Overwhelmed With Thankfulness

At the end of June, 230 Jewish and Arab youth took part in the Dor Haba Summer Camp. Four days of meeting with the Lord and with each other.

“We witnessed His love, healing, forgiveness, unity, and creativity break out in our hearts and lives once again.” shared Tal, the Director of Dor Haba.

During the camp the teenagers took part in various creative workshops in addition to spending time worshipping and praying and of course breaking down barriers and becoming friends across cultural and political divides.

In the music workshops, teenagers prepared to lead worship and prophetic intercession for the whole gathering. It was amazing to see 14, 15, 16 year olds taking the lead in bringing their peers into the presence of God each meeting.

The youth attending the dance, drama and film workshops worked together on a music video to the song, “Awake My Soul”. They came up with the storyline and ideas themselves and were excited to produce something together, as young Jewish and Arab Believers, that shared about their faith and hope in Jesus.

On the third day, everyone went out onto the streets of the city of Netanya for an outreach. The art students who had been making original jewellery and writing scriptures to go along with each piece, went “treasure hunting”: as they walked around they asked the Lord who to give the jewellery to. This led to many conversations with people on the board-walk about their faith and the unity that Jesus brings between them.

Those who did the dance workshops performed in several places along the promenade by the beach and those who had been working on music also played and sang worship songs in various locations. Many Israelis stopped to listen and even joined in. One local resident commented that they, “brought life back to the board-walk” and one of the worship teams were even invited to play in a cafe.

After the outreach, all 200 or so teenagers ,with the helpers and leaders, returned to the camp venue to share their experiences. There were so many encouraging testimonies and this led into a powerful time of worship.

At the end of the meeting the host on stage said there was time for one last testimony. A 16 year old girl came up to the microphone and shared how she had been severely depressed for two years, and had almost taken her life the day before the camp started, but she decided to go to the camp and give God and life, “one last chance.” She ended up giving her life 100% to Yeshua (Jesus) and getting filled with the Holy Spirit. She was glowing and had such a huge smile on her face, a genuine smile that her friends had never seen before.

Her testimony led to 23 others coming up one by one, confessing that they too have struggled with suicidal thoughts, depression and anxiety. The whole room began sobbing quietly and turning to each other to receive prayer. Many were set free - it was a powerful time.

“You could sense the power of death just breaking in the whole room,” shared Tal, “as young people began giving their fears and hopelessness to the Lord and repenting. Then, one by one, they began coming up to the mic (over 35 youth), praying and interceding for salvation and healing in their generation.”

We pray that these teens will continue to push deeper into the Lord and that the friendships they built with each other will be an encouragement now they are back in their own homes and congregations.

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