I’m not sure why, but I keep feeling pulled to go to PA. I don’t know if it’s my heart that wants to see everyone, searching for something it hasn’t found in Johnson City; or if it’s really YHVH calling me to go up there. I guess it really doesn’t matter though since it’s not up to me, and my dad has already told me I have to go back to Israel.
I don’t want to lead with my heart. The struggle at the moment is hearing the voice of YHVH. I REALLY want to hear His voice, but I don’t know where to start. When I ask others about it, they’re really vague and don’t give me a very helpful answer.
My life is His to do whatever He chooses, I just wish I knew what His plans were! Trusting in Him is definitely easier said than done. There are so many things I want to happen, but I know it’s not up to me. YHVH has greater things in store for me than I could ever imagine!
He’s already answered my prayers for healing this week! After my first week of chiropractic treatment, I felt worse and really drained. It was hard because I thought I was supposed to be getting better, so I prayed that the second week would go easier. Praise Yah it has! I have had more energy and haven’t felt so dead.
We also found out this week, after reevaluating my X-Rays, that my whole spine is actually out of place. It’s a miracle I wasn’t injured more drastically or even killed when I fell off that horse six years ago! Two points in my upper cervical are over 6mm out of place if 1mm is out then it causes up to 60% loss of function!
I’m very thankful that I only have a bad neck and headaches, but I am ready for them to leave. Six years is long enough! I’m just praying that I can find a good chiropractor back in Israel, if I don’t come back to the States for treatment, because I really want to heal and get back to normal.
The only other noteworthy thing to write about before I explain my action packed weekend would be that I finally got to see Finding Dory this week!! I was so excited to see it because I had heard that is was really good and not a disappointment. I was not let down! It was one of the best movies to have come out this year! I loved every second of it, even though it did get frustrating when they kept losing Dory.
Now onto my crazy weekend! One of the main reasons I’m in Johnson City right now is because my dad planned to do an outreach. An outreach consists of evangelism training and going onto the streets to talk with people about God and the Bible. It’s a life changing experience that forces you to be stretched in ways you never thought you’d be.
Last year was my first outreach and I wasn’t sure how it was going to go. I don’t particularly like talking to strangers, so having to go up to people to ask them about God was even more nerve-wracking for me. However, when the time came to actually talk to people, the nerves vanished and I had some amazing conversations!
One of the things I absolutely love about doing these outreaches is that there’s no script. Most street evangelists give out tracks and things like that, but we do things differently. We do everything in the Spirit so the words mostly come from Him, not ourselves. We also go out to form relationships, not to shove Scriptures and God down people's throats.
I was really surprised at the difference of this year’s outreach compared to last year’s. Last year, the theme was to reveal the truth of God’s Word to the people, but this year it was all about intercession and prayer. Wherever we set up our tents, we put out signs that said, “Free water and prayer.” It was amazing to see how many people actually came over and asked for prayer!
The Spirit led the entire weekend, I have never been so in tune with Him! Yes, I probably could’ve talked to more people, but it wasn’t about talking to ANYONE I came across, it was about talking to those few key people. YHVH showed me the right people to talk to and because I listened, I have some awesome testimonies to share!
The first day of the outreach, I was really nervous because I knew that Tessa was coming with her parents. In a way, I was glad I had told Jem about the outreach too late because it would’ve been really awkward to be there altogether. Anyway, it worked out pretty well. I had to put up with her a couple of times during the weekend, but as I had predicted, she attached to Jackson and spent the last day with him.
To be honest, it was good to have them both out my hair since I didn’t want to be distracted from the work the Spirit wanted me to do. I also loved that I was able to hang out with girls close to my age. My prayer for this whole year has been to make more girl-friends and YHVH finally answered that prayer on this trip!
After having a Spirit-filled Shabbat service and lunch, we separated into two groups. I’d usually make sure I didn’t go in the group my parents were in because everyone seems to expect me to be a pro, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. My dad was surprisingly chill and didn’t expect me to walk around the park with him.
For a time, however, I did walk around the park with my dad; but when he started talking with two girls, I continued on without him. The entire time I was walking, I kept looking back at the people who were walking behind me. There was something about them that made me feel like I needed to talk to them, but the girl looked really anxious and was holding her stomach so I decided against it.
Finally, after looking back for like the hundredth time, I came across a small bench. I felt like YHVH was telling me to go sit on it and wait, so I did. I didn’t really know what I was waiting for but as I sat there I prayed that the girl or her grandfather would say something when they passed as a way to show me that I was supposed to talk to them.
Unfortunately, when they passed me so did a family with dogs. The girl and I shared a quick glanced before she passed, but she didn’t say anything and there was no opening to talk to her. I thought that was it that I had missed my chance, but God had other ideas.
After waiting for my dad to catch up with me, we started walking back to our group’s tent. As we got closer, I saw two women in our group pulling up chairs for the girl and her grandfather to sit in! I was stunned that they were going into the tent and rushed over to join the conversation.
It’s truly amazing how God works! As I listened to this girl, Sidney, share about the miracles that had happened to her in the last three weeks, I was drawn to her maturity and love for Yeshua, Jesus. There was an instant connection and I was so pleased the ladies had invited them into the tent.
Because the theme of this outreach was prayer, I was definitely stretched in the way I pray. I never usually know what to say when it comes to praying out loud, but this weekend I learned how to listen to the Spirit and say the things He was telling me to say. While I was praying for Sidney, the words came out easily and I was actually quite chuffed at what I was saying.
Before Sidney and her grandfather, Fritz, left, she told me how she had been praying for me to talk to her in order to start a conversation. Turns out, she had her own little cards in her pocket to share the Gospel with people as she walked around the park, and wanted to give one to me! It’s so amazing that we had been praying the same prayer before meeting and finally talking! How awesome is that?! I totally believe it was a divine appointment!
After this awesome meeting, my friend Sarah arrived at the park with my other new friend Rebekah, Bekah for short. Sarah was pumped and told me that she was about to get mikvahed, baptized. It was such a spontaneous thing, but so right. After she had gone under the water and submerged, 10 other people followed after her and had their die-to-self moment! It just shows that out of one person’s obedience comes more.
The next day was Sunday. I had to get up super early in order to make it to The Vineyard on time to grab a quickly packed breakfast and find out where I was going. We split into our two groups again and drove to two separate flea markets. One group went to the Jonesborough, while my group went to the one that was closer, which I had gone to the year before.
Jonathan and I immediately became flea market buddies, just like the last year, because we, well I, wanted to find the people we had talked to last year. It was fun hanging out with him again, I don’t think there was never a dull moment. The conversation flowed easily and there was only one moment of awkwardness. That moment was when I had to feel his beard before and after he had tried some guy’s beard oil and balm. It was both very awkward and very humorous at the same time.
We didn’t find all the people we’d spoken to last year, but that was okay. It was nice to talk to the people we did, though the conversations weren’t all directed towards Yeshua, which was also okay. The flea market wasn’t very busy but I believe that seeds were planted.
My favorite part of Sunday was when we went to the park. It took ages to drive there because my dad was positive he knew the way, which he didn’t. But alas, we made it in perfect time. The other group hadn’t arrived yet, as they were enjoying a sub from Subway, but that didn’t stop our group from setting up and getting to know one another.
Soon after arriving at the park, my bosom buddy, Guppy, arrived with another friend. I was super excited to see her because Guppy is one of the most awesome people I know! We hit it off last year, but didn’t really connect until Revive this year. I was so pleased she got to come for the day as I was able to update her on what was going on in my life and have a good laugh with her.
After having our catch up, the other group arrived and we started walking around the park. I tried to find someone to talk to, but there weren’t many people around. When Guppy and I couldn’t find someone to talk to, we joined our friend Crystal under the shade of a nice big tree.
As we were sitting there chatting, I started to watch a sweaty runner make his way toward us. Right before he passed, something in me wanted to shout at him, which is not necessarily normal for me. After thinking about my next action for a minute, I gave in and did it. When the runner passed I yelled, “Yeah! Keep it up! You can do it! Keep going!!” Haha.
Crystal and Guppy were both shocked at what I had just done; to be honest, I was as well, but I knew I was supposed to do it. After taking a moment to consider what had just happened, Crystal said, “So that’s how you do it? You just yell at someone and then they’ll come over and talk to you.” My response was, “Yup, pretty much.”
I think I had done something similar last year and it had resulted in the person coming and talking to me later on. There was definitely something about the guy that made me know that I was going to talk to him, but I wouldn’t learn what that was until five minutes later.
I returned to the tent right after yelling at the sweaty dude in order to say goodbye to four of the young men who were leaving for their long journey home. After saying bye, I went back to our tent where the worship was still going on. As I was standing there, I noticed two people coming toward the tent, from the corner of my eye. It took me a couple seconds to realize who they were, but when I did I couldn’t help but look at Guppy and laugh. One of them was Jackson and following him was sweaty runner guy! I couldn’t believe my eyes!
Upon arrival, I offered the runner a cold bottle of water and asked, “Did you keep it up?” to which he laughed. Turns out, he had heard Jackson asking a couple if they needed prayer and had stopped to say that he did. It’s really cool how the Spirit works sometimes!
Another awesome thing was that he was a police officer! Now I know that doesn’t sound very exciting, but let me explain. Earlier that day, a couple in our group had come up to me and Johnathan to ask if we had seen a police officer because YHVH had told them Friday night that they were to pray for one. As soon as I heard this runner’s occupation, I ran to the couple and told them that their policeman had arrived. It was one of the coolest things I have witnessed, and it was only going to get better!
Before leaving the park that afternoon, Matthew told us all to take one more lap around the park to see if there was anyone else who needed prayer. Beckah, Crystal and I walked together and we were not expecting what was about to happen next!
As we were about to turn the last corner before arriving back at the tent, we crossed paths with a girl wearing a very cute, colorful, skirt. Crystal couldn’t help commenting on it, if she hadn’t one of us were going to, and a conversation started to brew.
This girl’s name was Kelly. She had just gotten out of church and decided to enjoy the nice day, when she bumped into us. We started by having small talk, but I got fed up and wanted to get to the point. :P After telling Beckah that she was rambling, we finally asked Kelly if she needed prayer. She said yes, and from that moment the Spirit started to work amongst us. This was the second divine appointment I had this weekend!
Being a typical Baptist, Kelly had answered our question about prayer by saying that she had a lot of unspoken prayer requests. When it comes to situations like this, I love being with Rebekah because she asks all the right questions and makes people open up in a heartbeat. She really does have a gift.
Once Kelly had given us a bit more information on what she needed prayer for, we all joined hands, forming a small circle, and began to pray. Rebekah started the prayer, which was beautiful, and I could feel the Spirit working in all of us.
When Beckah asked if anyone else had anything else to say, I realized that I hadn’t asked the Spirit if He had anything He wanted me to say. When I did ask, one of the most amazing prayers I’ve ever prayed came out of my mouth. I spoke the words I heard and was actually shocked at what was coming out. There was such truth behind every one of my words and even though I didn’t know Kelly, I felt like I did.
Kelly, at this point, was crying and we could all feel her pain and suffering that she was going through. I love it when YHVH brings us to the people who are in the most need! There were probably more than ten other people I could’ve spoken to this weekend, but He took me to the most important ones. When you’re one with the Spirit, you’re invincible!
This weekend has truly changed my life, I am not the same girl I was last Thursday. I have learned how to seek His Voice and am finally starting to hear what He has to say more clearly! I loved every second of this weekend and wouldn’t change it for the world. I only wish it lasted a week!
As the new week begins, I’m very excited to see what other things the Father has in store for us all. Just because I finished the outreach doesn’t mean the evangelism stops. Any opportunity I get, I stop to ask people if they need prayer or if they know who their Messiah is. I’m just praying that I will continue to be a light to others and not hesitate when YHVH tells me to speak to someone.
Tomorrow night I’m going to Rebekah’s Bible study and I’m praying that Kelly accepts our invitation and comes! It’s so exciting to see what God is doing in Kelly’s life, and I hope I get to see her one last time before I go home.
1 John 4:7-11, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."