Yes the rumors are true: I am moving to Jerusalem. YES, on purpose! And yes, this is awesome!!!
In February, I was offered the position of assistant to the General Manager/COO with the ICEJ: International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem.
I will be entering Israel under a volunteer visa. Although housing, some meals, basic insurance, Israeli cell phone and small stipend are included, I will need to raise financial support for various ongoing expenses.
I know that I cannot adequately explain everything that has happened up to this point on a web page, so won’t even try.
But through posting articles about this journey which the Lord clearly has me on, I hope to encourage and inspire you… both to keep in touch with and pray for me and my kids AND to pray for and stand with Israel and her precious people.
This post was taken from my original application as a volunteer with ICEJ, as an answer to their question: Why are you applying for a position with the ICEJ?
Short answer: [ICEJ's General Manager] Barry Denison reached out to me on LinkedIn and invited me to connect. After accepting his invitation, I shared a bit of my recent spiritual journey and the conviction that God was raising me up to be a Gentile who would help the Jews return to Israel. He mentioned that ICEJ was in need of marketing and design staff members and recommended I apply.
Longer Answer: The professional information in my online portfolio and LinkedIn profile is just a tiny slice of who I am. My software, design & communication skills were all self-taught in response to a ministry need or to help a friend with a small business who couldn’t afford to pay someone. So I learned the software and did it for them for free or in exchange for Starbucks, pizza or shoes for my kids.
The rest of the story: I am blessed with four awesome children and was a stay-at-home mom married to a youth pastor for 26 years. In that time, I homeschooled our kids, helped with the youth ministry and church in general, was appointed as a Baptist missionary and led a ladies’ mission trip to Mexico City in 2001 (which flew out of Chicago O’Hare right after the airports reopened due to 9/11) among other things. My former-pastor husband is seeking a divorce, which has been a long time coming and is probably way overdue.
In August 2014, as part of my journey to discover my purpose - where God truly created me to be - the Lord told me that I will be one of the Gentiles he is raising up to help Israel. When I heard this “still small voice in my heart,” I didn’t even know that God was raising up Gentiles to help Israel, that He ever planned to raise up Gentiles or that Jews even talked to Christians. But ok ...
Two months later, I saw ICEJ’s David Parsons being interviewed by Myles Weiss on Zola Levitt Presents. In David’s words: “...In modern times, ministries like the Christian Embassy [have] been helping with the actual physical return of Jews back to the land, what’s called ‘Aliyah’...prophets like Isaiah promised that when God would set his hand a second time to bring the Jews back from all the lands where He had scattered them that there would be Gentiles involved. So even the Jewish people recognize these are the Gentiles God said He would beckon to, to carry us on their arms and be foster fathers [and] nursing mothers to them in the return.” [click here to view the clip]
I stared at the screen - stunned - and whispered, “That’s me... That’s ME!” At that moment I realized THIS is the raising up which I am part of, that it’s been going on for awhile now and is actually a fulfillment of prophecy. Amazing! So, how do I get to Israel? No clue. But I am somehow part of this fulfillment of prophecy. By this time, I have stopped trying to figure out how God is going to do it, I am just obediently along on this exciting ride.
After seeing this program and hearing about ICEJ for the first time I did what any self-respecting marketing person does ... I looked up ICEJ on LinkedIn. Barry must have seen that I viewed his profile and extended the invitation to connect.
The application you hold is not a knee-jerk response, nor is this offered lightly. I have spent hours on my knees, researched a number of different Christian zionist organizations and resources out there, and learned a lot about Israel’s recent history and prophecy in the Tanakh I had never heard before. I have started learning Hebrew and now attend a local Messianic congregation.
So finally, here is my long answer to your question, “Why are you are applying for a position with the ICEJ?” Because I believe the Lord wants me there, and has equipped me with creative & communication skills, experience, spiritual gifts and an analytical mind that ICEJ needs right now.
Everything I see on the ICEJ website (including your numerous videos) resonates with what the Lord is revealing to me regarding Israel and our biblical mandate concerning her. You seem to be an organization of integrity and definitely hold credibility with Zola Levitt ministry which I have respected for many years.
You speak truth and back it up practically through your ICEJ Aide programs. From a marketing/communication standpoint, biblical zionist organizations like ICEJ are in the midst of an epic battle between the truth of God’s Word and a worldwide propaganda machine. The documentary “With God on Our Side,” Christ at the Checkpoint and Bethlehem Bible College make it painfully clear that the battle is not just against Hamas, the Arab nations or even the entire United Nations. Christians and Jews are on both sides. It is messy, confusing, and will only escalate.
The weapons of the enemy include exquisitely crafted, persuasive pieces of propaganda where phrases like “ethnic cleansing” “Israeli occupation” and “apartheid” are interwoven with half truths, inflammatory video clips and select historical facts. They are sprinkled with the endorsement of credible, respected groups and leaders i.e. Wheaton College, Tony Campolo, Palestinian Christians and the son of a former Israeli General.
And this is only what I discovered while surfing the web last Sunday afternoon. The parallels I see between the rhetoric of the current anti-zionist, anti-semitic movement and Hitler’s propaganda methods (as outlined in chapter 6 of Mein Kampf) are shocking and frankly a bit terrifying. But the bottom line is this: I wish to serve in Israel because I know my Messiah, Yeshua, is guiding my every step, and I believe Jehovah Jireh divinely equipped me to somehow help you speak the truth in love and effectively communicate your message.
He plucked me up out of my life recently through a series of somewhat bizarre circumstances, set me on a path of unprecedented spiritual intimacy with and total reliance upon Him, and has been raising me up for such a time as this.
I would be honored to be part of your organization. When I read The Hiding Place in Jr. High, I was grieved that I wasn’t able to help the Jews like the ten Boom family did. When I learned about Dietrich Bonhoeffer in college, again I was grieved that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to speak the truth and defend them against a terrifying deception within, the church.
Although that desire was always in my heart, it just wasn’t my time. This is my time. To be a Ruth, or Esther, or one of the ten from every nation who grasp the sleeve of a Jew. Your mandate states: “As Israel moves steadily but surely to he God-given destiny, we are determined to ‘stay the course’ with her.”
I humbly submit this application to join ICEJ’s volunteer staff and “stay the course” along with you. Thank you for your consideration.
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