—MO November 11‚ 1970 NO.5

WITNESSING TO JEWS

1. Dearest Family: We were witnessing last night to these two Jewish young people from about 10:30 to 1:00 in the TV lounge (no TV, thank the Lord!) and we were alone with them. Hannah, the girl, reminded me of what they say of the sabra—hard outside, but soft inside. She had up to this time been rather cool toward us—the extremely fleshly, sexy type who acts like she knows what she wants and doesn't need anything else‚ sitting there with this handsome young blond Jew that she had led into the lounge. We had just walked in and they followed us in (one of God's set-ups!). So again, as in other cases, we began asking questions about kibbutz life and discovered she had lived on a kibbutz‚ but gotten very disgusted with it. People were petty and selfish and so much red tape and dissension‚ gone there idealistically and was disappointed and didn't like kibbutzim (I suggested that what was missing was real love); and suddenly she looked at me almost startled; in fact, she said, "Yes, I think that was it—they had no love for each other. Nobody wanted to do their job. Everybody was trying to get out of it, and if you wanted to use the tape recorder, for example, you had to go through so many different channels and you had to vote on it and then the keeper couldn't find the key and by the time you got it, it was either too late or you were too mad! They had this box to put all the money in, and whoever needed money was supposed to come help themselves and one day they came and found the box empty‚ because everybody had decided they needed the money for personal things." So she left and went to school teaching instead. As a result she was very contemptuous of kibbutzim. Until I suggested that what was probably missing was real sacrificial love for each other, and this remark for the first time seemed to get through to her and she looked me straight in the eye for the first time—not that defensive look—but startled, exclaimed that maybe that was it! So then we began to tell her about our communities and the difference and how we operate them—with more love and more freedom of choice and more free time, and like most Jews when interested in anything, she became very analytical. Like most Jews, they want you to prove it. They want to be shown! The Jews seek a sign! We reasoned thus with the two of them, mostly with her until 1:00 in the morning‚ showed them the pictures‚ and the young man, Michael, who had spent a year in Southern California amongst the hippies even agreed with us on most points, and finally I said, "Surely you couldn't have been in S. Cal. all this time and not have met any of our kids." And he said, "Do they go to the beach and start to sing and then come up to you and say, 'Have you met Jesus?'" And I laughed for joy and said, "Yes, that's they." He said, "I could see something different in their eyes—that they really had something—this love that you're talking about." And this seemed to impress Hannah. He had seen a sample—the Jews seek a sign! He said they almost looked like they were hypnotised or high, they were in such ecstacy. And Hannah fell silent for a few moments and then said, "I just can't believe it; it just couldn't be that good." And I said, "You mean you just don't believe me?" and she said‚ "Oh, no!" trying to be polite. "It's not that I don't believe you. It's just that I don't believe this could be possible", and then she was arguing with herself, but really with the Holy Spirit, fighting the conviction. I looked at her, and after two hours of debate I'd just about come to the end of all my arguments, resources and reasoning‚ and I said in my heart, "Jesus, help me. Give me something to get through to her!", and immediately it came—the immediate, most obvious, most apparent and convincing sample, right in front of her—Maria and I! I said, "It's like Maria and me. We love each other so much we don't even like to be apart for a few minutes. We're actually really one! It's not only the sex, which is really a minor part‚ but very important, but it's the continual companionship and understanding and togetherness." I said‚ "We need each other! We love each other. I need her and she needs me. It's like I once told her—that she is like the moon. As she reflects my love, others will reflect it. As my mother once said‚ 'Love begets love.’" All of a sudden it was as though someone had flicked a switch in Hannah and she looked startled, yet warmly pleased as she said, "My mother told me that too." And I also told her, "My mother also told me, 'Don't marry the girl you can just live with, but marry the girl you can't live without,’" and she said, "Ah, my mother told me that, too," and all of a sudden Hannah was a different girl. She looked me deeply in the eyes and seemed to flush with warmth‚ and her eyes watered and she looked as though she were being literally drawn into my eyes as though she wanted to plunge in. "Yes, this is what I've been looking for. This is what I want. The kind of love you have for Maria. This is love!" And her whole attitude changed.

2. Now she was on our side. It was as though she would have plunged into my arms if she had dared, she was so hungry for love—real love. She was the kind of girl that had had lots of sex and was still having it, and probably was bent on that intent when she led Michael into the lounge away from all the rest—the big, handsome, blond, intelligent, very sweet boy that he is. Almost as though she were devouring victims sexually trying to find satisfaction.

3. But it was suddenly as though the light had dawned and here was something she had never had. Here was what she had really been looking for all the time—real love—God's love. Of course, it was God's love, but she didn't know it. And I'm sure she still didn't even understand, even at that moment, why she was so drawn. But it was just as though suddenly all the hunger that was in her was reaching out desperately like a drowning man, and yet with like a thrill of discovery that at last she had found what she had been thinking about, and she burst out, "Yes, that's what it is—that's what I want." And suddenly there was a switch and Michael changed sides and somewhat turned off, and said, "Well‚ I don't think I could love any girl more than a month. I've had lots of it till it was so common it was like eating a meal and it meant nothing to me. In fact, I almost got sick of it," which shows he still didn't comprehend. I said, "Michael, it's not the sex; it's the need of companionship—the need of someone with whom you can share‚ and someone who needs you—the joy of meeting that need."

4. Now Hannah was all on our side. "Yes, yes, that's it, Michael. You don't understand. This is what I'm looking for. Exactly what I want—this kind of love."

5. Here all of a sudden was the big sexpot of the ship (confessing she still hadn't found real love). What a tragedy! Sitting there in a dress so short that her beautiful legs were exposed clear to the hip, so that I knew for a time she had been deliberately trying to tantalize me with the tactics she had probably found successful with most men—with what she thought was the irresistible temptation of her beautiful body.

6. But as beautiful as it was my eyes refused to leave her face and I insisted on sticking to the subject, until at last she was finally really confessing she had nothing, because she hadn't found this real love until now; she saw it in Maria and me and wanted it so bad she could have almost grabbed us, as she had no doubt grabbed other men for other reasons, but here was something intangible she couldn't quite grasp which she could see; and she began to argue with Michael then. "Some day you'll feel the need, Michael, for this kind of love." In other words, she was saying‚ "As I do now." I said, "Hannah, if you want to know the real secret, it's God's love", and all of a sudden, the curtain fell‚ as though she had turned off. "Why do you have to bring Him into it when you've got such a good thing going here. Why do you have to bring something in from way off. What's He got to do with it?", and she looked almost angry, resentful‚ as though‚ "Here I've just found what I've been looking for and you tell me it's God, Whom I don't even like." I said, "Hannah, He's not some old bearded gentleman way off somewhere—or some kind of ferocious monster that you can't understand. He's the very Spirit of Love in your heart! He's inside of you—so close. He is Love." And this seemed to leave her for a little while almost speechless, mystified, as if she had never thought of Him like that before. But she said, "Why do you have to say it's God when it's you?" I said, "Yes, but it's His Spirit of Love that gives us this love."

7. EVEN THE WORD "GOD" TERRIFIES AND OFFENDS SOME PEOPLE, like the word "church". It has been so misused and so abused and their conception of Him so perverted that with these modern young people you can hardly use the word God any more, much less church. It turns them off, because of what they've heard about God and what they've heard He's like and the misconception they have regarding Him—so far away, so cold and hard and judging.

8. But all of a sudden you tell them that He's so close, so intimate, so personal, so loving, so kind, so tender, so gentle, so concerned, and they just can't comprehend it.

9. AND WITH THE JEW YOU EVEN HESITATE TO USE THE NAME JESUS—it so offends them. So many crimes have been committed against them in His Name. They have received so much horrible persecutions in the name of Christ by so called Christians you can hardly blame them for hating the very name‚ but when I said He was this Spirit of Love within—this Spirit you feel now in us‚ she seemed almost to grasp it eagerly. "Whatever it is, this is what I want." She was so ripe, so ready, so hungry, so open, so

receptive, like a woman who has been wooed and won and surrendered, ready to fall into our arms at the slightest encouragement,—when suddenly in came a party of raucous young people and sat down at the table next to us. And though she didn't even turn their way, she almost seemed to resent their coming at that point. And this beautiful young Sabra withdrew the soft heart back into the hard shell—the soft part that had been exposed for a moment that had reached out for love was enclosed again in that shell of defensiveness built up of the calluses from many bruises and the scars of many wounds inherited from centuries of affliction, disappointment and disillusionment—the shell that they all have—this hard exterior built up of fear of being hurt again.

10. Even this makes you want to weep for them, but as in the case of Hannah, "nothing is impossible with God and all things are possible to him that believeth", and the Sword of His Word is sharp enough to pierce this armour and let the warmth of His Spirit of Love flow into their soft warm hearts that hunger for it.

11. PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM! PRAY FOR THE JEWS! To the Jews first but also the Gentile. Brethren, I believe I could truly say that I would I might be accursed if it would mean the Salvation of these precious, wonderful, hungry young people, and the Lord will probably give us the opportunity at least to be cursed by their elders, if not actually smitten or slain because of our love for their children, for we provoke them to jealousy.

INSIDE STORY ON ISRAEL. WHO IS A JEW?

12. WE HAVE FOUND THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE—PARENTS ARE THE SAME THE WORLD OVER and hungry young hearts are the same as well, and the sane damnable beastly system is ruled by the same accursed religious whore!

13. And even more so in Israel, where they have control, and there is no separation of church and state, but they are one. There is not even such a thing as a civil marriage in Israel. Marriages must be performed by rabbis or church officials, and the inter-marriage of Jews and Gentiles is forbidden, as a Jew's marriage is only legal if performed by a rabbi and it is against the rabbinical law to marry a Gentile. Therefore Jews who wish to marry outside of their religion must go to another country for the ceremony. Only then is it recognised by the state, as there is nothing then that can be done about it. However, the young people get around it with complete sexual freedom in some of their kibbutzim‚ where it is the accepted thing to live together before marriage. Recognition of it is a mere formality.

14. We were talking to one young couple the other day, very intelligent and intellectual, as all the Jewish young people seem to be—all are so well educated and informed—all speak English—it is required and most of them have had as high as eight years of English in school, from 3rd and 4th grades through 12th‚ so that by the time they enter the army at 18 they speak English fluently, and by the time they leave the army at 21, they can go on to university almost anywhere in the world where they learn other languages as well. They are just about the smartest kids we have met in all Europe, extremely serious-minded, sober, and intensely interested in international affairs, economics, history, religion and the things that really count. They are so mature and concerned about more important topics that almost to a man they walk out of the ridiculous childish movies which are being shown on board as soon as they find out it is not something really worthwhile, and the only ones foolish and childish enough to remain to watch the movies are their elders who sit there with enraptured fascination like children watching cartoons.

15. Anyhow, this very brilliant young couple, Myra, the New York born beautiful young wife, and Amiel, tall‚ striking British born professional actor‚ whose name means "the God of my people", who now live in Jerusalem—this deeply thoughtful couple discussed with us the kibbutzim, Israel‚ and religion at length, and we found that the religious party of Israel has a strangle hold on the government, and there is no such thing as religious freedom, but Israel is definitely a religious state with only the Bible as its constitution. This is official and sounds good on the surface‚ if it were not for the fact that again, as always, "by their traditions they have made the Bible, or the Laws of God, of none effect." For example, to become a citizen of Israel you must prove you are a Jew, either by birth through your mother (father does not count), contrary to the Bible, or through your religion, meaning documented evidence from the rabbi that you are a bar-mitzvahed Jew, including those by conversion, which takes from one to two years of study‚ normally; and to prove you are a Jew by birth, you must provide two witnesses who are citizens of Israel who knew your mother was a Jew. Since many of them, like Amiel, have come from far countries, you can imagine the almost impossible task of finding two Israelis who knew your mother in the old country from which you came; but Amiel had managed to rake up one—an old friend of his from Britain who came before the court and testified that his mother was a Jew.

16. However‚ this did not satisfy the judge who said, "You must provide two such witnesses." Amiel, in frustration, bluntly told the judge, "This is ridiculous and impossible! I would have to send for someone from England and he himself would have to prove that he is a Jew and become a citizen in order to testify in my behalf!" The judge slyly remarked, "There are 3 1/2 million Jews in Israel. You will find someone," meaning he should go out on the streets and pick up anyone and pay them to lie for him, which is the common practice, again showing that the Jews have not changed—scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites!

17. Recently even a Moslem Arab who had lost his leg in the Six Day War fighting for Israel was denied citizenship because his mother was not a Jew by birth or religion. And in another case, an outstanding young Israeli official who had married a Scottish girl and had two children was refused citizenship for his own children because their mother was not Jewish. This case even went to the Supreme Court and was finally debated in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament with Golda Meier and Moshe Dayan and all the big leaders taking part, and the controversy became so raging that it nearly toppled the government through the religious party's threat to resign from the coalition, if they allowed these children of an non Jewish mother citizenship! The whole problem was finally solved by another little bit of hypocrisy‚ which almost made the whole country laugh‚ it was so ridiculous, with the very government of Israel threatened over this raging controversy of "Who is a Jew", the government leaders in desperation finally persuaded the rabbis to convert the mother to the Jewish faith in exactly half an hour—a process which never takes less than a year, and everybody was happy again. "Hocus–pocus, you are a Jew. We declare it because we said so‚ and after all, we are your religious leaders, so it must be true, even though this was admittedly rather an exceptional case!"

18. "WHO IS A JEW" IS THE MOST RAGING CONTROVERSY IN ISRAEL TODAY and their most difficult problem‚ aside from the serious problem of the integration of so many Jews from so many different national backgrounds, particularly the conflict between East and West—the more backward and illiterate from Eastern countries being blended with a culture of very advanced and intellectual Western Jews. Of course‚ we're speaking of internal problems, not the major external problem of the war with the Arabs, war for survival, which at the moment seems the principal threat to their existence.

19. In a lengthy discussion with another sincere, young, Jewish medical student who had just finished three years of medical training in Italy and spoke fluent Italian as well as English and Hebrew—another Sabra, we discussed this controversy of "Who is a Jew" and asked him why the blood line in the Bible was considered legal through the father rather than the mother, but he didn't know. And then I asked him if he knew where the word Jew came from and what it actually meant, and he said, "Yes, from Judah", and that all Israelis are now supposed to be from the tribe of Judah and Benjamin. When I asked him "How come?" since members of all 12 tribes were in the Return from Captivity and now suddenly everyone is a member of the Tribe of Judah or Benjamin, he didn't know that either. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the reputation of the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin is far superior to that of the other ten—Judah, the royal tribe of the kings, did not officially break with the official religion, as did the other ten, so now everyone is claiming to be a Jew of Judah; and I asked him if he realised that Abraham and Isaac were not Jews since they could not possibly have been from the tribe of Judah nor even children of Israel, Jacob's sons, but he said that of course Abraham was a Jew, and I asked him what made Abraham a Jew, but the poor boy didn't know. His friend did confess that I was right—that Abraham was not a Jew, but a Hebrew, since the Jews had not even been born yet. He then said that perhaps Abraham was a Jew because of circumcision‚ but his friend confessed that this still did not make him a Jew, although it was a sign of his religious faith.

20. THEN I BEGAN TO DRIVE THE FINAL POINT HOME. Since Abraham could not have possibly been a Jew by birth or circumcision‚ was he not a child of God, even though not a Jew? Here, he sincerely and honestly confessed that he must have been. So then came the clincher. If Abraham was a child of God merely by his faith in God, could not also anyone be God's child by the same process of faith—even Christians? And he had to confess—he was sincere and honest enough to do so—that this was possibly true. You could be a child of God by faith. I then followed through by telling them this is what Jesus and Paul were trying to prove, that neither flesh nor blood nor a religious system can inherit the Kingdom of God, but only the children of faith, regardless of their nationality, church or synagogue, and he somewhat reluctantly agreed, and, having confessed that he himself was not a very good Jew officially, as he did not go to synagogue, or keep religious observances, but nevertheless worshipped God in his heart, I said, "This is also what Jesus and Paul were trying to show the people, to break with the perverted religious system and they needed only to love God and their fellowman to be children of God; that it was for this reason they were persecuted and killed"‚ and he agreed. But smart as he was, he saw immediately that he was getting himself in a corner and what it was leading to, and before I had a chance to say anything further about Jesus, he himself said, defensively, "Well‚ I believe He was a great man and a great teacher and He did many good things to help the people and He did try to purify the religion, but I cannot believe He was the Son of God." And I was on the point of saying "Why not?" when again we were interrupted by an invitation from the captain to visit the bridge and a call to dinner.

21. However, Rami, the young man with whom we were talking, did manage to get across the point that the Jews were afraid of being too broad-minded in their religious stand, as it might also weaken political and national unity, as even the non–religious Jews are convinced that the only thing which really keeps them together as Jews is their religion. So they are therefore convinced that to preserve their identity and national integrity, they must desperately cling to their religion, whether they believe in it or not, so that even the non-religious Jews are in favour of the religiously controlled state for the sake of the preservation of the nation as a people; as they say, "It is the one thing that binds us together." They are afraid that if they themselves took a more tolerant attitude toward other religions‚ particularly Christianity, it would result in their disintegration. They make a show of being very tolerant of the religions of others for others‚ but not for themselves.

22. For example, Catholics and Moslems can be married by their own priests, and there are no laws regarding their mixed marriages, but it is against the law for a Jew to marry a non-Jew in the state of Israel, and to do so he must go outside of the country. There is no such thing as a civil marriage in the state of Israel, either.

23. ALL MARRIAGES MUST BE RELIGIOUSLY PERFORMED by some minister of religion, so if atheists have any convictions against this‚ they too, must leave the country to marry.

24. THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS PARTY ALSO HOLDS THE BALANCE OF POWER in the coalition government, and can tip the scale in the direction it desires on any controversial issue by threatening to withdraw from the government if they don't get their way, so they usually do get their way.

25. ISRAEL IS TRULY JEWISH AND THEY WANT TO KEEP IT THAT WAY. They want a Jewish state and resent any of what they call "interference" from other religions, or even the atheists, and this controversy between the religionists and the secularists is the greatest internal battle royal within Israel, including the raging, theological, hairsplitting, technical furor of the eternal question "Who is a Jew", which, thank God, the Lord settled once and for all through the masterful theological analysis of that great scriptural lawyer, the Apostle Paul, when he said that, "He is not a Jew who is one outwardly", and that "circumcision is of the heart", and the children of God are the children of Abraham purely by faith, so that there is neither "Jew nor Gentile‚ bond nor free, male nor female" but "all are one in Christ Jesus"! Hallelujah!

26. Another interesting point along this line is that only bona fide Israeli citizens are permitted to serve in the army‚ as no non-citizen can be a soldier, but are only permitted to help in civilian non-military capacities; and those who volunteered to help the Israelis in past wars were usually put on the kibbutzim or elsewhere in agricultural and industrial work to serve there, freeing genuine Israelis for the battlefront.

27. This is where most young volunteers from the U.S. and elsewhere are put. N.Y. Aliya's idea was to break them up into groups of not more than 80 each for each kibbutz for not more than a 3– to 6–month term—not permanent. Israeli citizenship is open only to Jews and residents (Arabs), and to obtain residency is very difficult, if you are not legally Jewish.

28. Another interesting bit of information is a recent rumour that the government is going to give land to the pacifistic hippie types for a kibbutz of their own in an effort to make them useful citizens. They are already gathering from all over the world—a number of them were on the boat with us headed toward Eilat on the Gulf of Aquaba at the extreme southern end of the Negev at the beginning of the Siniatic Peninsula, where the weather is warm in winter, bathing is superb, and the tropical water so clear you see the bottom, like Miami Beach and the Keys, and which to some is the most beautiful place in all Israel‚ especially to the young people who gather there by the hundreds, camping out on the shores of the Gulf with nothing but sleeping bags‚ cardboard lean–tos or the open‚ starry sky and the good earth, and drugs flow freely. Here they work off and on at the nearby salt mines, construction projects, or other odd jobs, or mooch off their friends, and live the so-called "happy hippie life", eyeball to eyeball with the Arab riflemen of Jordanian Aquaba, just across the river! We hope to tell you all about it when we get down that way later to see for ourselves, God willing. (NOTE: Today we learned that the rumour of the youth kibbutz we told you about above is, in fact, now a reality and a small part of Kibbutz Geshur, located near the Jordan River, just south of the Sea of Galilee and just inside the Israeli Border, and is being operated by a group of hippies. We plan to make a visit there, God willing, to find out the details. Some of you may remember that some time ago we had a prophecy mentioning "the wings of Geshur." Maybe this has some connection. It was Aaron's prophecy‚ 7/21/70 in leadership class: "Thou shalt not stretch forth thy hand to kill Saul. The time draws nigh that thou shalt depart out of the Cave of Adullam to Gath. The time draws nigh that Saul and the Benjamites shall fall and thou shalt fly upon the wings of Geshur and I will send forth the ark before My face to search out a resting place for My people....") Also‚ in the times of David and Solomon, the area around the Sea of Galilee was called Geshur.

29. MANY OF THE BORDER KIBBUTZIM ARE MILITARY OUTPOSTS where credit is given for military service, which is exactly what it amounts to.

30. POLITICALLY THE KIBBUTZIM RANGE FROM ONE EXTREME OF THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM TO THE OTHER—from the ultra-fanatical religious sects to the ardent atheistic and communistic socialist types. One of the leading communist professors of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who was our table-mate on board ship said that one of the reasons Israel fears an influx of the one million Jews of Russia due to their present persecution is that Israel also fears some of them will bring their communistic views with them and a subsequent Russian communistic influence; but they are preparing for them as they feel they are sure to come, as one Jew said to us last night, "If Israel were as densely populated as Holland, it could hold 15 million." Of course, it is not that fertile or well-watered and productive yet. But they are working on it!

31. They have channelled so much water from the Sea of Galilee to the southern desert areas that it has completely drained dry a very large lake above Galilee, once know as the "Waters of Merom"‚ so that they have now turned the lake bottom too‚ into productive fields, fed by the waters of the Jordan from the snows of Mt. Hermon. Galilee seems to be holding its own, but there's no telling what might happen, the way these Jews are using water to bring the land back to life. But due to the tremendous increase in rainfall in the wintertime, springs and rivers are popping out all over Israel, even springs in the desert, as the Scripture promised.

32. One of them is a beautiful green oasis near the Cave of Adullam in the Judean desert above the shores of the Dead Sea‚ near which Bishop Pike died of thirst, somewhat symbolic of his search for the Water of Life‚—so near and yet so far. The Answer is so simple and so obvious, many seem to miss it. "For the Word is nigh unto thee, even in thy mouth."

33. A young couple from Egypt we spent hours talking with last night in an Arab restaurant—the only place we could find open on the Sabbath evening, told us many interesting things, including marking on the map many important places for us to visit this Sun. afternoon to a nearby kibbutz with which they are familiar. And their car‚ by the way‚ was a small semi-compact Rambler type which would only sell for 2 or 3 hundred in the U.S., but is worth $8000 over here, due to the exorbitantly high import taxes for defense—which is why everything is high here, as the Jews laughingly say, "The taxes are so high we're all working for the government." It is difficult to make enough money even to pay your taxes, much less afford anything else.

34. SPEAKING OF MONEY, THE VALUE OF THE ISRAELI POUND IS SET BY THE GOVERNMENT at 3-1/2 to the dollar, but it is actually not worth that much so that you are furtively approached on the streets by black marketeers offering you 4 to the dollar, and there is a limit on how much money Israeli travellers can take out of the country, and it is not worth very much on the foreign markets even if they can get them out. And also, Israel is required to pay its foreign debts in dollars. Therefore‚ the cost of living is very high here, compared to Europe, and especially compared to the other Middle East countries, and the cheapest places to eat are the Arab restaurants; but the Lord led us to a very reasonable hotel with a gorgeous view of Mt. Carmel. "The Vineyard of the Lord", looking like a hill of Heaven, graced with gardens, trees, palatial mansions and most beautiful of all, crowned with the golden, domed Ba'hai Temple, headquarters of that worldwide religion‚ and burial place of one of its founders. We are located right at the foot of the mountain, with a gorgeous view of both the mountain and the sea, and we plan to scale it some afternoon, God willing, so we'll tell you about that later. (It was thrilling!)

35. The climate is so beautiful, a combination of Calif. and Fla., it's almost unbelievable, and we're sitting here in our unheated room‚ naked in November! Men are still wearing shorts outdoors, and thank God, the minis are still plentiful here‚ including the lovely ladies of the Israeli army, where the standard uniform is still the mini. Incidentally, the boys who know have told us that being up front with these gals is a ball, and military service really has its fun! Unmarried girls are required to serve, and apparently this is part of their service! Unlike the American army, when the Israeli soldier wakes up in the morning, his dream gal is still there beside him, a very convenient arrangement‚ which keeps the Israeli soldier much more contented, away from home‚ but happy! Of course, one must be careful how he treats one of these "femmes fatales", as they carry sub-machine guns: (maybe this why so many marry early!)

BOAT TRIP LOG

36. After our interesting rest in Rome‚ we took the train to Venice where we caught a taxi (water taxi) through the canals to our ship, the Pegasus, of Greek origin, and began last Saturday night what proved unexpectedly the five most delightful days of our entire journey, a spectacular Mediterranean cruise for much less than plane fare, unbelievably beautiful and delightfully delicious in every sense of the word—a comfortable stateroom with running hot and cold water and a large porthole overlooking the beautiful blue Mediterranean—its warm sunny days and soft starry nights‚ plus 3 squares a day of more than you could eat and an extra afternoon tea on the smoothest voyage I have ever experienced, past some of the most gorgeous scenery that God has created, through one of the most stupendous feats of engineering that man has ever achieved, the deep cut Corinth Canal, several miles long, hundreds of feet deep, sliced through the mountains of the tiny isthmus which used to connect Greece and Macedonia, making Greece an island, and a spectacular view of its sheer perpendicular walls viewed straight up from the ship, as it slowly inched its way through the narrow channel. The Lord woke us up at 3:00 in the morning to be two of the seven favoured few to (two lines missing from original copy) world, because of its narrow cleft through the high mountains, connecting Corinth with Piraeus, the port of Athens, the flood lighted Acropolis at night was visible from the sea, the beautiful Greek isles of the Aegean, including Rhodes, a long sail along the mountainous southern coast of Turkey to the golden isle of Cyprus, with its strange contrasts of East and West, towering Greek-Orthodox churches and lofty Moslem minarets flying the red Turkish flag in the Port of Limas, where some of the Israelis took a dip in the Mediterranean‚ it was so warm,—but it got even hotter when the captain caught them, and made them get out because of the danger of sharks. The captain, by the way, took quite a shine to us and HONOURED us by entertaining us a couple of times on his bridge, once at night and once in the daytime‚ showing us through the wheelhouse and the chartroom, and we got his picture.

37. All of this was only surpassed by the wonderful fellowship with the young Israelis and Jews aboard, of which there were several dozen, plus a few other interesting characters, such as Turks, Cypriots, plenty of Greeks and a few British, all extremely fascinating and each giving us firsthand insight into the personality of their citizens and the conditions in their various countries—those you don't read about in the papers, such as the improvement of the present Greek dictatorship over its former corrupt socialism, symbolised by the fact you no longer have to stand in line all day long to pay your water bill in Athens; or the determination of the small minority of Turks to survive on Cyprus under a fanatical Greek government; or the exodus of white Europeans from African countries, such as Libya and Ethiopia, where they are afraid of new revolutionary regimes, as the old leaders die off, including Emperor Haile Selassie, who is now in his 80s, and the nearly 80,000 Jews who have left Egypt because of fear of persecution (line missing from original copy)

38. First, to finish the description of the trip to Israel. The nights of our voyage were sometimes a little rough, it seemed‚ with considerable rock and roll, but by a miracle of God through prayer‚ we pulled through without a single siege of serious sea sickness, thank the Lord, which, if you know me, is a miracle, 'cause I'm usually no sailor. In fact, I have been in unusually good health, thank the Lord, due, I believe, to the increased fresh air, sunshine‚ rest and exercise, but especially being in the centre of the will of God. Praise His Name!

39. Our report would be incomplete without mention of the exciting Greek music and native Greek and Israeli dances aboard every night, of which we have sent you pictures. All these people seem to love music, and dance is one of their favourite sports. Surprisingly enough, totally uninhibited dancing by the men, in particular, all of which contributed toward a very happy atmosphere aboard, which could only have been better if they had had more of Jesus.

40. We witnessed as much as we could under the circumstances and several are very near the Kingdom. We have their names and addresses and plan to visit them and continue working on them while here. Winning Jews is sometimes a slow and painstaking process. It takes great love and patience and infinite caution and care. "The Jews seek a sign", and you have to show them His love as well as talk about it.

41. On a brilliant pre-Sabbath morning, yesterday, Friday, the climax came when we sailed into this beautiful Haifa harbour‚ gem of the Mediterranean, jewel in the crown of Israel, comparable to the magnificent Monterey Peninsula of California, and when I finally got my feet on the "terra firma" of its holy soil, I literally jumped up and down‚ and could have been a great deal more demonstrative under the inspiration if it had not been for so many startled and amused onlookers.

42. The Israelis welcomed us with open arms and I can truly say I believe it is the friendliest country we have yet visited. They seem to be sincerely putting into practice the scriptural injunction to be hospitable to strangers‚ remembering when they themselves were strangers in a strange land. Everyone tries to be so helpful and is all smiles and chattering Hebrew and broken English, and our stay is off to a good start, thank the Lord! We have much to do and everywhere to go, but are getting adjusted and caught up here while awaiting the money from that cheque from the king, PTL!

43. We were thrilled with your reports from each colony. We laughed, we cried, we prayed when reading them. Please keep them coming!

44. We have been living extremely economically for a European and Mid-Eastern world tour on not more than $300 a month, including local transportation, which in itself is something of a miracle. Thank the Lord for His help—and yours.

45. Please keep us posted. We are inseparably concerned about you, our precious family at home and pray earnestly for you daily—and know God will guide, provide, protect, and prosper as you do His will in showing His love to the world. Rather than a sermon, we continually use your shining example as our major witness, including your pictures, articles‚ etc. Please send us more—pictures of the Hallelujah Bus‚ the school, the outpost in Dallas, the farm in Ky., and the new Colony in Ohio, as well as pictures of all you dear precious loved ones and our own family in the Lord—close-ups of your happy, radiant, smiling faces pack a powerful impact on a sad and dying world! The small 3 x 5 size is the most convenient, even more than the album as we can show them to them informally one by one, as though we just happened to have them in our purse or pocket, as anyone would have pictures of his loved ones, instead of the formal sales presentation of the album. Please send what you can immediately as we need them before leaving Haifa within a week or two. Thanks.

46. God bless and keep you all and continue to make you a blessing.—Dad. Please write!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family