Day 2 full day in Israel

Hello again everybody!

Today has been a full day again! We are gearing up to head out the country and back to our homes. We are thoroughly enjoying all the sites and information and meaningful places. We are also looking forward to getting back to our homes.

I will be blogging the days of our journey for a few days after we return to the states, so be sure to continue to read up on our adventures. We’ve just been going and going and haven’t had a whole lot of time to blog! But keep reading!

You know, this location is definitely super awesome to be in. But it’s not just the location that makes the place…it’s the people. Like, why would we even come to this country if it had not have been for Jesus Christ’s birth, life, death and resurrection here?! It’s all about Jesus! But, the people here with us on our adventure are important, too. So, I will be mentioning some of them as we go.

One of the people that we bumped into was named Sue. Sue is a single mother of a 20 something year old son. She testified to us that God has taken great care of her and her son! The Lord has provided abundantly for them! She said she has NO DEBT! She said the Lord has provided the way for her son to be able to attend a college without accruing any debt. For a single mother, that is absolutely awesome!!! God is soooooo good!

Ok, more on the trip…Each morning, when we board the bus, we tend to have a word of encouragement or exhortation and some scripture and prayer to share as we are travelling to our first destination for the day. This day, we started our day with Zephaniah 3—“Sing O Daughter of Zion!” And here we were: Aglow ladies (and some men), singing and praying together in Israel and over Israel. Very lovely!

Some factual tidbits learned from Ophir (the bus tour guide I mentioned earlier): On most every doorpost in Israel, they have a little box with a small scripture inside the box. This is called a mezuzah. They do this in remembrance of the story about the angel of death sweeping over Egypt to kill all the firstborn. God told the people to put the blood of a sacrifice on the doorpost and that the angel of death would pass by—or Passover—and it would not harm them. So, they keep this memory and tradition by placing a mezuzah at each and every doorpost…even in the hotels! The restuarants, the stores…everywhere.

As we were travelling around Jerusalem, we kept seeing Jewish men with the black hats and broad brims walking around. These men also have one curl by each ear that hangs down about the length of the their face and neck. We asked Ophir why the Jewish men touted these two curls. He said these curls are kept by very religous Jews in homage and recognition for the poor. In Leviticus 19:19, God tells His people that when they reap their harvest, they are to leave the corners of their fields for the needy and for the stranger. So, these Jewish men keep the curls at the corner of their faces in remembrance of this command.

Our first stop of Day 2 was St. Peter’s Primacy which is near the Church of the Multiplication (where Jesus multiplies the 2 fishes and 5 loaves of bread to feed a huge crowd.

This area is right at the edge of the Sea of Galilee. We stood on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in this place where there were many rocks and small shells.











It was very tranquil and inspiring...to know that Jesus taught in this area and the church started through Peter in this very location…awesome!

We, this whole group of Aglow, stood together and sang together. “Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is Lord, He is Lord. He has risen from the dead and he is Lord.” As we were singing, I was thinking about Peter and how he had denied Jesus as He was being taken away to be questioned, beaten, tortured, then hung on the cross. But now, today, here we were, singing together as the church body—as Aglow—in the place of Peter’s stone, that Jesus Christ IS Lord—a confession of Jesus on the shores of Galilee! Praise God!

At this time and in this location, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and after we gave thanks and praise together, we took some time to humble ourselves and pray. It was here that we bowed down to the Lord God Almighty—our Defender, our Protector, our Shield and our Strength. As we bowed, the Lord Jesus Christ knelt down between us in this awesome moment…He is ever present and He never leaves us! As I bowed down, I knew the Lord God Almighty was swinging His Sword and His Scepter over me and the enemy was dealt a mighty blow! In this moment. On the shore of Galilee.

                                                            What an Awesome God!

After St. Peter’s Primacy, we went to the Golan Heights.
We stood on the lookout point. A lot of war history has occurred in the Golan Heights. Together, as Aglow, we prayed over Israel and for the protection of Israel there on the Golan Heights. Feel free to look up more history on the Golan Heights…

After the Heights, we visited the Lady of the Holy Ark Church. This is the location where the ark of God rested before coming into Jerusalem.

Psalm 122 shows a heart for Israel—Peace to Jerusalem.
When King David went to retrieve the ark from this location, he came with great rejoicing and much dancing! So, we, as Aglow, sang and danced and praised the Lord within this location. We, as a group, were probably much more reserved than David was when he came to get the ark, but we gave it our best. Zabrina danced up a storm, along with dancing partner Tawny, in homage to this very significant historic event!

Here are some of her thoughts on activities from that day:

"I am so thankful I am with Aglow. It is more than "Just a tour." We are understanding the significance of the places from the past, present and future. Also praying over the Land, having a time of Praise and Worship (at certain locations) and hearing inspiring words that Stir our Spirits. I have had some pretty profound times where the Spirit is so Present I've wanted to go crazy. This happened when we were at a church where the Ark rested (before David brought it to Jerusalem). As the speaker was sharing my body was shaking. Luckily I was able to Dance during our Praise and released it into the atmosphere; I danced with another young girl before the group."
Zabrina Robinson


From that location, we visited Mount Scopus. In this location, we observed a Watchmen on the Wall Commissioning ceremony.
People have the opportunity to take a Watchmen on the Wall seminar through aglow.org that is set up in various locations in the United States. Several people on this trip had completed this seminar and so we observed as they were all officially commissioned by Sandy Wezowicz, US Regional Director. Watchmen on the Wall equips believers to knowledgeably and strategically pray for Israel and Jerusalem. If you are interested in this program, please go to www.aglow.org to find more info.

After the commissioning ceremony, we all sang "Glory and Honor and Praises, Glory and Honor to Him..."

We then loaded on the bus to head back to the hotel. As we were driving back, Ophir (our bus guide), told us about shabbat. The word shabbat means to seize or to cease. Jews observe shabbat each week from Friday evening to Saturday evening. Why is it from evening to evening? Because in Genesis 1:5, it says "and the evening and the morning were the first day." This is how the Lord worked in creating everything--from the evening to the morning. So, a new day actually begins in the evening! (This all honors God, you see?)

And that concludes our Day 3 activities. We came back to our hotel and plopped right into bed…we were tired! In a good way, but tired.

Shalowm from Israel.