continue teaching the message that G-d's heart for the Nations is rooted in Israel and because of our experiences in Israel He has equipped us to be able to impart that message in a unique way. We are thankful and excited for the leading hand of the Holy Spirit and have confidence that He is leading us into this new and exciting season.

We value your partnership and will share more details in the coming months and look forward to seeing you again in America! We pray you'll continue to partner with us as we share the message: Remember Jerusalem.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Here or There?

It goes without saying that celebrating the holidays in Israel is exciting and unique. For the last month our grocery store has carried sufganiot, donuts, and I bought several Hanukkah presents and our candles at this same grocery store. We have giant Hanukkah menorahs on all of the round-abouts and our neighbors set their family menorahs out on the ledge for all to see. The holidays feel completely different here, mostly because they actually feel like something, at a national level.

While visiting the Temple Institute (with the PBlakes) I bought Cassidy a dreidel. Once we got it home I took a closer look and realized it's an Israel-specific dreidel. A dreidel has four sides and each side has a letter on it, and some jewels if you have a fancy one like Cassidy. The four letters stand for the phrase,  "נס גדול היה שם", Nes Gadol Hayah Sham – "a great miracle happened there". The ש stands for "there" but the one we have doesn't have a ש. Instead it has the letter פ because it stands for "here".  A great miracle happened here. And that is really fun, even if means you have to put money in the pot during the dreidel game.
Our Israeli dreidel and our American dreidel