Last Saturday, our brother Sergey joined a special hiking tour organized by Beit Hallel near Jerusalem. The group of about fifty people included both believers from our congregation and unbelievers — men and women who had never heard the Gospel before, but who had connected with us through Beit Hallel’s various outreach projects. This tour was created to build fellowship, to share the beauty of God’s Word in the very land where it took place, and to gently open hearts to the truth of Yeshua.
As the group set out along the forest trail, Sergey quietly prayed in his heart: “Lord, give me the right words and the right moment to share what You want to say to this group.”
What was meant to be just a day of hiking soon turned into a divine appointment.
Near the end of the trail, the group came to a spring hidden inside a small cave — a place observant Jews often use as a mikveh (ritual bath), especially during the holidays. It was just two days after Yom Kippur, and the professional guide from the tour company (not a believer) explained how many people, even from a nearby hospital, had come to immerse there. With a smile, he added that a few wheelchairs had been left behind afterward — and wondered aloud whether perhaps someone had been healed.
That remark opened the door for the Gospel. Sergey was immediately reminded of John 5, where Yeshua met the man who had waited by the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years, longing for healing. Right there, by the spring, Sergey opened his Bible and read aloud:
“When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’ … Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’”
John 5:6–8
At first, just a few listened, but soon all of the unbelievers in the group drew near. They leaned in as Sergey shared that it was not the water that healed — it was the Living Word Himself. And the same Yeshua who healed then still heals today — bodies, minds, and hearts.
The presence of the Holy Spirit was tangible among those who listened.
Even the tour guide was intrigued. He asked what feast the passage referred to, since the verse mentioned a Jewish festival. That innocent question became another opportunity to explain how the biblical feasts all point to God’s redemption and His desire to dwell among His people — a witness not only to the unbelievers, but also to the guide who had never heard it explained before.
The impact was undeniable. Most of the unbelievers in the group were so touched by what they heard that they decided to begin attending Beit Hallel’s services — taking a first step from curiosity toward fellowship and faith.
That Saturday hike became much more than a walk in the woods. It became a spring of living water flowing in the midst of people hearing the Gospel for the first time — and some even choosing to draw nearer to the source.
“Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 4:14
Through one quiet prayer and one bold step of faith, Sergey became a vessel of Messiah’s fragrance in that forest.
“Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.”
2 Corinthians 2:14
Every Step Can Become a Testimony
This story reminds us why we gather, walk, and serve together — because every moment can become a testimony, and every heart willing to share can release the fragrance of Yeshua.
Thank you, dear friends, for your faithful prayers and partnership. Because of you, the living water is reaching dry and thirsty hearts all across Israel — in city streets, hospitals, homes, and even on quiet trails in the forest.
