Revival Vacation

Today my lovely friend Maureen and I went on a little Swiss adventure. Maureen has been a wonderful host to me, making my time in Switzerland most enjoyable. Today was no different. Our destination was Stiftsbibliothek in the nearby town, St. Gallen. The bibliothek is the oldest monastic library in the world. There were books dating 1,000, and even 1,500 years back! For a book lover such as myself, it was amazing.

As I looked around the ornate room in awe, I had a flashback to my childhood years and felt that I was Belle, being ushered into Beast's library for the first time (come on Beauty and the Beast fans... you know what I'm talking about!). It was breathtaking. We were required to wear these little slippers over our shoes to protect the books from dust.

I browsed the hundreds of books containing beautiful theological truths under the cover of the ornately frescoed ceiling. Definitely a highlight of the trip for me.

After exiting the museum, we had a picnic lunch in the garden. As I prayed to thank God for the food, a whole other prayer began to pour out of me. I asked Abba that as tourists walked through that wonderful room, full of historic beauty, they would be struck with the reality of what those books hold. That is would no longer just be a tourist attraction, but a place where they would have a heavenly encounter with the Holy Spirit. That these books of yesteryear that hold the truths of our very present God would not be just one more image in the blur of a European vacation, but that those truths would supernaturally jump off the page and into their hearts forever. The Stiftsbibliothek was, after all, a place that was used to study the Word of God and the theology of the Christ's Church - why can't it be again? People shuffle past these books in their little slippers and ow and awe over their beauty, remaining completely ignorant to the true beauty of the Gospel. I know that Jesus is bigger than that and today my prayer is that He would show up and show off just how alive He is today in that library.

So much of European history revolves around Christianity. Granted, not all of it is pretty history, but what if it stopped being stories of dead people and started being encounters with the living God. I want to start hearing stories of people on vacation touring Europe having radical encounters with the Holy Spirit! That churches, cathedrals and monastic libraries would harbor such a thick presence of God, that people's lives would never be the same! Oh that the ancient wells of Europe would spring up today! Wouldn't it be great to have revival European vacations?!

Last year, while in Germany with GTS, we visited the church in Wittenberg where Martin Luther mailed his 95 theses. After a powerful worship time inside the church, we had a time of prayer outside. Holy Spirit came and touched our hearts. People were laid out on the sidewalk under the power of God. And where were we causing such a heavenly scene? Right in front of the door where Luther nailed his theses... yeah, that door. Other tourists were literally having to step over members of our team to get their picture taken by the famous door!

That's what I want to see again! I want people to know that God did not die in the 18th century! He is living and active! Spring up oh well in Europe!

ELAV Day 3

First of all, I must apologize for the tardiness of this update. After the conference ended, the staff went into a coma of sorts to rest and recuperate after pouring out so much during ELAV. 17 hour days full of hard work in the hot sun was exhausting, but so worth it! In these recent days following the conference, some have been describing it as an atomic bomb of Holy Spirit that has been dropped on the youth of Israel.

The third day of the conference started with a miraculous worship set led by my friend James. He had lost his voice earlier in the week and then had it miraculously healed in time for his set. Thank you so much for all you who prayed! Matt Gilman also led us in an amazing worship time before our morning session with Heidi Baker. Heidi spoke on the spirit of adoption and the link between identity and courage. Using powerful examples from her own life in Mozambique, she shared with us that when you know that you're adopted, you're not afraid anymore. And in Hebrew, the root word for adoption, is the same root word for courage. She charged the youth to know who they are in Abba and with sureness of that reality, to step out with boldness in their culture. This is such an import message for this generation at this time in Israel. Afterwards, there was a time of prayer and ministry for the youth. Many were getting touched, but there was still a level of breakthrough that we were not tapping into. Then Rick Ridings (founder of Succat Hallel), very wisely and in obedience to the Holy Spirit, led us in the direction of praying specifically for the IDF soldiers among us. Many of these kids are barely out of high school and have been trained to shut off their emotions and become very hard - making times like these, when the Spirit of God wants to come in, very difficult. As we began to minister to these soldiers, Holy Spirit just broke out and began touching them. We had Palestinian youth and even young men from Gaza praying for IDF soldiers! The only way this could happen is in Yeshua! It was an amazing thing to see these soldiers with machine guns strapped to their backs, break down in tears as Abba came and touched them with their love. It is said that almost no soldiers leave their time in the army with their virginity or their faith in Yeshua. Please keep these young people in your prayers, the need is great.

Saturday was an extra special day because it was Heidi Baker's 50th birthday! It was a joy to spend this special day with her and she enters her year of jubilee. We sang for her in English and Hebrew and had a sweet time of blessing her.

In the afternoon, Joaquin Evans from Bethel Church in Redding CA shared with the youth about the ministry of healing - allowing God to come and make it easier than we think. The youth really responded to Joaquin's laid back style and sincerity. Many have been inspired and encouraged to take the power of Yeshua to the streets of their cities. After Joaquin's session, he had a time of impartation to the youth and of course, a time to pray for the sick. We saw blown out knees completely restored, backs healed, hearing loss restored, TMJ healed and more! It was powerful to see the youth pray for each other - Arab and Jew contending for each other's miracle. This is the kingdom in action.

The conference closed out with Asher Intrater's session. Asher is a local Messianic leader and an international speaker/author. He did not come to the conference to give these kids a cotton candy message that would make them feel good. No, he brought something that is offensive to the flesh and life to the soul - truth. He spoke about how many of us know the kind, sweet Yeshua. He is a Galilean hippie with children on His lap and flowers in His hand. But there is another side of Yeshua that we must know - the Lion of the tribe of Judah that will soon be touching down on the Mount of Olives with a sword in His mouth and blood on His robe. We must know this Yeshua, or we will not recognize Him at His coming. Asher passionately exhorted the youth to serve their flesh a death blow, giving up the things of this world that make provision for the old man and choosing to live lives completely surrender to the King. Conviction swept over the crowd and lives will never be the same. We finally wrapped up at about midnight and called the Kennes Elav 2009 to a close.

Believe with us that this weekend was a turning point for the youth of this nation. That there will be outbreak of revival in Israel, bringing with it signs and wonders. God met us out in the Baptist Village in a powerful way, but this is not just about a conference - a mountaintop experience that soon loses it's potency. No, this is about the coming of Yeshua's Kingdom and it's firm establishment in this nation. Join us in intercession for this Israeli generation. We believe that God has great things in store for them and want to partner with Him in seeing it.

Thank you all so much for the faithful prayers that you have sowed into this conference and ministry. God is doing big things and He wants us to be a part of it. Take up the mantle. Join the battle. The journey is an adventure and the victory, a sure thing.