Opinions of Sunday, 31 March 2013
Columnist: Quaye, Stephen A.
PART 1.
By: Stephen A.Quaye.
For eighteen months running before I set my foot on the Holy Land,” HEAR OH ISRAEL THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE, BLESSED IS HIS KINGDOM FOREVER AND EVER” I was posting my prayer request to God from Canada.
Shocking is it? Yes is very shocking hearing that but the fact is I was indeed as a Christian fellow who love God and want Go to take full control of my life and for that answer all my needs and requests for me, I was channeling my prayer requests through Jerusalem via the Western Wall or the Wailing Wall and they were all answered by God.
Therefore when the news broke out that the National Democratic Congress NDC government was going to sponsor 200 pastors to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Israel [Blessed is his kingdom forever and ever] I was shocked.
I had developed a strong interest to go and walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ wherever he walked, was raised, born, baptized, started his missionary work, suffered prosecution, crucifixion, died, buried and resurrected as well as ascended to heaven to get the needed blessing as a follower.
When I was a child, my grand mother used to caution me that should I commit any sin I will never go to Jerusalem. Oh yeah? Where is Jerusalem grand mother I will ask and she will point to heaven assuming that Jerusalem was in heaven.
I got to know that Jerusalem was not in heaven but on earth and for that matter the holy city of Israel in the Middle East. So after my wedding in January 1,2011 I returned to Canada to start preparation to go on such a wonderful pilgrimage to the Holy Land Israel,[ Blessed is his kingdom forever and ever].
My quest to visit the holy city was made strong following the stories told in the bible about how the savior Jesus was born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, turned water into wine at Cana, the miracles that took place at Galilee, Jordan and in Jerusalem.
My final decision to go to Jerusalem, was reached after listening to various miracles that took place in the lives of many Ghanaians who visited the Holy City and placed a prayer request into the cracks of the western wall.
For instance, a woman who had her money stolen by unknown persons but placed a request in the wall for her money to be returned and indeed three days after the thief returned the money to the victim.
Another brother [keeping his identity for security reasons], had told me how he placed his request in the cracks of the western wall asking God to migrate him as a new comer to Canada in several years back and it came to pass when he landed in Canada without any trouble.
So I started surfing the website doing my own research about how to successfully embark on my pilgrimage and come back with all the blessings one can receive from such pilgrimage.
Then I heard that a group from the Ghanaian Presbyterian Church in Toronto-Canada under the leadership of Reverend Frank Adu, was going on pilgrimage to the Holy land so I joined them which started from October 25- November 3, 2011.
From Tiberius in the north where ancient Roman empire ruled down to Nazareth where Jesus was raised, Cana where he turned water into wine, the Jordan river where he was baptized, Galilee where he started the missionary work and then to Jerusalem where he died and resurrected, the rest were all ancient monuments and places where life was once lived.
Jerusalem [PEACE BE UNTO THE LAND] the holy city is blessed as it is surrounded by mountains and in the old city Jerusalem [PEACE BE UNTO THE LAND] is the temple mount where Jesus went to say a prayer as recorded in the bible. The temple is no more but the western wall is where Jews believe all prayers from the world get to before ascending to heaven for God’s answer.
But apart from the holy city Jerusalem [PEACE BE UNTO THE LAND], where one can arrange to take a communion at Gethsemane, say a prayer for forgiveness at the base of the hill of Golgotha where Jesus was crucified, place a prayer request in the cracks of the western wall or the wailing wall, the rest are all sight seeing tour.
If the president will listen to an advice, it will be for his own good and that of the country to back out from such move and rather assemble these great pastors at the country side to pray for peace in Ghana instead of going to Israel.
The simple explanation given to this call on the president to back down is that in Jerusalem [PEACE BE UNTO THE LAND], one prays for his own peace and development and going to Israel [HEAR OH ISRAEL THE LAND OUR GOD IS ONE BLESSED IS HS KINGDOM FOREVER AND EVER] on pilgrimage is purely on sight seeing.
The events that took place in the ancient time, those that happened during the era of the saviour Jesus Christ, the monuments, tools and places of events as recorded in the bible become rear to you when you visit the country.
Especially a visit to Bethlehem, the birth place of Jesus Christ which is under the authority of the Palestinian government, the rest are the Masada, Armageddon where the last battle would be fought, Caesarea the Dead Sea and the many other places.
President John Dramani Mahamah, as a Christian recently admitted that the country was in crisis therefore the government’s intension to ship 200 pastors to the holy land to intercede for God to grant the country peace.
He was not wrong as 1 Kings 8:41-43 reveals how Solomon prayed asking God to listen to foreigners if they hear of his mighty power and come to pray to him from the Temple Mount now the Western Wall.
Prayer request placed in the cracks of the western wall really brings about miracles in ones life provided he is able to touch the wall and place his request in the cracks. But the same 200 pastors can intercede for the country by placing their prayer requests in the cracks of the western wall via the internet whiles in Ghana.
Before going on my pilgrimage tour, I had issues that were bothering me so I jotted it down on a piece of paper and placed it in the cracks said a prayer over it and came back to Canada. In a couple of weeks miracles took place and I bore testimonies of that to friends.
If the president feels the crisis facing the country ministers of God have to intercede on behalf of the country, they can do so without solely being shipped to Jerusalem to say a prayer before God will deliver the country.
Even if God will listen to prayers from these so called ministers of God from the Holy City Jerusalem[PEACE BE UNTO THE LAND], they can put their interceding prayer requests before the lord through Jerusalem western wall from Ghana and the miracles will take place.
How? You may ask. Just go to www.aish.com and it will give you the opportunity to place your prayer request for free on the internet. Apart from that, www.westernwallprayer.org can arrange for a rabbi to lead you in prayer at the wall for 40 days.
Also www.thekotel.com and watch live events at the wall on webcam, tweet your prayers dot com prints prayer requests for free and put them in the cracks for those who could not make it to Jerusalem from any part of the world not forgetting www.chabad.org or better still goggle western wall or how to place a prayer request into the western wall and it will give you many options to choose from.
After this explanation if the president still insists that the so called 200 pastors be made to go to Jerusalem and say a prayer, I will not doubt that the package is a thank you tour for the president’s praise pastors.
End.