Emmaus Way
Tel-Aviv, Israel

Our battle is not against flesh and blood. The battle is not to convince people through good arguments. It is to remove the spiritual forces that are blinding their eyes (2 Cor.4:4) so that their hearts can be reached. The focus is to engage the Lord and let Him engage the enemy. Spirits that are local to us in Israel affect the entire world. They are the same forces that crucified the Lord.

Emmaus Way was officially birthed in 1990 as we (Arni and Yonit klein) were preparing to immigrate to Israel. The seed, however, was implanted in 1986 when the Spirit of the Lord impressed me (Arni) with the following: "I have called you to worship and evangelism and not to church administration. Worship is the response to the Presence of the Lord and evangelism is the natural outgrowth of a life of worship."

In the fall of 1993, during an evangelistic outreach at the Tel Aviv beachfront, it became evident that the peoples’ hearts were open but their minds were locked. I heard the Spirit say that the prince of this world had blinded their minds with a demonic smoke-like covering; and that in order for the seekers to be able to perceive and receive the message of the Gospel, the spiritual atmosphere of the city needed to be changed.

As Israel's communication center, Tel Aviv's anointing for proclamation, meant by God to speak life, has instead been a tool in the enemy's hand to sow division and strife and to keep the seekers blinded and confused. The Lord said that Dan’s inheritance needed to be taken so that the seekers would be released from the influence of the Amorite. The strategy the Lord revealed to us concerning "claiming Dan's inheritance" was to prepare a place for Him by establishing 24-hour worship, engaging Him rather than the spirits of darkness. When His Presence would abide in the city, the darkness would retreat and the people would be able to see in truth.

In the Spring of 1997, we received several confirmations of the vision to establish a worship center. One of them was that God had given a prophetic brother, Bob Jones, a vision of us (we had never met) saying that we were friends of the Lord and had wisdom and a piece of the puzzle. The piece of the puzzle was about Dan’s inheritance and continuous worship. In September of 1997, a couple that we had known in New York made a donation sufficient to establish the worship center.

God’s Chosen Place
Initially, we looked for a quiet place in the country. Our vision was for a tabernacle of worship, rooms for twenty-four guests, and quarters for our family and the staff necessary to oversee the facility. After six months of searching on about thirty "moshavim" (communities built on semi-cooperatively leased government-owned land), we learned that there was a law that would likely cause us to lose any property on which we would have a public ministry oriented to New Testament beliefs. Within a week, a 50,000 square-foot facility, the Tel Aviv home of the Israeli labor union (Histadrut), came to the attention of our ministry partners as being for sale. The Lord spoke to the couple that made the initial donation, saying, "If you don’t do it, somebody else will; and whatever you do, do for eternity." So they bought the building, along with a smaller two-story structure and a parking lot.

In the 50th year of Israel’s statehood, its Jubilee year, the Tel Aviv headquarters of the organization that birthed the government was turned over to the Messianic body. The Histadrut was the closest thing to a governmental body in the years prior to statehood. It consisted of representatives from all the towns, cities, and "kibbutzim" (socialistic-style farming cooperatives). After 1948 it gave birth to the Labor Party. It so happens that the room on the top floor that now houses the worship tabernacle was their main meeting room.

The Worship Center is located on the fourth floor of Esther House in the heart of Tel Aviv. It is comprised of a main tabernacle for worship; a room for intercession; a small room for quiet meditation; single and dormitory rooms able to comfortably accommodate about thirty-five guests; and bathroom, kitchen, dining, lounge, and laundry facilities.

The invitation is particularly to those who are ready and willing to give of themselves, seeking nothing in return. Various venues for involvement are available to individuals and groups, ranging from single worship sessions to programs of ten days or more. The scheduled time consists of seasons of worship; focused intercession; prayer walks in Tel Aviv; challenging, inspirational teaching designed to develop worshipers after the heart of David; and day trips to various places in the land. Our desire is that the Holy Spirit would orchestrate each gathering according to the people present and His purposes for that particular moment in time. Consequently, rather than pre-scheduling events and teachings, we lay the possibilities before the Lord for Him to give form and direction to our days. Throughout the year, specific periods have been set aside for gatherings. Some of the yearly dates have been reserved by groups defined by geographic or other commonalities.

You can visit Emmaus Way online at http://www.emmausway.org

Emmaus Way is one of ministries Gratefully Grafted supports. Join others who are reaching out with their gifts and offerings to reach the lost sheep of Israel. Send your tax-deductable donation to the address below.