Hannukah Get-Together

Hi Everyone!

We had talked about a Team Get-Together for Hannukah.

We had tentatively set a date for Friday, December 7th, 6 PM, here at Living Way, PotLuck and general craziness to follow.

How does that sound?

Once again, I know that finding a time that fits EVERYONE's schedule is almost impossible.

If most of you can make it we'll just bring our cool Hannukah Menorah's that we bought in Israel and come celebrate the Feast of Lights (or the Feast of Dedication as it's called in the NT.)

Shalom,

Tom

An announcement

Well I don't know how many still come and visit this site. A couple of weeks ago, I made an announcement to some of the members of my church, but would like share with everyone from our group.

I am pregnant. Yep, you read that right. My 5th child! Of course, #7 still plays a part. This will be the 7th member of my immediate family. And my mom is excited that this will be her 7th grandchild. I am due mid-May 2008.

Now, I have to share part of my story from Israel that I didn't share before. I mentioned in a post shortly after we got back, that I felt the Lord give me answers but after I got home, I wasn't so sure. One of those answers concerned whether to have any more children. I have spent much time in prayer over this and over our marriage in general. While in Israel at the conference, I prayed again about my marriage, about my husband, about my kids and what the future holds for us. I felt very strongly the Lord telling me I would have another child. He has even given me a name. I still was hesitant. But anytime I went to God over this, I still felt this so strongly.

After I got home, I struggled. To be honest, I like how things are with our family. Our youngest just turned 5 and starts school in a year. As some from our church know, I already have some issues with a couple of our children (one has a form of high functioning autism and another is very hyper and impulsive). So the thought of adding any more children is scary sometimes and tiring :) It also seemed to take a little bit to get used to being back with the family. I don't know how to describe it. The kids seemed more difficult to me, having gotten used to my mother in law being with them, school being out. I wasn't sure I was up to having another. So I questioned again what I heard from the Lord.

After I prayed, I decided to leave it up to God and just trust him. So while it wasn't completely a surprise, I was still somewhat shocked that I got pregnant the first month after returning from Israel. I can only trust that God has a plan for this child and for us and I am relying wholly on Him.

I just ask for prayers that God leads us with what I am supposed to do when it comes to my job and where we live. We would love to find a house of our own. We definitely need something bigger than the three bedroom we are in now. There are so many unknowns right now. And since I am starting completely over (we got rid of our baby stuff a few years ago), we will also need prayer for finances as we prepare for this little one.

Thank you and God bless, Teresa.

Sea of Galilee experience

Hey everyone...I have had trouble getting on to post, but finally got in today!!! Praise the Lord!! Here, even 5 weeks later, God is still revealing and teaching me things from the trip. I wanted to share with you..."the rest of the story"....regarding that infamous day of my "skirt" wearing into the Holy Places!!

I was so bummed out when being on the Sea of Galilee and being so blessed by the "worship", and the presence of God...and then realized I had forgotten my "long" pants and we were getting on the bus on the other side of the Sea of Galilee...and I would not be able to see the Holy sites!!!
One of the things shared by one of the pastors on the boat, was the fact that when Jesus & the disciples were on the Sea...when the storm occurred...he told them "they were going to the other side", so therefore fretting and having lack of faith should not need to happen!!! Well the Lord spoke to me and taught me that lesson...when the "wrap around skirt" was provided (making pasotor Jerry's day for the picture opportunity) that "all things do work together for the good to those who love God, and are the called according to his purpose." He provided, and I did get to the "other side" and did get to see the holy sites! If the truth be none, I actually enjoyed the attention...and it really was a fun day...and I was able to laugh at myself and enjoy the whole experience. God bless you all...sure loved being with you overseas!!

Bob Wohlers

We have been home for almost 3 weeks now and I feel our trip was a dream, but I know it was not a dream. My thoughts keep going back to the Boat Ride on the Sea of Galilee, the first morning in Israel. My feelings of God's presence were so great that day. I shared at our first team meeting after we returned home, last Friday, about how I felt the presence of God on the Boat and in the first convention meeting. I felt him other times also, but these two were the most distinct times. And then in the Garden Tomb, nothing! I know this may or may not be the actual spot were Jesus was laid to rest, but "He is not here, He is Risen" is so how I felt. He was not there!

I have had an overwhelming feeling of depression since we returned. It hit worst during the second week home. After sharing last week at our team meeting, I am feeling better. Keep praying for me. I know that is why I feel better, everyone is praying for me. Thank you. During our first week in Israel I hurt my left foot somehow, but it wasn't too bad. I did fine on all our walks and climbs. But since I came home I have tried to workout twice and the second time I really felt the pain. So, tomorrow I see a doctor and try to find out what I have done and how to fix it.

I hope to be able to go back to Israel again someday. It may not be in April 2009, but maybe the next time, after that. Teresa got back her pictures and mine are due in within the week. She brought hers to my work yesterday and surprised me with hers all put together in the albums and let me share with my co-workers, wow! They sure enjoyed that. We only developed the ones we took, for now. We plan to go through every one's and have more done. Just a little at a time. They are so cool to look at. I can look at most of the pictures and remember being there.

By the way, some of us went on a Greek Cruise after we left Israel. That was cool, too. It was way different than Israel. I enjoyed Myconos and Santorini , I did not get off the boat at Rhodes, but pictures show it was really nice too.

Thank you Pastor Tom and Pastor Jerry for heading up our team. I will always remember my first trip to Israel. It was wonderful getting to know everyone on our team, Donna, Carl, Bob, Jerry, Judy, Lila, Scott, Pat, Anita, Mary, Jasmyn, Sharon, David, Tom, Cindy, Linda, Teresa and me (Karen). Linda and I have been friends since 1998, when we both started going to our church (Living Way). It was awesome to be able to share this experience with her and my wonderful daughter, Teresa, who started at the church in 1992. Without my daughter, this trip would not have been possible for me. She covered most of my cost. THANK YOU, TERESA!! I remembered all the names! Yeah!

To all who read this, YOU need to go to Israel, too. Love in Christ, Karen

See the Pictures of the Trip

Coming into Santorini, Greece

- August 2, 2007

Carl, Bob, Jerry & Tom

Cindy, Judy, Mary, Donna & Anita

Karen & Teresa

Jasmyn

See the pictures of the trip on:

http://tomandcindyinisrael.blogspot.com/

ENJOY!

Settling back in...

Hi everyone! I just gotta say this was an amazing trip for me. I am simply amazed by how everything fell into place for my mom and I to go. Israel and its people really touched my heart. I spent a lot of time in prayer over issues I have going on in my life. I feel I got answers for some and others I am still waiting on, but I know God is working on me.

To be honest, it's tough to be back home cause those issues that seemed to have such clear answers while in Israel have all been hitting me back home again. It's so easy when you are away from a situation, but going back into it, it's easy to fall into old habits and not consult God when I know I need to. So please keep me and our family in continued prayer as I know I am being attacked by the enemy since I have been home.

I am doing my best to keep reading the Bible (God really opened up a desire in that area for me while in Israel) and to spend more time in prayer. With my schedule, it isn't always easy, but I am working on it.

I hope everyone is well and has adjusted to being back home. Thank you to everyone that kept us in prayer while we were gone. I think it's wonderful that despite being in over 100 degree heat most of the time and all the walking, hiking and whatnot we did, nobody got sunburned, nobody got heatstroke. We all did really well. It was truly one of the best times of my life, and i pray I get to return for the April 2009 trip.

To Pastors Tom and Jerry, thank you for being our leaders. I had so much fun with everyone. You two helped make this trip great. I think you did wonderful as our leaders to give us advice, support and just simply to have fun with. To their wives, Cindy and Judy. You two are especially amazing. You have wonderful hearts and are such joys to hang around. Judy, I enjoyed meeting you and getting to know you. Cindy, I loved spending more time with you and getting to know you even better. Your heart for Israel truly shows and I thank you for sharing your experiences with us. To everyone else in the group: Each one of you touched my heart in some way. For those I go to church with, it was great to get to know you on a deeper level and get to share this with you. For those from other churches, wow, it was great to meet you all. I am amazed by how close we all got on this trip. You are all fun, amazing people and you will forever be a part of my heart through all my years. Thank you all!

Blessings, Teresa

Gideon Springs - July 20, 2007

On the Mt of Olives - July 24, 2007

Jaffa Gate Jerusalem - 7-26-07

July 18 - Night debriefing

What a fun way to debrief the days happenings.

The Boat Ride

The boat ride on the Sea of Galilee

Corinth, Greece

Thanks and glad to be home!

Pastor Tom and Pastor Jerry, thank you for leading this wonderful trip to Israel and Greece. You did an awesome job! For those of you that prayed for us on this trip, thank you and start preparing to join Pastor Tom in 2009. You will have an awesome and wonderful time!!

Thank you Dave Frankenbery for allowing Anita to go on this trip and for providing the transportation to and from the airport. She was a wonderful room mate and we had lots of fun together getting to know each other much better!!

I'm glad to be home minus one suitcase that didn't make the flight from Atlanta! There were about 8 bags that didn't make it on our flight. I got a phone call this morning that my suitcase has arrived and will be delivered by 11:00 am. I hope the rest of the bags have also arrived and will meet up with their respective owners soon.

I went to my brother's house last night after getting back from Sea-Tac and was greeted by a very enthusiastic Jeff and Rachael! They were so happy to see their mom again. The other two were also happy but with a little less enthusiasim in their greeting. After greeting my family, I found out that the plumbing in both bathrooms isn't working properly so one of my first phone calls this morning will be to get a plumber over here to fix the problem. I didn't get to bed until about 1:45 am this morning only to be wide awake again at 3:00 am. I fought the urge to get up and was able to get a couple more hours of rest (not necessarily sleep but rest). By 5:00 am, my body wouldn't let me rest any longer and I had to get out of bed. I'm sure I'll be ready for a nap in a couple of hours. I also found out that Jonathan was going surf boarding this morning at Westport with Josh Thomure, Daniel Searles and a few others from the church. Please be praying that the friendship that has been started with Josh over the last 3 weeks while he was taking care of the animals for me will be fruitful for God's kingdom and that Jonathan will be opened up by the Holy Spirit to a living relationship with our Lord Jesus. God is able to turn the hard heart to softness through the Word and the raining down of the Holy Spirit. Do it Lord!!!

More to come,
Mary

We're Home!

Well, we are home... tired but here.

Each team member did great... I am proud and thankful of each one of you.

You were each wonderful, responded so well to each other and leadership, and extended happy grace to all when fatigue hit!

We had an awesome time... a lifetime of memories and 26gb of pictures. Just arranging and deciding which to share and reproduce will be a large, happy, job.

I'm up late, waiting for the benadryl to kick in so I can get some halfway decent sleep.

In the meantime, thanks to all who stayed behind and prayed and supported us in going. You are a part of any spiritual benefit reaped on this trip.

To each team member, please post much in the next few weeks. The posts don't have to be in a particular order, we just want to hear your impressions and thoughts, with or without photos. We love everyone's comments by the way.

Blessings on each of you, and mark your calendars for April 2009!

Shalom,

Pastor Tom

Convention Notes

Go to http://www.foursquare.org/ to see some great day-by-day convention notes/synopsis from the conference sessions. Photos, too. (Tommy hasn't posted the songs yet, tho... yeah, Tom, I'm working on them)

In Jesus Name

During our offical touring we went to Yad Vashem the Holocaust Museum here in Israel. Because it is so big (maybe full of information, would be more appropriate?) it was very hard to look at much in the half hour or so that we were alloted. Because of this, yesterday part of our team decided to use one of our extra days to go back. We got there about 10:30 AM and decided to meet at 1 PM. Teresa and I had got about half way through the museum at about 12:30 PM. I'm telling you all this just so you can get an idea of just how much information is packed into this building.

Because the Holocaust has always been one of my favorite subjects, it was very nice to go through at a slower pace. Something that really struck me as hard to deal with (and even something that we've talked about in the conference) is how this was all done in Jesus' name. And how because of this, it's very hard for Jews today to deal with Christians. Just thinking of all the things that Jews have been subjected to because of Christians. It's very clear to me why these people would be horrified at the thought of thinking of Jesus as our Messiah.

Just some food for thought. I wish I had pictures to share but you aren't allowed to take pictures in the Museum. Here is the Yad Vashem website if you are interested.

Jasmyn

Our Last Day in Israel

Our last breakfast in Israel and we are very glad it is Sabbath. We all need the rest. What a blessed way to end our time here. I am wishing you all could have come but next time, yes?

Some of the team playing a game and just having fun.

Nana, Dad and I prayed for you. 'Hi' Jesse & Rebekah, Joseph & Snezhi, and Naomi & Skye wishing you all were here!!!!

Next time my prayer is that ALL my children and my friends can share in seeing the Land.

Love ya all so much, Cindy

Thank God for the Gift of Sabbath

Today a very tired team is receiving the gift of Sabbath. Jesus said that "the Sabbath was meant for man, not man for the Sabbath". Because of 3,000 people gathering for touring and Convention the last 8 or 10 days has been a much faster paced time than I had anticipated. (And the heat has been very draining as well!) I realize that this pace has been because of necessity, and I understand. At the same time it has given Jerry and I have much food for thought for future trips. (Clear your calendar for Spring 2009!)

In the mean time, we are very grateful that we have a Sabbath to spend in Jerusalem. We need it!

The pics below are of Sabbath candles in the hotel lobby on Friday night. The hotel provides candles for observant guests to light and say the traditional Sabbath prayers and blessings. We all gratefully receive the Sabbath peace and rest this day!

Love you and miss you,

Tom

The Home Team is back home!

Shalom, Havarim! Many blessings on the "Soggies"!

Dah-veed & Sha-rhon standing on the Temple grounds. I left my heart in Scotland. I left my tears on the Wailing Wall. God was truly in both places, and by His Grace, we KNEW it!

At Convention. (Yes, she is really standing up!)
Blessed beyond words.....The Word was there in powerful ways!
In the Garden
At the Tomb....He definitely ISN'T THERE! :o)
Sunrise in Atlanta....Glory from the East!

At The Jaffa Gate

The Garden Tomb

This is part of our group sweltering in the heat and resting in the shade down by the Garden tomb. You can see that everyone is just drained. Once again, we must reiterate, it's been very hot. But still sooooo worth it!

I am also posting a picture of Karen standing by a sign just inside the tomb. Every time we have gone to one of these places where they believe Jesus *may* have been, I have been reminded of the angel that told Mary Magdalene and Mary "why do you weep. Jesus is not here for He has risen!" That helped to remind me that it doesn't matter where exactly Jesus was crucified or where his body was laid. What matters is that he was resurrected and we are saved. So I just had to get a picture of that sign in the doorway of the Garden Tomb.

This picture is my mom Karen coming out of the tomb.

Like Mother, like Daughter. This is a picture of my mom, Karen and me up on the Mt. of Olives with Jerusalem in the backround. Everyone has complimented us on our hats. Don't know if they are kidding or not, but we like them. But some have started to call us the "hat sisters".

Blessings to you all-Teresa

Donna and Carl at Lion's Gate

Our first trip to Israel - WOW!

What an adventure, both physically and spiritually. We are so glad we came.

It is almost like a fantasy. It is so unbelievable to actually be in Jerusalem. To say

we are writing to you from Jerusalem is amazing - The sights, the sounds, the smells of the shops, the places where Jesus walked. We really are in a different world than when we are at home. We recommend it to everyone. Carl and Donna

Hi Marcia- Everyone says Hi. They enjoy the blogs you have written. Carl is doing well. You would be very proud of him. He is being a real trooper. We are wearing out but want to see everything we can see. Got to "crash" a Jewish wedding here at the hotel tonight. Really interesting. We never did see the bride and groom. Love you, Donna

Shalom

Hey everyone!

Our offical tour is over as of yesterday afternoon. So today we dinked around a little in the Old City. We went to David's Citadel, which has been turned into a museum now. Also we went to this place that is reconstructing objects based on what the Torah says they should look like. They are recreating these objects so that they can go into the Third Temple when it is built. Which our tour guide said would be at least 500 years from now, so it's interesting that they have already started this!

Here are a couple of pictures from the last few days.

This is a picture at the Garden Tomb. This is a tomb that they believe is the tomb of Jesus. They have not found anything that is solid that shows for sure. But anyways, this is Andrea (that I used to work with at Starbucks) and I. It's so neat that we were able to meet up here and get to see each other. And to meet once again at the tomb.

Here is a picture of me in front of a Jasmine plant. We were at the garden of Gethsemene in this picture and the the background of the picture is looking onto the Golden Gate.

And that's all the pictures for tonight. I knew you would all be so interested in me, so that's why I just posted pictures of me. ;-)

Jasmyn

P.S. Did I mention it's hot here? We heard it's not supposed to get any better when we get to Greece. 115 degrees... that's too hot. Are you guys enjoying the rain?

He is not here, He has Risen!

We have pictures of the Garden Tomb, and we tried to download one to show, but it won't work at this time. Later! We had communion at the Garden Tomb today. It was good to be with old friends and with new friends from other churches on our bus #7. This has a special meaning to all of us. I have had a wonderful time in Jerusalem. It is amazing that I am here. I have felt the Lord at times and I hope to come home a new person in Christ. Continue to pray for me.
Hi Glynis, I promised to say hello to you. Thank you for your prayers. We have seen so much and it will take time to process everything. I will post a picture later. Love in Christ, Karen Ohlheiser.

On The Mount Of Olives

Last day of convention

Well, nobody has blogged in a couple of days. I feel like I am "talking" too much, but wanted to at least let people know back home that we are still all doing well.

The convention has been awesome. We have really been feeling God's presence here and I love hearing His word as he has been speaking to me. Last night, we saw a wonderful performance called The Covenant. It was very moving. It was a history of Israel and her people put on by some wonderful performers, showing how God has in the past and will continue to keep His promise, his covenant with Abraham to give this land to the people of Israel. If you get a chance, go to www.thecovenant.com and order it. I plan to buy it.

We get to spend time touring in the afternoons still. Yesterday we were up on the Mt of Olive and walked along the Palm Sunday road, and down to the Garden of Gethsamene. We spent some quiet time there. Very beautiful and peaceful place. We were right across from the old City, right across from the Golden Gates where Jesus will return thru. A front row seat :)

Last night, even many years of Pastoring and leading, Pastors Tom and Cindy and Jerry and Judy were ordained. It was also very moving. You all have been wonderful leaders and friends to us, and we are all truly blessed to know you.

Thank you again everyone back home. and I have to thank Lawrence for being ok with me being gone for so long and I love and miss you, and thank you to my wonderful mother in law, Bonnie for coming out from Baltimore to take care of my kids. I truly appreciate it. And to Zachary, Jonathan, Sarah and Jacob, I love and miss you!!

-Teresa

First View of Jerusalem

Our days are even more non-stop now with the start of Convention. We begin with prayer and quiet time from 7:15 to 8:30, then quiet worship before the first service opens at 9. Our touring starts at noon, going until dinner, then a service in the evening from 6:30 to 9 PM. Last night Asher Intrater spoke on a 2nd Pentecost. He talked about how 120 became 3,000 which in turn took the Gospel from this city where we are gathering to the entire world.

Now there are 3,000 of us returning here, praying for Israel and the believing community here. The beleiving Jewish community here is believing for another Pentecost in these last days which will result in the final worldwide ingathering. They are praying for us that we will seek God for our own Pentecost for the winning of our own countries. They know that only another Pentecost will enable them to touch their own land for Jesus.

There are around 3,000 people here at this convention. May this 3,000 have our own Pentecost, then go out from here touching our world with the love and power of Jesus.

Seeking Him,

-Pastor Tom

Jezreel Valley

Here's a couple of pictures of us. These are on the mountain called "Precipice", a site like the one where Jesus was about to be pushed off a cliff by those from his hometown. It is outside of Nazareth and overlooks the valley of Jezreel, or as it is called in the book of Revelation, the Valley of Armageddon. The last pictures are taken at the Tel of Megiddo before going up to the archeological digs. The fruit are pomegranates, which were in trees surrounding the area where we had lunch.

Busy, busy, busy!

We have been having a lot of fun in Israel, but it sure is tiring. We have been running a hundred miles an hour during the day, and come back to the hotel so tired at night. Tomorrow night the convention starts so it will be even more going on, because we are still going to be touring in between the morning and evening sessions of the conventions. (This is also the reason we aren't blogging more, but you can be sure we have stories to tell!)

It has been so amazing to see all the sights in Israel, learning about and seeing the sights that I have learned about in church and school. There really has been more that we have seen than I have time to describe (though I'm not tired, because I just drank my first cup of coffee in a few days and I'm very awake!), so instead I'll just show you some of the pictures I've taken.


This picture is from Ceserea (please forgive all my spelling errors now!), it's looking on to the Mediterranean sea. That little jaunt of rock is part of where King Herod built his palace out into the water. He was (at least building wise) a man way ahead of his time.


This picture is a view from Linda and I's hotel room, in Tiberius. That is the beautiful Galilee Sea, where Jesus walked on water. Of course man other events happened there also.





Bet She'an, wow! According to Cindy when they were here just a few years ago, before they had discovered this city, it was just nothing. Nobody had a clue. It's so amazing what archaeological treasures that you can find in Israel (and other countries that are SOOOO much older than the USA).



This picture is the famous Cave 4 from Qumran, where they found the most Dead Sea Scrolls out of all the caves. During Fall of last year, in my Old Testament class, we learned a lot about the Dead Sea Scrolls, since my professor had worked on them, so it was AMAZING to actually go to the site and see these caves in real life.


We had a little team meeting in the pool, wow these guys get wild and crazy when they are tired. Boy, I have some pretty good stories to tell. Ask them about the tattoos... ;-)



Tomorrow we go into Jerusalem full force, so that is going to be so wondrous. I hope that you all are having a good time back home.

Jasmyn

Boy is it ever hot!!

My previous trips to Israel have all been in the Spring. I heard a guide on the way down from the top of Masada say that he generally avoids leading tours in the Summer. I can understand why. The last two days of touring have been in very, very hot temperatures. I'm just not used to it.

We've been having a great time. As we looked at the Dead Sea today it was really clear that the sea is rapidly evaporating. The government is trying to figure out how to save the Dead Sea. It's not getting the normal flow from the Jordan River because Israel is using that water for the people.

Pastor Lila read us a section from Ezekiel , which speaks of the Dead Sea being replentished by fresh water. That will truly be a day of great rejoicing.

Well, I'm going to let someone else blog now. More later.

Pastor Jerry

Jerusalem, Jerusalem

We made it into Jerusalem last night. Sorry we haven't posted in a while, our days have been full leaving us tired at night. today was a little better. The heat has also taken it's toll on us. We have seen soooo much already. I don't think I could begin to describe it all. Yesterday, we saw a boat that was dug up out of the Sea of Galilee in 1987, that is dated to the time that Jesus was there. Amazing isn't it?? We also went to Bet Shean. Some of us braved climbing the tel there. Believe me it was high. But worth it even in the heat to climb it.

But it doesn't compare to coming over the hills into Jerusalem. what a sight. We stopped at one point so we could get out and look over the old city. From our side we could see the Golden Gate, that Jesus will come thru when he returns once again. It was just very awesome. Too many words to describe.

today was more laid back. we went up to Masada. What a site that is as well! Just amazing. if you don't know much about Masada, look it up. The building of that great fortress is incredible as is the things that went on up there.

Our last thing was floating in the Dead Sea and I am sure someone will show a picture of that. It was relaxing and enjoyable. but it's nice to be at our hotel early this evening. Oh there is so much more we have seen and experienced. Cesaerea, Megiddo, Qumran and more, but I must head down to dinner. I wanted to post a picture of The Old City of Jerusalem, but my camera broke and my mom's battery died just before we came over the last hill, so hopefully someone else will post one very soon. Thank you again for your prayers. Love and blessings to all! -Teresa

I am acutually here!!

The boat ride was really awesome. I felt the presence of God on the Sea of Galilee. We are in Jerusalem, Yeah. -Karen

Just a note from David and Sharon: Hello to Samual, Duncan, Skye and Naomi and a big hello to Judy! they are hoping to blog soon, but haven't had a chance.

What about Bob?

This is what happens when you forget your long pants...

Day 1 - Galilee