Jerusalem Experience *UPDATED WITH PHOTOS

When I first set foot in Jerusalem, I changed from a boy to a young man.

Maybe it was the ViewMaster slides that my grandparents had of Jerusalem. Or maybe it was the movie that I remember my dad watching on the old Reel-to-Reel - “Three Minutes Till Midnight”. But whatever it was, my heart yearned to stand in the gates of Jerusalem and see the sights of the Bible. However, when faced with the opportunity to go, my obstinate self complained, “SIX WEEKS!!!!?” I could not imagine being thousands of miles from home for six weeks. I had only been away from home for two weeks on my trip to London and Amsterdam. But six weeks???

Our father would take us to an amusement park every summer, as a child. The night before we would leave, I couldn't seem to fall asleep. I would be so excited, my mind would not stop racing with anticipation. So it was, the day before I left for Israel. I could hardly sleep. I was so exited to be going to the Holy Land the next day. There's always an anxiety for me that goes along with flying. But this time seemed exceptionally more dramatic as we sat waiting in the Atlanta airport, that evening. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6PM, but due to icing in Toronto where our lay-over flight was, we were postponed. Finally, we bored the plane and off to Toronto.

Our connecting flight was due out at 11:45pm, however, due to the icing problems, we were told our flight was delayed. We rushed from our arrival gate from Atlanta to our departure gate to Tel Aviv. The airport was totally empty. As we arrived at our gate at 11:55pm, we were able to see our plane taxing down the runway. Mind you, there were 7 adults, two children and a pregnant mother to be. We were told we would have to collect our luggage (all 27 pieces), check into a hotel for the night and be back for a British Airways flight at 6am the next day.

As we loaded our baggage into the bus, then off the bus into the hotel, we discovered we had 28 pieces of luggage. We were all so tired – it was after one AM, we laughed and laughed. It wasn't even suppose to be on our flight.

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel, checked 27 pieces of luggage back in at the airport, boarded our flight to Gatwick airport in England. Once again, we discovered that our flight was delayed. When we arrived in England, once again, we missed our flight. The next available flight to Tel Aviv was only 12 hours away. This time, we spent the day in the airport – all twelve hours. But at 5am, Feb 26, 2003 the next morning, we were all kissing the holy ground of Israel.

Myself and one of the other young men took a Sher'oot (a taxi) from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Because it was a van and there were other passengers, including a Chasidic Jew, we had to pass through Mea Sharim. It was amazing. There was snow on the hills of Jerusalem and I felt like I had taken a time machine back into another time – where and what time, I'm not sure.

The moment our van parked in front of our apartment and I stepped out into the snow, I was overwhelmed. I suddenly found myself recalling the Scripture from Psalms which says, “as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so YHVH is round about His people.” For every where I looked were mountains – the Judaen hills.

Our apartment building was terraced on a hill and we were on the lowest level of the complex. From a side shot, it looked like giant stair steps down the hill. We had a beautiful garden on the ground level. The apartments were tri-level and I chose the basement. It was spacious and open with an upper window that looked out into the garden. Each morning, we would have to turn on the electric hot water heater to take a shower, because during the hot summer months, the water was heated on the roofs in the sun.

Our first day, we had lunch at the Halcyon House. This was the house that Sister Ruth Ward Heflin had rented since the mid to late 80's in the Arab section of Jerusalem. It was located next to the British Embassy. It was a very large house with large rooms. They had built on a chapel which had been the place of worship for many years. Sister Ruth had started prayer meetings back in 1972 which continued until Sis. Nancy Bergen passed away. *Sister Ruth authored several books entitled Glory before passing.

When Sister Ruth passed away in 2000, she left the church in the hands of one of her capable

associates, Nancy Bergen. Sister Nancy lived in the house and continued the prayer meetings daily, 5 days a week. They held services on Friday night, Saturday Morning and Evening and again on Sunday Morning. Sister Nancy often hosted ladies from across the nations who felt a call to come and pray in the land. They would live in the house for days, weeks and even months at a time.

Radwan was a Palestinian cook who worked at the house. He had worked at the house for many years and cooked lunch every day at the house at one o'clock. He at one-time cooked for the king of Jordan, King Hussein and many other prominent heads of state. Our favorite was always the Sunday special “Upside Down”. It was Saffron Rice with chicken and other spices. We felt like princes and nobles at every meal.

Sister Nancy had a very unique and different style of worship, than I had ever encountered. She would sit at the piano and just began to sing spontaneously by the Spirit. Sometimes the same line for 5 to 10 minutes until the Spirit would give her another line. In the meantime, we would be dancing Israeli style dances in the chapel. Then we would take time to share any visions, revelations or prophetic utterances. It was an amazing experience which truly shaped my worship life.

When I first stood at the Kotel – the Western Wall, it was such an awesome moment. I would come to

stand here many more times, while in Jerusalem, and each time would be a new experience for me. One night, I had taken the bus to shop alone late one evening, and decided to come to the wall and pray. As I was standing there interceding and praying, I felt as if the Moshiach, Himself, had stepped out of the wall. It was as if the whole world had stepped into the New Millennium and there was no more war, only peace. It didn't matter that a minyan of Chasidic Jewish men were less than ten feet front me. I couldn't contain the tears. I was so caught up in that moment, my lips were speaking a language that only God Himself comprehends.

We made many travels during those six weeks. The first trip I recall, was only about 3 miles from our apartment to the Mount of Olives. The wind was blowing and it was bitter cold. I ended up getting talked into buying a Jordanian kefiyah – those red-checkered scarves that they wear on their heads and one of the children rode a camel. The view from the Mount of Olives was breath taking.

One of the many things I fell in love with in Jerusalem was the Falafel stands. Falafel's are little round hushpuppy looking things made from chickpeas, saffron and other spices, then stuffed in a Pita along with many other garnishes, relishes and sometimes even french fries. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

People often ask if it was scary. Well, the scariest part for me was, about 2 weeks into our first trip, the Lord let me know I would be staying on. I did not know how in the world I would share this "revelation" with my pastor. He had watched me grow up from the time I was an eleven year old boy and I figured in his mind he still saw me as that naive, eleven year old boy. But when I got up the nerve to tell him this one evening in their basement, he kind of chuckled and said, "You know, I've kinda been feeling the same way. We'll have to talk it over with Nancy and the travel agent." The next day, over hot chocolate in the Jerusalem Mall, Sis. Nancy was elated. She felt the same way. (God always works on all ends at the same time.) Four weeks later, I was standing at the escalator waving good-bye to my last link to home.

Now, be it known, I was ordained to preach in 1995, but I had only preached about 8 times, up until that year. On 4/12/03, I preached my first sermon in Jerusalem, "The Greater Increase". That would begin a month long stint of co-leading daily prayer meetings, and preaching Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday night and Sunday morning, every weekend.

It was amazing. I used up all my sermon notes that I had with me the first weekend. God would supernaturally give me sermons, sometimes after the service was well underway. The second weekend, I had already prepared sermon notes, and halfway through the singing, God completely changed my sermon.

I remember one Saturday afternoon, we had finished lunch out on the patio and Sis. Nancy had dropped me off at the apartment. I went down to the basement and started praying in the Spirit for about an hour. Then, I asked Him to give me the revelation of what I had just spoken. It was the sermon for that night!. After praying, I went upstairs to take a nap. As I was laying in bed, in that half-awake, half-asleep state, I could hear a woman crying, "I can't get free, I can't get free."

That night, after preaching the sermon the Lord had given me by Interpretation, I told about that experience. A woman from England was visiting the service that night and came up to the front crying, when I said that. We received a word of knowledge about an addiction in her life. She later told Nancy and I that she didn't want to come to Jerusalem, but said, "This is it. If God doesn't do something on this trip, I'm done." She told us she had been bound by alcohol and couldn't get free. God had set her free that night.

On Palm Sunday, we walked with a MULTITUDE of people from the Mount of Olives into St. Stephen's gate with our Palm branches waving, singing, "Hosanna, Hosanna." I would estimate there were probably 10,000 Christians in Jerusalem, that day, walking. When we left the Church of St. Anne (the Pool of Bethesda), I joked with Nancy that knew how a salmon feels swimming against the tide. We had to go the opposite direction of the crowd (about six of us) walking against thousands of people. It was a fun experience.

I had the awesome privilege of celebrating the Lord's Passover in Jerusalem, on that trip. After we had our own Seder meal at the Halcyon House, Sis Nancy walked us through the neighborhood of Mea Sharim where we could hear the children singing Pesach (Passover) songs, like Dayeinu and asking the Four Questions.

Synagogue in Nazereth

I guess one of my fondest memories is from the House of Caiphus. After returning home at the end of a 3 month stay in Jerusalem, I preached a few sermons, shared some testimonies, washed a few clothes and two weeks later, I turned around and flew back to Jerusalem for two more months, to meet up with others from our church who had went over to visit.

One day during that trip, Sis Nancy took a few of the sisters and a brother from Norway, as well as myself to St. Peter en Galicantu. This is the church Sis. Ruth Heflin and group of young people used back in 1972 to worship in. It is also built over the house of Chaiphus, the High Priest who condemned Jesus and where Peter denied the Lord, thrice.

In the Pit at the House of Chaiphas

Tradition bears out that Jesus was kept in a dark pit the night before He was taken to Pilate. While we were standing down in that pit, we began to sing the old hymn, "I love Him, I love Him, because He first loved me. And purchased my salvation on Calvary's tree." Suddenly, the air was charged and we all began to weep. Afterwards, everyone in the room talked about the feeling that came over us and we all said the same thing: I wonder how He felt just now when He came into this room? It was the most amazing experience knowing that in that small, dark dungeon where we were standing, the Lord Jesus had come back 2000 years later, and visited with us. Everytime I have shared that experience publicly, since then, even when I had strayed from the Lord, the atmosphere changes and I feel that Presence all over, again.

It was during this trip that the Lord dealt with our Pastor and Sis. Nancy, as well as confirmed to the rest of us, it was time to move the ministry from the Halcyon House to our apartments up on French Hill. So, after the group who was there from Alabama had flew back home, I stayed on to help with the transition. It was bittersweet, but we knew God was opening up a new chapter to that ministry.

I flew home just in time for our summer campmeeting, stayed a few weeks, then flew back to Jerusalem just in time for the Feast of Tabernacles. The first day there, Sis. Nancy asked me to sit down at the piano after lunch and lead us in worship. I began to sing in the Spirit and the Lord gave us a song that day, "From the Nations to Jerusalem." https://youtu.be/cvqwFwI9NVs We sang that for about 50 minutes while the Presence of the Lord settled in that apartment.

Mayor Uri Lupolianski on Left

That week, I was privileged to go to several Jewish synagogues for prayer. One was a Carlebach (the singing Rabbi) synagogue. It was an orthodox shul and they had us goyim (Gentiles) our dancing with them around the bema (Pulpit). Sister Nancy took us to the Sukkah of Uri Lupolianski, the
Mayor of Jerusalem, to the Sukkah of Moshe Katsav, president of Israel at the time and also to a Chasidic Rabbi's sukkah in Mea Sharim. It was such a great experience.

At the end of Sukkot is another festival called Simchat Torah, or Rejoicing of the Law, when all Jewish people complete their yearly reading of the Torah and start over. It is a time of great celebration and dancing. They take the Torah Scrolls out of the ark and parade them around in the synagogue. We had the privilege of going up the hill from our apartment to the conservative shul and celebrating with our neighbors. We were all so caught up in the moment, and then the rabbi stepped up and said, "We want our friends from the Christian Embassy to come up and take a turn with the Scrolls." We were elated. Several of us got to carry the scrolls while the rest of the synagogue followed us around parading the Scrolls. I must say, it felt very prophetic.

The night after, we went to Independence Park and again had the privilege of celebrating with the Jewish people and dancing in the streets of Jerusalem. What an awesome feeling it was dancing the Hora and traditional Israeli dances holding the hand of a yeshiva student on one side and an Israeli soldier on the other.

Looking back, I know none of this would have been possible without the leadership of the Holy Ghost. I truly knew what David said, when he cried, "I delight to do Thy Will, Oh God." It was truly a delight walking in the Spirit and seeing so much accomplished, by the Spirit.