Israel...

Where should I start?...

Israel was great. There were over 1,000 people at the convocation... some from countries I'd never even heard of. My favorite part were the prayer watches with ppl from all over Europe, praying for Israel and our respective countries. We got to see a bit of the land and go to places like the Temple Mount and the Sea of Galilee.

The atmosphere in Jerusalem was obviously tense. It was heartbreaking to see the Jewish people walking around doing all these rituals without understanding and then seeing the young generation scoffing at the older for believing in such things... It was just odd, I wanted to shout and ask them: 'Don't you know who you are?!!'

Cool story though: On the plane on our way from England to Israel a secular Jew sat by me (a secular Jew is a Jew that doesn't follow Judaism). He moved to Israel from Russia 20 years ago, at that time he was about 10 years old. He asked me why I was going to Jerusalem and boy, oh boy, that was the start of a 5 hour conversation about God, how He relates to us, how much he loves us and about Jesus Christ. It was awesome :) I wish I could tell you he made a decision for Christ right there and then but he didn't, so pray for him!! I sensed a lot of his understanding was broadened-both intellectually and in the heart- by our talk but of course, faith comes from God. Pray that God gives him the faith to believe.

Thank you so MUCH for ALL your prayers, they were very effective. Things couldn't have gone more smoothly and we were all so blessed by the unity in the group (no doubt thanks to your prayers).
God bless you!!!!!!!