Shalom Beloved Brothers and Sisters,
I need to share from my heart. I need to tell you these things.
I was walking down the street yesterday and I saw something in the spirit. God granted me a pair of new eyes for a brief time and I believe that I saw people the way He sees them. I do not speak lightly of this, for the things I observed hit me so hard I was altered. I was walking down Yaffa Street at around 10AM. I saw a religious Jew walking toward me but there was something wrong. He had a physical handicap that made him limp and his neck was twisted so that he had to turn his entire body in order to see what was in front of him. I will never forget what happened. I could not walk. I felt as though I was paralyzed by compassion for him. I began to weep. I saw a man that needed the love and acceptance of Abba. Mere minutes later I saw another disfigured religious man. He was crippled. Immediately I paused and felt the same compassionate urgency. I longed for him to know Yeshua! I began to weep. I kept walking and crying and saw several more men and women in agony and tortured in spirit. Oh I could see it in their eyes, my friends! I asked God why he was showing me these people and what was I supposed to do? He spoke so clearly, so audibly to me that even now as I write this I feel enraptured by his words:
"Comfort, yes, you must comfort My People! Says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins!"
That is a direct quote from Isaiah 40:1-2. And I heard God say this to me so clearly, so audibly! Oh what am I called to do? I am called to comfort, comfort his people, that they might receive double for all their sins, that they might be restored and reconciled. And what an amazing burden and responsibility this is! "Can I do this?" I wondered in my flesh. Can I live my entire life and take my last breath in such a place as this? Can I handle seeing with my eyes people that are so lost and so broken? So hurt and rejected? Can I handle seeing one more suicide bombing, watching people slaughtered like lambs, take every step as though it may be my last? Can I sit on the bus and listen to people cry out their prayers, can I listen to the Arab calls to prayer knowing that they are plotting Israel's destruction? Can I bear to see such pain, such intensity and such overwhelming difficulty for the rest of my life?
Can I live amongst the land of the hurting?
It may be the most difficult step I have ever taken, getting on that plane alone this past July with nothing. But it was the best step I have ever taken and I have received a certainty and assurance that goes beyond my human logic. This, this is why I am alive. To stretch out my hand and offer comfort. To take these people into my arms and hold them while they struggle, go to war and stand alone against the rest of the world. To hold Israel's tender hand until my last dying breath! What an immense burden for such a person as I! But You, God, You said I can do this. You said I can move mountains, walk by faith and not by sight, and stand while thousands around me fall.
I can do this. I will do this.
My work at CFI has been incredible. I can't explain how awesome it is to know that we are reaching so many people in Israel. We truly are comforting God's Chosen People and we see the results pouring in daily of people whose lives have been forever changed.
Another huge answer to prayer is that God provided my friend Kim and I with a small but wonderful apartment in Jerusalem. We are in the process of moving and hope to be settled by this time next week.
And still even more amazing is that I was able to get a status change on my passport so that future extensions will not be an issue. Most people have to wait years to get the status I was granted this past week, so this is a HUGE victory! All praise and honor be to God, who truly orders the steps of His children who walk out into the unknown. I can honestly say that all of these things are strictly by the Spirit because they exceed human logic. It is not by power, nor by might but by my Spirit says the Lord! Amen?
I pray blessings upon each of you as my faithful prayer supporters. I will remember your faithfulness forever. Please continue to lift Israel up in prayer as well as myself. I always need the extra prayer to encourage me through my work here.
As a new year is about to begin, I pray that you will consider continuing to support this ministry. Your support is needed for me to be able to continue what God has ordained for me in Israel. Please contact my mom at Kcmather3@aol.com if you would like information on how to do so.
This is Erin reporting LIVE from Israel, the Land of the Hurting.