Showing posts with label Turkish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkish. Show all posts

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Israeli Pastor Speaks of Mid-East Awakening - ISRAEL TODAY

Israeli Pastor Speaks of Mid-East Awakening

Sunday, May 25, 2014 |  Charles Gardner  ISRAEL TODAY
A Jesus movement among both Jews and Muslims in the Middle East has been described by a Japanese-American pastor as a spiritual awakening that has never been seen before.
Peter Tsukahira was addressing a conference in Jerusalem aimed at strengthening the bonds of reconciliation between the sons of Abraham (Isaac and Ishmael). An invitation-only event, At the Crossroads was hosted in the Old City by Christ Church, the oldest Protestant church in the region.
Arab, Iranian, Turkish and Kurdish delegates attending from countries perceived as enemies of Israel risked their lives to come and enjoy the hospitality of their Jewish brothers, quite apart from the fact that Christians are suffering severe persecution in many of the Muslim-background nations represented.
Pastor Tsukahira, who is co-leader of a church on Mt Carmel in the north of Israel made up of both Jews and Arabs, said an awakening was taking place along the so-called ‘Isaiah 19 Highway’, which runs from Egypt to Assyria (including much of the Arab Middle East) via Israel. The prophet Isaiah had foretold of a time when these nations would become a blessing to one another.
The pastor said the church at large was in danger of entering a ‘dark age’, but could change the world if they affected every facet of life and culture with biblical foundations.
“Christianity is at a crossroads,” said Tsukahira. “One day Islam is going to fall, and then the Christians are going to have to step up with the answer and fill the vacuum. However, the kingdom of God is more than a gospel of church growth.”
One area in which the church had failed over the centuries was in cutting itself off from its Hebraic roots. But the last few verses of the Old Testament (in Malachi) speaks of how the hearts of the fathers will turn to their children, and the children to their fathers – paving the way for the Messiah’s second coming.
This, he says, refers to Christians re-connecting with their Jewish founding fathers. After all, God’s promise to Abraham was that he would be a blessing to all nations.
“I think it’s like going to a long movie after the intermission. We never understand why it ends the way it does, or learn of the part played by characters earlier on.”
Tsukahira believes that a big breakthrough among Arab Moslems would come quickly and suddenly, and would provoke the Jews to jealousy, paving the way for Israel’s national acceptance of Jesus as Messiah.
Photo Credit: Carino Casas, Christ Church

Charles Gardner is author of Israel the Chosen. He recently reported live from At the Crossroads in Jerusalem. His previous reports can be found here:
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Friday, May 16, 2014

Muslim Goes to Mecca – and Finds Jesus!

Muslim Goes to Mecca 

– and Finds Jesus!

Thursday, May 15, 2014 |  Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY 
A Turkish Muslim who made a pilgrimage to Mecca in a desperate attempt to get his life back on track returned as a Christian to the great astonishment of his family.
Now a pastor, Ali Pektash (pictured) has been addressing a conference in Jerusalem called At the Crossroads, and sees it as part of his mission to help re-unite the sons of Abraham.
Ali, a Kurd, suffered from alcohol addiction when friends persuaded him to make Hajj (pilgrimage) to Islam's holy city. It was in Saudi Arabia, where liquor is banned, and the religious ritual might cure him, they suggested.
When he got there, he cried out to God for help (if indeed He was there) and fell asleep.
Jesus then appeared to him in a dream and touched him, saying: "You believe in me now; leave this place."
After taking a shower next morning, he discovered what he thought was dust on the part of his chest Jesus had touched, but in fact the hair on his chest had turned white in the shape of a hand! At the traditional celebration marking his return from Hajj, he announced to his incredulous family that he had seen Jesus in Mecca and had come back a Christian.
He burst out crying in front of his wife and asked forgiveness for the way he had treated her, clearly demonstrating a dramatic change in his life.
But for three years he had no access to a Bible and it was seven years before he met another Turkish Christian.
He eventually started a church in Ankara, the capital, which he has recently handed over to trusted elders in order to begin a new work in Eastern Turkey, where he was raised.
At the Crossroads, hosted at Christ Church in the heart of Jerusalem's Old City, is aimed at deepening the bonds of reconciliation between Arab Christians and Jewish followers of Jesus and is being attended by delegates from a number of Middle East countries including Iran, Egypt, Cyprus and Jordan.
Speaking in Turkish (translated through headsets for those who needed it), Ali spoke of how Abraham was also his ancestor, and how he saw it as part of his mission to help re-unite the children of Isaac and Ishmael (Abraham's children by different wives).
Illustrating how family division can cause lasting conflict among the children affected, he said it was no different for the descendants of Abraham who continue to be embroiled in much strife and contention with each other.
But now it was time for reconciliation. "We have a very important ministry - to reconcile the world," he said.
But it could only be done through Jesus. "Everybody in Turkey says they believe in God," he said. "But people are persecuting me!"
In a further example of reconciliation, a Palestinian delegate from Hebron (where Abraham is buried) said: "I was one of those who hated the Jews, but Jesus changed my life."
A number of Israeli pastors responded by laying hands on him in prayer and offering words of encouragement.
Speaking for myself, I was profoundly moved when during a communion service the previous night I was surrounded by a Turk, Egyptian, Iranian, Armenian and an Israeli originally from South Africa.
Although there was a language barrier in some cases, we embraced each other without words during the traditional 'peace' greeting that immediately precedes the sharing of bread and wine.
The conference - including worship sessions - is also being held in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

Charles Gardner, a gifted and passionate correspondent, has been been reporting live from At the Crossroads in Jerusalem. His previous reports can be found here:
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Monday, October 21, 2013

Walls and Gates of Jerusalem - Part 4

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)



When was this picture of the Jaffa Gate taken? Here are clues.
The Jaffa Gate, from the Emory collection. Several features 
in the photograph tell us when the picture
was taken. Note the tower, in particular.

Jaffa Gate photographed by Peter Bergheim, perhaps as 
early as 1860 (Library of Congress collection)
For centuries, the entrances to Jerusalem were small and often built with sharp angles to make access difficult to attackers.  Jerusalem consisted only of the Old City with little habitation beyond the walls, rebuilt in 1540 during the reign of the Ottoman ruler, Suleiman the Magnificent.  Until the end of the 19th century, most wagons and carriages stopped outside of the gates and people and products went in through the gates.  

William Seward (Abraham Lincoln's secretary of state) wrote in 1871 that the population of the Old City was 16,000, comprised of 8,000 Jews, 4,000 Mohammedans, and 4,000 Christians.
Original caption: "Interior of Jaffa Gate from near Hotel Mediterranean"
by Felix Bonfils (circa 1870). Note the moat on the left and the narrow
path. Mark Twain and his "Innocents Abroad" colleagues stayed in
the Hotel Mediterranean in 1867.




Two major architectural changes in the Jaffa Gate in 1898 and 1908 help historians date the early photographs of the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem.  The first was the breaching of the wall in 1898 to permit German Emperor Wilhelm II to ride into the Old City without dismounting and with his escort of carriages.  To built the roadway, a moat -- visible in pre-1898 photos -- had to be filled in.

 Click on photos to enlarge. 

Click on captions to view the original pictures.



In 1908 the Turkish authorities built a clock tower near the gate in honor of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. 
A photochrom picture of the Jaffa Gate (circa 1890). Note the wall of
the moat under the yellow arrow, indicating the photo was prior to 1898.



The British captured Jerusalem in 1917, and the tower was knocked down in 1922.

We can now determine that the Emory University collection photo was taken after 1908 when the tower was erected.

Once the Jaffa Gate walls were breached, the entrance became a major thoroughfare, especially as an entrance to the Turkish army base and prison in the Old City, known as the "Kishle."

The shops outside the gate were torn down prior to the German Emperor's visit.
Traffic jam inside Jaffa Gate, 1898. The Turkish military escort, was possibly part of the German Emperor's entourage.  
Close inspection on the left of the photo shows an American flag hanging outside of the Grand or Central Hotel,
formerly the Mediterranean Hotel.


A Jewish shop immediately outside of Jaffa Gate
Another view of Jaffa Gate before 1898. See 
adjacent photo enlargement of the shops
 

















































An photo enlargement of the Jaffa Gate and the shops (from the picture taken before 1898) shows a Jewish millinery shop with a Hebrew sign selling various headgear for religious Jews, some of whom are standing outside of the shop.

The Library of Congress caption notes: 
Photograph taken before October 1898 visit of Kaiser Wilhelm II to Jerusalem when a breach was made in the wall near the Jaffa Gate. (Source: L. Ben-David, Israel's History - A picture a day, Oct. 30, 2012.)
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