Hello dearly loved friends and family! I have a story to share with you all.

I traveled to the land of Israel in December through January of 2018/19. I did not expect what the Lord would do in my heart during and after the trip. He moves in unexpected ways and in the quiet moments of our hearts, which then lead us into deeper life with Him.

While I was in Israel, I was enthralled with everything. The people, the land, the sites, the history, and the hummus! Dang that was good. I highly recommend! I was so excited to travel to the place where my Lord walked while He was on earth. It was beautiful. I remember standing on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in the early hours of the morning. There were other people on the beach too--doing devotions, worshiping, hanging out--but I might as well have been alone; it felt like it was just me and Jesus. I had my normal-in-recent-development prayer with Him as I told Him I would follow Him anywhere. I meant it too; I still mean it. I went on my day and had breakfast.

While I was in Israel, we went near the Gaza Strip. We looked out into Gaza from a look-out area and we heard about life around there. We heard about how when the siren goes off, one only has 15 seconds to enter a bomb shelter. We heard about the moms who have multiple children and panic when they do not know how to get everyone to safety. Who do you choose? Where do you go? We heard about how people are not friends anymore because the conflict has scarred more than the land, but relationships and hearts. We heard about how children and many adults suffer from PTSD and trauma-related disorders because of the war. It is common to not know when a bomb might strike and life changes forever.

We went to the Western Wall and saw the mourning of the Jewish people as they grieved over the ruins of the temple and their history. But comfort has a name, and He hears their cries.

We visited a Christian community in the Galilee that welcomed us with the hospitality of the Lord. They are seeking to unite Christians in the Middle East and advocate for their rights.

As our trip was nearing the end, I asked a few of my friends on the trip if they were ready to go home or not. I knew my answer. They all said they loved it in Israel so much, but were ready to go home. I was not. I remember tearful nights and flights back to the States where in my heart I was thinking about how much I loved it in Israel and how I was sure a chunk of my heart was left there. To my longing, we still landed in the LAX airport and traveled on to Portland.

A couple of weeks went by and I began to wonder and pray. I wondered about if doing ministry in Israel was possible, or going for some amount of time and serving. I did not have any ideas, all I knew is I wanted to go back and be there for a long time. I was driving to church one night and I wondered to myself about Word Made Flesh and if they had, or had thought about, having a community center in Israel. I then asked myself, and the Lord, what's the need? What is something that would benefit the people of Israel? Immediately, I remembered the Gaza Strip and the surrounding area. I was reminded of the trauma endured by so many everyday. That's it--trauma therapy. Not only that, but trauma therapy with the goal of healing and peace. I then thought about reaching out to the staff at Word Made Flesh to just ask them. I did not have any answers or long-term ideas, but I had a question, and I had something on my heart. So I asked. To my surprise, that phone call led to more prayer, and other phone calls. More prayer, and in-person meetings. More prayer, and online meetings. More prayer, and a letter of invitation to join Word Made Flesh staff in Israel. I accepted, and have been walking towards this in prayer, surrender, and with my heart and eyes open to all the Lord wants to do and show me.

As time has gone on, the Lord has shown up and has confirmed and peacefully guided this process.

Now, the whole premise of this community center in Israel with Word Made Flesh is to be a partnership-based ministry, that in community, works towards being an agent of healing and peace for the people of Israel. When I say healing and peace, I mean internal and external healing and peace. Internally for people on an individual basis, and externally in regards to the relationships in the land. We want to seek to be a place of safety, love, trust, and shalom. People will be able to come to the center and receive different means of therapy, as well as be in community with people who are different than them. This center will be open to all people--Israeli, Palestinian, Christian, Aramaic, Jewish, and every and any combination possible. This is a place to bring people together, and a place where there can be healing and peace in all respects. This community center can stand as a prophetic voice in the land of Israel that says one day we will all be at peace and healing will be running through our veins. As the Son of Righteousness rises with healing on His wings, we will be healed. The Prince of Peace will heal us.

In addition to providing a place of healing and peace, the Word Made Flesh center seeks to identify with the poor and vulnerable. One quarter of Israeli's live below the poverty line, and many Arabs do as well. We will seek to provide opportunity to receive means of living, as well as friendship and partnership to those in need. We are all in need of something.

The margins where we find the poor and vulnerable is the same place we come in contact with the Living God, who became poor and vulnerable for us. When we touch those who experience poverty, pain, fear, and loss, we touch the life of God, and get to identify with Him.

With all humility and surrender, I am walking forward in this open door. We want to come in with our hands and lives open, ready to learn and serve. My heart and the heart of Word Made Flesh is to come vulnerably, with all submission to the Lord Jesus and to the people around us. We seek partners in the land we find ourselves in who have been there for a long time. More than that, we see that Jesus has been working for a long time, and He will keep working long after we are gone. I am so thankful to be given the opportunity to say yes to Him and His work. This is His work, it is His mission, and He will do what He wills. Let us just be willing to say yes to Him; our unreserved yes. No cost is too high.

A part of this is, I cannot do it alone--in any regard. Mission is something God sends us on together, whether face to face or across the world, He sends us together. The Lord has given us all gifts and abilities, and sometimes He asks us to use those in different ways. This ministry is full-time and long-term. Long-term, sustainable ministry is what communicates: I am here, I am not going anywhere, I am with you. Similar to what the Lord Himself has told us: He is here, He is not going anywhere, and He is with us. This is what He did, He lived among us and participated in the full human experience. Being that it is long-term, I will be in need of long-term support. All support--relational, financial, spiritual, and in mentorship. I need friends. I am not asking for your money, and I do not want to pressure you into anything. I do not want this to sound like a cliché mission trip where I ask for monetary support for a one-time trip. This is deeper than that. I am asking for people who want to join me for the long-haul. I am looking and praying for people who love the land of Israel, who are passionate about reconciliation, who want to see healing and peace for the people in Israel, and ultimately, people who are in love with Jesus and want to partner with Him.

The question is: will you join us?

Being in partnership looks like a lot of things. It looks like mutual benefit. Being a partner is different than being a donor. Donors give monetarily and often have no deep relationship with the people they donate to. Partners are people who have a say in the ministry. Partners have skin in the game and influence. Partners have life-on-life ministry. Partners encourage one another in their faith and journey with the Lord. That is what I am looking for.

If any of this touches your heart, or you hear the Lord's voice in regard to what I have told you, I would love to connect and talk more about it. I would love to join together in partnership to serve the people of Israel, and the Lord.

I do believe that the Lord will provide. If He sees fit for this to unfold, He will make it happen. To aid that process, I have set up a funding account with Pure Charity to start raising the monetary support this ministry will need. Everything counts and is needed. Whether it is a one-time donation or month-to-month support, the Lord sees it all. The one-time donations will go towards the initial cost of the ministry, and month-to-month donations will be used to support the ministry on the ground long-term.

We are a family on mission together. With the Lord as our guide, may we travel long and with great perseverance towards eternity. In the meantime, and as we travel in our pilgrimage, may we stop along the way in the places the Lord allows us to stay.

With all that being said, thank you for reading if you made it to the end--I am thankful. If you feel led by the Lord to speak to me more about this, please reach out. If you feel led to give monetarily, I thank you and pray God's gracious blessing on you as He supplies all of your needs. And if you pray, and you find yourself thinking of all you just read, I would ask for your prayers. I believe in prayer, and I believe that God hears our prayers. Thank you for praying. You are in mine as well, and if you do need prayer for anything, I would love to join you in that.

Thank you. Your blessing does not go unnoticed. Thank you for praying, thank you for partnering, and thank you for considering financially supporting this ministry.

Let us journey on together, friends.

Gratefully yours in Jesus,

Hannah Dewing

www.wordmadeflesh.org

https://vimeo.com/100956234https://vimeo.com/100956234