After the will of the Father, it could be the title of a book. A detailed report of this trip to Jerusalem could end up in a novel. So in this report I will limit myself to the most important things. Additionally, Corry will describe her own experience.

At the end of May, 2006, my wife Corrie and I went to Rome. It was supposed to be just a normal vacation, but God wanted to show us something.

At the Brussels’ airport my eye caught a sign that read ‘prayer room’. We decided to pray stop and pray. So, after searching for a little while we found a dazzling room. After praying for about half an hour I received a picture from God. He nodded to me with a friendly smile, confirming that it was good we were going to Rome, but it needed to be under his guidance. We were to search for the footmarks of Jesus’ disciples Peter and Paul, but we were to avoid the places of idolatry.

We let God lead us to the places that are important for the pilgrims in Rome. The churches were dazzling pieces of art, but above all the atmosphere of holiness impressed us very much. Regularly, we were able to attend short services held at those churches. We even ended up attending an English-speaking service of the Pope. His sermon was about the fact that the Christian Faith is for everyone in the world.

God revealed something to me: “Pay close attention, Rome is the governmental center of the church, from here they direct the worldwide spreading of the Gospel.” This is the reason why Peter and Paul needed to go to Rome, but at the same time I got the impression that we needed to go to Jerusalem, the spiritual centre of the world. It was clear to me that God gave us the command, “Go to Jerusalem to pray there.” I didn’t have any clue about the when or how.

Upon returning from our trip to Rome I was pointed to Abraham. He also got the command “to go”. Reading the Bible, it was clear that Abraham went with a peaceable attitude. The only time that he went to battle was when he liberated Lot. He also listened to God’s voice very precisely. In the meanwhile the war between Israël and Hezbollah had started. As clear as day, I got the impression to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, the peace between the descendants of Abraham via Ismael and Isaac. Both descendants were blessed by God and foretold to be the patriarchs of big nations, and it hurts a lot to see how these people want to kill each other. Corrie wanted to wait to see if it was really God’s plan to go to Jerusalem.

We decided to ask for a sign from God. Sometime later, during our church intercession time on a Tuesday morning, suddenly Corrie started to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Afterwards, the pastor asked us if we had a mission trip in mind, enthusiastically, Corrie said, “Yes, we are going to Jerusalem to intercede!” Still we had to wait for a sign, but that came pretty fast. Our pastor gave us the name of an organization and of someone that is related to that organization. I will use the fictitious name ‘Mr. P’ to protect him.
Saturday night we decided to e-mail Mr. P. The chance of getting a fast response was not promising. Mr. P is older and spends extended times at a campingsite in Zeeland (Province where we live) during the summers.

Corrie asked for the following sign, “Father, if you really want us to go, please let us be contacted with Mr. P within 24 hours.” The next day at church, we met Mr. P. We were astonished. After the service we spoke with him. He is a passionate intercessor and has been in Jerusalem several times now. He encouraged us to go if it’s in God’s plan. That week we received a comprehensive letter from Mr. P with a lot of tips and names of individuals. It was also clear for him that we had to go as a couple. Meanwhile, we also got the names of several people and organizations that we needed to be in contact with.

Mr. P mentioned someone from Exodus, an organization. We asked God to open the doors that needed to be opened and to keep the other doors clearly closed. As a result we only came in contact with Mr. J. Through him we came in contact with a travel agency that was able to help us along. Other travel organizations weren’t able to give us good, valid information.

So, when were we to go? Our pastor’s words were prophetic, “It could be you are going within two to three weeks.” We had to go before the Jewish New Year September 22nd.
Corrie got the impression that we had to leave September 13th, my impression was the 14th. There were no available flights at the 13th so we left the 14th and came back September 21st.

Continually, we received confirmations that our purpose for going was to pray for the ‘Peace of Jerusalem’, for reconciliation, forgiveness and for peace between the nations. God wanted us to be preparers of the way for the renewal of His Kingship. By crowning Saul as king, the Jews chose for a wordly king. This still continues, people still put their hope in worldly leaders, while 1 Samuel 12:12 clearly states “…even though the LORD your God was your king.” There is only hope for the nations, when God comes back as King in his justice and righteousness. Prepare the way; open the gates for the recovery of God’s Kingship. It was clearly planned by God, exactly in that week I didn’t have any business meetings and the children weren’t coming to visit.

There was also opposition in trying to get to Jerusalem. There came a lot of last-minute jobs, one staff person had a surgery planned on the 14th and couldn’t work the following three weeks sue to recovery. The problems were solved by keeping calm and surrendering it to Gods’ hands.

That Sunday we got a second conversation with Mr. P and his wife. Mainly, we were going to experience sufferings.

Monday, September 11th we had a conversation with our church to get a good preparation for our “World Evangelism Trip”- as they call it. At one point we were asked the question, “What is your travel advice for Israel?” But we had never really asked for that, because it was clear we had to go in the Will of the Father.

They sent us with a blessing and ‘covered’ us with His Blood. The next morning when I woke up, in the palm of my left hand there was blood. But I couldn’t find any wound and there wasn’t any blood on the bed linens. I prayed about it and got the picture of Jesus in Gethsemane. He perspirated blood. Again I proclaimed that we were going in the Will of the Father, “Your will be done.” After that I got the answer that we are covered by the Blood and therefore go with His protection.

September 14th, we woke up at 5:00 AM and left short after that. There wasn’t even a delay with the train. At the Schiphol airport we looked for the prayer room, which we found after a little bit of searching. We prayed quite a while for the trip to Jerusalem and our stay there. There, God told me to pray in Gethsemane, the next day. Corrie got the impression “There I will meet you.” After that we went to the El Al desk to check in. We were there first. It was heavily monitored and secured. First we were interrogated, which was not too bad. Our interviewer was positively surprised that we were going to Jerusalem to pray for peace there, even though it was our first time and don’t know anybody there. There was a lot of security while checking in our luggage and around the airplane. This was probably the best secured flight ever, at least for us. That night we arrived in Tel Aviv. From there we drove to our hotel in Jerusalem, while it was dark already. Hanging out of the window at the hotel I said: “Here I am Jerusalem.” A flash of lightning at a cloudless sky was God’s answer.

Friday.
Romans 4:3 What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

We didn’t feel well in the morning due to a poor night of sleep, but the command was to go to Gethsemane. It didn’t seem too far away, so we went on our way. We ask a taxi driver for directions, but got a vague answer. So we walked on, across a public garden. Suddenly, we saw the high walls before us. After walking up the mountain for a little bit we ended up in front of the high walls. “How much further to Gethsemane?” we asked a boy, and he wanted us to follow him. It felt very uncomfortable for us. So we were going an opposite direction and gave him some money, but he wanted more and came right after us.

We re-oriented ourselves. According the map we were close to Gethsemane. Then a man approached us. He is a Messianic Jew, and showed us all different places. The upper room, Caiaphas’ house, the building were Peter denied Jesus (and off course the rooster crows). All is clearly set up as touristic attractions. Eventually, we parted at the Wailing Wall. Also his motive was to earn some money from tourists. He wanted two hundred Shekels. We kept on searching for Gethsemane, across the Kidron Valley. The map wasn’t good and the travel guide had also unclear descriptions.

Muslim people didn’t give us answers and we were sent away at a church by a priest. Thus we ended up praying, which led us, finally, to the garden of Gethsemane at a much unexpected place. A guide first showed us the church of all nations and after he opened the gate to the garden of Gethsemane. We prayed there for about an hour. Corrie was really crying and got the words, “Like you are crying now, so I have cried for the city of Jerusalem.” I saw three doves. They came flying towards us and a few minutes later they flew away again in a V-shape. Reconciliation, Forgiveness and Peace. Also the grief of Jesus because of the betrayal, denial and mainly because of the desolation.

Man had left God and Jesus alone and rejected. Intense grief. After this the guide tempted us to go with him to all different churches, to Bethlehem etc. No, we didn’t have to worry about money, but the payment was large, in the way we experienced how God was their subject of trade. Loosing a lot of money without any substantial spiritual experience.

Saturday.
Ephesians 5:2- “…and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

The task was to ‘clean’ and consecrate the room, the hotel and its surroundings. While walking we ended up at the Jaffa Gate. We got the message not to enter the old city. This was a clear warning. Some doves sat where we had to enter the gate. We proclaimed scriptures on the wall and we sang songs, blessed the city and prayed. We felt the intense grief from God for the city of Jerusalem. The Holy City is once again betraying and renouncing God. It is the idol money that they chase and worship; the voice of the false prophet is loud. We walked on the wall from the Jaffa Gate to the Dung Gate. From there we walk along the outside of the wall to the Lion’s Gate. During this walk we prayed and spoke blessings over the city and the people. After this we prayed again in the garden of Gethsemane. This time we ignored all the offers and smooth talks of all the guides. On our way back we thought we would go back on the wall at the Lion’s Gate. Instead we ended up in the Muslim Quarter. This was clearly a forbidden area for us, one man literally told us, “Do not put God to the test.” We returned where we came from and continued our trip back to the hotel walking outside the wall.

Sunday.
Ephesians 6:11-15 – “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

The instruction were to go to the Mount of Olives and proclaim the full book of Lamentations from start to finish and from finish to start.

We walked around the Old City, that we are not allowed to enter, across the Kidron Valley. It was very hot weather and the paths were poor. We took a few bottles of water and apples with us. At the foot of the Mount of Olives we read Lamentations 1 and we took the steep path up the Mount, with a view on the Golden Gate, following God’s instructions. Taking turns, we read out loud Lamentations 2, 3 and 4. After a good climb to the top (812 meters), in an Arabic village, we read out loud Lamentations 5 twice. On our way back we read Lamentations 4, 3 and 2 and we read chapter 1, again, at the foot of the Mount of Olives. While we were proclaiming, it dawned on us how wrong the attitude of mankind towards God is. Also our past was full of wrong things. So we confessed our past and repented. On our way, we saw the pigeons again. It was a special experience. The taxi drivers tried to get us in the taxi’s and at the end they greeted us with ‘Hallelujah’.

It was a tough day walking the whole day from morning till 6:00 PM in the shimmering heat. It was unbelievable how much strength we had because normally we wouldn’t be able to do this longer than half an hour. At the end of the day God showed us clearly that He was content with us that day. We finished the day by celebrating the Lord’s supper and anointing Corrie’s feet with the readyness to serve God.

Monday.
The instruction were to go to the Jaffa Gate and to walk, as far as possible, over the wall, and the remaining at the outside of the wall to the Lion’s Gate. We needed to proclaim Jeremiah 2, 3, 4 and 5 out loud over the city and urge them to return to their God instead of following all kinds of worldly powers and idols.

We were not at all allowed to enter the Old City. Through the crowd it was very hard to find where we could walk up to the top of the wall. But our eyes were directed to the little sign. During our prayers we got the picture that we were a two-horn Rams horn (Shofar). We proclaimed Jeremiah 2, 3, 4 and 5 and again we felt God’s grief. The call to return to God is intense. We were passed the Damascus Gate and needed to go back to the New Gate and from there on alongside the wall to the Lion’s Gate. Proclaiming from the Bible in the Muslim area we felt the tension, even outside the walls. And again we see the Mount of Olives. Corrie received the scripture: ‘I lift up my eyes to the hills, where my help comes from.’ I saw in a vision the return of Jesus. After walking five and an half hours we arrived back at the hotel.

Tuesday.
Joshua 6:3- “March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days.”

On the sixth day, we got the instruction to walk around the city, at each gate we had to proclaim that the gates would be cleansed, sanctified and opened for God’s word.

At the Jaffa Gate: 1 Peter 1
At the New Gate: 1 Peter 2
At the Damascus Gate: 1 Peter 3
At the Herod’s Gate: 1 Peter 4
At the Lion’s Gate: 1 Peter 5
At the Golden Gate: Acts 1
At the Dung Gate: Acts 2
At the Zion Gate: 1 Corinthians 13

Between the gates we pray that the walls of disbelief and idolatry may fall down, that the eyes may see and the ears may hear. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” 1 Cor. 2:9

We started at 10:00am. Even though the instructions seem easier than the day before, we experienced a lot of resistance. Physically, the Atrosis came back in the hip, knee and back. It is difficult going around the outside of the walls. This means praying, proclaiming in between the crowds of people. At the gates one of us proclaimed with our face to the gate opening and the other followed along, but was on the lookout. With the words in our mouth and the alertness in the eye we prayed. We strongly felt the presence of evil at the Damascus Gate and Herod’s Gate. Muslims were walking in and out. We saw rats come out of the walls, but also young kittens who hold each other with deep love. We proclaimed that the walls of disbelief and idolatry would fall; we asked forgiveness for the city. We charged the voices of the false prophets close to the mosques to be silent. And indeed they stopped within a minute, while normally they would go on for about half an hour. The call of 1 Peter to cleanliness, perseverance and deliverance was clearly reflected. We even felt the pain, literally. With a view on the Mount of Olives, we felt the return of the Messiah is close. This feeling was strongest when we are at the Golden Gate. At the Dung Gate, where Peter did his ‘Pentecoste sermon’, we proclaimed Acts 2, exactly that piece.

During our tour around the city walls we saw a lot of animals; scorpions, lizards, rats, cats, pigeons, ravens and other birds. In the Old City there live a lot of different people. At the Jaffa Gate we cleaned and consecrated ourselves and blessed the city. A ‘guide’ thanked us for our prayers for Jerusalem, but just to be sure we kept him at a distance. We are not allowed to enter the city.

Wednesday.
Acts 1:8- “…but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The instructions were to go to Golgotha and pray in all four corners. Facing north we were to pray John 19 and 20, facing west Luke 23 and 24, facing south Mark 15 and 16 and facing east Matthew 27 and 28.

The execution of this instruction confused us a little, because the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is in the Old City. According to traditions, it is the place where Jesus was crucified and buried. It’s located in the old centre and there is no gardentomb. We didn’t understand. We had to go to a gardentomb outside the Old City to a place that is called Golgotha. It was difficult to find where it is located, because the maps are unclear and only one mentioned the street names. It is the garden where Ferdi Meulenberg spoke, and where Henny Huisman came to know Jesus personally.

It seems to be a short task, but the maps didn’t help us at all and it seemed longer. Muslims pretended that they don’t speak English or know anything. Again we turned to God to direct our paths. We ended up at the right location, but it didn’t open up for another 2.5 hours. We decided to pray and got the instruction to return to the New Gate and proclaim there Ezekiel 40 to 48. A New Gate, a New Temple and a New City.

After some time the mosques started their afternoon prayers through the speakers. I proclaimed: ‘Silence the name of the false prophet, in Jesus name.’ But there was not enough authority. So Corrie joined me. The result was that within a short time the voices became silent.

We prayed for cleansing, that the walls of disbelief and idolatry would vanish, and for restoration of God’s Kingdomship. There was a lot of darkness and evil around us. After proclaiming and praying for one and an half hour we returned to the Gardentomb. In the center of the Gardentomb, we started our instructions. And the proclamation was in the form of a cross. Constantly we returned to the middle and then to a corner, to all the four points of the compass. After accomplishing the instructions, the pigeons returned, we celebrated the Lord’s supper together with a group of people there.

On our way back we needed to stay alert. Back in the hotel I got a picture from God, He nodded that is has been good. It was the same picture as on our way to Rome.

Thursday.
We woke up at 2.30 AM in the night to start on our trip back. We left the hotel with Psalm 122.

At the airport we prayed, extensively. Our return flight would be smooth. Upon arrival at Schiphol Airport there was unrest. We felt attacked. The train stopped in Roosendaal and there were too few buses. We prayed for rest and release of this unrest. Finally, we came home. There we cleansed and consecrated our house and property extensively, first around the premises, then in the shape of a cross. We finished in our living room and again there was a flash of lightning, as God’s answer.

And further…
It’s tough to return to daily routine, after being so close to God for such a period.
We are looking forward to the next command we receive from God.

For additional information you can read our web-log: www.togetherinthenameofjesus.com