arisenow ISSUE #1 / January 2013
ICEJ
RISE
“THE IMPORTANCE OF HONESTY” Sybille Hochuli explains how David fell into dishonesty.
477 QUEST
The journey, a total of 477 km to raise funds for handicapped Israeli Jews and Arabs pre¬paring for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio. .
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New
DIRECTOR From the flats of Uruguay South-America to the land of milk and honey. The remarkable story of the new ARISE director Jani Salokangas.
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RISE Vision Rooted in the powerful scripture of Ephesians 5:14, Arise stands to unlimitedly glorify God: to inspire and promote Biblical truths into young people’s everyday lives. Arise devotes itself to cause a generation to arise for spiritual awakening, works of love and support for Israel. From its beginning in 2002 the ARISE (formerly Grafted) movement has had one mission – to gather students and young people from across the globe to live a life centered in God. We believe that God has a special plan for each person and it is our responsibility to live that calling to its fullest potential. Above all we want this generation to see and discover the unique and crucial plan that God has planned for Israel in His epic world redemptive plan. The Arise movement is spreading worldwide. Join the movement today!
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From the leaders pen
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rise started officially as the new Grafted a few months ago. Be¬fore I move forward I want to acknowledge and give thanks to the founders of this ministry. I want to per¬sonally thank Liesl Maas for her courage to plant the seed of faith that God gave her, and for all her efforts and sacrifices throughout the years. She had the Godly attitude to put a God given vision and turn it into reality, and now I have the privilege of continuing in the legacy of this awesome and energetic vision. The ball is now in my court, and I feel the responsibility for moving the organization forward. New winds of change have been blowing through the ICEJ, and the same winds have also reached my desk. It is not
easy to change something that has been running for several years, especially when it comes to foundational changes like changing the name of the ministry. After much discussion and hard prayers I started to get a clear picture about how God wanted me to renew and change the Arise youth ministry. This magazine that you are reading will appear quarterly and is only one example of the many exciting changes that will take place in the coming future. The new name Arise, speaks about the Godly courage that we as young Christians need to reclaim, and what in too many cases has been lost or traded away. Without cour¬age, fear takes over our lives, and all of us therefore need to arise. I need to arise us a husband, as a father, as
the leader of my home, at my work place and in my faith. We also need to arise as a church and especially when it comes to our support and commitment to Gods word. His word explains clearly that we have to pray for and bless the nation of Israel. Current world trends and an increase in anti-Semitism re-enforce the fact that standing with Israel re¬quires courage and faith. By not standing by Israel we are in fact disobeying the bible, and as a result we end up in conflict with God. I want to encourage this new generation of Christians to live courageously for God. Our time as young believers is not a time where we can afford to lean back and relax. It is a time given by God to learn and take responsibility over our lives. Most
Jani Salokangas is the new Arise International Director and he is based in Jerusalem with his family.
of all, we need to learn to know God and his purposes for our lives, along with His plans for the world. Without this Godly “eagle eye perspective,” we will end up feeling lonely and meaningless. Let’s be the light and a guide to all those who need us, in the church or outside the church.
Jani’s wife Laura and daughter Amilia (younger) and Noela (older) have enjoyed liiving in Israel.
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ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME FROM 2ND - 7TH OF APRIL More information and sign-up - facebook.com/Arisegeneration
SIGN-UP TODAY RISE
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J SALOKANGAS
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JANISALOKANGAS
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By Jani Salokangas
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Jani Salokangas has done many sports through out his life. Football was one of them. He says through sports and vigorous training when playing he learned what is discipline all about. Later he discovered that the same discipline is needed when it comes to serving God. “It’s not about how you feel, it’s about has to be done for the glory of God”.
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The ICEJ’s Grafted Young Adults ministry will now operate under the name “Arise”, led by Jani Salokangas from Finland. Jani, his wife and two children have relocated to Jerusalem and are excited about this new phase in their lives. Jani believes that the call of God over his life as well as his international background have given him what it takes to further develop this key facet of our global ministry.
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Jani Salokangas was born in Uruguay in 1983 into a Finnish missionary family, and altogether he has spent some 12 years in the Spanish-speaking countries of South America. Already from an early age he encountered various adventures and had the privilege to experience God’s ma¬jestic power through a number of miracles. ”When you see people getting up from a wheelchair it rocks your mind in a way that you have zero doubts that God exists and that He pos¬sesses powers that are just mind blowing”. Jani’s faith is solid and he is surprised how Christians are able to doubt God’s power in today’s world. He further claims that people have too much fear and too little faith. ”When we fear mankind more than we do God, we freeze when it comes to being identified with Jesus, His power and sharing our faith with others.” He continues by saying that when this happens, we have allowed someone other than Jesus to sit upon the throne of our life. “We want to please and appease them, which means we end up worshiping people instead of Jesus. This is idolatry. People need to absorb the word and act upon it”.
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is child¬hood was very different to the average Joe. ”I remember taking a few horses with my friends and riding to the middle of nowhere, eating water melon and oranges for the entire day. We just had fun in nature, jumping from high cliffs, catching trains in the hills, along with playing with snakes, things that of course were kept secret from my parents”. When he turned thirteen it was time to move to Finland. His Finnish language skills were poor since he had been speaking Spanish all of his life. ”It was hard to enter high-school in
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Finland and not being able to communicate properly, it was not an easy thing for a teenage boy.”
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n 2004 Jani completed a degree in media design and married his wife Laura, later both of them went on to earn degrees in international business admi¬nistration. Their personal calling into mi¬nistry led them to Tanzania, east Africa, and two years of service for the largest Nordic missionary organization, Fida International, part of the Finnish Pentecostal Churches. In Tanzania their mission was to focus on assisting some 1,400 handicapped children from very poor families, along with helping young adults break the chains of poverty. After returning to Finland, they actively served their home church and launched several new out¬reach programs, including the RUSH program which has touched over 20,000 non-Christian young people through sports. ”I believe that God called us to make a difference, to build His kingdom and to fulfill His word: comfort, com¬fort my people”. Jani concludes by saying that this new upcoming generation seems to be interested in learning more about Israel and to take God seriously, but the challenge remains, who will teach them about these foundational pillars? Here Arise wants to make a differen¬ce through various social Medias and events targeting youth from all four corners of the world.
�We need to have the courage to jump into a fu;; life with God and trust that he will take care of us�. Jani Salokangas bengy jumping in Queenstown, New Zealand.
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Hiding
By Princess Llagan
the pain
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This is my fourth time in Israel, and each time I am travelling my friends always ask me the same question: Why do I keep going back? Although I really do love the people, the culture and the food, I don’t believe I am drawn to the land because of the tourist spots or their significance. I think it has more to do with the unique experience I encounter every single trip. It’s the amazing individuals I meet from all over the world, as far as Namibia and Finland. Every single trip I’ve made included everything I mentioned above, but this year it was different. 2011 was a very difficult, if not the most difficult, year of my life. Having suffered a year of depression and complete hopelessness that nobody knew about, this trip was the last thing I wanted, but the one thing I knew I needed. Two weeks prior, I found myself at my lowest low. I discovered that I had newly adopted an eating disorder and had come to the point where life did not matter. It was brief, but the moment I realized it, I knew that I needed to get away and get lost in God’s love. From the moment of that awakening, to the day before the trip, I tried my best to work out everything that needed to be fixed. I soon realized, though, that I was supposed to go on this trip completely broken because it was in my brokenness and weakness that God was going to show me His strength. God did not expect me to clean up. He wanted me to come as I was. So instead of fixing everything, I took a mental note of every struggle, of every disappointment, of every hurt and bitterness, and I packed it in a suitcase and brought it with me to Israel. From the moment I landed, I felt God telling me that everything was going to be okay and that I should unpack, relax and let Him take care of me. And He did. Immediately, I saw how God was working through people, through situations, and even through sunsets. He used several people on the trip to remind me of people from my recent past who have hurt me. And He used those very same people to deal with those issues. Every conversation I had was a meaningful one and every word was exactly what I needed to hear. I shared amazing dialogues with my bus buddy, who inspired
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me so much by the way he lives his life with such sacrifice and selfless love. I will never forget the beautiful heart-toheart words of wisdom shared by amazing women as we floated in the Sea of Galilee, while the giant sun set in front of us. Even brief breakfast discussions or chats in the hallway before going to bed impacted my life. One of my favorites was a lengthy three-way conversation in Eilat, overlooking the sparkling Red Sea one evening. Imagine three completely different conversations all happening at once over and between each other, but with perfect unity and order. On day one, I asked God for three things: healing, freedom and joy. On day ten, I had a taste of all of those things. Possible? Of course, it shouldn’t have to take incredible faith to believe in a God who created the universe to deal with my issues. Why should I doubt His care for me? I will forever remember this tour. It was then that I had the courage to finally come clean about the depression to a bunch of complete strangers who I really felt were really my long-lost soul mates. And in doing so, it unlocked a lot of other people to do the same. I dealt with intense heart issues, but experienced incredible joy. The fourth and most important thing I wanted from this trip was to fall in love with Jesus again. I wanted Him to consume my thoughts and my heart and my environment. I wanted to be so thoroughly soaked in love for Him because I knew that His love would be the only thing that would heal me. That He did. So why do I keep coming back? Maybe because it’s not just a trip, but rather a pilgrimage, it’s a journey I take in search of moral and spiritual significance. And every year I go, I find out just a little bit more about my significance, who I am, and why I was put on this earth.
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SUMMER
TOUR 2012
On the 28th of June last year, a group of young Christians from nine different countries gathered at Yad Hashmona to embark on a tour they would remember for life. Besides visiting famo¬us sights like the Old City of Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and the region surrounding the Sea of Galilee, the tour included hands-on projects and lectures. The group painted apartments at an ab¬sorption center for Ethiopian immigrants, harvested tomatoes for a food rescue project and spent time with the residents of a home for Holocaust Survivors. They visited Yad Vashem, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Jerusalem Cen¬ter for Public Affairs, heard lectures about Israel’s history and learnt about the different challenges she is facing today. The participants spent time together chatting, praying and singing, and enjoyed lear¬ning from each other as well as just having fun. God touched many hearts and many went home spiritually refreshed and en¬couraged to live a life fully devoted to Jesus.
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BE
HONEST
BE HONEST HONEST
In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house [...] (2 Samuel 11:1-2).
His first mistake was not joining his men in the battle, instead he chose to stay back home and be lazy. He should have gone with his army, but he preferred to rest on his couch. After all he was king, and he could do what he pleased. When he walked out on the roof after his afternoon nap he saw a beautiful woman bathing. Bathsheba was married to one of his soldiers, who was part of his guard (2 Sam 23:39). It means the soldier was a man whom David trusted with his life. Even though he knew this, he continued with his wrong choices. This first wrong turn lead to a chain of events which paved the way to adultery, betrayal, and an unsuccessful cover-up, murder of an innocent man, and death of a new born child.
The importance of being honest
HONEST
BE
And how did David respond to all this? He acted as if nothing happened, as if everything was ok. But then Nathan the Prophet confronted him directly, speaking of a sinful man and pointing out to David, “You are that man!” (2 Sam 12:7). Only then the weight of what he had done struck him, and David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” 2 Samuel 12:13-14
David realized that he had not only sinned against men but against the Lord himself, the one who had given him everything he needed and beyond (2 Sam 12:7-8). David repented and accepted the consequences of his wrongdoings –the passing of the child that Bathsheba had given birth to. In Psalm 51:1-4 we see how David described this experience: 14 AriseNow
H
HONEST
King David lived an incredible life. He was a normal boy who was chosen by the Lord to be the king of a nation. Not because he had the ability to do it, but because his heart was right before God (1 King 15:5). Still there were times in his life when he turned away from the Lord’s ways. He fell; and he fell hard. In the second book of Samuel we find one of these stories. It starts quite harmless, but it was the first step in the wrong direction that led him to sin.
By Sybille Hochuli
BE HONEST HONEST
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Can you relate to David’s’ experience? Have you done things in your life or do you have habits that you try to cover up? Do phrases like “this isn’t as bad as it looks” or” I guess I shouldn’t, but...” sound familiar to you? How do you expect your life to change if you’re not willing to change your routines, your thoughts, your habits, your life, or your prayer time? No one can continue to live in old patterns or sin and expect to grow in faith or get closer to the Lord. In Proverbs 28:13-14 it is written: Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
Have you done things in your life or do you have habits that you try to cover up?
If you keep things hidden within, it will either one day explode or it will eat you up from the inside. If you put on a mask and keep living as if nothing is wrong, it will make you weak and strain your relationships, too, because it hinders you from being honest with others. It doesn’t help anybody, least of all you. It’s like David wrote in Ps 32: For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Unless you admit that you have done something wrong, it keeps nagging and it holds you captive. It has power over your life. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. (1 John 1:6) Only confessing your sin, admitting it to God and yourself, and turning away from it will set you free. Acknowledge the mistakes you’ve made, and that you need the Lord’s forgiveness. Show that you are willing to change. Talk with Jesus and tell him about your struggles. He is merciful: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) Talk about it to someone you trust, just like David confessed to Nathan. It helps to defeat your struggles by confessing to someone, because then it is no longer hidden in darkness. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)
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Sybil es’
CORNER
ICEJ NEWS
I was thinking about what I could share with you. And I must say it wasn’t easy. In the 12 months I have been living in Jerusalem and started working at Arise I had a lot of funny, stunning, interesting, sorrowful, curious, blessed and fascinating experiences and encounters. There was two days of snow in the beginning of January, very unusual for Jerusalem. Grownups were running around like children and playing in the mere 15 centimeters of snow. Coming from a country where there’s snow every winter at first I found this rather amusing. But I have to confess, after a while I got a little excited, too. Not everyone can say they have actually seen snow in Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited an IDF base on Mt. Avital on the Golan Heights on Sunday, inspecting the work being conducted on
I feel privileged to live in Jerusalem, a city where you can breathe history and meet people from around the world. I work together with people from 16 different countries, in my Hebrew course we represent 9 nations, and I didn’t even start counting in the congregation I go to. It’s fascinating to learn about their cultures and backgrounds and to hear why they live in Israel.
a new border fence and declaring that “we are monitoring the changes taking place in Syria, and many changes are taking place. They affect Israel’s security…of course we are monitor-
And then there is the process of obtaining the Israeli driver’s license. One sunny morning, an early one at that, five of us from ICEJ went to the licensing office to start the process. We knew in advance that it will take some time to get it done. We waited outside the office until it opened, then we picked up a number and waited for our turn. We had to present our current driver’s licenses and our passports, and after the clerk typed everything in the computer she handed each of us a piece of paper. It went surprisingly quick and we were done in about 15 minutes. Our next stop was city center and a visit at the ophthalmologist for an eye test. Since it only opened at 9 am, it gave us time to go to Aroma (best coffee shop in Israel!) and enjoy some coffee. Back at the ophthalmologist we were asked to wait at a bakery across the street until he could call us in, one by one, for the test. We were also handed coupons for free ice cream! That early morning the ice cream was delicious!
ing what is happening on the other side of this buffer inside Syria regarding the rebels taking over and any movements vis-à-vis the chemical weapons. This is not only an Israeli matter; we are in close contact with the US on this issue. This is a strategic interest for both countries.” The visit came after the IDF leadership reported that Syrian rebel factions, pos-
After that it was time to head in yet another direction to see the general doctor. Although we had an appointment at 10:30am, we were informed that the doctor won’t be in the office until noon! Well, what shall we do? This time we picked a nice restaurant to have lunch at. Another nice surprise awaited us - our barista offered us free milk shakes! Back at the doctor’s we got our blood pressure measured and the doctor filled out a form for each one of us. The only thing left was to go back to the licensing agency to hand in the completed medical form. But because it was time to go back to work, we decided to leave that last task for the next morning.
sibly including jihadists groups, have taken up positions on the border with the Golan Heights. According to the report, the Quinetra enclave is still held by forces loyal to the regime of president Bashar Assad, but fierce fighting has continued in
All in all, it was a good morning, spent with great people and filled with lots of laughter. One more typical Israeli experience for me. ☺ Now the one thing left to do is the actual driving! One mandatory lesson and a driver’s test, which involves driving around the city of Jerusalem with the instructor for a few minutes. Looking forward to it! That’s it for today. You’ll hear more about my experiences here in Israel in the next issue.
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the area and an IDF officer told Netanyahu during the visit that “the big question is when the big Syrian flag in Quinetra will be changed.”
COURAGE REVEALED For God is the King over all the earth. Praise him with a psalm. Those are the words of Psalm 47:7, a section of the bible that invites us to exalt and praise the creator of heaven and earth.
By Emmanuel Mfoukou
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The concept of praise can be displayed in a vast number of ways. In the beginning of June a team of three believers from ARISE ICEJ, decided to praise the Lord by biking from Me¬tula, Israel’s most northern city situated some 300 meters from the border of Lebanon, all the way down to Eilat, next to the Egyptian border. The journey, a total of 477 km, was in itself an act of praise to the Most High and served as a way of raising money for handicapped Israeli Jews and Arabs pre¬paring for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio. The months before the start of what came to be known as the 477 Quest was a challenging time for the participants, as seeds of doubts were sown in to the project by tongues deeming the project impossible. Despite this the members of the team encouraged one anot¬her, and decided to focus on God’s word instead of human reasoning. By standing firm, the team managed to success¬fully traverse the length of Israel and complete the 477 km in temperatures close to 48 degrees Celsius. Thanks to faith in God, and the attributes of courage, determination and fear¬lessness the 477 Quest became a success. And it is by adop¬ting the same recipe that the next generation of believers will be able to move the Kingdom of God forward. In the same manner, when Joshua and Caleb returned from spying out the land of Canaan, they were the only ones of the twelve spies who believed that it was possible to conquer the land. Courage, trust and belief in God’s word gave them hope to confront the majority. Seeds of doubt were sown in to their minds, but because of faith these wicked seeds fai¬led to take root. Joshua and Caleb knew that God is not a man that he should lie, they knew about the promises and the covenant he once made with Abraham. They saw the op¬portunities, the Achilles heel of the enemy, and managed to rebuke the false reports of the majority.
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Today more than ever we need to follow their example, we as the next generation of believers needs to speak the bibli¬cal truth. Speaking the truth demands courage, but it is only through truth that we can be set free and enable the King¬dom of God to grow. Courage is manifested by our faith in God and the Holy Scriptures, knowing that his word never will return void. Today, young believers across the globe are faced with a multitude of challenges, and various groups including fel¬low Christians continuously sows seeds of doubt in to our minds. Instead of standing by your side they come against you. Instead of trusting the Lord and standing firm on his word, they try to lure you in to believing in human reasoning and false reports rather than in God’s undiluted word. One example is the increasing number of churches engaged in activities aimed at boycotting Israel, activities which di¬rectly or indirectly gives strength to radical groups wishing to see the destruction of Israel and God’s redemptive plan for mankind. Such churches, in support of boycotts of Israel are hence wittingly or unknowingly undermining God’s plan by doubting holy prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who inspired by God, prophesized about the restoration of Israel. What we as the upcoming generation of believers need to remember is that standing with Israel is so much more than supporting a land and its people. By standing with Israel we are expressing our belief in God’s word, the same word that Jesus himself studied, read and lived by, and as a result we are standing with the very creator himself. So when you are accused of supporting Israel, when the ene¬my surrounds you from all sides; remind yourself of Joshua and Caleb, and raise the level of courage and Godly stan¬dards to their level. When opposition knocks at your door, remember that just as they prevailed through courage and belief in God, we will also prevail. For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but the Spirit of power, love and a sound mind. Be courageous.
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SDEROT IN THE LINE OF FIRE By Emmanuel Mfoukou
During last year’s Operation Pillar of Defense, ARISE ICEJ visited the southern regions of Israel, a part of the country which was directly affected by the rocket rain from the Gaza Strip. Throughout the conflict which lasted for eight days, over 1450 rockets were fired towards Israel by different radical groups. In the city of Sderot, known for being one of the most bombed cities in the world, we were met by shocking testimonies from individuals sharing their stories of how it is to live under constant rocket threats. Sderot is a city with some 24 000 inhabitants situated a short distance from the border to Gaza. It is known for being a city of much talent, and throughout the years it has produced numerous artists such as Micha Biton, Kobi Oz, Haim Oliel along with Hagit Yasso, the 2011 winner of “Kochav Nolad,” the Israeli version of American Idol. Since 2001 more than 10 000 rockets have been launched towards the city and disrupted the daily life of its population, and as a result some 75 percent of the children are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Several of the city’s student witnessed of periods where they have been forced to interrupt their school day and run for the bomb shelter more than 40 times per day. Others complained of how they constantly have to wake up in the night as a result of the “tseva adom,” the bomb alarm that warns of incoming rockets, while yet others told tragic stories of how they have lost their loved ones. While in Sderot, ARISE ICEJ met with David, who told us about life in the city. “My name is David, and I am originally from Iran but moved to Israel with my parents when I was six years old, and we arrived in Sderot in the sixties. Back then the situation with our Arab neighbors was good, everything was fine and we were able to cooperate, we even used to say that with the mind of the Jewish people, and the strength of the Palestinians, we will be able to build a new America.”
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“But at the time of the First Intifada back in 1987 things started to change, the workers from Gaza stopped coming, and as a result our factories ceased to function and things began to deteriorate. They started to fight among themselves and carried out terror attacks on busses all over the country, and we also killed their people, and it has been like that now for many years. It’s an abnormal situation and I don’t think there is a similar place anywhere else in the world.” “The worst thing is that I don’t see how we will be able to solve the situation. It’s hard, and I don’t think there will be neither peace nor dialogue as long as the war is about the land, we want the land and they want the land.”
old kids who have lived their whole life under the threat of rockets. Meanwhile, we have to remember that the people in Gaza also have poor people with children, and that their children feel the same as ours, we really need to make an end to all of this.” “I have been living here since the 60’s and it still hasn’t changed. We might have a few years of quiet and then war breaks out again, and so it goes on. This is impossible, let’s just live on God’s land all of us together, there’s no reason to live like this for the sake of land. I am speaking as a simple citizen, but I really hope that one day the leaders will be able to sit down and talk together so that we can end this whole story once and for all.”
“It’s difficult to live here in Sderot, especially for our children who are experiencing constant anxiety. You have to understand that we have had some 13 years of kassam rockets raining down on our city, which means that there are 13 year www.arisegeneration.org
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VIRTUE WORSHIP DANCERS By Emmanuel Mfoukou
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Last year, the 2012 Feast of Tabernacles, organized by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, drew thousands of believers from all corners of the world to Jerusalem, the city of the Great King. During four days they were able to participate in powerful worship and praise services along with seminars and messages on God and his promises for the land of Israel. The 2012 Feast also hosted the Virtue Worship Dancers, a group of young girls from Nigeria who had come to Jerusalem in order to dance in honor of the Lord. The group is normally made up of some 30 dancers from different parts of Nigeria, but on this occasion three members including its leader, Elizabeth Benzon, represented the group in Jerusalem. None of the girls, Elizabeth Benzon, 29, Favor, 23, along with Favor, 11, had previously been to Israel, and were therefore thrilled to be in the land of the bible. “It’s the first time we are visiting Israel, it’s amazing, and words cannot describe how it is to be here. I am so grateful to God for such an opportunity,” Elizabeth explains. “I don’t know when I will have this opportunity again so I just want to say thank you Jesus. People here are so warm and so welcoming, they are free hearted and that is the most amazing thing, so we are very grateful to be here. I have been hearing so much about Israel. Israel is real, and since I came here everything I have been reading has come alive. Israel means a lot to me, because this is where God’s headquarters is, and I embrace Israel because I have embraced Christ.” The girls continued by talking about the different sites they have been visiting since coming to the country, such as the Sea of Galilee, Bethlehem, the Garden tomb, the Holocaust Museum of Yad Vashem, along with the city of Tel Aviv and the Dead Sea. “To float in the Dead Sea is something indescribable; it’s out of this world. We had really fun there. They call it the Dead Sea, but we believe that everything that was dead and all of our sicknesses got resurrection, restoration and healing that day,” they explained with excitement in their eyes. Elizabeth explains that the group, the Virtue Worship dancers, got started back in 1999 and that their real breakthrough came in 2003. “Since then we have been going to different places, and different countries such as Cameroon, Ghana and now Israel. In our local environment we are going to different states in Nigeria, and God has been faithful to us. We are about 32 in numbers and we are all girls. In the past we did a concert where we brought in our male friends
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to join us to worship together. But the group is just for females, and that is what makes us unique compared to other groups.” Elizabeth got a deep passion for dance, and despite having several years of experience she is still learning new things. “To dance is a gift that has to be developed, and I am still developing it, and with the help of the Holy Spirit I am able to bring it out and edify my gift, and that way bless the lives of other people.” She continues by explaining that every person got a different gift and that it is our responsibility to do our outermost in order to find it. “One of the dreams we have with the group is to have affiliations with other dancers internationally, and to have a good dance studio where people can come and learn how to dance. We are not just dancers, we impart in to lives because it is the word that we are dancing. The word should bring healing to the nations, and through dance God heals and raises the dead. In five years’ time we would like to capture the world for Christ through dance. Most of us cannot go one by one evangelizing, so instead we preach through dance.” When ARISE ICEJ asks the girls on their take on individuals both within and without the church, holding negative views of Israel, they are quick to answer. “The people who fail to see the importance of Israel are filled with ignorance, we would like to tell those people to change their minds and too look deep into their bibles. Because without Israel we are nowhere, we need to identify with Israel, the bible says that if we bless Israel we will be blessed. It’s just a simple logic, its straight forward; you are either cursed or blessed, and as we bless Israel we will be blessed.” The girls continued by explaining that among the young community of believers back in Nigeria, there is a lack of deep knowledge concerning Israel. People love and pray for Israel, but they don’t have the understanding of what it really means. “God has opened our eyes, and we will go back with good reports about Israel,” Elizabeth adds. Finally the Virtue Worship Dancers sent an invitation to ARISE ICEJ to come to Nigeria, and through conferences and programs teach the youth about the importance of Israel. “We are the future of tomorrow, and we are the ones who one day will take over this country, it is therefore important for us to learn more about the implications of loving and praying for Israel they concluded.
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Philippines/27/Full-time musician
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How did you find the Lord? I was raised in a christian home, gave my life to Christ when I was about 12 or 13 years old (7th grade). But I went through a lot of challenges in my life, and I recommitted my life back to him back in 2008. How is it to be a Christian in the Philippines? Fortunately, the democracy in the Philippines allows you to exercise your faith. And being named the only dominant christian country in Asia, christians do not experience major discrimination and death threats that are sadly seen in other countries. As I see it now, christianity (Evangelical, Pentecostal, Baptist, etc) has experienced a boom lately in the country so I find it exciting to be a christian in the Philippines, in terms of how I can be of influence to the people around me. Why do you think churches are growing in the Philippines but shrinking in Europe and the west? The christian churches in the country are adopting what you call the ”discipleship system”, where people are encouraged to be in discipleship groups that meet weekly, not only in churches, but also at home, work, or wherever they feel like meeting. That’s one of the main strengths of my home church, Christ’s Commision Fellowship (CCF). With this system, it allows the church not just be in the building where we worship and hear the Sunday message, but spread it to homes, workplaces, schools, and just anywhere. The youth are also on fire as for the past couple of years numerous youth events have been happening left and right just to push the new generation to make a stand for Jesus. Evangelism is also very rampant, you see from left to right how different churches are so active in initiating events that allow them to share the gospel. Kingdom mentality is the key and I believe churches right now in the Philippines are working together towards that (I hope I’m not wrong on this one). Basically, I believe a lot of Christian Filipinos today are getting out of their comfort zone to really make a stand for Jesus, and slowly it’s happening and spreading like wildfire it becomes like a good virus, pushing other christians to do the same. My friend Edward is now based in Sweden and he sees how badly the European churches need to adopt this discipleship system. I can talk more about this system in a different column. :) What do you think about Israel? Oh Israel is a beautiful place. When I finally got the chance to be there physically and experience the beauty of the country, there was just something about that place that makes me want to come back for more. Israel is where it all started and where it will all end, so the country will remain the centerpiece of Biblical prophecies, no matter what other people think about it. I stand with Israel.
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What do you think about replacement theology? I just don’t believe in it. While studying this replacement theology, I found this very interesting passage online: If Israel has been condemned by God, and there is no future for the Jewish nation, how do we explain the supernatural survival of the Jewish people over the past 2000 years despite the many attempts to destroy them? How do we explain why and how Israel reappeared as a nation in the 20th century after not existing for 1900 years? Coinsidence? I don’t think so. The covenant of God with His chosen people is not something that He just decides to break. It’s a COVENANT. Sealed Why Israel is such a hard topic for many Christians? To me, maybe it’s just a lack of understanding the whole truth about the importance of Israel. Maybe some just don’t want to care because they’re already saved and whatever happens to Israel happens so they’ll just live their lives and move on because they’re saved anyway and they can worship God without really caring about Israel. I don’t really know if it’s because they don’t want to be associated with a race that’s been discriminated all throughout history, but it could be a very good reason. But at the end of the day, Israel’s existence is a proof of God’s covenant, truths and prophecies in His Word. That’s the God I believe in. And because of that, I stand with Israel. You were four weeks ago as the worship leader in the Arise Summer Tour in Israel. How was the Tour? It was an incredible experience. A humbling and grateful experience. I remember telling God last 2011 when I was at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem that I wanted to see more of His land, and when I got the invite to Israel last June 2012 to be the worship leader of the Arise Summer Tour of ICEJ, I knew that was all because of God’s grace and I just couldn’t believe it. But I hopped on a plane and I could say it was one of the best experiences ever in my life. Great people, great experience of visiting many places, worshiping from place to place, knowing more about Israel and the Jewish people... everything was just beautiful and I’m so thankful that God gave me that opportunity of a lifetime. I hope to come back and experience it all over again. What was the craziest memory from the Tour? I could really say that staying with the Bedouins was pretty crazy. They have the craziest but yummiest food platter I have ever seen. The experience of sleeping in a tent with the desert surrounding you was pretty breathtaking. The hike to Masada was also pretty awesome. It’s hard to explain it... you have to experience it yourself! And of course the awesome people in the tour made everything just a memorable experience. I will never forget those people who were part of the tour.
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