I am a Vehicle of Mercy

Well, after my last post on scripture memorization, I have decided to share with you in the next few entries some of the things Jesus showed me in Romans 11 and 12. Today, I want to talk about mercy. Now, most of my life I've been a pretty justice oriented person. Things tend to be black and white for me. I have a love for theology, politics and truth. I like absolutes and concrete thoughts. I like knowing what's right and what's wrong. That's the way I believe God made me. It is my strength, but it can also be my curse. If balanced with the mercy of God (which always triumphs over judgement, a point I constantly need reminding of) a love for justice is a great thing! The writers of the Psalms and Proverbs plead with us to love justice. But, it's when mercy is lacking, that zeal for all things just, becomes a curse to the soul. This year, God did a major overhaul on my heart and is daily increasing the gift of mercy in my life. (Side-note: mercy is a spiritual gift and Paul says to pursue the gifts. If you feel like you're lacking in the area of mercy [or any other gift] like I was, ask God to give you more of that gift! It works.) I'm learning the art of merciful justice, which in the Kingdom of God is not an oxymoron. How did this happen? Read on...

This spring, our class was traveling and ministering in Israel. One sunny afternoon, we were having our weekly Romans Bible study in a grassy park right outside the Old City. We were discussing chapter 11, what I believe to be one of the most important sections of scripture to the church today. The call of God to Israel can not be revoked or redirected to "the church." Believers in Jesus do not replace Israel, rather we join them. I could and people have written entire books on this subject, so I will not go into great depth here, but there's a few verses at the end of the chapter that are quite remarkable.

30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.

God has veiled the eyes of His people, so that the nations could partake in the gift of salvation. Before Yeshua, we were all missing out. When I say we, I mean the gentiles/nations - I am one, so 'we' just makes sense to me. We (gentiles) weren't of Abraham's bloodline, the end. We were disobedient to God, worshiping false idols with pagan rituals. But God, in His deep mercy and love for us, veiled the eyes of His own people, that through their disobedience to Him, we would have a chance to receive His mercy! Unbelievable! But many of us stop there. We say, "Thank you Jesus for Your mercy, now what's on TV tonight?" Some of us see error in the first response and choose to instead focus on loving the Jewish people. This is good! We should love them and have a gratefulness in our hearts that they've suffered for generations for our salvation. It's sobering, but so important to realize! Earlier in chapter 11, Paul says that Israel is blinded in part, until the fullness of the gentiles has come in. But that spring afternoon, while sitting on the grass at the base of Mt. Zion, God showed me a third response, a revelation, it might even deserve the title epiphany. It's from the end of verse 31,

31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy.

It all comes back to mercy. You see I, like many other believers today, had seen the suffering of Israel that I might be saved and was extremely grateful! I go to Israel to serve them and show my deep love for them. This is a great thing to do, but somewhere along the way, I got a little confused. I tend to go to extremes, my mom describes it as a pendulum on a clock that swings from one direction to the furthest possible opposite direction, thankfully the Holy Spirit is teaching me balance. But, in an effort to distance myself from the widely accepted Christian belief that Israel is unimportant and irrelevant to us today, my pendulum swung hard. I began to put the Jewish people on a bit of a pedestal, all subconsciously mind you. By focusing so much on what God has done for me through the Jewish people, I started to downplay if not totally erase the role of the gentiles in God's plan. I knew that we were important in the sense that we are to love God and each other. We are called to minister and evangelize, but in the grand scheme of things, I started to see us as tag-alongs. I'll say right now that this is not God's heart! You have to read all the way to the end of verse 31, that through the mercy shown us, they also might obtain mercy! In Romans 10, Paul says that ALL Israel will be saved. In chapter 11, he says that their acceptance will be life from the dead, and we know from what Jesus says in the book of Matthew, that when Israel turns her heart towards Yeshua as her Messiah, there will be world revival and then the end will come and our Bridegroom with it! But how is Israel going to come back? God, in His sovereignty, could simply bring them back alone - but because He loves us, He allows us gentiles to be involved in the process by becoming vehicles of mercy to the Jewish people. Isn't it beautiful? They become disobedient that we might receive merciful salvation and through that same mercy in us, they too will receive merciful salvation. This revelation is just another example of how our circular God is constantly pretzeling my linear mind. This revelation has literally changed my life, from my prayer to purpose, delights to direction. One of my favorite things about God is that He doesn't have plan B's. He is the sovereign Ancient of Days. He did not choose Israel, oh and then include the gentiles as an after thought. No, no, He choose the Jews - that they might play a part in saving the nations - that the nations would play a part in saving the Jews. Paul calls it the mystery of the Gospel. I call it beautiful.

While I was in Ethiopia, I had the opportunity to meet many Jewish people (some who have yet to know the love of Yeshua as their Messiah) who were living in complete poverty. And guess what was going through my head the whole time? Oh Jesus! Have mercy on them! You've taken care of me, loved me, provided for me and saved me. Please Jesus, do the same for them - have mercy! It was real. My eyes could not stay dry and my heart would not ease. It's because I have chosen to step into the destiny that God has for me as a carrier of mercy to His people.

I am a young woman with no Jewish blood that love Jesus, that makes me a vehicle of mercy to Israel. Living in Jerusalem everyday has caused this revelation to become reality in me. What does being a carrier of mercy look like? Is it intercession that Israel would know God's mercy? Is it working with the poor and needy Jewish people? Is it helping the Jewish woman with five little kids out to her car at the supermarket just up the road from my apartment? Is it continuously forgiving when they hurt your feelings? Is it showing the love of Yeshua in my countenance as well as in words of evangelism? And I would say that the answer it yes. If you're a Jewish person, ask God how you can fulfill your destiny to bless the nations because you've been greatly blessed (Gen. 12:3). And if you're a Gentile, ask God how He wants you to fulfill your destiny to show mercy because you've been shown such great mercy (Rom. 11). He created these roles for you in the "grand scheme of things" before the beginning of creation - walk in them.

I have hidden Thy Word in my heart

During my time in the Gateways Beyond training school this year, my class chose to memorize chapters 11 and 12 from Paul's book to the Romans. I can personally testify to the benefit of committing large sections of Scripture to memory! After we began to memorize, it seemed like those two chapters were popping up everywhere! In our teaching, morning exhortations, and personal time with Jesus. There's something beautiful in becoming more familiar with the Word of God. It goes from being words on a page, to a deep seated truth within you that you KNOW beyond a shadow of doubt. It deepens your intimacy with Yeshua and gives your life greater fullness in every area, because you've chosen to make the lIving Word alive in you! This could not be more true in my experience with Romans 11 and 12. God used Romans 11 and 12 to speak to me about my destiny, the truths they hold were instrumental in the levels of freedom and deliverance I received this year, and they ultimately became the cries of my intercession. This was all made possible because we made it a point to know these chapters inside and out - word for word. We want to be good Biblical stewards and handle rightly the Word of God. And as we memorized by flash cards, audio Bible on our ipods and meditating on the texts, something began to happen! The Holy Spirit breathed His life into it and subsequently, 7 young peoples lives will never be the same. We have a fuller knowledge of the love of God, His love for Israel, the destiny of nations, the Christian life of sacrifice and the purposes of God in our generation. Now, that was just to name a few, but trust me - the impact was priceless and I'm still getting revelation. And that was just two chapters! Imagine if we learned the whole book?! Most Christians haven't even read the whole Bible, much less memorize it. But, I want to clarify - this isn't Awanas anymore . Don't memorize verses to get a badges on your perverbial "I'm a good Christian" vest, a pat on the back from your pastor, or to wow everyone at the next church event. We need to know the word of God because it is power and life! Jesus is coming back and the gates of hell want to do whatever they can to stop it! We must take up our swords! Demons fear no Christian who lacks the power of the Holy Spirit and the skill to proclaim the word of God.

Peter Prothero is an international speaker and the pastor of Jubilee Church just outside of London, he is also a favorite around the Gateways base when it comes to guest teachers. During my first year, he said something to our class that has stuck with me. He boldly stated that "When temptation comes, it time to SAY, not pray." Unpacked, that means that we, as believers, should have an active prayer life before temptation comes, strengthening ourselves so that when it does come, we boldly proclaim the truth that we are God's children, Jesus died to redeem us, the Holy Spirit has made us new creatures and no scheme of satan will get the best of us! I like that. I wrote it, so I should. But my point is that how can you "say" in the time of trouble if you can't remember it? Really knowing the God's Word will change your life. It did mine. This blog is not to brag on myself and tell you all how great I am for memorizing two whole chapters. Oooo! I only have what.....thousands more to go. Trust me, I'm far from being there, but I want to testify that God is good, His word is powerful and it's important.

Some might say that memorizing is too hard, your mind doesn't work that way, etc. I know that this sounds hard, but Jesus had lots of "hard sayings". I'd challenge you to really examine your heart to see if there's a laziness that's keeping you from memorizing God's Word. (This can be especially clear if you seem to have lots of other things memorized like songs, movie quotes, sports statistics, etc). If you do indeed find laziness in your heart toward the Bible, repent, turn from your sin and dive into Scripture! Now this next part is important, there's a little verse in the Bible that says "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Now I know that we all think that we're the only exception to the Bible, that God wrote that for everyone but me, I don't count. I hate to break it to you, but it doesn't work that way. There's another Scripture that says that God is "not a man that He should lie." I know that it sounds crazy to actually believe what the Bible says... but trust me on this one. God gives us the armor of God in Ephesians 6. And the one piece of offensive equipment that we're given is the sword of the Spirit. The writer of Hebrews tells us that this is the Word of God. So, God gives us His Word to wield as a sword in spiritual warfare. Now, it would be kind of a cruel trick to give us a sword that we couldn't pick up, wouldn't it? Picture this huge William Wallace sized sword that you can't get off the ground, much less do any damage with. Lot of good that would do you, huh? Just to let you know, God doesn't do stuff like that to His children. If He's going to give you a weapon, he's going to make sure that you can use it. Now, that's not to say it won't take time building to up your muscles to handle it with skill, but it was made for you and you will prevail. In the same way, God's Word was written for us - His people. He didn't make it too hard to be of any use to us. He's not that kind of God. It might take time and effort to study and know the Bible, but we will prevail. God made your mind to know His word, it just works that way - isn't He good? So, just ask God for strength, grace and discipline as you attempt to dive into His word that you might steward it well, proclaim it in the face of temptation, and wield it skillfully in battle.

JEWISH COMMUNITY

Our interaction with the Ethiopian Jewish community may have been the most impacting part of the trip for me. Many of you know that I have long had heart for God's chosen people and the Messianic community. In Ethiopia, the Jewish people face difficult lives, full of discrimination as they wait to return to their Promised Land. We sat on the wooden benches of a tin roof and dirt floor synagogue, full of men and women who have yet to know the salvation of their Messiah. We were able to be involved in distributing aid to the Jewish people who are living in poverty as they wait to make aliyah and return to Israel. And we also had the beautiful privilege to worship with Jewish believers in Yeshua. As we worshipped, I was hit with the realization of where I was and what an honor to be worshipping with these brothers and sisters as the one new man ( Ephesians 2). We joined this believing community for the Biblical feast of Shavuot (Pentecost), to celebrate God's giving of His Word and the Holy Spirit. This was an anointed time! After a powerful word, preached by Jahi (the leader of Gateways' first year program) the Holy Spirit came and we saw people receive salvation, physical healing and deliverance from demonic oppression. God delights in meeting His children during His appointed times. And how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity. We worshipped with them in English, Amharic and Hebrew and danced both Israeli and African dances. This Messianic congregation is on fire for the Lord, but it has come at a great cost. During our celebration in an open air compound, rocks began to fly over the wall and into the compound - hitting our team and the congregation members. This Jewish community on the outskirts of Addis Ababa is about 60,000 people and only a few hundred are believers in Jesus as the Messiah. The rock-throwers were infuriated with these precious believers, accusing them of witchcraft in the community, because of their faith in Christ. What started as several angry men, quickly turned into a riot. Signs and banners for the gathering were torn down, and the windshields of the cars belonging to the believers were smashed. Nobody was seriously injured, but it gives perspective of what these people go through everyday for the sake of following Jesus. We were also able to bless them by doing practical service in the compound where their congregation meets - gardening, cleaning, and electrical work. For many years, the believers in this community have stayed underground to forgo this kind of persecution, but we stand with them in their recent choice to openly worship Yeshua as the Messiah and shine like a city on a hill. Please join me in lifting up this community and the believers in it to the Lord.


Traditional Jewish dancing with the Messianic congregation on the feast of Shavuot


Our team with some of the congregational leaders in their compound on work day

MERCY

The team had the privilege to visit several orphanages in Ethiopia, where they poured out love on the precious children.  For many, this was their first experience in an orphanage, and already we have been deeply impacted for life. 

At Kechene Children’s Home (a place that has become very special in our hearts), we encountered a very understaffed and almost unsupervised group of teenagers and children roaming the neglected and overgrown property.  And what an amazing facility and property it was!  A few YEARS of work, and it could be a really nice place.  The group started with the area of greatest need: the yard and grounds.  They began to clean up the grounds making piles of things the children could sell (such as scrap metal, eucalyptus leaves, and wood) for bus fare and school supplies. Realizing that we were gathering resources for these children, motivated us greatly in our work.  The grounds were so extensive that even 4 days of work were not sufficient to complete the task!  Breaks were spent playing and giving love to neglected children starving for attention, as well as almost all of our girls getting their hair braided.  The children were beautiful and it was a joy to give them much needed love.  We toiled and waited.  Jesus said, “look to the fields, for they are white for harvest”.  Before the harvest, surely there was a process of toiling, planting, and watering.  And, for us, at Kechene, that is what we did for 4 days.  We toiled, planted, and watered in the spiritual as we toiled on the grounds in the physical.  And we waited for that open door.

Well, in the afternoon of our last day there, that opportunity came.  The kids were so touched by our love and affection that they began to ask questions.  We performed the drama and shared the gospel (in a government run orphanage!) and many were touched.  The kids sang some songs for us, and after we had a time of worship with them.  Many began to weep.  One girl shared how the kids felt about our coming-and it was so sweet.  They had never been loved like this before.  It was an unprecedented encounter for those kids.  When we ask, He will come-and shine His light on everyone! I made a special connection with a little boy named Hilu at this orphanage. He is ten years old and had only been at the orphanage two days when we arrived. Prior to that, he had been living on the street. Abba gave me a deep, deep love in my heart for this little boy. Over the course of our time there, we played and took pictures and every chance I had, I would use the little Amharic I knew to tell him that Jesus loved him. The last day we were there and we were worshipping, he finally broke and began to release the emotions he'd been internalizing for years. Through the tears, he prayed the sinners prayer raised his little hand when the invitation for salvation was given. When we left that day, my tears flowed as freely as his. I had such a burden on my heart for him to truly know the love of God. Then the Father came to me with His still, small voice and showed my heart, that if I have such a desire for this one little boy to know the Father's love, how much GREATER is the Father's desire to see all His children truly live in the spirit of adoption. As I went to bed that night, I prayed that Yeshua would touch Hilu's heart. And that night, I had a dream. In the dream, I met Hilu, five years in the future. He told me that ever since that day he prayed with us, his life was never the same. Jesus had come and revealed Himself face-to-face to him one night in his little room at the orphanage and he KNEW the love of God. He was following the Lord as a young man, and had a heart for evangelism. I woke up with such gratitude in my heart and tears in my eyes. Jesus, encouraged me that everyone we encounter is ultimately in His hands. Going to a third world country and seeing the great need, can be overwhelming if you try to carry the burden in the strength of your flesh. But, if we let Holy Spirit teach us how to appropriately carry a burden for these people in intercession, there is great joy! It's not about how much our team can do in one month, but the reality that Jesus can reveal His love to a child face to face in his room one night if He wants to. Thank you Abba.

The team also worked hard at Hope Enterprises Feeding Center several times during the trip, feeding and loving hundreds of children at the morning breakfast and over 1,000 adults at lunch. I had the honor of preaching the gospel at HOPE and it was amazing. The Spirit of God touched may hearts and dozens made a decision that day to reconcile their hearts to God. We served the poorest of society the one meal they would eat all day. Many on our team who had worked in restaurants, desired to serve these beautiful people better than the fanciest places they'd worked in. Despite the great poverty that defines their lives, these people's faces were full of life and joy. Smiles were seen everywhere. It challenged me so much! With all the gifts that Jesus has given me, I have no excuse for my countenance to ever be downcast! He truly does beautify the humble with salvation. As we go throughout our days, do we look like a people who have been given the gift of salvation? Do our faces show it, like these precious Ethiopians'?

Another favorite place to serve, was HOME (House of Mercy Ethiopia) Children’s Center, in their day program for mentally and physically disabled children. We sang, played games, shared Bible stories, and prayed for them.  So many beautiful faces and smiles that we will remember for a lifetime!




HOPE Feeding Center

ENCOURAGEMENT

In Africa, church is the most exciting part of the week. The whole team ministered in several church services over the course of our one month trip, and every time, we left as impacted as the congregation. We joined the believers there in powerful worship. I've never experienced anything like it. The intensity and passion with which they worship would shame the western church. If you looked around the congregation during the worship, you would see intense gratitude, inexpressible joy, and passionate love on the faces of the believers. We also had the opportunity to lead worship in both English and Amharic. We simply shined and poured out love for our King, encouraging others to do the same. We were also able to do the drama we prepared and students shared testimonies to encourage the Church. The Holy Spirit fell and we were all encouraged to witness the fire, anointing, and power of the Word being preached. Several were also able to deliver prophetic words of encouragement and healing words of knowledge to the believers we fellowshipped with. It was a powerful time of uniting the Body of Messiah. The whole team left beaming with joy.

EVANGELISM

Through out the trip, we sent several teams into the city of Addis Ababa to do street evangelism. We’d split up into groups of 3 or 4 people and go out to meet people and shine the light of Yeshua. For many students, this was their first experience evangelizing and praying for people on the streets. One group was in the city square when a young man found them whom they had shared with the week before. He was exuberant as he testified what the Lord had done: The week before, one of the evangelism teams had met two hungry young men-Michael and Lazarus. Michael had a lot of stress over his university studies and Lazaraus had a visible tumor on his throat. The team prayed for them and told the young men that they were confident that God was answering their prayers. A week later, Michael found them and joyfully shared with them how his studies had dramatically improved and how his friend Lazarus had been completely healed and now has no tumor! As he shared, a small crowd of people came in closer to find out what was going on. Just as someone had prophesied over him the week before, that God would use him to bring in people, he began to share with the crowd about the goodness of the Lord in his life!

We also took time to minister in prisons in Ethiopia. These times were incredibly powerful. Hundreds on inmates would gather in the hot sun to listen to us worship, share the drama we prepared, give our testimonies and preach the gospel. Dozens responded to the invitations for salvation and many were touched. When you're in that atmosphere, there can be a slight twinge of fear in your heart - there was in mine. You look around and the surroundings are pretty rough. But then the Holy Spirit came and gave me this perfect peace. He reminded me that I have the reality of Heaven living inside of me and not even the gates of Hell can prevail against it! It was a powerful time and even I, a white young woman from the other side of the world, was able to approach these convicts with the boldness of Christ and see Jesus touch their hearts. We were also able to meet with the believers who attend the small church in the prison compound. We had the opportunity to pray and prophesy over them - encouraging them to shine like lights in the darkness and show their fellow inmates how Jesus has changed their life.

Reflections of Africa

Teanastellen! (greeting meaning "may health be given to you" in Amharic)

It's been two weeks since our team returned from Ethiopia, but my mind and heart still haven't fully processed all God did during that time. Our one month outreach trip there was life changing, and I want to share as much as I can with all of you. Hopefully this summary will give you a taste of what God has done and is doing in the Land of Ethiopia...

For any Gateways Beyond outreach there are four areas of ministry which we focused on. First, evangelism by being bold messengers of the Good New on the streets, in prisons, and churches. Second, being an extension of God’s love and mercy to the poor and to orphans. Third, connecting with local believers to bring strength and encouragement to the body of Messiah. And fourth, to be a living witness to the Jewish community through acts of love and service. I want to use my next few posts to share about my experiences in these four areas, while in Ethiopa.

Thank you to all who sowed into this trip financially and prayerfully. God did great and wondrous things during our time their. The people we were able to minister the love of the Father to were greatly impacted, as were we. And please join me in praying for the nation of Ethiopia - that the unbelievers in the land would come to know salvation in Jesus - that God would show His great mercy to the poor and helpless - that He would come to His Bride in Ethiopia as she pours out her worship on Him - and that the Jewish Ethiopians would live in the eternal life of Yeshua the Messiah! I will try to keep you all posted and where God takes me next and what I'll be doing. Thank you for all your support! I have found no greater joy than following Jesus wherever He leads.

Xavier yebarkatchu! (God Bless you in Amharic)