Dear Friends of Israel and “Or Tzion”,

Shalom Shalom shalom in the wonderful Name of our Lord and Savior, Yeshua, to Whom every knee shall bow and tongue confess that He alone is Lord of lords and King of Kings in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, in this age and in the age to come. 

Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice

Had I not obeyed I would have missed out on G-d’s perfect will. Had I not been willing to pay my own way but cancelled the trip I would have missed out on G-d’s provision for others.

“Trust and obey, there is no other way in Yeshua,” it said in a letter written by a man in Jerusalem that reached me on a Shabbat, one day before graduation from CFNI in May 1980. In hindsight I learned that had I not obeyed when He said, “Return to your people and your heritage,” our Aliyot would not have succeeded the way they did.

Had I not trusted the Lord when He said, “Do not produce an Ishmael; only trust in Me, and I will do it,” when I had no documents to prove our Jewishness and my Rabbi implied that we needed to go through conversion, it would have interfered with G-d’s purposes.

In the spring of this year (2008) it had come into my heart to fly to the States to reconcile with certain friends I felt - and knew - had something against me. I began to earnestly pray about this and asked the Father to make provision if my intention pleased Him.

On June 12th I received an e-mail from my friend Karen in Oklahoma: “We really need you to come to USA.  Be praying about a date and we will cover your expenses.”

I rejoiced. The Lord was answering my prayer – I thought. My friend even cancelled her visit to Jerusalem in order to host me and arranged an itinerary which, however, would have left no time for my reconciling with my friends in Texas – my original purpose for wanting to go to the States.

On  August 10th I received news that my friend’s mother was dying of Pancreatic cancer with but one week to live. Hence she would leave for Maryland and would be gone one month, returning Nov 9th.

I was shocked! What now?

I immediately prayed for my friend’s mental and emotional peace, for her mother’s healing, and for my trip. Should I cancel it? I did not have the financial means to go. I kept praying.

September 2nd I got a clear “Go!” from the Lord for the U.S. and for Kenya. But I still had no funds! I had paid off my U.S. credit card step by step as the Lord enabled me and then had to use it for my trip to Germany. Should I use credit again? I really did not want to. However, the Lord steadfastly assured me that it was His perfect will for me to go. It only required my willingness to obey and carry the cost myself. 

I immediately arranged for meetings with my old friends I wanted to reconcile with, regardless who was at fault. All that mattered was to resolve what had come between us and be reconciled, restoring our friendship in peace and love.

On September 28th,  one day before Rosh Hashanah, I booked the flights. Immediately after Yom Kippur our 7-day paid vacation in Eilat had been secured for the Sukkot holidays - what a blessing and a reward! Then, on the 18th we celebrated our daughter’s 47th birthday and on the 22nd I left for Dallas, Texas. 

My friend Ladell from Arlington picked me up and welcomed me into her home. On Shabbat, at their house church, I asked for forgiveness for any wrong or hurt I had caused her. It was a wonderful, mutual asking and granting forgiveness. 

This same Shabbat I met with another dearly beloved friend who had become embittered toward me over the years, holding me responsible for the troubles a neighbor and local newspaper had caused her and her husband in slandering their spotless reputation for their own purposes. The neighbor and newspaper had maliciously twisted my newsletter¹ report about the prophetic act the Lord had us do concerning the next President in 2000 – Bush or Gore. 

Filled with compassion for my troubled friend and with many tears I asked her to forgive me for the distress my report had caused her and her husband, no matter how innocently written, how blameless the intent. My friend needed to be relieved of the hurt with the balm of repentance and forgiveness. Ladell also ministered to her. 

We parted with prayers for one another, our hearts reconciled, our fellowship in the Lord restored. May the Lord refute every tongue that rose in judgment against them, for this is their heritage from the Lord and their vindication. And may the sun of righteousness rise upon them with healing in its wings².