In mid-October 2007, Bob Cave and I visited an outdoor meeting of over 100 non-Jewish Israeli citizens in the northern Galilee city of Kfar Yasif. We rejoiced as men and women sang and praised the Lord Jesus Christ in Arabic. Led by Pastor Hani Shehadad, these Pentecostal Holiness believers are carrying on the Galilee mission of Jesus that began 2,000 years ago. There was a marked contrast as the local mosque blared out prayers and then, from the outdoor courtyard, songs of praise to Jesus Christ filled the same atmosphere!
Mostly of Phoenician background, many of these Spirit-filled believers, who were nominally Orthodox, now have a personal and dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. Many of them were drug addicts and gangsters who had no hope in life. Today, these converts have become exciting evangelists sharing the Good News throughout northern Galilee and into southern Lebanon. Recently Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) featured Pastor Hani and the Kfar Yasif congregation at a Holy Spirit revival in Galilee.
For over 10 years there has been IPHC contact with Pastor Shehadad through Cornerstone Conference pastors Gary Robertson (Mount Calvary PHC) and Frank Sossamon (South Henderson PHC). Working with Shehadad as a tourist guide and then later as a Spirit-fi lled minister, these pastors have developed a growing relationship with him. A former Anglican priest who came into the Pentecostal experience, Shehadad was granted IPHC minister’s ordination by Rev. Donald Duncan. Supported by these Cornerstone Conference churches, Shehadad has been able to establish the strong congregation in Kfar Yasif (near Acco on the coast, in the Old Testament tribal area of Asher) and has another church plant between Tiberias and Nazareth closer to the Sea of Galilee.
Through her history, the IPHC has had a strong interest in and commitment to Israel. Two of our founders, J. H. King (and later his widow, Blanche King) and G. F. Taylor made trips in the first quarter of the 20th century to what was then called Palestine. After the formation of the state of Israel in 1948 and the emergence of the tourist industry in the 1960s, thousands of IPHC people toured the Holy Land through the direction of the late John Noseworthy. Over the past 50 years, IPHC individuals such as Kay Giroir made various missionary efforts to evangelize Jews and others as they “prayed for the peace of Jerusalem.”
But it was in the 1980s that IPHC missions work took a firm hold in Israel. The late Rick Hurst visited Jerusalem, and the Holy Spirit prompted him to begin work there. By 1986, through Hurst’s initiative and vision, the IPHC had opened its fi rst “Coffee House” ministry at an Anglican Church located at the Jaffa Gate. Numerous IPHC people, including a young SOW worker named David Arthur, served there with Hurst. The coffee house initiative led to the “Mug-a-Month” program, picked up by Women’s Ministries, which involved thousands of IPHC people in the United States in this vital ministry.
Today, WMM is moving into a strategic vision for Israel that has several components:
First, the ministry in northern Galilee is a primary focus of relationship and financial support. Your help is needed to help rent and purchase property for the growing IPHC congregations. Your support given to account #26013 will help permanently establish these churches. As a national missionary, Pastor Hani also needs support, which can be given through #26006.
Second, WMM has a missionary on the ground in Jerusalem engaged in one-on-one evangelism with Jews. For security reasons, we cannot say much about this; however, it is a legitimate ministry, and you can contact Dr. Harold Dalton or Dr. Doug Beacham about ways you can help support this ministry.
Third, we are actively pursuing a way to restart the Coffee House ministries in Jerusalem and other Israeli cities.
Fourth, there are already several “Houses of Prayer” in Israel that are led by people with IPHC backgrounds. We are working with those persons to see this ministry grow.
The IPHC World Missions Ministries’ goal is to see strong, indigenous churches established in Israel and other parts of the Middle East. Our target groups include Palestinians, Israeli citizens, and others who may have open hearts for Christ through the love shown by IPHC servants of Christ.
