Hello Family and Friends,
2011 is over and we have now moved on into 2012. Here are the highlights of 2011 and a preview of what is to come in 2012.
2011
* In March we found out that we were going to have a little blessing that would arrive sometime in November. On November 19th Shirel Joy [sheer-el] joined our family. 
We absolutely love her. It is taking a bit of getting used to but we wouldn't trade her for the world. It was a nice blessing to have my (Samantha's) mom here for the first 6 weeks of having Shirel with us. Even though each baby is different, it helped to have someone here who had gone through it already. We are now on our own and managing as best we can. It is a new and good learning curve for both of us.
We absolutely love her. It is taking a bit of getting used to but we wouldn't trade her for the world. It was a nice blessing to have my (Samantha's) mom here for the first 6 weeks of having Shirel with us. Even though each baby is different, it helped to have someone here who had gone through it already. We are now on our own and managing as best we can. It is a new and good learning curve for both of us.* At the beginning of the year we were doing a Thursday night Bible study with the youth of Succat Hallel, learning about being forerunners. Then, when the weather was nicer, we went out on the streets and worshipped on Thursday nights, praying for opportunities to strike up conversations with non-believers. After that, most of the youth that were with us on a normal basis went off to the army. Just to explain; every Israeli, regardless of gender, has to join the army after high school. So we must take into account that youth will come and go. In the last part of the year, we started a young adults Bible study with people from Succat Hallel. We are still enjoying it. We went through the book of Matthew and are now spending time praying and focusing on the House of Prayer and where it is related to us in the scriptures
.* In July we had the ELAV Succat Hallel Intensive, which was to train local youth and young adults in being a part of the House of Prayer and in Harp and Bowl worship. Even though we had heard some of the teachings the year before, we still received new understanding and revelation as to what God is asking of us in the House of Prayer context. We are now starting to get ready to prep for this summer's Intensive.
* Then came the ELAV Conference. It was absolutely amazing. Eddie James was the guest worship leader and Wes Hall was the guest speaker. Without planning, the theme that came out was about establishing the house of prayer, whether it meant joining an already existing one or simply becoming one , through living a life style of prayer.
* And then finally what we had be praying for arrived. In September we officially began our season of full time ministry with Succat Hallel. The support money came through and I (Stefan) was able to quit my job. We are now down at Succat Hallel putting in 15hrs in the prayer room per week and about another 15hrs in which I(Samantha) do administration and I(Stefan) work on developing new music. We are loving the watches that we are doing. I(Stefan) get to lead a few and I (Samantha) can't wait until Shirel is old enough to sleep through a watch so I can sing and dance again. As of now I run the overhead words and sound, which is still fun.
*To close the year, we went to an Arabic/Hebrew worship night with Jews and Arabs from around the country worshipping the One and Only God together. I(Stefan) had the privilege of playing on a worship team combined of Arab and Israeli worship teams. God moved and we all went home with victory in our hearts and bridges between our two peoples.
2012
* We will be visiting the U.S from 6 Feb - 2 March to see my(Samantha) family and speak to supporters. So with that in mind; please let us know if you would like to meet with us. We will be in Minnesota only this time around.
* We will be having another intensive this summer. Pray that all moves smoothly as we approach it. We realize that there are more than a few months until then but with all of our schedules, believe it or not, time is still a challenge.
* We will be having the next ELAV Conference in August. Pray that things run smoothly with that as well. The costs for this yearly conference are normally astronomical. Those who watched it on GOD TV, will know what we mean. Pray that Israeli youth and young adults begin to burn for God as we approach August. We have seen the enemy keep kids at home in a spiritually dormant state, so pray that they awaken to what God is doing in this hour through this conference.
* Our finances are still at the bare minimum at the moment. We bless God for what we've seen from month to month, yet we live with the reality that He needs to make rent and utilities happen from month to month. And now with the little one here, we are pushed to trust Him even more. Please pray that we are aligned with the right people who feel the call to support us here. Our desire is to see enough come in so that what comes in for us at Succat Hallel will go to more Israelis who feel the call to be in the House of Prayer full time.
If you are going to continue or start supporting us finacially this coming year, please drop us a note and let us know and let us know how much, if you have not already. We are very grateful for your support and prayers. God bless you this year.
We somewhat felt that she was mostlikely coming earlier than her due date which was the 21st of November, and soshe did, two days earlier after approximately 18 hours of labor. So now, going back to October; it was a good month. Wehad Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), then Succot (Feast of Tabernacles) andduring Succot a retreat in the Galilee with our congregation. As far as SuccatHallel goes we kept with our normal schedule for the month. We continued withSunday night, all day Monday, Tuesday evening and Thursday morning. We missedone Thursday for the retreat and I (Samantha) missed a few days because of lackof transportation during the holidays. Being pregnant I was unable to walk thedistance. Then towards the end of the month we had to drop Sundays for ourbirthing class. God's been moving during the watches. We've been enjoying our Thursday morningswhen we pray for the U.S. In that watch we pray for revival in the Americansociety and then lift up our government. God shows up every time. The Thursdaynights on the streets have been put on hold for the last month due to weatherand some change of plans according to what we felt led by the Holy Spirit to doat the moment. As we approached November, the young people that joined us on thestreets have not been able to show up due to their schedules leaving us with afew guys including myself (Stefan) as the only Hebrew speaker. So between that,the pouring rain and being met by day to day things that get in the way, it’sbeen a challenge getting out. However, Thursday nights have still been veryfruitful. After waiting on the Lord we began having a discipleship biblestudy with the Succat Hallel young adults. It's been very good. We've been going throughthe book of Matthew, four chapters a week. We start the evening by gettingtogether and praying for each other. Following that we grab some snacks and sittogether and dive into the word. Each week a different facilitator would takethe evening. We would create a safe place for people to express their opinionsand revelations on what the Lord was showing them out of what we read. Now asmuch as the main group is a young adult one, we do vary with most of the peoplebeing in their 20s, a few 30s, and Jon Mark's son who is 11, who decided hewould join us in this since he's been so hungry for God and His presence. On the 10th of November Samantha's mom arrived in the expectancy ofour baby girl due to be born any time in the two weeks after that. Then onFriday the 18th of November at around midnight came our long expected moment.Shirel was coming! We rushed to the hospital that night at around 3am Saturdaymorning and she was with us by quarter to six in the evening, right at the endof Shabbat. The labor was not an easy one, but we had support from Jon Mark'swife Sandra, who assisted us by being there with us through the whole time. Wewere blessed with her being there. We benefited from her experience as a motherof six and also from her prayers. As we waited we prayed and worshiped in thedelivery room undisturbed by those around. I (Stefan) remember at that timebeing stirred to declare that our little girl would not come any later than theending of the Sabbath. 
Then after a long labor Shirel was finally here with usat 5:43pm. I (Stefan) was overjoyed, having waited so long for this moment andhaving been day dreaming of this for a while. Now the moment was finally hereand we were finally able to hold this bundle of joy in our arms.We haven't been sleeping much since she came home and things are bound tochange with our Succat Hallel schedule, but we see a future of joy and of afullness of God's presence in our lives as a newly enlarged family. On thatnote, keep our night times in prayer. It's been okay but we definitely need ourrest. May we know the fullness of God's goodness in our lives especiallythrough this new season.