The missionary journey and testimony of HOPCC Hinesville GA missionaries to Israel has years of experiences to draw from and declare to the world. From Haifa to Beersheva, from Mount Carmel to Bethel, the testimonies are more than can be numbered. The HOPCC Hinesville GA missionaries’ team and Pastor William Pilkington’s experiences have changed their perspective of life, the world, their own views, and the determination of their own souls to make it all the way to heaven.
Unity of the HOPCC Hinesville GA missionaries’ team
The unity of the HOPCC Hinesville GA missionaries to Israel team was noticed and seen by all onlookers and whatever city, town, community, or area they were at. Everyone’s food belonged to one another, everyone brought extra, and everyone gave to one another. Though the groups were large in size, they all stuck together as one big family. Every married couple and every one of the children & every family had enough time, love, supplies, and food to provide for others.
Traveled to different areas of Israel
The HOPCC Hinesville GA missionaries to Israel traveled to different areas of Israel. As they journey from place to place in this segment, let us consider that as they are traveling from place to place, the street signs and city signs are reminiscent of biblical times. While traveling, the team will often break out into a prayer meeting and then into a time of musing, as they take everything in. Their minds are drawn to scriptures in the Bible that they’ve read about, city names that they’ve read about in the Bible, and history that they’ve learned about Israel. As you travel down the highway, city streets, country roads, and dirt roads, you are traveling on the ground that was walked on by the patriarchs’ thousands of years ago. To some who traveled to Israel, it is a place of tourism. Still, to the House of Prayer missionary team, it is a revisiting of the stones, memorials, and experiences of those who have been preached about, taught about, and prayed about, ever since they can remember. On Mount Carmel, as they drove along dirt roads to reach the top, the minds went back to the fire, which fell upon the sacrifice made by Elijah the prophet. In Tel-Aviv, the city was as far away from spirituality as it could be. A kippa was rarely seen, unorthodox Jew was seldom seen, it seemed as though they were determined to be a little wild America with all of its worldliness, entertainment, clubs & nightlife. In the city of Ashdod, it was quite the same as Tel Aviv. And instead of having a museum of altars built by the patriarchs, there was a museum of the Philistines. They even had a beach called Me Ami Beach, where men with kippas and tzitzit hanging down by the swimming trunks went into the ocean to play in the water.
In the City of Beersheva, a man named Avraham met the missionaries and Pastor William Pilkington of HOPCC Hinesville, GA, and took them to his house; he also took them to his synagogue and had a special service for them which is called a minion. The love and care shown to the missionary team will never be forgotten. In Bethlehem, the HOPCC Hinesville GA missionaries to Israel went to pray at Rachel’s tomb. In Shiloh, the word Ichabod rang through the hearts of the missionaries as an empty, dilapidated, and trashed synagogue set on top of the hill. In Bethel, the team went to pray at the Rock, where Jacob wrestled with the Lord. And at night, all of the teams gathered back to the Mount of Olives at the monastery to be greeted by the nuns and find a place to pray to take in the day’s experiences. The countless hours, spent in Jerusalem, in The Old City, in the slums, at Gethsemane, at The Wall, on Jaffa Street, and in the markets, are filled with enough testimonies to write a volume of books.
HOPCC Hinesville GA missionaries meet Jewish family in Beersheva
The testimonies of the HOPCC Hinesville GA missionaries to Israel deepened as they met a very special family in Beersheva. Beersheva is located in the southern district of Israel. A young camel herdsman was tending to his camels upon entering the city. The surreal environment instantly put the group back in biblical times. They drove to a low-income, run-down section of the city, parked the car near some apartments, got out of the car, and walked, praying for someone to talk to. A lady and her father exited one of the apartment buildings and soon joined in friendly conversation with the HOPCC Hinesville GA missionaries to Israel. The daughter asked the group to come with her to their house, and then everyone loaded up into her van and drove across town. Avraham took the men to his synagogue and had a special service. They went to their house, and we’re treated with the greatest of hospitality. Though language barriers made it practically impossible to communicate by words, the love was more significant than the words and prevailed over the day. Avraham’s son-in-law was disabled yet greatly loved and taken care of by his wife. He was brought out into the living room for fellowship with everyone. The HOPCC Hinesville GA missionaries to Israel sang together, laughed together, and prayed together for hours. The cultural, international, and language barriers were unable to prevent a family from being born. To this day, they are still one family. Hopefully, one day, they will be together, forever, Baruch Hashim!