Chanukah and Christmas Morning in Bethlehem

A late Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!

Well, I’ve been rather busy since my last update; sorry it’s been so long! Guess this means my update will be in book form, hahaha.  Where to begin??? The family I live with has moved outside of Jerusalem to a small settlement of sorts that is literally in the desert.  I never knew the desert was so beautiful! The weather out here is basically perfect every day during the winter. We get very little rain and it’s warm enough to wear your summer tank tops.  I doubt it will be so perfect come summer, but right now I’m not complaining.  When we go into Jerusalem though, we have to take all the warm hats, scarves and jackets along since it’s not quite so pleasant there this time of year.

I was able to celebrate Chanukah in Israel for the first time this past month!  It began on the 12th of December and lasted for 8 days. The purpose of this holiday is to commemorate what God did during the Revolt of the Maccabeus.  The Romans had desecrated the temple by sacrificing pigs on the altar which caused the Maccabeus (Jewish family) to lead a revolt to regain control of the temple etc.  They succeeded for a short while, but they only had enough oil to light the Menorah in the Temple for one day.  Miraculously the oil multiplied and lasted for 8 days (the number of days it takes to make the specific oil used in the temple Menorah).  So it is a festival of lights and oil, lots of oil. During this holiday they eat lots of things fried in oil, donuts being at the top of the list.  They also give little gifts on each of the 8 days.  I took an evening and walked through the Jewish quarter of the Old City and down to the Wailing Wall during Chanukah to enjoy the lights.  It is a really special time in Israel; the kids even stand outside and sing Chanukah songs.  Someday their eyes will be opened and they will understand and receive the Light that has come for their salvation.

Last time I was in Israel it was not possible to get into Bethlehem due to all of the fighting (spring of 2002).  So, on this trip I really wanted to make it over there, and I had thought it would be really special to do so during the Christmas season.  I had been unable to find anyone to go in with me, but on Christmas Eve I was informed by a friend that they would be taking a group into Bethlehem the next morning.  On Christmas morning I was able to sit in a field just outside of Bethlehem that would have been used by shepherds in Jesus’ day!  We had a wonderful time singing Christmas carols and worshiping possibly in the very place where the angels showed up 2000 years ago to declare the greatest news the world had ever heard.  I love that God gave the honor of being the first to hear the news to some of the lowest people in Israel’s society.  It could be that God has had a soft spot for shepherds ever since David looked over his flocks on the same hills. If for no other reason, He certainly wanted to let the world know that His Son had come for all mankind, regardless of your station in life.  I think God was a bit excited because He knew that soon man would be reconciled to Him again.  He had been longing and waiting for the day when He could enjoy the same relationship with each of us that He had enjoyed with Adam and Eve in the garden; this is why we exist.  Joy to the world, freedom has come!!!

I pray that all of you have a wonderful new year full of exciting experiences with God and deeper revelation of who He is.  Let’s dive in all the way this year!  Blessings, blessings, blessings!  Please continue to stand with me in prayer for my finances.  I will need around $2000 in order to stay here until May as planned.  I believe that God will provide for everything that He puts before us to do, so I look forward to giving praise reports in this area too.  Much love and hugs to all of you!

~Lydia

Pictures: #1 – Me sitting in the Shepherds' Field in Bethlehem

#2 Some of the lights in the Old City during Chanukah

#3 View from my back porch!

#4 A shepherd herded his flock by us while we were there!

“If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth – if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.”  Psalm 137:5-6

Christmastime in the City of David

Shalom my friends!

I am listening to Christmas Carols as I write to you. I can’t believe it’s already that time of year again! Hopefully all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Even though I was far from home I was able to have all of the good food and enjoy it with friends. We also celebrated the 5 year anniversary of the prayer room going 24/7!
 
For the past week and a half I have been house sitting for some friends in what is called the City of David.  This section of Jerusalem is actually the original Jebusite city called Salem that David captured and made his capitol city of Jerusalem.  For a review of some of the history of this place you can refer to my 5th update.  I am literally right next to the ruins of David’s palace and the remains of the buildings used by the scribes.  It’s amazing and hard to believe at the same time.

Since life in this section of town is a bit different I thought I would take a few minutes to highlight a few of the amusing happenings and oddities here.  One of the first things you will notice is that at least five times a day you can hear the Muslim prayer calls, and they are really loud. I will try to record one of these to give you a better idea.  There are a number of minarets in this area since it is right next to the Temple Mount and a largely Muslim area.  The first prayer call starts around 4:45 am and lasts for 5-10 minutes. This is to call the people to pray, then after they have finished the minarets go off again for several minutes – around 5:15 am.  This is repeated 5 or more times a day.  Needless to say this makes sleeping a bit trying at times.  The other day I was attempting to sleep until 7am and between the minarets going off, the cats fighting outside my window and a Jewish man blowing his shofar and praying loudly, I got very little extra sleep.  But even so, I love this part of the city!

My second interesting experience occurred on my way back to the house the other night.  I came across a large rat that was making all sorts of loud squawking noises as he ran down the sidewalk.  Since we were going in opposite directions I figured it was no big deal, he’s supposed to be more afraid of me than I am of him right?  Wrong.  As soon as I passed him he turned around and made a bee-line for me.  I took and few quick steps to show him I was leaving, but he wasn’t convinced.  So, I waited until it was just in front of my foot and then I kicked him just hard enough to send him tumbling backwards.  He was about 3/4th the size of my foot without his tail.  I have been sure to take my flashlight with me at night since then!

Number three on the list happened last Saturday:  I had been enjoying my Shabbat morning reading etc. on the couch for several hours.  Then I got up and began getting ready to go meet my friends.  After about 2 minutes I came back to the couch and found a tarantula sitting in between the cushions on the couch about a foot to the left of where I’d been sitting.  Lucky for him I captured him under a glass and let him go outside instead of smashing him.  Thankfully I haven’t run into any other little creatures since. I have included a picture of the tarantula; sorry I didn’t have the camera ready when the rat came after me!

On a more serious note, I would like to give a bit of history that is significant regarding the place we pray from.  The room faces Mount Zion which is mentioned a number of times throughout the scriptures and no doubt you have sung worship songs that mention it as well.  In between Mount Zion and the hill our building sits on is the Ben Hinnom Valley.  It was in this valley that the Israelites once sacrificed their children to Molech.  Molech is an Ammonite god.  It was a hollow bronze figure with the head of an ox and outstretched human arms.  It was heated from within until it was red hot and the children were placed in the outstretched arms to be burned to death.  In order to keep the parents from hearing the screams of their children they had priests who beat drums.  Because of these sins God cursed the valley and sent judgment on the Israelites.  You can read about this in Jeremiah 7, 19 and 32:30-44 (the word Topheth is used at times instead of Molech, it means drum). Over the last 10 years many of the prayer times were focused on breaking the curse off of the valley.  A few years ago one of the leaders took a tour of the area with a local Jewish tour guide.  When they came to the Ben Hinnom valley the guide explained the history of the valley and how it had been cursed by God.  He explained that the visible sign of the curse had always been that no birds were ever in the valley.  He then said that for some unknown reason birds had just begun living in the valley again.  Needless to say we are so excited that the curse has finally been broken.  It is now a beautiful valley.

Recently the Muslims celebrated what is called the Hajj.  Every Muslim is to make a journey to Mecca once in their lifetime for this celebration of the New Year.  I was told that President Obama’s mother was there this year.  We need to pray for that family!!!!  During this celebration each family is to slaughter a lamb and if they have too much meat for their family they are to share it with the poor.  Hundreds of thousands of lambs were slaughtered about a week ago in Mecca.  During this time period we were praying that they would have a revelation of the Lamb of God.  I really believe God is going to do a major work in the Muslim nations that will be seen by all.

At the end of this week we will be entering into the Chanukah celebration here in Israel.  I will save the details of that until next time when I can give you my firsthand experience of the week long holiday!  The Lord bless and keep each one of you and may He bring greater revelation of Himself to you this week.

~Lydia

Pictures: #1 Birthday fun with my roommate (yes I am a year older now)

#2 The tarantula

#3 the Ben Hinnom Valley.

The Bride of Christ and the Temple Mount

Shalom,

I pray this update finds all of you well and chasing after Him!  It amazes me how we can chase after Him, but no matter how hard we chase Him He is chasing us harder.  If you think about that for very long it kind of makes you a bit teary eyed. Two of the early morning sets I help with have been focused on Song of Solomon, I’m so loving it!  I’ve been wanting a deeper revelation and understanding of this book for a while and nothing does that quite like praying and singing it.  We just have such a great time singing, declaring and praying over the Bride every week.  This week one of the things that we focused on was declaring that it is time for the Bride to stop focusing on the fact that she is “dark but lovely” and focus instead on how He sees her.  We must begin to see ourselves as the Bride that He looks at and says “turn your eyes away from Me, for they have overcome Me”, then we will step out and be the mature Bride who joyfully leaps on the mountains with Him.  Granted, I’m not saying that we are sinless or should never take time to repent etc., but if we only focus on our sin or the past He rescued us from we will never move forward to who He has called us to be.  Praise God that He saved us and set us free, so be set free!  I desperately want to be the Bride I have been called to be.

On a slightly different note, I want to share a bit about the Temple Mount.  It says in Acts that 3,000 were saved and baptized all at once on the first Pentecost after Jesus’ death. In Jerusalem there are very few areas where Peter could have gathered that kind of a crowd, and even fewer places where that many could have been baptized in a relatively short amount of time.  It is thought that perhaps the Southern Steps leading up to the Temple Mount is where Peter stood and preached for the first time.  Since they were in the middle of a feast time there would have been large numbers of people coming to the Temple, plus amongst the steps are Mikvaot (places for the people to ceremonially bathe before entering the Temple).  So it would have been the perfect spot for that many people to hear the message and then be baptized.  Acts 2:46-47 says “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple…having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily”, which makes it seem even more likely that Peter was speaking somewhere near the temple.  We have been praying for a fresh or new outpouring in the same location.  Interestingly enough, on Monday (we were praying several days later) of last week Benny Hinn took 800 people to the Southern Steps and had them face the wall and pray in tongues for quite some time.  Think maybe God is saying something??  Anyway, we had a great time praying together for this, and I am looking forward to the day when we see the physical seeds of this.

I also believe that a lot of what has motivated the Muslims over the years has been jealousy.  This week I just really could feel that when I was around them.  It reminded me of when my brothers were a lot younger; no matter what my older brother said he wanted to do, my younger brother demanded that he get the same thing. This became especially annoying to my older brother when it came to seating in the car. No matter which seat he said he wanted my little brother would pitch a fit if he didn’t get the same seat.  Eventually my older brother was able to manipulate this to his favor by saying he wanted the opposite of what he really wanted. It’s a bit twisted with these two people groups since technically Ishmael was Abraham’s oldest, but Isaac received the blessings of the first born.  I believe that there have been seeds of jealousy ever since.  It’s not so much that Muslims deep down hate the Jews, they are just craving to have the same blessings and love that has been promised to Israel. Therefore, no matter what is said to belong to Israel, the Muslims try to find a way to get it for themselves.  This revelation has given me such compassion for them which makes it hard to be angry with them.  I believe they have felt a huge amount of rejection because of all of this, but God has room for them too! It says He wishes that none would perish.  There is no way to create lasting peace between these two people groups until both are made whole in Jesus.  This is made so obvious when you are around Muslim believers who have let go of their anger and found that God has more than enough love and blessings to go around! It is so wonderful to see this restoration, we must pray for the completion of it!!!

Picture #1 – painting my “prophetic” rain boots, the rain is coming!

~Lydia

Trusting in the Lion of Judah

Shalom Friends!

The last week or so has been really exciting! I just love the things God has been speaking out during times of prayer. There is a storm coming but when you can hear what God is saying the storm loses much of its fear factor. Ultimately God is in control. Sometimes we hear the report of the Enemy’s actions and we allow ourselves to fear that he is able to defeat our God. If we know God, and trust God then we will have no fear of the Enemy. Remember, we are to listen to the Caleb’s and Joshua’s of our day and not the other 10. Does this mean life will be all flowers and sunshine? No, we will have to endure some very difficult things, but we are not to lose hope when we walk through the fire for He is with us and ultimately He will win. There just is no other option for the end, He will win.

Last week someone said she had been seeing the Lion of Judah as she traveled around Israel and every time she saw Him she was struck by the fact that He was not roaring (we often hear of the Lion of Judah roaring). When she said this I saw a picture of this huge lion laying down (with his head up so he could look around). All around the lion were things (animals, people) coming against the lion trying to scare it, but he was looking at them all with an expression of “is that all the better you can do?” This picture has made me so excited! That is why the Lion of Judah is not roaring, He is not the least bit threatened by the plans of the Enemy. I suggest you read all of Psalms 2, here is what verse 4 says “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision.” This verse is referring to those coming against the Lord and His people. He is not threatened by the Enemy because He knows who He is and that when He does roar the Enemy will run. So instead He yawns, as bored cats often do, and doesn’t pay him anymore attention. When His Bride is dressed in white and ready for her wedding He will roar and make a final and complete end of Satan. How exciting is that!

I was able to get out and do a few fun things recently, the first was going through Hezekiah’s tunnel. When David captured Jerusalem to make it his capital, it was a heavily fortified city on a hill with a strong wall. However, it had an underground tunnel that went to the Gihon Spring outside the city wall at the bottom of the hill so that the inhabitants could get water without being easily seen. David sent his men up through this shaft and took the city from the inside out. There are ruins from this tunnel that date back to the time of Abraham and the King of Salem, Melchizedek. Salem was an ancient Jebusite city, it was later renamed Jerusalem. This section of present day Jerusalem is very small and generally referred to as the City of David (not to be confused with Bethlehem), because this is where he built his palace and also where the Tabernacle of David stood. At the very top of the hill where this portion of the city sits is the Temple Mount. Near the bottom of the hill is the Gihon Spring. During the reign of Hezekiah he had the underground tunnel system expanded so that it went from the Gihon Spring all the way to the Pool of Siloam inside the city, this way they could be under siege for a very long time without their water being cut off. As soon as he completed this tunnel system he went to war against Assyria. Much of this is in II Kings 18-19.

Anyway, we got to walk through the entire water system (takes 30-40 minutes). There were a few parts where the water came up mid-thigh, and it was cold! I highly suggest doing this if any of you visit Israel. They have also recently uncovered a portion of the original Pool of Siloam (this is where Jesus sent the blind man to wash after He had put spit and mud in his eyes). Siloam means sent. Interesting! They have also uncovered a road which lead directly from the Pool of Siloam up to the Temple Mount since the Pool was used as a Micvah (place of cleansing before going to the Temple). This road won’t be open to the public for several more weeks but we were able to walk partway up it! They have also been making major progress in the last 5 years on excavating David’s palace. God is uncovering some ancient things all of a sudden! I think He is trying to shine the light on David once more.

The second fun thing we did was gathering olives in the City of David! This required lots of tree climbing, which resulted in some very happy but very scratched up people. Afterward we were rewarded with an Arabic meal made by our friend’s Arab landlords. We were in the trees for hours picking and shaking. The olives were not the type you want to eat straight from the tree, maybe after they are pickled! The landlord gathers them every year and has them pressed to make olive oil.

Many blessings to all of you! I love and miss you all. I hope that you are using all of the information I am sending you to pray. Please do not forward these emails to other people without my consent as they sometimes contain sensitive information about the things we are doing here. You can always give them my blog site where they can read portions of my updates and request to be added to my mailing list.

Big hugs to you all!

Pictures: #1 Me in Hezekiah’s Tunnel

#2 Me picking olives

#3 buckets of rocks that the Arabs collected for throwing (their uprisings have to be planned or else these rocks wouldn’t be sitting in buckets, no matter what the news says, they are not spontaneous uprisings, and the Arabs are the ones starting them)

#4 one of the rocks, they aren’t little

The Harvest and the Rains

Shalom!

I’m sorry it has been a bit longer in between updates this time; this past week was rather crazy! Thanks to the lovely dumpster cats that were coming into our courtyard, we had to have the house and courtyard sprayed for fleas.  So we were moving in and out of the house this week while they sprayed and got it under control.  It is so nice to be back in the house and have no fleas. We also got the courtyard fixed so the cats will just have to stay out now!

There are a few things I want to mention this time.  First of all, I hear that in the U.S. some of the news stations said there was a big standoff on the Temple Mount.  It was not nearly as big of a deal as the news in the States made it out to be.  The Arabs have really been trying to create another big uprising focused on the Temple Mount, but they have been unsuccessful.  We must keep covering it with prayer so that the Enemy’s plans will be thwarted.

Last time I was in Israel the Arabs were secretly excavating under the Temple Mount with bulldozers – archeologists were furious because many relics were completely destroyed; the area should have been excavated with fine tooth comb.  The goal of the Arabs was to remove all evidence that it had once been a Jewish holy site.  Their excavations caused part of the Wall to bulge and they have since had to do major repairs to it so it wouldn’t fall.  The area they excavated is now the largest underground mosque. They are trying to stay hidden, but God sees that which is done in secret, and He will shout it from the rooftops!  They also want to add a fifth minaret to the Mount to symbolize the Five Pillars of Islam.

It rained very briefly today, this is the first time it has rained since I arrived.  Please pray that the Former Rains would come!!! The rain in the Fall months is called the former rain and the rain in the Spring is the Latter Rain.  Right now we are in the midst of a water crisis. The Sea of Galilee is at an all time low, and if it gets too much lower they will no longer be able to use it as a source of water.  The aquifers here in Jerusalem are also basically empty. We NEED rain!  Interestingly enough, it did rain shortly before I arrived and it just happened to be right after a day of repentance!

I find it interesting that God has been making some major inroads into Turkey in recent years, and right now Turkey has an abundance of water!!!  God always gives physical signs of what He is doing in the Spirit. There is an excitement in my Spirit because we have the opportunity to see some amazing rain, if we will stand firm in our prayers for Israel.  God often uses Israel as an example of what He is wanting to do in the rest of the earth. Do you want to see God’s outpouring of rain where you are?  Then pray that He would pour it out here in Israel.  She is our sister, He has not cast her away but chased after her and if we cast her away it is out of jealousy and that is not the heart of God.

I love you all and hope this is encouraging to keep pushing forward!  I would also appreciate your continued prayer for my finances. I have close to two-thirds of the money needed to cover my bills while I am here. God has been so faithful to provide so far, I’m looking forward to seeing how He will complete it!
Many blessings to you all as you chase after Him!
Lydia


Pictures:

#1 - Me standing on the spot where they believe the holy of holies might have been.

#2 - Something interesting I found in the graffiti outside of the Temple Mount. The Black box symbol is used a lot as a symbol for the mosque or the Dome of the Rock (can’t remember which), but someone wrote over it! I love that they had red flowers all around it as well. Go read the chapter! Was so encouraging!

#3 - The sun rising over part of the City of David, view from where I pray in the morning! 

Simchat Torah

Shalom from Jerusalem!

Life is busy as always around here, so much happening sometimes it’s hard to keep up with it all.  I have finally been able to get my schedule set in place both in regards to helping my host family as well as time to prayer.  This has made life so much easier! It’s so nice to wake up and know what your day is basically going to look like. Thank you for praying that all of this would be worked out.
In my last email I didn’t really talk about the holidays we were in the middle of, so I would like to do that this time.

Succoth (most people have heard of this time referred to as the Feast of Tabernacles), is based on remembering the Lord’s faithfulness. It is a time of thanking the Lord for how He took care of them when they were wandering in the desert for 40 years, during which time they lived in temporary dwellings. So that is why during Succoth people construct temporary dwellings or Succahs in their yards (the really religious people literally move into them for the week, eat, sleep etc. in them).  If you can find the film Ushpizin I would highly recommend watching it. This film was made here in Jerusalem and gives you a good idea of what the holiday is like for the religious Jews as well as some fun things about the culture.  It is in Hebrew with English subtitles, I really don’t know if it’s very easy to find in the States. For them the holiday also involves being very hospitable to whatever guests God sends to them.

Anyway, this year Succoth ended at the beginning of Shabbat (Friday evening), and then at the end of Shabbat (Saturday evening) they had Simchat Torah. This celebration is about rejoicing over the Torah (Scriptures). They had a big celebration in the park, complete with cotton candy, hot dogs and popcorn! The rabbis and men from various Yeshivahs brought their Torah scrolls and took turns getting in groups on the stage and dancing around with them. The rest of the men and boys danced together on a lower stage while the women and older girls danced in the park. It was crowded and a ton of fun! It was really neat to see so many people grinning and dancing and singing about the Word of God. I wish more of us did this! So many times we take the Word for granted. It was a precious site to see and I had a blast dancing with the women! A friend gave me a ticket so I could get in the closer section for taking pictures. He said to turn my hat around, go to the front and pretend to be a photographer! I didn’t turn my hat around but I did go all the way to the front and ended up standing on the lower stage. It was so much fun. I will include a few pictures from the park (the lighting was not ideal for taking photos, even though I was really close!).

I hope all of this is interesting and encouraging! Thank you for your continued prayer and support, you are all such a blessing to me.  May the LORD bless you and keep you! I would love to hear the news from home, so please feel free to email me about the goings on in your neck of the woods! Much love to you all.

~Lydia

Picture #1 – me in my favorite tree, on the way #2 – men with their Torah scrolls #3 – cute grandfather and grandson

Succoth

Shalom my friends!

It’s update time, yay!!! I’m not sure where to start; hopefully I can get it all in without writing a book ;)

I have moved in with my host family. They have five children ages 6 and under (one set of twins).  Please pray that God give me wisdom in working out my schedule as I will be helping them with their children in exchange for room and board.

I have recently learned some interesting and important information that you won’t be hearing from the media!!! For several weeks the Arabs have been sneaking young men into the city and forming groups of about 100 each. These young men were brought in as preparation for what the leaders were calling the Al-Aqsa War (not sure how to spell that in English), which is the name of their mosque on the Temple Mount. These leaders were broadcasting in surrounding Arab nations that Israel was going to shut the Temple Mount down and take away the control of it, so they were trying to get all of their people in place.  Just in case you didn’t know, Israel technically owns the Temple Mount but they allow the Jordanians to run the Temple Mount and have their people on it as security.

 At the beginning of Succoth (Feast of the Tabernacles) these young men actually started a riot in which people were injured. Since then the police have found a number of wheel barrows full of stones hidden away on the Mount which the Muslims were going to throw down on the people praying at the Wailing Wall.  Right now the police have the Temple Mount shut down to all Muslims except men over 50 and women.    Please continue to pray for covering over Jerusalem and that the plans of the enemy would be thwarted before they can be acted upon. Praise the Lord they were stopped before they could stone those praying at the Wall! The relative calm in Israel and Jerusalem can be changed very quickly into a war zone, so it is important to pray regularly for God’s protection and covering.

The last thing I want to share is in regards to Isaiah 19:18-25. I have been praying specifically for Egypt and Assyria (Iraq, parts of Turkey, Syria, Jordan, parts of Iran as well as a few other areas I’m not sure about). God is beginning to do a major work in Egypt in particular. He is drawing them to Israel! One of the main things that has hindered the relationship between believers in Egypt and their brothers in Israel is the belief in replacement theology (basically states that Israel is no longer relevant and that those who believe in Jesus replace Israel completely and that the promises God made to Israel which have yet to be fulfilled were really made to Believers, and Israel has no part in it). This theology is completely against the teachings of the New Testament! In Romans 9-11 we are told that Israel has everything to do with it! We become “Joint Heirs”, one not better than the other, but together a mighty force.  I have been praying over this issue and speaking into it. There are a number of believers in Egypt who are finding that this theology is not the truth, but since it is so heavily rooted in their congregations, along with a hate for Israel, it has been difficult for them to overcome it.  But they WILL overcome it!!! Pray for God to remove it by the root!  The youth of Egypt are the ones beginning to see this truth, and it is difficult for them since the older leaders have not had this revelation yet.

Thank you for standing with me and supporting Israel!  Well, I think this email is long enough! I love you all and miss you, please continue to pray for me, that I will be right where He wants me at all times and also for His continued provision for the costs of being here.

Pictures - #1 Me in front of one of the waterfalls at En Gedi (oasis in the desert where David hid from Saul).
#2 Me standing in front of the Succah we built for Succoth

~Lydia

The Arrival in Jerusalem

Shalom!

I arrived safely in Jerusalem on Monday in the late afternoon, thank you all for your prayers. So far this week I have mostly been resting and doing some running around town. Jet lag hasn't been a problem; I've been sleeping quite well every night! On the 29th I will be moving into my permanent housing. I will be staying with a family that has five children, the oldest of which just turned 6! Needless to say they are happy for more help with the children and household duties. I will also be spending at least 15 hours a week in prayer and worship.  I will try to attach some pictures of places I go and give some explanation as to what you are looking at!

One place I visited this week was the Temple Mount where I saw the Eastern Gate – the gate the Messiah will return through. I find the methods the Muslims have used to close it off rather interesting. They know of the prophecy that the Jewish Messiah will one day return and come through the Eastern Gate. So, they completely blocked it and filled it with stones (you can see the stones on the outside of the wall, not the side visible from the mountain top). Then, just in case that wasn't enough they put a cemetery on the outside entrance because they know that any holy rabbi or Jewish leader would NOT come near the gate since they would be defiled by the dead bodies. They have no idea what type of power they are dealing with!!!

I want to particularly remind all of you to be praying starting now. Tomorrow, for those of you who don't know, they Muslims in the U.S. have planned to march in DC and have a day of prayer in front of the capital. Pray, pray, pray!!!! We have been crying out for God to show His mighty arm and disrupt this march with bad weather. LOTS of rain, but the storm would need to be a rather severe one to keep the marchers away, possibly even hail. There are scriptures in which God used or speaks of using hail as a judgment on his enemies. This is not an event to ignore, the Muslims are perfectly aware of what kind of affect such an event could have on our nation. We must cry out for mercy on this country.  God is not too small to intervene, but He will not do it unless He sees the repentance in our country that He is looking for. When God begins to call a nation back to Himself, He does it as gently as possible. Perhaps He will start with some bad weather, if that doesn't work then maybe some severe weather, such as prolonged droughts or flooding or earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes. Then if the people still refuse to repent He will chose something more severe, such as turning them over to someone who will put them into captivity.  We have waited far too long to repent as a nation, we are on the verge of running out of time before we are placed into complete captivity and left there for a long time. America! Don't be too proud! It has happened to many other nations, it CAN happen to you! It is time for us to cry out for the church to wake up out of its deep slumber and repent. So I urge each one of you to stand with us and pray that God would cause this Muslim day of prayer to be thwarted, that the weather would make it impossible and that there would be no available building for them to use at the last minute.

Ok, so my update ended up being long anyway! I love you all and please continue to pray for Israel as well as our country.  Oh, I almost forgot. I have been asked to include this information in my update. If any of you are interested in helping me financially during this faith walk in Israel you can contact me for more information at:

Thank you soooo much for all of your support already, both financially and in prayer. I am truly blessed!

Hugs to you all!
~Lydia