In 2009, in a hotel room in Lagos, Nigeria, I had a revelation. I was on my way home to Tel Aviv from a mass outreach campaign. I had the rare privilege of being able to attend as an observer Reinhard Bonnke’s team ministering in Mubi, Nigeria.
I wasn’t even sure why I had gone, but I knew the Lord had led me on this journey. On the last day, one of the local leaders invited me to return and hold a mass outreach campaign. I was initially excited, but sitting in my hotel room I had no peace.
Confused, I asked the Lord: “I have been praying about Africa for a year and now a great door has opened. Why don’t I have peace?”
Immediately, He put in my spirit, “Ron, if you come back here by yourself, you will be a blessing to Nigeria, but it won’t touch Israel. However, if you come back with a team of Israelis and let them minister, it will not only bless Nigeria, but Israel as well.”
From that word, we birthed the Isaiah 2 Initiative. Isaiah speaks of the word going forth from Zion to the nations. Maoz was involved from the very beginning. We gathered a team of on-fire Israelis and made two trips to Nigeria, reaching tens of thousands with the gospel, and one trip to Ukraine, where several hundred Jews professed faith in Yeshua.
America Too?
However, when Ari and Shira Sorko-Ram asked me to lead a team of Israelis to America, I didn’t initially see it as part of the Isaiah 2 Initiative. I guess because I am a native of the U.S. and in light of the prosperity in America, I was blinded to the fact that God speaks of the gospel going forth from Israel “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8)—including America!
- Allow Israeli believers to meet Jewish believers from other nations
- Allow Messianic Jews and Christians from the U.S. to experience Israeli Messianic life through these young people
- Use this time to mentor young Israelis into leadership (we can already see fruit from this!)
So blessed was the MJAA leadership by our participation and the opportunity for American Messianic Jews and Christians to meet Israeli believers that they invited us to return again this summer.
While we knew it would be a challenge to raise the funds, we felt this was part of our calling—not only to reach Israel, but the nations from Israel! And, praise God, this year’s impact was even more powerful.
Israel Night
The third day of the conference was Israel Night, a night focused on what God is doing in the Holy Land. Our worship team led in worship, and then I shared a message called “The First Messianics.”
The anointing was palpable, and I noticed the incredible spiritual energy in the auditorium. As I blew the shofar at the end, I asked them to shout to the Lord, as in the days of Joshua. As they did, the Holy Spirit fell and many were healed and set free. Then at least two-thirds of the 1,300 people gathered came forward for prayer.
Many shared with our team members how the Lord touched them that evening. You can watch the entire evening’s ministry, including the Band from the Land, here.
To be clear, this great move of God had little to do with me or our team, but more with God’s desire to highlight His work in Israel. We were just so honored to be His vehicles!
Our worship team, the Band from the Land, was so well received that they were asked to minister again on Friday night—something that rarely happens.
As a bonus, we did our weekly podcast live from the cultural center. We started with about five people and ended up, after 45 minutes, with a full house. We took questions from the audience on life in Israel. It was lots of fun!
Pray with us as we continue to take teams of young Israeli worship leaders and evangelists to carry God’s word from Zion to the nations—even America!
Ron Cantor is the director of Messiah’s Mandate International in Israel, a Messianic ministry dedicated to taking the message of Jesus from Israel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Cantor also travels internationally teaching on the Jewish roots of the New Testament. He serves on the pastoral team of Tiferet Yeshua, a Hebrew-speaking congregation in Tel Aviv. His newest book, Identity Theft, was released April 16. Follow him at @RonSCantor on Twitter.
For the original article, visit messiahsmandate.org.
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