October 11, 2012 – Nazareth & Haifa

One year ago, Bishara saw Team Xtreme Vikings perform/minister at a church in the city of Ramle/Lod.  Bishara was impressed by their “performances” that included feats of strength, and he was blessed by their testimonies of coming to faith in Jesus, all of which included stories of them being addicted to drugs and alcohol, as well as time spent in prison. After the performance, the team asked Bishara if they could come to the north the next time that they visit Israel.  Three weeks ago, Bishara received an email that Team Xtreme Vikings were coming back to Israel and that they had two days open to come to the north. Bishara knew he would need some help to put these outreaches together, so he called the organization he has worked with before, Back to Jerusalem, if they could help him put on these big events.

The morning event was at The Baptist School in Nazareth (see link below).  There were two assemblies, one for grades 3-5 and grades 11-12, and one for grades 6-8.  After the team finished their demonstrations and testimonies, Bishara invited anyone who wanted to come forward to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior; nearly every child said, “Yes.”  Bishara told the children that if they are not sure, or if maybe they made a mistake in saying “Yes”, that they should go back to their seat, but not one child returned.  Bishara told the children that this was serious and that they needed to focus, so he asked them to close their eyes, but to not bow their head, but to keep their heads up.  Bishara could see everyone’s faces; everyone had their eyes closed.  When Bishara asked them to repeat the prayer after him, they did with very strong voices; he felt that they were serious about what they were doing.

The evening event was in Haifa at a traditional Christian Church (again, see link below); the previous day, 2,000 fliers were passed out at various schools in the city. The team experienced difficulties getting the sound system to work with their laptop for about an hour and a half, and now the event was scheduled to begin.  There were no obvious solutions, so everyone involved increased the intensity of their prayers as they felt that they were dealing with a spiritual issue, and after another hour of delay to the program, the sound suddenly worked.

 

Everyone was relieved and the performance began, by now there were 400 people in the stands, but then another problem arose.  About 20 minutes into the program, the person representing the school came to Bishara and the other leaders and demanded that the show end should end right that moment because the team was talking about drugs and alcohol.  The leaders replied that this was part of the testimony of these men and that all of these men had even spent time in prison as a consequence for their behavior. The school leader kept telling them to stop the show, but they managed to continue the show for the final 25 minutes.

Now, earlier in the day at the Baptist School, a lot of kids came forward, but these are kids who hear a short Biblical message each morning during their chapel time.  When the invitation was given at this traditional Christian school in Haifa, and 70-100 kids came forward, it was pretty safe to say that none of these kids had ever heard the message of salvation.  After this, Team Xtreme Vikings then asked those to come forward who needed healing and they prayed for these kids as well.

Beside this event in Haifa being a blessing for those who attended, it was also a blessings for Bishara and the other local Arab pastors who came together in unity to put on this event in Haifa, as there were Baptists,  a Nazarene,  and an Assembly of God pastor involved.

Click here to read and see more about this outreach

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