Just before Yom Kippur, Leslye and I visited Israel and reunited with many of our long time friends there. Israel in some ways has not changed a lot especially when you get out of the large cities. But, the modern Messianic Jewish community is in its 3rd generation!! They are so integrated with life in Israel. Their grand children are Sabras and Hebrew is their native tongue.
After landing in Ben Gurion airport we made our way to the seaside city of Ashdod with two GPS's and the Holy Spirit leading the way. There we met for the first time Israel Pochtar, who immigrated from Ukraine. He has planted home groups and congregations in that area and in other parts of Israel. He is involved in humanitarian aid and has partnered with others to draw thousands of Israelis together who do not know Yeshua as Messiah. Although he has been attacked by religious leaders he has great favor with the government at many levels because of the good works of the ministries he leads. Please pray for him as he labors in Israel to expand the kingdom of God.
From Ashdod we traveled to Omer which is near Beersheva. We spent Erev Yom Kippur with Avner and Rachel Boskey and a community of believers there. We prayed and had wonderful fellowship. After Yom Kippur, Avner and Rachel took us to the site of Abraham's well and a spectacular gorge/canyon in the middle of the desert. One thing that struck us were the bomb shelters in everyone's home. They double as a bedroom or storage area when not in use. Just after we left Israel the rockets began to fall again near Beersheva. We left Omer and traveled to Haifa stopping at a farm in hot, southern Israel run by Messianic believers, Ari and Miriam. Miriam is the daughter of David and Martha Stern. Ari won an award for being the best young farmer in Israel because of his innovative changes to hot house farming. He introduced new systems to recycle water, grew plants only in perlite which permitted him to use the nutrients he wanted to grow his crops and slanted the beds to improve drainage. All of this reduces the use and cost of electricity and water. They are presently in search of new investors so please let me know if you are interested.
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| Leslye and I at Abraham's Well |
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| Beware of camels!! |
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| and shelling on each side of the road |
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| Amazing wild desert rams |
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| Desert canyon |
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| Raised perlite vegetable beds |
Leaving the farm we traveled north to Haifa to spend some days and celebrate the beginning of Sukkot with our friends, Eitan and Connie Shishkoff. We were able to visit their congregation and enjoy food and fellowship in their Sukka as well as the Morrisons and Chopinskys. It was wonderful to see the fruit of all of the years the Shishkoff's have labored in israel. Following our sweet reunion in Haifa we moved on to visit a couple in Carniel who made aliyah from our congregation in Odessa about 12 years ago. They have 5 children and are planning to start a congregation in northern Israel with help and encouragement from the Odessa congregation. This is a big step for them and us as we partner within the next year to plant a new work in there. If you would like to be part of that planting please contact us at schneiers@aol.com and we can let you know how you can help. We completed our norther swing of Israel by visiting, near Tiberias, our friends of 35 years, Elkanon and Nechama Weisman. We first met them while working with Ari and Shira Sorko-ram in 1977-1978. It was so joyful to catch up on our familiy histories. We have only seen them a handful of times during those 35 years but it was like old times as we noshed in their home. Please pray for Nechama who has had serious health battles as well as one of their adult children. The Wiseman's are such troopers who are some respects unknown but greatly known and used by the Lord for decades in Israel.
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| Eitan and Connie Shishkoff |
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| Youth Worship Team at the Shishkoff's | Congregation |
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| Decorating the Sukkah while the wash dries |
Our final leg in Israel ended in Jerusalem just in time for Leslye's birthday. We were so blessed to stay with our friends David and Martha Stern and later Martin and Norma Sarvis, who are connected with Glory of Zion and the 24/7 prayer movement in Jerusalem. This was such a peaceful time at the end of a very busy trip. We did have some time to visit the Old City especially the Western Wall which was teeming with Sukkot celebrants. One can easily imagine Yeshua and his disciples in the very same place 2,000 years ago.We left Israel with a clear impression that God has and will continue to open doors for us to minister there.Thank you so much for those of you who responded to our request for financial assistance to make this trip possible. If you would like to contribute to our new work in Israel please include with any gift you send in a note that it is for "The Schneiers/Israel."
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| Near the Old City |
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| Leslye at the Jaffa Gate |
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| Prayer during Sukkot at the Western Wall |
Thanks so much for being part of our lives and ministry, for some of you over these past 17 years. Blessings to you and your family during the Thanksgiving holiday ahead.
Love and Shalom,
David & Leslye
If you would like to financially partner with us you can do so as follows.
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The
Schneiers
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Glory of Zion Int’l Ministries
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