Calvary Chapel Kendall Missions

Jerusalem awaits you.

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Have you ever wanted to see the land where Jesus walked? Join Pastor Pedro as he leads a group from Calvary Chapel Kendall to the Holy Land. There, we will join up with Pastor Greg Laurie from Harvest Ministries. For more information visit this site.

Hello to my Calvary Chapel family!!!

Thank you for you for all your prayers!! We just love it here!!
Just to think that our trip will soon be over makes us sad. To wake up and see a beautiful blue sky without one cloud in it, it is truly a magnificent sight. Also, to see a nightsky filled with bright stars, moon, and city lights makes it all so special that I try to absorb it all to remember it.

These last few days have flown by so quickly that it is hard to believe that the weekend is here again. We have done so many different things and blessed so many people, not knowing that in return we were receiving the blessings from them!!

Everywhere we went, people have called out to us saying, “Welcome, welcome” even as we walked through the marketplace. The families that have invited us over have been teachers and people who have NOT received their monthly payments for over three months!! Yet these people offer you so many things to eat that you would think you were in a restaurant having a five to six course meal!! The minute you arrive, so do the cups and the three kinds of sodas. Next comes the coffee and the list goes on. Please pray that these people receive thier pay. Teachers that have not been paid continue to go to work on a daily basis. They say that they do it for the children.

We have learned some Arabic language and I want to share just one little phrase:
“Yasuua ma’aTHamaka” This means “Jesus, how GREAT YOU are”. It is part of a song that we learned and Heather and I seem to sing it or hum it regularly.

We got to meet an elderly lady at Calvary Chapel Jerusalem who is a Holocaust survivor. She was so small and cute. She had beautiful blue eyes and she reflected
so much LOVE in her. She kept on hugging me and I held on to her for a long time. That is about all that I could do because she only spoke Russian. I told her that I would take her home with me and she just had a glowing smile.

We also met other people of this land that touched our hearts. Meanwhile we had so much fun that we also acted as silly goofballs!!

Enjoy the pictures!!

Love,
Lucy

****En Espanol: Mami te quiero mucho y me alegro saber que has podido ir a la iglesia y compartir con Mari Hafner y Mary Roman, que han sido una bendicion para nosotras al igual que muchos mas. Gracias por sus oraciones a todos mis hermanos y hermanas hispanoparlantes los quiero mucho en el Senor. Que Dios les bendiga a todos!!**** Disfruten las fotos y compartanlas el domingo en la iglesia, Gracias, Pastor Pedro****

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Since we have no way of watching any Heat games or World Cup games,
Pedro and I (Michi) decided to engage in our own competitve tournaments. I thought it would be nice to share the scores.

Ping Pong Tournament Scores:

Michi: 18 wins
Pedro: 17 wins

Fooseball Scores:

Michi: 4 wins
Pedro: 0 wins

0=)

Hey everyone, it’s Michi with another quick update! We would again like to apologize for the lack of posts, but as I said before, we’ve been really busy! But “il hum
dili luh” (praise God in Arabic) that all is going extremely well and we feel your prayers!

Over the past couple of days we’ve worked in the community center’s summer camp, did office work for the Musalaha ministry in Jerusalem, did more garden work and cleaning, visited another refugee camp, spent more time in prayer and fellowship, and in about an hour or so we will head out to an orphanage to do some activities with the kids.

Thanks again for all the prayers! We can’t wait to come back and share the deeper things that God has been doing in and through us! We love you!

PS: Mom, Dad, Tito, Meli, and Natie: I love and miss you guys SO much! Hugs and Kisses from the Holy Land!

From Arlene & Josh:

Silence doesn’t mean death! Sorry we haven’t put anything in the blog but the team is doing such a fantastic job and we decided to save the best for last, so we just want to give a shoutout to all our prayer partnmers at CCK and our beautiful family: Susie, Lisa, Richard, Max, Joshua, Alex, Tatiana, and Heaven! Grandma and Grandpa love you, and we will have loads of goodies for you when we get home!

Office work in Musalaha:

Beit al Liqa Summer Camp:

Refugee Camp:

Prayer Meeting:

Other:

Hey everyone – this is Pat. I’m not in the Holy Land, but I wanted to let you all know that I just spoke on the phone with most of the team. They all sound absolutely GREAT! Most of their highlights so far have not been seeing all the wonderful sights, but meeting all the wonderful people – people that give everything when they have nothing.

Mission trips change your life; they improve your perspective and worldview. It’s awesome to see that happening in Pedro, Josh, Arlene, Michi, Maydi, Luci, and Heather.

Father, we pray for our friends and family that are on the other side of the globe serving you. Thank you for protecting them, using them, changing them. We continue to lift them up, Lord, because we know that they depend on prayer. We can serve with them as we pray. Bless them, fill them, and use them. Thank you, Jesus, for all that You do. Amen.

Hey family, it’s Michi! We’re EXTREMELY SORRY for slacking off on the blog, but we have been either too busy or too exhausted to update! We just got back this evening from our weekend touring, and I’m surprised that I have enough energy to put this one up!

Since our last post we have been joined by a group from Australia, and have been doing all kinds of work ranging from cataloguing books in a Bible College library, to sweeping up a construction site at a local community center. We have also had several prayer meetings, have done some major gardening, and have visited an orphanage which we plan on visiting again this Friday. This week is also going to be very busy, so would really appreciate your prayers back home. Pray that God would continue to open doors and keep us safe as we go out onto the mission field.

After a long week of hard work, we headed out early Saturday morning to do some touring. We went to Cesarea where we saw the old city, Haifa where we saw Elijah’s tomb, Nazareth where we saw the church of Enunciation, and then spent the night on the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias. This morning we went to the mount of Beattitudes where we spent some time in worship and in the Word, Capernaum where we saw ruins of Peter’s home and an old synagogue, the Jordan River where some of us were baptized, and then swimming in the Dead Sea. Tired? You bet we are! But we all had a great time and are really looking forward to seeing some more sites next weekend!

I know this has been a pretty vague update, but my brain isn’t functioning properly enough to give more details. I hope the pictures say a little more. Anyway, we miss you guys VERY MUCH, and REALLY appreciate all your comments! Keep writing back! God bless!

PS: Mom, Dad, Tito, and Mely: I love and miss you guys SOO much! I’ll be trying to get in contact with you some time this week…

Community Center:

Garden work:

Bible College Library:

Prayer meeting:

Miscellaneous:

Natie: Pedro was supposed to do the baptizing in the Jordan River but chickened out. Can you guess why? =)

Hi CCK family,

Jesus has been bringing our team closer each day as we fulfill his purpose here on our trip. It would not be real if we write only of the blessings and not of the struggles. The other day, we learned that many times people need to be brought to the desert before there can be a paradigm shift (in perspective) in their hearts for there to be reconciliation. Our team is beginning to experience that shift in our perspective spiritually. We are being changed into the likeness of Christ, not only by living together 24 hrs a day, but by taking up a new identity to serve others more than ourselves.

Today, we went on a prayer walk around the city. Oh, yes up hills, through the stones, and dusty paths. We understand why the context of shaking dust of your feet really does apply. As well as being covered in the dust of your Rabbi. In fact maybe we should do a feet washing like Jesus gave his disciples, hopefully Josh won’t mind since his name is Joshua.

We were able to serve families by listening to their needs and praying with them. Being here makes one really face John 3:16 “For God so loved the WORLD, that he gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” We are His treasures. Tonight we really were praising God because of His lavish Grace upon us here. We love you, until our next update Grace be with you!

-Heather

Our group family night:

Before our walk:

Group prayer:

Natie and Berny: Look! Turkish delight! I thought of you guys and just had to post it… Doesn’t taste like I would have imagined, but it was still good! I didn’t have an uncontrolable urge to eat more though… Miss you guys!

“Marhaba Sahibti”- That is “Hello Friends!”
On behalf of the team here – we all miss you all,but we also know that we are where we are supposed to be and we are being blessed beyond comprehension. I would like to especially give a “shout out” to my Single -Minded Ministry family to let you all know that from the moment I stepped into the Holy Land It has felt like my home away from home – I love the people and we have been welcomed where ever we go- we have many stories to share when we all return.
Yesterday we all worshipped with our new family here and it has been awesome to hear the Lord being praised and worshipped in another language! I would like to thank all of those that have been praying for us and continue to pray that God continues to have His way. Also pray for me …Arlene and I have cooking duties so pray the Lord will bless the food. I send my love to Monica, Didio, all of my Single Minded brothers and sisters, to my family and friends back home-All is well. I leave you with this verse to encourage Single Minded—1 Cor.7:34-35 The unmarried to care about the things of the Lord that they may be holy in body and in spirit..that you may serve the Lord without distraction. This has been the Lord’s answer prayer for all of us.

Maydi

More Pictures:

Hey Berny, Pedro and I (Michi) saw this on an Israeli bus… He was infuriated! But you’d be happy to know that he’s telling every kid he comes in contact with to cheer for good old “albiceleste!”

Hello everyone in Miami!!!!
It is beautiful here. I am really happy to be a part of this team. It is wonderful to be the first ones here from CCK in 2006. As Michelle just finished briefly narrating our arrival and first endeavor, we will continue updating as much as possible. We are all doing just fine and rejoicing in the Lord.

Hello to my family, coworkers and brothers & sisters in Christ.

Shalom from us in the Holy Land!!

Lucy

P.S. Hello, mom, miss you and wish to share this awesome experience with all of my family. I’m praying for you. GOD BLESS!!!

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Michelle Hernandez and I’m 18 years old. You may have heard of me from your kids as “Miss Michi.” Anyway, I figured you guys would be sick of getting only one perspective (sorry Pedro), so I decided to update the blog myself. You’ll also be hearing from the rest of the group throughout the next two weeks as we alternate updating our trip experiences.

When foreigners enter the United States they’re sometimes welcomed by Mickey Mouse, and I found it comical that here in Israel I also was greeted by a mouse… IN MY SUITCASE!!! Thankfully, I’m not exactly the kind of person you would consider “girly,” so I woke the others girls with a loud laugh instead of a blood-curling scream. Aside from nibbling through Heather’s nuts, a bag of MnMs, and my bath rag, no serious harm was done. I think we’re going to be OK. (For those of you who are wondering, I guided the little guy out to our rose garden safely… I think he was really cute, but the others tend to disagree!)

Anyway, I’m blown away at the fact that this is only our first full day here and it has already been an incredible blessing! Everything is absolutely beautiful! The weather has been blistering during the day but surprisingly cool at night. We’re all anticipating to see the rest of the Holy Land in the coming weekends!

This morning we spent sometime in prayer and worship, and than set out for a good hour and a half walking around and praying for the area we are staying in. We were joined by a group of about 20 people here and we split off into 8 groups, each having a specific topic to pray for. These areas included government, economy, hospitals, churches, communications, arts and media, schools, and sports. God moved strongly in each group by placing verses in our hearts and opening doors to speak to and even pray for some of the local people here. When we reunited we spent our time sharing personal experiences and praying for the needs of the community that God revealed to us.

I also invite you guys back home to pray for the situation here as well. It’s amazing how such a small area can so drastically attract the attention of the entire world. The needs are countless, but we can see that God is undeniably moving in this place by bringing His people to do His work. Pray that He would protect his laborers and continue to send more; the harvest is definitely full!

In closing, I’d like to thank all of you for your prayers and encouragement on behalf of the team! We have definitely felt them and were blessed with 3 month visas and a Shalom welcome at the airport in Tel Aviv, which are oftentimes hard to come by. We are praying that things will go just as smoothly while leaving, which is usually much more difficult than coming in. I pray that all is well back home, we miss you dearly! God bless!

Our arrival at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv:

It was a LONG trip…

The group briefing before our prayer walk:

I hope you enjoyed the pictures, I’ll be posting more as the days come so continue checking for updates!