[caption id="attachment_902" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="-----The Sea of Galilee-----"][/caption]

Were unbelievable.

Though I really do need a better camera. Friday morning we had a chance to meet Taysaar Saada, author of the book “Once an Arafat Man”. He told stories of a crazy past filled with hate and acts of jihad, where he had worked closely with Yasser Arafat.

After meeting the Lord in Kansas City, he has returned to Israel to help with the impoverished Palestinians. Check out his organization, Seeds of Hope, here.

After some time with him we met a gentleman who was traveling with him, Mark Crosslin. Turns out Mark is from Atlanta. Any guesses on where he goes to church?

12Stone.

Which of course just happens to be my church. Yeah right.

Thanks, Lord.

Mark and I have already had lunch on this side of the world. What a cool connection.

After the time with Taysaar, we took off for Galilee, arriving in just enough time for a quick lunch before heading out on a worship boat. It was a little cheesy, especially when the first song they sang was the US national anthem. Yikes. Now, I love …

[caption id="attachment_873" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="----Our team with Calev and John Myers after our day at the base----"][/caption]

Each day in Israel started with a devotional and worship. It was one of my highlights from the trip. Dustin, one of the guys from Gateway, brought his guitar and we crammed 9 guys into a room and belted out praise to the One who had sent us to this chosen corner of the earth. I wish I could start everyday like this.

At the end of our time of worship, we were joined by Calev Myers founder of the Jerusalem Institute of Justice and his father John Myers, who leads a congregation in Jerusalem. Calev fights for the rights of the marginalized and the oppressed in Israel. We spent some time talking with him about the different issues facing Israel today, including the difficulty for Jews who believe that their Messiah has already come and that he is Yeshua.

After listening to some unbelievable stories, all 11 of us (including Calev and his John) piled into the cars to …

Corrected my last post.  My friend Adi sent me the following email:
Matt Hi,
I saw the blog and it was great. The “15 second dilemma” is a scary thought, the ultimate “no win” situation.
The reason I am writing is to point out that we are not “the” Hatzalah Organization; there is no “the” Hatzalah organization. There are many such organizations and projects all over the world. We are one of them. We are the “Hatzalah Project”, which belongs to the “Israel Emergency Aid Fund”.

We provide emergency equipment to all first responders such as doctors, firefighter, paramedics and Magen David Adom first responders (women included), all over Israel. and that is the reason the response time stands on 72 …

Our second day in Israel ended with a story that needs to be told rather than read. It’s the last thing our friend Adi (see previous post) shared with us before we parted ways. I’ve retold it on the video below. I hope it’s worth 2 minutes of your time.

What does 15 seconds look like? from Matt Elsberry on Vimeo.

[caption id="attachment_811" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="--Mother protecting kids from missile attack--"][/caption]

“You have 15 seconds to find shelter or face potential death”

As we entered Sderot, Israel, we were given this stern warning. We were also to keep the car window’s down partway to listen for the sirens and the haunting call of “Tseva Adom”, Hebrew for “Code Red”. If the peace in the city was broken, we would immediately stop the car and sprint to the nearest shelter. This created a palpable tension in the air that was in direct contrast to this small, well-manicured city on a beautiful day.

Over the last 8-9 years over 10,000 missiles have been fired from Gaza into this small Southern Israel town. That’s an average of well over 3 per day. Once a launch is detected, it is immediately announced and residents have 15 rapidly descending seconds to find a bomb shelter. To get a feel for what life is like in Sderot, watch this powerful video here.

One of the …