Our first Friday night in Israel we attended Shabbat evening services at the Messianic congregation in Akko. Katzir Asher means ‘harvest of Asher’. This has at least a couple meanings in that Akko is part of the tribal area of Asher and is famous in part for never being conquered by Joshua. Throughout history Akko was overcome only a very few times. Even Napoleon was repelled at Akko during his attempted conquest of the Holy Lands. It is made up mostly of Arabs and the Jews that do live in Akko have enjoyed very good relationships with the Arabs over most of history. Harvest of Asher was a church plant of Tents of Mercy. It began as a social services outreach by working with a school for the blind that was of special interest to the then mayor and his wife. Because of this favor, the leadership was allowed to establish a home church.
The founders included Guy Cohen, a young man of Moroccan descent and of the priestly family of Cohen. His father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc., were all Rabbi’s. Guy was expected to follow suit but had a rather dramatic encounter with Yeshua HaMessiach. (Jesus the Messiah) and left rabbinical school. Because of this he was disowned and shunned by his family. Establishing a Messianic congregation in Akko has been very, very difficult. The opposition has come from the Ultra-Orthodox Jews and not Arabs! In fact Katzir Asher is the first congregation of believers EVER in history that we know of. (Crusaders hardly count)
Think about this for a moment: the land that Joshua didn’t conquer, that was home to pagan religions like Baal and Asherah, almost unconquerable by the mightiest armies in history, was planted through helping a municipal service to the blind, is run by a man of Jewish priestly ancestry and is being watered by complete personal sacrifice. No need to overstate things here…that is the way it is! The next day we prayed for Akko on its’ ancient walls; we prayed for complete salvation of Jew and Arab; we prayed for Guy and the leaders to be anointed for their calling, we prayed….but I don’t think I realized the significance of what was being prayed for at the time. What a privilege to be a small part of this miracle!
God…once again I am humbled at the thought of my brothers and sisters in Akko, by what they are doing and all that they continue to sacrifice! Give them favor with all the peoples of the city may all of Akko see Your Holy Face!
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