On Sunday, August 20th, 2006, Tzion came from Beer-Sheba, where he had been staying with a friend, to be baptized. Ruti and I have known Tzion for four years and if anyone didn’t seem like they’d ever come to the Lord, it was Tzion. It just goes to show me that I really don’t know who might come to Yeshua.

Tzion had serious problems with Yeshua being God the Son, and being a religious Jew from France, he was learned in rabbinics and Kabbalah but this only served to keep him in bondage. In March 2002 we met Tzion in Eilat and ministered to him many times. Last year he came to Ramat Gan and we talked in our apartment. After he left, I shared with Ruti that I didn’t think he was ever going to come to Messiah Yeshua. It seemed like he was farther from the Lord than ever before.

We hadn’t seen him since then but about a month ago, we ran into him as we were walking on Yafo Street in Jerusalem. We talked for a few minutes and before we left, we prayed for him, right there on the street. It seems that he had come to faith in Messiah Yeshua and was acknowledging Him as deity in the flesh. We were delighted. He mentioned that he wanted to be baptized, a significant event for anyone, but especially a Jewish man, because the Jewish community sees a baptized Jew as leaving his Jewish people and joining themselves to the Gentiles.

Tzion told us he was living near Hebron, in a small Jewish community called Kiryat Arba but that he wanted to come to us in Ramat Gan for us to officiate at his immersion. On Sunday, 20 August, Tzion came to our place about two in the afternoon and we spoke about the spiritual significance of baptism: death to self, forgiveness of sins and new life in Messiah Yeshua, along with the infilling of the Holy Spirit. We also prayed and about five o’clock, we headed for the Mediterranean Sea at south Tel Aviv.

The three of us got into the elevator (Ruti and I live on the sixth floor), and between the third and fourth floors the elevator came to a stop with a thunk! We pressed all the buttons to go to another floor or to open the doors but to no avail. We then pressed the buzzer alarm and a woman on the floor above, who had wanted to take the elevator herself, asked us if we were OK.

Stuck in an elevator on the way to baptize Tzion! We told her we were alright and I sensed that this wasn’t going to be a problem but that the Lord would use it in His way. I remembered that I had the landlord’s phone number in my cell phone. I called Hezi and told him where we were and asked him to call the elevator people. Hezi panicked : ) It took five times for me to tell him the elevator repair phone number. But he finally got it and called them, and they called us. (I wanted Hezi to know about it first hand as I had spoken to him three weeks earlier about the elevator making some strange sounds as it passed the fourth floor.)

The elevator man told us that he couldn’t send anyone to help us, as they had all gone home. They’d come and fix it tomorrow. I wondered about emergency situations and if we had to stay there till the morning when he told us that we could pry the door open by forcing it to go to the left. We did that and faced some of the wall-shaft above and most of the closed elevator door to floor three. He told us to lift a black latch on the top of the closed metal doors and it opened the door unto the third floor. Ruti was the first one out, carefully stepping from the elevator, almost three feet above the third floor. We walked down the steps and we were out on the street saying that we’d not soon forget the day of Tzion’s baptism : )

The experience had taken a good 20 minutes or more. We had thought of taking a bus to the Sea but after the time used up by our stay in the elevator, I thought it wise to catch a cab. We had intentionally waited till five so that the sun and the humidity would begin to ease off. It didn’t seem like it had much. In the Tel Aviv area, it’s in the mid-90’s and the humidity is about 70%. It’s like a sauna.

We wanted to get to the Sea before sundown. We got a cab with Ruti and me sitting in the back and Tzion in the front. We began to go to the Sea and I’m thinking,

‘If we hadn’t spent 20 minutes in the elevator, we would have most likely taken a bus and would have never seen this cab driver.’

Suddenly I thought that was very special. And I thought, I’m going to ask him his name and share the Word of Life with him. As I thought that, the name Eli (short for Elijah), came to me. I asked him his name and the Lord confirmed that he was very special. He said, ‘Eli.’

I told him that the Lord had already shown me that and that He wanted me to tell him that He loved Eli very much, and that he knew Eli’s heart for God. That impacted Eli and the rest of the way to the Sea, about 20 minutes, I shared Messiah Yeshua with him. And Tzion, much to his credit, spoke to him of Yeshua also. The Lord was making Tzion’s baptism very memorable and we hadn’t even gotten to the Sea yet : )

As we left Eli, I gave him Acts 2 (in Hebrew, that I’ve made up on my computer for single sheet handouts). I think it’s one of the best things to hand out to Israelis because many know the Name (Jesus) and that He died and it’s said that He rose, but in Acts 2 there are Jewish men proclaiming not only His resurrection, but that in His Name there is forgiveness of sin. There’s Joel the prophet speaking of the Holy Spirit being given to Israel, and King David saying that ‘the Holy One’ (the Messiah), wasn’t going to see corruption (in the grave). It gives Israelis something to think about cause many don’t believe in the New Testament accounts of Jesus.

Eli thanked me as we left him. We walked about 70 yards and were sitting on a bench just before the sandy beach off Tel Aviv just north of Jaffa. Some Arabs and Jews were swimming here and there but we chose this place as we knew it wouldn’t be as crowded as the main beaches. It wasn’t.

We sat on the bench and Ruti took out her 3/4 guitar that we travel with and she began to sing some songs to the Lord, to lead us into the occasion. Some Orthodox Jewish children came close to us and listened to her. They liked it. Then they scurried back to their parents.

Tzion asked me again what he should say before he completely immersed himself. I told him to ask God the Father to forgive him for all his sins in the Name of Yeshua, and to transform him into the image of Yeshua, and to fill him with the Holy Spirit.

We left the bench and entered the sandy beach and put our bags of clothes and water and the guitar case on some rocks in the middle of the beach, not far from the water. We approached the water and Tzion had the look of determination and belief on his face. It was a big step for him, as it is for anyone, but again, for a Jewish man, 41 years old, it’s something else. Tzion entered the waters and got about waist to chest deep and after a few moments, spoke to God and then fully immersed himself. Ruti and I had waited on the beach and were witnesses to it. (In the days of the Apostles, the ones being immersed entered the waters and immersed themselves, with believers acting as witnesses.)

I gave Tzion a towel and he dried off some, putting it around his shoulders. The sun was just beginning to enter some clouds on the horizon. Everything had worked out fine. I told Tzion that Ruti and I wanted to pray for him. I placed my right hand upon his head and lifted my left hand to the Heavens and began to pray for Yeshua to immerse him in His Spirit and to lead him by the hand and to teach him Who He was. Ruti and I prayed for about five minutes, standing there on the beach where the water stops coming up the sand, eyes closed, looking to Messiah Yeshua.

After we were done I saw two Israeli women standing about ten feet from us. They asked if we were Lubavitch (a sect of Hasidic Jews). I told them that we weren’t Lubavitch. We were Jews that believed that Yeshua from Nazareth was the Messiah. That didn’t upset them and we talked about Messiah Yeshua for about 15 minutes with them.

The women weren’t related. They had just seen us praying for Tzion and approached. The older one, Yehudit, about 50 years old, lived very close, pointing to some apartments just south of us. The younger one, Mia, about 24 years old, was a Jewess from Canada who was staying with some relatives in Jaffa. I gave Yehudit the Acts 2 sheet when she left. Mia stayed for a few more minutes and I was able to share some more about the Lord from a number of passages in the Tanach. I gave her my card with the Messianic prophecies on them when she left.

Quite a day for Tzion’s baptism! Thank you, Lord! And may there be many more like them!

On Tuesday, Nov. 14th, 2006, Ofira came over to our apartment to watch the first half of the six and a half hour movie, Jesus of Nazareth. Ruti and I have known Ofira for five years, when we first came to Eilat, Israel. She’s the daughter of Shuli whom the Lord allowed us to lead to Him about three and a half years ago. Now she’s living in Givatiyim and is only 10 minutes from us by car.

Ofira’s 30 years old has a five year old son. On Monday night she had a dream: Ruti, Ofira and I were singing: ‘Jesus loves me this I know,’ and she liked it. She called us and told us so I walked into the opportunity and invited her to come and see the movie on Tuesday afternoon. We’ve ministered to Ofira many times over the years and now we’re beginning to see some blossoms.

She saw the movie and the Holy Spirit impacted her, bringing her to tears in some parts. And after, we had a late lunch and spoke of the movie and about Yeshua being our long awaited Messiah. The Lord is drawing Ofira to Himself. 

Ofira came back on Thursday and saw the second half of the movie. It was very good. She cried in some parts (again), and spoke of the things that she saw Yeshua doing as ‘true.’ And how not much has changed among the religious in their vying for power and to be seen as righteous. 

Again we had a late lunch. I said how the scene which powerfully affected me was when Yeshua spoke of being one with the Father. I realized in a deep way, as only the Holy Spirit can do, that because I have been Born from Above, the Creator of the Universe is my Father. I said, ‘It’s not a complicated theological insight but a strong emotional-spiritual reality that I walked into.’ I was awestruck. Can it really be? God is my Father? Yes, I know theologically this is true but that day I felt it deep within me. Thank You, Yeshua. 

After Ofira left I told Ruti, ‘Now her understanding about Yeshua being the Messiah has to move down to her heart and she has to give her life to Yeshua.’ She ‘knows’ Yeshua is the Messiah but hasn’t come to a decision that will seek Him for the Life He has to give her. I had shared with her at the table that she needed to ask Yeshua into her heart to forgive her for her sins and to be filled with His Spirit.

We’ve been praying for her. She’s involved in spiritism so we’ve been binding the demons and closing all the open doors, covering them in His Blood. One of those doors is her grandmother who is noted for having barren women to conceive. The women come to her and ask for her help and she goes into another room to ask a dead rabbi and presto! Conception. 

Ofira has spoken with her dead ‘grandfather’ on a number of occasions, or so she thinks. We told her that it was a familiar spirit and that the Law of Moses forbids us to speak to the dead:

“When you come into the land that Yahveh your God is giving you, you must not learn to imitate the abhorrent practices of those nations. No one shall be found among you who makes a son or daughter pass through fire, or who practices divination, or is a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, or one who casts spells, or who consults ghosts or spirits, or who seeks oracles from the dead. For whoever does these things is abhorrent to Yahveh; it is because of such abhorrent practices that Yahveh your God is driving them out before you. You must remain completely loyal to Yahveh your God. Although these nations that you are about to dispossess do give heed to soothsayers and diviners, as for you, Yahveh your God does not permit you to do so.” (Deut 18:9-14)

We’ve spoken to Ofira about this on a number of occasions but we have seen that it’s hard for her to reconcile, especially as so many practice this kind of thing here. But we’re praying. Yeshua said that the very Gates of Hell would not prevail against us (Mt. 16:18). We’re storming Hell to retrieve this captive lamb.

On Saturday night, Nov. 18th, Ofira called. She told us of a dream she had the night before. It was a dream with much fear in it. I told her that it came from Satan. I said that the demons don’t want her to leave their kingdom and they’re trying all they can do to turn her away from Yeshua. She realized that.

She also told us that she spoke with an Israeli man that she respected and asked him about Yeshua. She expected the traditional Jewish answer, ‘He’s not for us.’ But instead, he told her that Yeshua was a good man. Ofira asked about Yeshua’s power, if it came from the Devil and he said no. He said Yeshua just did good and forgave people and if His power was from Hell, He could have saved Himself from the crucifixion. I thought that was an excellent insight. He may not be far from the Kingdom either!

Ofira asked for a Bible in Hebrew, like the one we gave her mother, so she can study and learn more about Yeshua. We gave her that with much joy. She said that her heart is leading her to believe that Yeshua is the Messiah. We told her that she needs to be Born from Above (or Born Again; John 3). I explained that this comes from God and allows the Holy Spirit to transform us from within. She was open to that. 

We’ve been getting together on a regular basis, two or three times a week for a few hours to learn about Yeshua from the Scriptures. She’s a single Mom with a five year old boy named Ma’or (brightness; from the Hebrew word for light), whom we’ve been helping financially over the years. We just got her a new refrigerator for $500. She didn’t have one. She was so grateful. Tears began to come to her eyes. No one has ever done anything like that for her and she realizes it’s from people who love her and love Messiah Yeshua. She’s got some other needs that we’re praying for also.

We’re praying that Yeshua move mightily in our times together and cause Ofira to be Born Again and filled with His Spirit. And then we’ll dance and sing and shout with Joy Unspeakable, full of His Glory!