Israel Day in Kuldiga, report

A CELEBRATION OF UNITY

On October 8, the Kuldiga congregation KING OF GLORY invited everyone whose heart responds to the name of God's chosen people and Jerusalem to the conference "ISRAEL DAY IN KULDIGA". Representatives of the NEW GENERATION church from Riga, Kuldiga and Ventspils were also invited as guests.

The purpose of the conference was to formulate answers together to current and essential questions such as:
1. What are Israel and Jerusalem from a biblical perspective?
2. How does this affect each one of us here and now?
3. What does God's prophetic Word call us to in this time?

To Lucija Ceberga, pastor of the KING OF GLORY Kuldiga congregation, and to many like-minded people, God gave courage to address Christians and society as a whole so that the shared revelation would grow about the need to bless Israel as God's covenant people and to intercede for it. This is the unmistakable will of our Heavenly Father, expressed throughout all of Holy Scripture and especially concerning the Church of the end times.
For very many in God's broad spiritual family it is clear that the order of this world and the time allotted to it are approaching their end, and the prophetic Word expressed in Isaiah 2:1-3, Isaiah 62, Ezekiel 37 and Romans 11 is beginning to be fulfilled. Yet it must be admitted that the majority continue to live with yesterday's understanding of the self-sufficiency of the Christian church and think that one's attitude toward Israel has no significance, whether favourable, unfavourable or neutral. But my attitude toward the question of Israel today can have decisive significance for my personal destiny, for the nation, and for the course of world events. That is why this must be spoken about loudly and often, so that we do not find ourselves in the situation warned of by the prophet Hosea 4:6: "My people are destroyed with them for lack of knowledge, and they refuse to learn."

The conference in Kuldiga is neither the first nor the last to bring the name of Israel to the forefront. Since God Himself is the One who fulfils His will and carries out His Word, we will receive further prompting to return to this matter in the future. This time in Kuldiga, preachers lifted their hearts and voices toward God's call: Skaidrite Troska from the NEW GENERATION church, Vilnis Gleske from PRIEKA VESTS, Leonids Vapne from the Messianic congregation SHOFAR, Inese Grigoruka from the Ventspils NEW GENERATION church, and Andris Gerdens, pastor of the Skrunda Baptist Church. Residents of Kuldiga and guests from Riga, Sauriesi, Liepaja, Ventspils and other places were also addressed by Igo Midrijanis, founder and leader of the former LATVIA AND ISRAEL SOCIETY. This society was active in Kuldiga and already in the 1990s called Latvia's Christian church to repentance and a return to its roots, expressing love and gratitude to the Jewish people for the whole biblical inheritance, for the Saviour, for the Messiah whom this people nurtured for the salvation of us all. Sara Sarmite Dzintre, coordinator for the Baltic States of the Jerusalem congregation KING OF GLORY Jerusalem, also spoke and prayed at the conference.

The conference was opened with a warm video address by Oren Lev Ari, pastor of the Jerusalem congregation KING OF GLORY Jerusalem. The KING OF GLORY church in Kuldiga is this Jerusalem congregation's "little daughter" in Latvia. Its pastor Lucija Ceberga expressed the central call of the day: for every Christian to be, in real action, a messenger of God's love in this age of a deficit of love, because only in this way can the world recognize Jesus Christ among us. Pastor Vilnis Gleske also emphasized that only in this way, and in no other, can we help the Jewish people see and receive Yeshua, the Messiah. Over the course of history they have already suffered enough rejection from the Christian church, and it is time for the church to repent of every kind of sin of rejection toward the Jews. It is time to bring the Jewish people, with all our hearts, a truly visible message of the love of God and of the Christian church. We are two sisters, yet one Body of Christ, one Bride, as Pastor Oren Lev Ari emphasized. WE ARE ONE IN CHRIST!
Pastor Leonids Vapne brought deep into the heart the understanding that the Glory of God in Jesus Christ was brought to earth through great suffering. Are we also ready for it? For it is written: where our Lord has been, there we also will be, if only we follow Him with our whole heart...
Of course, at the centre of everything taking place was the Holy Triune God. All glory and honour were given to Him in every address and in the joyful, grateful praise and worship. Valters Gleske from PRIEKA VESTS led the praise, and the baton was taken up by worshippers from SHOFAR and NEW GENERATION, a small choir and dance group. Musicians from the Ventspils NEW GENERATION church also praised God, and Ieva Gerdena from Skrunda sang. Conference participants experienced such nearness of God, such fullness of love and encouragement, that everyone felt the call and allowed it to be expressed in dance before the Face of God. The atmosphere of celebration was so heartfelt and loving that at the close Leonids Vapne called this conference a Celebration of Unity. And truly, representatives had gathered from different cities, from many denominations and churches. The touch on each person was also deep: many who were present admitted that they had finally received revelation and had begun to understand why and how they must pray for God's chosen people in their future Christian ministry.

Among the guests were Talivaldis Talbergs, director of LATVIAN CHRISTIAN RADIO, Larisa Valtere, head of the KRAUKLIS FOUNDATION in Liepaja, Christian supporters Astrida and Talivaldis Vesmini, and others whose hearts responded to the invitation, because everyone was welcome. The program was very full, crowned by prayers and intercessions that ended late in the evening.

Everything that we do not gather together with Yeshua will be scattered; this is what the Word of God says. We will gather if we enter into His will for this time, which is expressed clearly and understandably in the Bible: "On your walls, Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; they will never be silent day or night. You who remind the Lord, give yourselves no rest and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth," says Isaiah 62:6-7. You and I are these watchmen. "For instruction will go out from Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem," says Isaiah 2:3. This Word of instruction is already being broadcast from the Holy City on the TBN RUS television channel to many countries of the world.
It is blessed to sense the pulse of events, to realize that we can see the fig tree budding and hear our Bridegroom already standing at the door of the wedding house, soon to open it. It is time for the Bride to prepare herself and fill her lamps with fresh oil.
Purification, acquiring a gentle and humble spirit, blessing, intercession, taking the gospel outside the walls of the church in the right way: all of this is like the flame that will ignite this heavenly oil in our lamps, releasing God's power for the great wave of awakening to gather the last harvest of souls for our Lord. All of this is inseparably and prophetically connected with blessing God's chosen people, without which nothing can happen this time. This is the indisputable will of our Heavenly Father, and it is a great happiness to be in it.

Ina Zalkovska,
KING OF GLORY Kuldiga congregation