THE SABBATH. The common greeting is Shabbat Shalom (Peaceful Sabbath). Few cars are on the street. Families take Sabbath strolls. We love it. Did you know that according to Isa 58:13-14, “..if you call the Sabbath a delight . then you will find your joy in the LORD.”?

LIVING WITH TENSION. Pam and I shared a delicious lunch at Café Hillel yesterday. There, several years ago a suicide bomb ruined the day for a number of people – 7 dead, 50 wounded. Dr. David Applebaum and his daughter Nava, who had just ordered her cake missed the wedding the next day. The Psyche of Israelis’ is interesting. Like other businesses this café has a security guard and determination to continue on.

WAR? The directive has been renewed that every Israeli should have a government issued gas mask. 90% do. It seems the Israeli’s know if they destroy the nuclear ambitions of Iran they can “absorb” a counter-attack of 50,000 conventional missiles from Iran, Gaza, Lebanon and perhaps Syria. Tiny Israel cannot afford to “absorb” one nuclear bomb. There is a national cell phone alert for missiles. As much as half of the nation may need to go into secure places for one month

BELLA LIFE includes celebrating birthdays, early American history, games with magnets, sewing and swimming in the warm, choppy waters of Galilee.

WRITING. Steve is recording a powerful testimony of how little Gabi Bella was saved from a fire by visiting heaven. Look for it next week. He has also helped our new friend Netanel write up a vision statement for his group seeking to welcome the Orthodox into the Kingdom.

ORTHODOX ministry is challenging. There are obstacles on every side. Steve is encouraging Netanel so there will be more positive stories. There are sad ones. Yaakob, became a disciple of Yeshua and sought to be assimilated among Messianic believers. For two years he was hopped from congregation to congregation seeking accommodations. He went from temporary to temporary housing never finding a permanent place to rest, constantly frustrated. He was helped, just a bit, at each congregation but could not find a place to stay, help with deep discipleship or assistance finding employment. He felt like a beggar striving to survive. He was pursued vigorously by the Orthodox who wanted his soul back. It drove him crazy. He was admitted to a hospital where he committed suicide two weeks ago.

Moshe and his family have become fast friends with the Bellas. They love us dearly but we have not yet let them know we are Messianic. Pray!

HADAS is the woman who rents us a room. She is an opera singer who has sung Bach and Handel and other Christian music. She has a number of Christian friends and we are thankful to be among them. We have been delighted to share Yeshua, bit by bit. Steve was sharing verses in the Tanach (Old Testament) that she was not aware of. Eventually we were in the Hebrew New Testament where she saw, “God so love..eternal life”! She was very open but wanted to put away her Hebrew NT to not disturb her daughter. We had a delightful Shabbat dinner with her daughter Shira, son-in-law Shaul and daughter Rout. Steve asked then for Hebrew meanings for words in Zechariah that factor in the river of life. This morning Hadas served us breakfast and invited us to pray at the meal! We are grateful for open hearts!

MISSING HOME AND GLAD TO BE IN ISRAEL. Wish we could be stateside – to see Claire off to college, help Theresa with the house, visit Steve’s mom, who has had challenges with her ticker, and see friends and family. We are also anxious for the welfare of the USA. Thank God for the Catholics! See

BLESSINGS from the City of the Great King,

Steve and Pam

Financial support may be sent to:

2154 Little Valley Rd

Sevierville, TN 37862

See our blog at https://landingstripenterprises.com/

Connect with the Bellas at http://israelprayermission.com/

Mosha in white

Hadas

Siblings – Gali, Una, Doron

Making an volcano errupt!

Sewing with Eli

Beautiful Bellas

Main St. Jerusalem

A lovely flower

Getting vitamin D

Una and I were spending some time together today. As the day spun by we had to visit a friend to pick up a phone for Una, something we desperately needed! Una chose to sit in the back of the van with Lou to learn the new technology. I was shotgun for Leonardo. (That’s a laugh, I couldn’t find my way out of a paper bag on Shabbat in Jerusalem)

Its complicated but here we go. Hoping to find a parking place in the narrow streets of Jerusalem Una urged Leonardo down a street and into a place to make a U turn. One turn lead to another and sooner than you can say ‘Ultra-Orthodox’, we were driving this 9 passenger van down even smaller streets AND every single person was a Hasidic Jew.

Lest you have not experienced this let me explain, They all wear black, men and women. There is no concern about the wardrobe, its black and white and black! The men wear long black jackets, black pants, white long sleeve shirts, black hats with ear locks. (they have short hair and let the side burns grow; long curled locks of hair some held back with hair clips,but most just dangling in the wind) Big black hats almost like a western hat, brim extended, all of felt!

The women are not often seen, staying at home with their large families, but today they were out in force, walking on the road and sidewalk, crossing where ever they felt like it in no particular order. It was like the penguin migration, only with people. The skirts long, hair covering for all adult women also black, no bare shoulders, layer after layer of clothing in the stifling summer afternoon.

We kept trying to find a way out, but with each turn we were driving deeper and deeper into Hasidic holy land, Mea Sharim (seemingly the land of no return). I was wearing a skirt and sleeveless top, very nice for church, but I could get a stone to the face for letting my arms show. How small can someone get in the front seat of a biggish van on tiny, narrow streets swarming with black and white penguins? No mocking, really! It was a stark picture out my front window!

More than once we had to back out of a dead end and wonder how we were going to ever see a color filled world again.I really have no idea how I was handling this( You can ask Una if I was laughing or crying), the back seats were pretty quiet and the kids just trusted that mom and dad were going to get us out of this scary mess. At one point as we were all watching behind and beside us trying to back up the van (felt like a sidewalk) the kids were offering, ” A good 2 inches over here dad, way more room to the left…” Una calls out, “Do you feel like your in a movie?”

Personally it was more of a nightmare than anything else! Then we saw a possible lane to freedom. Finally, the Jerusalem I have grown to be comfortable with, dead ahead! Una spoke, “God bless them Lord, they are trying so hard to get it right”!

I thanked Leonardo for his skillful driving and indicated I would not require a front seat from now on!!! Una was much more prepared to run shotgun along side him. I am so grateful to be leaning on the wisdom and cool headedness of these folks. But its true that we all felt a collective sigh of relief and decided to skip church for caffine ladden coke and fat filled pizza. Oh wow did that hit the spot!!

Funny how I was suddenly very aware of every Othrodox Jew as we drove on to the local pizza place. Trauma spelled, “Hasidic”

Pam Johnson

 

It was a mild, late-Winter day in 1974 and I was shooting hoops. Mom came out and asked me, “Steve, how would you like to go to Israel?” Some friends of my parents had a daughter studying here with a group from Portland State, and there were openings. The three months of learning and adventure that Spring changed me forever! Thanks Dad and Mom!

Last week Pam and I walked up memory lane and I saw the apartment I lived in, across from the President’s home and kitty corner to the Jerusalem Theater. So many things to recall! When you walk through the land you see ancient cut stones. If you press your ear up to them they tell stories. New cut stones in modern buildings are like tape recorders that are storing up fresh stories including the wonderful exploits of today’s men and women of faith.

Adar and her son Aaron are hearing the testimonies of Yeshua’s goodness. They are amazed when they learn that they are being prayed for daily by believers in the US. Adar is an accomplished illustrator and she believes that the prayers being offered are opening doors for new writing and illustrating opportunities. She is excited! Aaron peppers us with questions about Yeshua and listens attentively. You can see Adar’s works at http://nadiadina.co.il/illustration.htm Pray the family may come to know Him!

Rafael is clean-shaven and his ear-locks are missing. Just a week ago he was a member of an Orthodox community! He was seeking Yeshua and was ostracized . Our neighbor Netanel has taken him under his wing but needs help financially to care for him. You see, most Orthodox are living on government assistance and have never been employed. It is a huge cultural shift to move outside the Orthodox community and into a new believing culture, a working world, and a secular environment. We are helping put him up in a room with another believer while he looks for employment. If you would like to help cover his rent and expenses, as we have, you can send a gift with a note that you wish to bless Rafael.

Netanel is a tour guide and Biblical Hebrew scholar. He shares Yeshua with hundreds of Jewish tourist. The man is loaded! It was amazing to sit with him on the site where Herod the Great had his palace and see a tunnel that Simon Gioras, one of the rebels, dug to try to escape from the Romans when the city was destroyed in 70 AD.

It is amazing to see how the prophecies of Zechariah are being fulfilled among us. Looks like we are now in chapter 12! What do you think?

Jesus said, “My house will be a house of prayer.” Let’s be the people that make that a reality as we worship Him and seek Him every day!

Steve Johnson

 Photos of: Pam and Steve, Steve’s College apartment, Aaron and Adar, Rafael, Netanel

 

Financial support may be sent to:

2154 Little Valley Rd

Sevierville, TN 37862

Connect with the Bellas at http://israelprayermission.com/

 

 

 

 

 

One of our primary contributions to the Israel Prayer Mission is the Home schooling of the Bella’s five children. By helping care for family matters like cooking and cleaning we lighten the load on Leonardo and Una. They can give greater focus to pursuing connections and opportunities to share the goodness of Yeshua.

Today the kids were working on creating mosaics. Quite fun! You may know that Israel has remarkable mosaics, ancient and modern.

Yesterday was Jellyfish day! We had the five children do independent study on these odd creatures and then give presentations starting with the youngest to the oldest. We learned a lot and the kids got to practice giving presentations with online resources and images. They are all so bright!

We should let you know that this is a season where the beach has lots of Jellyfish – so many that for the next couple weeks few people will be swimming. In the evening the kids had a blast running all over the beach last night with flashlights and plastic bags over their hands to pick them up and move them off the beach. Three of us have gotten stung. We’re glad we don’t have to deal with the deadly varieties – the kids can tell you about them.

A few facts:

The Jellyfish is 95% water

Smack = a group of jellyfish

Bloom = a huge gathering of jellyfish (We are having one now)

If you get stung use vinegar to neutralize the poison.

There is so much more to learn about jellyfish, plus recipes for the adventuresome palate!

We are packing our bags for Jerusalem, where we will be focused for the next month. We appreciate Papa’s plan to get us healthier and rested before moving full time to Jerusalem. We are all stronger and working together better and better!

Please keep us in prayer as we sense we are moving closer to the center of our mission! We feel we will be “running with horses.”

This week’s memory verse is Psalm 16:11. Want to learn it with us?

“You have made known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” (NIV)

Russia’s President Putin was in Netanya. There was a dedication here of a memorial to the Russian Army which lost nine million during WWII. 750,000 Russian Jews live in Israel. We had planned on going to the beach but the roads were closed. We took the opportunity to diligently pray for the meeting. The people of Israel are not sure about this dictator as Russia has helped arm the 300 million Muslims that circle little Israel, particularly Syria and Iran.

Politic is an interesting art and dissimulation is common. Some positive things came from the meeting, apparently. Putin reminded President Perez that Russia had voted for the UN resolution for Israel to become a nation in 1948 and said that Israel’s security was in the interests of Russia. Putin also said nuclear weapons in the hands of the Iran was a threat not just to Israel but to the world.

One of the consequences of Putin’s visit was that the Bellas met Slavic, a young traveler from the Ukraine, who was stranded on foot as the roads were closed. They picked him up and brought him to our apartment for lunch. We had a delightful visit and were able to share a bit about Yeshua and were able to bless him in prayer.

We also had an opportunity to visit with Una’s Dad and Mom. The subject turned to Yeshua as they mentioned the River of Life and I was able to talk to them about the book I am working on, Riverfront Property. We shared about the inner river that Yeshua promised for those who trust Him. A warm-hearted door is open again to share the Gospel!

Daniel and Kendal Levi are visiting with us for a week or so. They are a beautiful young couple from Knoxville. He is an architect and she is an interior designer. They are considering moving to Israel. He is doing some work for a ministry in Haifa that is expanding. She is expecting her first child. Looking at them makes me think of Pam and I and our early days. Sweet.

We had S and M, friends from Una’s past for dinner. Daniel was able to share his testimony of a big life transformation as he tuned to Yeshua. It was a cordial meeting and the doors remain open for more!

Steve

Pictures of Parasailers in Netanya and Putin and Netanyahu