September 8 - Monday

This was another fun day. We took four of the Gathering participants (two from Hawaii and two from the Philippines) to the Old City again. Our newest role is ‘tour guide.’ Moani danced in one of the Christian believer’s shops, which was fun. We met several other early arrivals in the Old City and we all went down to the Mamilla Mall for lunch, about 15 of us – from the US, Canada, the Philippines, Israel, Hawaii, Australia. I just love the various cultures and the camaraderie there is among these indigenous believers. After several hours of just fellowshipping together we headed to Zedekiah’s Cave which is in the Muslin section of town. That was another incredible experience as the two Hawaiian delegates chanted and sang in their Native language, songs of honor and praise to Creator Jesus, followed by prayer from the Philippine delegates in their tribal language. There were three Arab young men smoking in the cave at the same time and they had their cell phone cameras going the entire time. It was obvious that we were worshipping Jesus and praying in Jesus name, yet they wanted pictures of all of us. We chatted as best we could with the language barrier and then they wanted to take us to see a painting they had discovered in the farthest recesses of the cave. It was a picture of Jesus that had been painted onto the ceiling of the cave. Interesting! One of Moani’s friends had told Moani that she felt strongly that Moani would have an opportunity to share with Muslim Arabs while she was in Israel. Neat experience.

We had a brief rest before it was time to leave for the 24/7 service where several of the early delegates were sharing their testimonies, song, and dance before a Jewish congregation. That was another rich, inspiring time.