Final Blog on My 8th Trip to Israel: Mizpah Nancy and Jerusalem Friends

"Mizpah" means "watchman" and "witness." I pray I have been just that on this trip to Israel. Many wonderful things happened at Mizpah, and I actually visited the Mizpah (there are more than one Mizpah) that is seven miles northwest of Jerusalem in 1996. I tell all about it in my first book, Jewish Roots Journey: Memoirs of a Mizpah (see side bar). When God called me to be a Mizpah for Israel, He referred me to the story of Jacob and Laban making a covenant. They erected a pillar called "Mizpah," and Laban said, "May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from another" (Gen. 31:44-49). I was so blessed to literally be a watchman on the walls of Jerusalem, as we walked the ramparts of the Old City and prayed! I felt that I was fulfilling the Lord's admonition: "I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth" (Isa. 62:6-7).

Here is another prophecy that we attendees at Lars Enarson's Jerusalem Sukkot Celebration were fulfilling: "For there shall be a day when the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim, 'Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.' For thus says the Lord: "Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say 'O Lord, save Your people, the remnant of Israel!'" (Jer. 31:6-7). Lars taught us that the word "watchman" in this prophecy is notzrim in Hebrew, which to the Israelis signifies, "Christians"! Wow! And we were there on Mount Ephraim on our bus trip to Samaria!

The Mizpah designation has been used in jewelry that is a gift for remembrance to a friend. I think of myself as a friend to Israel, the Lord's chosen people, and I am delighted to have made friendships with several choice Christian ministers in the land, both Jewish and Gentile.

Roy Kendall of School of Worship in Jerusalem (and also Atlanta) came to visit me in Jerusalem. He was just back from ministering in Japan. It has been such a blessing for Curtis and me to know Roy and Mary. On seven of my eight trips to Jerusalem, I have seen them and visited in their home (but Mary was in the U.S. this time, and the visit with Roy was in our hotel). Roy and Mary are known and loved all over the Land. He has recently led worship for MK Yehuda Glick on the southern steps to the Temple Mount, and he also led worship for Benny Hinn on his recent visit to Jerusalem. What a blessing to be friends with this dynamic couple in God's Holy City!

Roy visited me at the Prima Royale Hotel.

Roy on the Temple Mount

Roy led worship for MK Rabbi Yehuda Glick

Roy & Mary Kendall

Roy Kendall playing the keyboard for Benny Hinn

On a free day some of us visited the Jerusalem Prayer Center, directed by Larry & Gail Osbrink, a Baptist couple. My friends, Shmuel & Pamela Suran of Chazon Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Vision), met us there. This was very special for me, because I wanted my new friends from the conference - Olof Amkoff, Kathy Markward, and Doris Murdoch - to experience this awesome place (my third visit), especially the interactive prayer room, and to meet the Surans. I enjoyed getting to know the Osbrinks, and they are doing a marvelous job. Larry told the history and the ongoing story of the Spaffords and of the historic house, home of Anna and Horatio Spafford's daughter, Bertha Vester. I got to play her piano, and we all sang "It is Well With My Soul" composed by Horatio Spafford upon hearing of the drowning of his four daughters!

Jerusalem Prayer Center on Nablus Road (part of American Colony) 

 Larry telling the story of the Spaffords, the house, and the American Colony

 Larry & Gail Osbrink, Directors

Bertha Vester, daughter of Horatio & Anna Spafford

Horatio Spafford

What a joy to play Bertha's piano! And what a joy to hear all our voices singing 

"It is Well With My Soul"!

Pamela (artist and tour guide) & Shmumel (pastor) Suran

Shmuel and Pamela, Messianic Jews, have spoken in my church. God has used them to raise up strong ministers in the land of Israel. Also, they take aid to the Iraqi Christian refugees in Jordan. Pamela is in demand as an artist. She painted the beautiful mural of "The Harvest" in the chapel of the Jerusalem Prayer Center (photo above).

On another free day Kathy Markward, Doris Murdoch, Johanna Finskas, and I walked to the new Friends of Zion Museum. It told the story of the "biblical figures, academics, businessmen, and military officials who, through their faith, have forged an everlasting bond between the Jewish and Christian peoples." These Zionists did mighty exploits! Here we are - Johanna, Doris, me, and Kathy:

I had another Jerusalem friend visit me at the hotel. She does not want her name published, so she sends out email reports in the name of "Ema Home." She was on her way to work and stopped by to see me. I had visited her once before at her home in 2012. That day she fed me and gave me her testimony. Wow! She had an encounter with Jesus Christ in Alaska when she had barely even heard of him! He revealed Himself to her, and she has been a faithful follower. She found out how wonderful it is to be Jewish and no longer wanted to hide it. She and her husband made aliyah many years ago, and she works for a doctor. Her email reports are descriptive of her many observations of the people of Jerusalem and her spiritual interpretation of events there. 

Of course, I am friends with the Enarson family, Lars & Harriet, Johanna & Doron Keidar, and John & Sophie. Our history goes back to 1992, when they moved to Columbus, MS, where Curtis and I were pastoring. They live in a community close to Gaza, but Lars and Harriet go all over the world to bring the message of preparing the way of the Lord. To learn more about their ministries, you can visit The Watchman International and Cry for Zion. Doron & Johanna and their children will be speaking in the United States in January through March.

Finally, let me say that I took tracts to Jerusalem. We gave out a few along the way, but the bulk of them found a home at the Jerusalem Prayer Center. I got an email from Larry Osbrink, saying that visitors were picking them up! I was overjoyed and shared the good news with my Mississippi friend, Joyce Linton, who had commissioned me to make the tracts. A poem I had written so blessed her that she wanted it presented in a tract for my trip to Israel. These tracts and I were prayed over at my "send-off" at South Luverne Baptist Church. I am believing that they will bring about a harvest of souls for the Kingdom of God. May Yeshua be glorified and many saved! Please join me in this prayer.

I will end this series of blogs on my Jerusalem experience with this hopeful prayer: