In November 2004 we moved to Ramat Gan, a city next to Tel Aviv. By February 2005 we were making regular hour and a half bus trips into Jerusalem, not of our own choosing, but due to (God’s) circumstances. In January, an electronic thief breached my bank account in the States and wrote out an electronic check for $5,000. Of course it bounced. We had less than $100 in the account. But because my account had been compromised, bank etiquette required that it be shut down and a new account started. But for some reason that was never made clear, they wouldn’t allow me to begin another account, even though I had been banking with them for about nine years.

I took this as the Hand of the Lord, who is over everything, and asked the people that supported us to send their checks directly to us here in Israel. There’s a place in Jerusalem that cashes checks and money orders and that’s why we began to make trips into Jerusalem. Before that, we could go to any ATM in Israel and withdraw money from our bank in the States. Now, with the need to go into Jerusalem, the Lord would use our trips to witness to many Israelis that we never would have seen if it hadn’t been for the electronic thief. We’ve prayed for his (or her), salvation, and we thank Yeshua for all the times of witnessing that have come about because of it. (We also receive funds through PayPal.)

Kenton & Joan’s 30th isn’t one of those trips into Jerusalem but it’ll give you an idea of how witnessing takes place on the buses and by-ways of Israel. What a Day!, which follows Kenton & Joan’s 30th, happened because of a trip into Jerusalem to cash some checks.

Ruti and I had some dear friends from the States, Kenton and Joan of Colorado, USA come to Israel for a week and a half in March 2005. It was in honor of their 30th wedding anniversary and Ruti and I just wanted to minister, love and serve them.

They stayed with us for about eight days, going up north for a few days to some other friends, and we were blessed as we gave them lodging and fed them and renewed old acquaintances. I took them to Jaffa, Jerusalem, Eilat and En Gedi. It was wonder-full as the Lord allowed many divine meetings and times of witnessing for me (and them too). Ruti was unable to go with us, but this worked out fine as it was very exhausting and we see the Hand of the Lord in that matter. Ruti was able to stay in the apartment as we toured the Land of Israel and when we were in the apartment, Ruti was able to feed us and clean our clothes and be with us.

On Sunday, March 27th, 2005, the three of us took a bus to Tel Aviv and got off at the last stop, the Carmelite Market, where we were to catch a bus into Jaffa. I noticed a woman tourist speaking with the driver about what to do next and I offered my help to Isabel from Britain, as the driver didn’t speak much English. The driver took off and the four of us got to know each other. I asked Isabel a few questions and found out that she was a believer, come to Israel with some friends, for about two weeks. Joan and I then shared about Torah and Sabbath for about 15 minutes, Kenton resting on the guard rail. I saw that Isabel was reaching her saturation point and so I directed the conversations to our commonality in Messiah and Isabel, a black women, began to have ‘church’ with us for another 15 minutes : ) Then she turned to Kenton and said, ‘You’re awfully quiet.’ Kenton got up and said, motioning with his hands toward Isabel’s two ears, ‘They’re doing enough talking, and besides, you’ve only got two ears to hear each them with.’ We all laughed and began to say our good-byes as I continued to look at a Jewish man, who had stopped to listen to us for the last few minutes.

I went to offer him one of my Scripture-phone cards about Messiah Yeshua, but he said, ‘Oh no! I know who your are now and what your tzit-tziot (tassels), mean! No thank you!’ He knew full well that I believed in Yeshua as the Messiah.

As he trudged off into the field I called to him and said, ‘Yeshua really is the Messiah.’ I turned to Isabel and the Miller’s, sad that he didn’t want to know about Messiah Yeshua. Isabel though, would have none of that. She said that it’s only God who can save. All we can do is offer Him. We’ll just pray that the Holy Spirit ‘gets him!’ And we began to pray for him and I felt much better. Then we parted again and no sooner had gone 50 feet when another Jewish man, Yakov by name, motioned for me to come over, calling me, ‘Rabbi.’ He had been sitting down under a tree, waiting for his bus and had seen much of our time with Isabel and the other man but I doubt whether he heard anything. He was very open and friendly toward us.

He told us that he had been to New York and seen the late Lubavitch Rabbi. I told him that I wasn’t Lubavitch or a rabbi, and that the dead rabbi of the Lubavitcher’s wasn’t the Messiah, (as many of his followers continue to proclaim about him). I also told him that we knew who the Messiah of Israel was, and I gave him a card, asking him to read the Scripture sites. Before we left, I asked him if we could pray for him. He was very open to that. We asked Yeshua to reveal Himself to him. Then we asked another Jew there, where the bus to Jaffa was.

We got on and got off at the wrong exit but it was again, the Hand of the Lord. We needed a bathroom and that’s not too easy to find sometimes in Israel, even in the cities. But, as we were waiting for the bus that would take us to the Mediterranean Sea by Jaffa (we had gone to far on the first bus to Jaffa), I saw a falafel and shvarma place. It was packed and so I knew it had good food and most likely, a bathroom, as it was bigger than a closet. Many falafel places aren’t. We crossed the street and used their facilities and being hungry, I ordered a falafel, with Kenton and Joan following; their first falafel in Israel. Oh, it was very good! They liked it so much, having split one between them, that they also ordered a shvarma in pita bread too. And we all dug into the fresh salads on the counter by the column. Having eaten, we were set to go now to the sea.

We got on the #25 bus and got off at the right street this time, and headed east. We strolled through the Jaffa Shuk (a marketplace for buying everything from pictures and ovens, to Menorahs, carpets and food), and then onto the sea. Beautiful. We walked out and up onto the natural jetty, and then north along the beach, Joan taking off her socks and walking shoes to feel the waters of the Mediterranean.

We stayed a while and then caught the bus at the Carmelite Market Bus stop and headed back to Ramat Gan. We had done some serious walking : ) Three women from the Philippines came on board and two were sitting in back of me while one stood. I wanted to show them some kindness, as I knew that they were here in Israel working for older Israelis, helping them to function, and so I offered my seat to the one standing. She declined my offer but I could tell that she and the others appreciated it. Most Israelis don’t consider the foreigner.

In a moment, another seat opened up near us and she sat down. I began to speak to them about what kind of Jew I was, believing in Yeshua. Much to my delight, all three of them (an aunt, niece and her cousin), told me that they believed in Jesus and were part of a group known as ‘Jesus is Lord.’ I had never heard of them but was glad, as I only thought that Catholics were in the Philippines. I could see that they really loved the Lord.

I spoke to them of the Torah and Messiah, loud enough for others to hear if they wanted. They got off at their stop and than I noticed a blonde woman, an Israeli, who had been looking at me as I spoke with them, and now, with Kenton and Joan. I had seen her listening to what I had said with the women from the Philippines and I determined to give her a card also, when she got up to leave for her stop. I didn’t know if she had been looking ‘for good’ or ‘for evil’. I’ve seen things like this explode in the opposite direction of what I wanted. But I thought to myself, ‘I’ll risk it, for her sake,’ and I was glad that I did. She was receptive and I told her that, ‘Yeshua really is our Messiah, and if you have any questions, please give me a call.’

After getting off the bus, the next stop was the health food store close to where Ruti and I live. Joan was having trouble explaining to Ruvane (Ruben), the man behind the counter, what she wanted. Ruvane doesn’t speak much English and so Pinhas, a customer, acted as translator for Joan. Kenton and I were elsewhere in the store. When we came upon the scene, everything was working out. I asked Pinhas his name and proceeded to tell him about our beliefs. It seems he has a neighbor who also believes in Yeshua. I gave him my card and told him I’d like for him to share it with his neighbor and to give Ruti and me a call. I said that he should look at the Scripture cites as it would tell him who his Messiah is.

We went home and Ruti had made some delicious food for us, and we had some things to tell her about our day. Later on, Ronen, our neighbor, stopped over. We have been witnessing to Ronen for a few months now and after I introduced him to Kenton and Joan, and we had some light conversation, I asked him if he had read the pamphlet on Luke that we had given him. He was on our couch, and told us that he hadn’t yet. I launched into the reality of our need for Yeshua for a few minutes and shared some more of our Messiah with him.

The next day we rose early to catch the bus into Jerusalem. It was the first time for Kenton and Joan to be in the City of the Great King (Ps. 48:2; Mt. 5:35). Ruti had made us some luncheon goodies and we took alone plenty of water. Kenton and Joan had been commandeered by many of their friends, to get them ‘this and that’ in Israel. And they were very gracious to do so. It took up much of their precious time and energy in looking for all the requests. We went to ben Yehuda Street, an open air mall in the center of Jerusalem, with many, many shops for such purposes.

We met David from Paris, who owns a shop on ben Yehuda Mall. Kenton and Joan had shopped around and left to go to another store and I stayed behind, looking at some things as gifts for their children, Andy, Tim, Magen and Noelle, as well as Tim’s wife, Leanne, and their two children, Anna and Joel. I bought some things and at the counter, David said, ‘Are you a rabbi?’ I told him that I wasn’t but that I taught people about God, Torah and Messiah. He then said, ‘There’s so much Light in your face.’ I could tell it was the Holy Spirit drawing him and so I offered him my card. I said that if he would look up the Scripture cites, he would know who our Messiah was. I intend to return there soon and see if he did it.

While waiting for Kenton & Joan outside of another shop, I saw Zahava. About a week earlier Ruti and I had been walking on Jabotinsky Street in Ramat Gan, a major thorough-fare, and we stopped and talked with her and her boyfriend, Zeev, about Messiah Yeshua. We knew we were deep in ‘New Age’ garbage when I asked Zeev how long he had been in the Land of Israel. He told us, ‘About 1700 years.’ Zahava wasn’t thrilled with us bringing Messiah Yeshua to them. Her eyes, when she took off her sunglasses, revealed arrows of fire. But Ruti and I lifted them both up to the Master when we left them that day, and after that as well.

Now, she was coming down the hill, toward me. I called out as she passed me only a few feet away, ‘Zahava?’ She turned and recognized me. I asked her what she was doing in Jerusalem and she told me that she lived there (now). She also said in a nice way, that she was in a hurry and I told her, as she was walking away, ‘Remember Yeshua!’ I know ‘our meeting’ would later have an impact on her as it was totally out of the realm of coincidence, even for her. ^(I)

Kenton and Joan came out of the store and they had bought many gifts to give to others when they returned home. We went to the Old City and walked through it to the Kotel (the Western or Wailing Wall of the Temple Mount Platform, the retaining wall left over from the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple itself in 70 A.D.). On our way back to the Central Bus Station, it was getting late and we were all tired from trying to look for a hostel that was clean for their three days stay in Jerusalem, so instead of walking, we took a cab and met Elisha, the taxi driver. I spoke to him about Messiah and gave him a Scripture card also.

It was on the bus to Ramat Gan though, that the best was yet to come. I struck up a conversation with Ohad, who sat across the aisle from me, in front of Kenton and Joan. He’s a secular Israeli and manager of an advertising department for a pharmacy firm. I began to share Messiah with him, not saying the Name of Yeshua yet, when an Orthodox couple in back of me began telling Ohad not to listen to me. They knew Who I was speaking about. They were also from the States. I could tell by their English. And I imagine that they now lived in B’nai Barak (a city on the bus’s route to Ramat Gan), the second most Orthodox Jewish community in Israel.

The Orthodox women said to me, ‘We know who you are! You’re a missionary!’ I told them that I wasn’t ‘a missionary. No church or organization has sent me here.’ She asked who sent me and I told them that the God of Israel had sent me to speak to them about Messiah Yeshua. That didn’t go over too well with them either, at least by the looks of contempt on their faces. Then the woman said, ‘Tell us the truth!’ I said that it was the truth that I had told her. Then she told me not to lie to her. I said that I wasn’t a liar and I was telling her the truth, but that she didn’t really want to hear the truth. It went ‘back and forth’ for quite a while and I know that the Lord was speaking to them through me. As it says of Stephen when he took on the unbelieving Jews that day, ‘But they were not able to contradict the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking’ (Acts 6:10). I felt the same way. And the praise and glory are all Yeshua’s as He has trained me for this.

We were sitting about a third to halfway up the bus and by now, most everyone on the bus was hearing me speak of Yeshua being Messiah. It was wonderful. We conversed some more, or as Kenton would later say, we debated, and then I turned around again, back to Ohad as they didn’t have anything more to say. I continued to speak with Ohad and gave him a card. I told him to see for himself what the Hebrew Bible says about Messiah, and if it doesn’t line up with Yeshua.

Another Orthodox man, sitting in front of me, was listening intently. I don’t think my talk was as much for Ohad, as he was content with where he was at in life and that he was ‘a good person.’ I think it was for that man in front of me. The Orthodox couple’s stop came, and they got up to leave. I asked the man if he wanted a card. At first he declined but while my hand with the card was still outstretched, his wife said, ‘Take it!’, with the attitude that she would pass it on to the renegades that deal with ‘missionaries.’ But I didn’t care as only my phone number and Scripture cites for Messiah are on it, and not my physical address. I’m praying that he will look up the cites. I sensed that he might do that in spite of his wife. I think he heard the Lord speaking through me.

On Tuesday we rested : )

On Wednesday, March 30th, we were up by 5 A.M. and on our way by bus to Eilat. We were going to see and stay overnight with Shuli, and to go to Timna Park where a re-creation of the Tabernacle of Moses is, complete with a guide who knows Yeshua. We also went to the Gulf of Eilat, and I took them to ‘New Moon Mountain.’ When Ruti and I lived in Eilat, we would go there for sighting of the new moons. It overlooks the Gulf and one can see the Jordanian city of Akaba, as well as some of Saudi Arabia.

On the bus to Eilat I witnessed to Yosi and Nicole, in front of me, and Rivka, across from them, heard as well. Yosi told us that he was 58 and going to be in the States in May for the first time. Toward the end they showed me, and Kenton and Joan to my left, across the aisle, their sons and grandchildren. Kenton and Joan returned the honors and shared some pictures of their children and grandchildren.

There was much time spent on Messiah, finding out what they believed (common nonsense; He’s only an idea; and we should be good, etc.), and telling them what God says in the Bible. It was another powerful time of witnessing. And as we passed by the nuclear power plant in Dimona, Joan took some pictures but a soldier who worked there, who was about to get off, came and told her that it was forbidden. Just part of being in Israel. Everyone knows that they make atomic bombs there, but Israel hasn’t officially said so yet. It’s known as the ‘cat and mouse diplomacy’ of the Middle East. ‘I haven’t got any atom bombs but if you attack us, we’ll defend ourselves with a weapon that you won’t like.’

In Eilat, I re-met Ofer (oh-fare), a taxi driver I knew from when I lived there for three years, and shared the card with him and some of Messiah. He took us to the Tabernacle. We all had a wonderful time there as the Presence of the Lord was strong. And then Bentzi, a friend of Ofer, picked us up and took us to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Eilat), where Joan again took off her shoes and socks and felt the water. On the way to the Red Sea, I engaged Bentzi in conversation about Yeshua and I could see that the Holy Spirit was ministering to Bentzi about his Messiah. It was a good 25 minute ride. He was really listening and conversing with me. It was truly divine. As we left, I gave him my card and told him to look up the Scripture cites.

After the Red Sea, we got another cab and went to the city center to get some film taken care of. It was Avraham the taxi driver who picked us up. I’ve shared Messiah Yeshua with him a number of times before. Avraham thinks that (just) helping people is good enough for Heaven. But I told him that it wasn’t and a few other things, and as we got out, I told him that I loved him. I could tell he appreciated that. Please pray for all these Jewish people. They’re ‘good people’ but they need to know the Reality of Messiah Yeshua. Thanks.

Then we went up to New Moon Mountain where Ruti and I, and sometimes Shuli and her daughters and grandson, would go out to see if the New Moon was visible. Many times we’d take food and have a picnic. When we’d see the New Moon we’d blow the shofar and sing and dance, and praise Yeshua for His wonderful Creation. He’s quite an Artist.

The mountain is a perfect site on the southern end of the city. It overlooks the whole city of Eilat, the Red Sea and Akaba, the Jordanian city across from Eilat, the Jordanian mountains in back of Akaba, as well as a northern tip of Saudi Arabia to the south. Kenton and Joan took lots of pictures and then it was on to Shuli’s to eat a wonderful meal of fish, salads, pita, humus, etc. etc. etc. And after we were done, she asked us if we were wanted her to cook us some meat dishes! That’s Shuli! Most likely the first Moroccan Jew to come to Messiah Yeshua since Acts 2.

We talked some with her and then we had a great Bible study. After that we prayed for Shuli’s health. She still has that thyroid problem with a small growth on her neck. That’s why she doesn’t work at a full time job and collects money from the government, even though she’s only 51 years old (on April 21st). Then it was off to bed and up in time to leave by 6:30 A.M. for the 7:00 A.M. bus to En Gedi (next to the Dead Sea, or as the Israelis more accurately call it, the Salt Sea), one of the places where David fled from King Saul (1st Sam. 23:29). One can see very readily why David hid there. The way into the waterfall is a ravine like path that ascends, with high and steep hills on each side. One could see an enemy coming and because of the narrowness of it in many places, could easily repel a force many times their size.

We must have climbed a thousand man made steps into the ravine as we proceeded up the mountain pass to the waterfall of En Gedi. Kenton said that it was a natural place for a small army like David’s to hide out. ‘The way in, can only be accessed by a handful of people at a time, not a whole army, and so it would be very easy to defend. And with the water supply, one could stay there a long time.’ Even though it was a desert, and hot that day, it was cool and refreshing near the waterfall. And it wasn’t Niagara by any stretch of the imagination. It was just a narrow waterfall, perhaps eight to ten feet wide, coming down initially from a height of about fifty feet. But it was beautiful, about 600 feet above the Salt Sea. It took us about half hour to get there.

There are two places to see the falls, one slightly above the other. We were at the higher one when we met Anat and her boyfriend, Dr. Oren, an M.D. with a general practice. They were about in their thirty’s. When I found out that Oren was a doctor, I told him he’d really want to talk with Kenton and Joan, as they are experts in the field of nutrition. He didn’t understand the concept of nutrition and so they were dealing with him at that level while I spoke with Anat about Yeshua. Or at least, I attempted to. She said, ‘I don’t want to get into it.’ She then went ‘into’ the three way conversation, and the two of them left soon afterwards.

After that we went lower and closer to the falls. We stayed there a while, being refreshed by the falling water. As we went to go, I lagged behind and struck up a conversation with a man sitting on a rock, surrounded by some boys. I don’t remember how I began, but I shared some of my testimony and belief in Yeshua and Torah, with Tal, a teacher, and his whole class of 14 year old boys, and two other teachers, from Nahariya. We talked a little more and as I began to leave, he said it was a ‘unique belief.’ I thought it was possible that he might just check out the Scripture cites on the card I had given him. The two other teachers asked for a card also, as well as the boy sitting next to Tal.

We got back to the entrance where there’s a gift shop and bought some more gifts. Then we went to the bus stop at En Gedi, right on the highway, and waited for the bus to take us to Jerusalem. Well, at least I waited, with our luggage. Kenton and Joan took off for half an hour to see another gift shop a few hundred yards down the road.

When we got to the bus stop, Phoebe from Germany, and her four year old daughter, Ruby, were also waiting. Within a few minutes I was witnessing to her about Messiah Yeshua. Phoebe is a Gentile woman who came to Israel for the first time, a couple of weeks ago. She’s heavily involved in yoga. I shared with her the Life and the true Peace from Heaven that I have found, in Messiah Yeshua. I answered a number of questions about Yeshua, assuring her that the account of Him going to India, to learn from the wise men there, was a lie. I said that He is God the Son. He needed no man to teach Him about wisdom and reality. She was very open to hearing about Messiah although her experiences with the ‘Church’ in Germany was less than divine.

The bus to Jerusalem was running late, and so were Kenton and Joan. A taxi pulled up to the stop and I paid it no attention until I saw Kenton and Joan in it! They wisely took it from the place where they had been, in order to catch the bus. As it was, they had several minutes to spare, as the bus was running later than them. I introduced Kenton and Joan to Phoebe and Ruby.

We all got on the bus and the Lord arranged that I could sit across the aisle from Phoebe and Ruby. It was very crowded so it was His Hand. When we got seated I continued to share about Messiah Yeshua. Phoebe is looking for God and how precious that He used us to lead her toward Him.

We got into Jerusalem and Kenton and Joan took a cab to stay at a friend’s home nearby and I took the next bus out to Ramat Gan, totally drained and very happy to have witnessed for our Lord. It was Thursday night. Friday, Pinhas, the man that had helped Joan in the health food store, called me (I had given him the Scripture-phone card), and asked if it was alright if he came over on Shabat for a little while, to talk about Messiah.

For two hours on Shabat I spoke of Messiah Yeshua to Pinhas. He too is looking. He said to us that he was impressed by the Light in our faces and behavior, contrasting us to the Orthodox gloom that he knows. We told him that it was our relationship with the King of Israel that glowed through us. Before he left, we asked him if we could pray for him. He liked that. We did too, asking the Lord to minister and to reveal Himself to Pinhas (English: Phineas, the zealous grandson of Aaron who would delight Yahveh; Num. 25:1-18).

Because of Kenton and Joan’s 30th wedding anniversary, many Israelis heard about their Messiah, some for the very first time. What a wonderful anniversary gift to them, that God would bring them here and that they would be used in the lives of the Jewish people, and also get to see the Land of their inheritance for the first time. Thank You, Yeshua!

ENDNOTE

(I) A few months later, Ruti and I would again meet Zavaha on the streets of Jerusalem, talk with her about Messiah Yeshua for 20 minutes, and pray for her to receive Messiah right there on the street, opposite City Hall. We continue now to speak with her, in Jerusalem and over the phone, about her giving her life to Yeshua, so that He can give His Life to her. She agrees and so we have been leading her closer and closer to Yeshua, and lifting her up to Messiah, that He would draw her into His Kingdom.