Sarah Liberman




FROM SARAH, OUR SABRA
ON THE GROUND IN ISRAEL

Dear Friend,

Shalom. In case you haven’t been following my reports from Israel in the Levitt Letter (LL) this past year and a half, please let me introduce myself. I look forward to enhancing the LL’s “On the Ground in Israel” perspective in this expanded format and think that you’ll appreciate the themes of Israel, both modern and Biblical, and how these observations can apply to our personal lives. I hope that telling you a little of my story will help you understand the history behind my local point of view.

Sarah with her three children

I was born to Jewish parents in Israel, where I now live with my wonderful Jewish husband (who made aliyah [emigrated] from the United States) and our three amazing children. I have lived in different areas of Israel for most of my life, but our family has settled in a lovely area in the north of Israel, near Caesarea — rural, calm, and far from the bustling city life of Israel’s main cities: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa.

When I was growing up, we lived in the Galilee region, and my parents came to faith in Yeshua (Jesus) through meeting Jewish believers, so I grew up in a Messianic home. At the time, only several hundred Messianic Jews lived in Israel. We moved to the outskirts of Jerusalem, where I spent my teenage years. Upon graduating from high school, I decided to pursue a professional career in business, earning a degree in communications from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and an M.B.A shortly after that.

After meeting my husband and marrying in Israel, we accepted an opportunity to move to California, where I quickly advanced my career working in corporate sales and marketing. My life was, according to any objective scale, going really well. Most Israelis will tell you that their dream is to live in America, or somewhere other than Israel, for at least a while.

I was living the American dream. However, I also felt this small but persisting feeling of emptiness inside. When my husband announced that we were moving back to Israel, my heart sank. I liked the comparative ease and convenience of comfortable American living and remembered how hard life could be in Israel. I followed my husband back to Israel, but not joyfully. I hadn’t yet grasped that for Believers (“Believers” is short for “believers in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah”), God truly wants to partner with us to effect His Kingdom on Earth. In order to make that connection, I needed to ask Him what His plan was for my life instead of living out my own plan.

Esther Accuses Haman (Esther 7:1–10) engraving by Gustave Doré (1832–1883), from Doré’s English Bible

RETURNING TO ISRAEL

Since returning to Israel, I’ve learned and lived out this profound truth: Your identity is linked to your God-given destiny. My problem lay in the fact that, at the time, I didn’t have a clue what that destiny was!

I recalled that an orphan girl named Esther lived in a foreign country with no idea that the identity she was instructed to conceal would play a major role in her destiny. Positioned in a palace and against all odds made queen, when her own Jewish people were threatened with annihilation, her courage and obedience enabled her to save her people. Esther’s uncle Mordecai encouraged her to act, telling her that she had been placed in her position “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

Another young girl whose identity served a major role in her destiny is found in 2 Kings chapter 5. Naaman’s servant girl — we don’t know her name — had suffered adversity, being captured and taken prisoner by the Syrians in one of their raids of northern Israel. Still, she didn’t let her painful circumstances stop her from being compassionate and doing good. She told her master to go and see the prophet Elisha so he could be healed of his leprosy and live.

As a result, he repented, and his family followed the God of Israel. In the Kingdom of God, nothing is wasted. Tragedies and hardships that tear us apart, even a life not working out the way we imagined, can be used by God to turn our lives into meaningful destiny changes for others.

Eleven years ago, when our family moved back to Israel, I found myself far removed from everything I enjoyed and considered fulfilling. As a very young child, I had dreamed of singing with crowds of people, but I had abandoned that dream. When I decided to ask God about His plan for my life, He restored my vision, and I dedicated my life to worshipping Him.

In 2014, I recorded my first worship album, I Am Before You, and doors began to open for me to lead worship. In 2016, I recorded my second album, A Pure Heart, and even wider doors opened. I launched a 10-day study program in Israel called “Ascend,” which I direct with my team, teaching about the Biblical principles of worship and hosting many from the Nations in the Land for a meaningful time of meeting with God.

In 2019, I released my third album, God of Miracles. I now travel throughout Israel and around the world, speaking as well as singing and leading worship, bringing the sounds of modern and ancient worship from Israel to the Nations. I spend my life encouraging people to worship the King of Kings, and I can’t think of a more fulfilling way to live, because I know that I’m right in the center of God’s will.

GOD’S PLANS FOR ONE’S LIFE

Moses, a son of Hebrew slaves in Egypt, grew up in Pharaoh’s palace. An incredible set of circumstances led him to his destiny of confronting the very system and man in whose palace he grew up. At age 40, Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite slave, an act that pushed Moses into the desert to wander for forty years, dazed and confused and far from the riches and comfort of the only life he had known.

Esther Accuses Haman (Esther 7:1–10) engraving by Gustave Doré (1832–1883), from Doré’s English Bible

One day, God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush that was not consumed (Exodus 3:2). Look at what the Scripture says: “When the Lord saw that he had turned to look, God called to him from within the bush…” (Exodus 3:4). God waited for Moses to turn away from his regular pattern and turn toward Him. It was when God saw Moses turn that He spoke to him concerning his true identity, destiny, and purpose. I wonder how many of us don’t turn to look while God is waiting to speak to us.

Last year, I had such a moment with the Lord: I turned toward Him and listened. Today, God has me on an exciting and very groundbreaking journey to reach the Arab-speaking world for Him. He has planted a deep hunger in me for the salvation of Israel and the neighboring nations. As a “little, Hebrew-speaking Jewish girl” named Sarah, I am aware of my namesake in the Bible inflicting pain on Ishmael and Hagar. I want to be an agent of good.

What this new call from God will look like and how this adventure will unfold are impossible to guess. I do know that they will be innovative and meaningful for those whom God is looking to save through His Son, because this new road is His work by His design, not my own.

God has placed each one of us, like Esther, specifically for the exact time in which we are living. He’s also placed in our path the people with whom we interact. Us living out our God-given destiny is immensely important to God because we are here by His design. No one except you can partner with Him to fulfill His purpose in your unique and meaningful way.

Perhaps you are reading my story and supposing that a God-given destiny isn’t relevant to you because you’re just living out your life, working your regular job … or maybe you don’t have a job right now. Let me repeat: Nothing is wasted in the Kingdom of God. Even now, He is “working all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

If you will give Him everything you have — however insignificant it may seem to you now — then, as He did with the boy who offered the fish and loaves in John 6:9, God will breathe on it and bless it. My life is proof that your small step of obedience will have a greater impact than you can imagine. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways press on to know Him and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5–6).

Im tirdefu lada-at oto
“Press on to know HIM!”
(Hosea 6:3 NLT),

Sarah Liberman

P.S. Do you have a life story or testimony of how your identity was linked to your destiny? Please write and tell me your story! *

Your personal invitation to join Zola Tours in the Holy Land

After all the craziness of sheltering at home, how wonderful does it sound to go to Greece, take a Greek Islands cruise, and then head to Israel? It sounds perfect to us. In decades of taking tours to Israel, we never once had to cancel until the shelter-in-place order this past spring. It disappointed all of us, of course, but now the same tour guides and agents we’ve relied on for years are eager to welcome us back!

Zola Tours manager Sandra can walk you through the registration process. Call her at 214-696-9760, email her at travel@levitt.com, or visit levitt.com/tours. The hotels are luxurious, the food is out of this world, the motor coaches are first class, and our guides are second to none. I guarantee you will fall in love with Greece, Israel, and their people. We hope to see you this fall or next spring on this trip of a lifetime!

NOTE:
For Fall 2020 we are extending our final payment / non-refundable deadline date from July 5 to August 4 for the Grand Athens and Ultra Grand options!
Fall Tour 2020 options
Prices include tips, taxes, & fuel surcharge (subject to change).
Deluxe (Israel only)Oct 19–29$5,288
Grand Petra (Israel & Petra)Oct 19–Nov 01$6,488
Grand Athens (Greece & Israel)Oct 13–29$8,288
Ultra Grand (Greece & Israel & Petra)Oct 13–Nov 01$9,488
Spring Tour 2021 options
Deluxe (Israel only)Mar. 8–18(prices pending)
Grand Petra (Israel & Petra)Mar. 8–21(prices pending)

A Note from David and Kirsten

David (center, under fish logo) and Kirsten Hart (on dais, left, tilted head) and Jeff Seif (on dais, right) with Ken Berg (far right) and other staff from Berg Productions arrived back in the studios (with masks and social distancing), May 2020

Shalom, Sarah Liberman! We feel very blessed to be able to read her incredible insights and on-the-ground observations in this monthly Personal Letter. Sarah, our sabra (Jewish and born in Israel), will write in more depth than the Levitt Letter’s space allows about how God is working in the Holy Land. We look forward to getting these firsthand reports each month, as seen through her Israeli eyes. If you have any questions or are interested in any topic that relates to life in Israel, please write to our P.O. Box or email staff@levitt.com.

We’re back in the TV studio taping new series for our broadcast, looking forward to filming again on location in Israel. While the world’s eyes are focusing on various types of turmoil, we ministry workers are busy planning and developing new teachings and programs. Your monthly donations are being effectively sown, as you can see from our broadcasts and publications. We’re fortifying the ministry’s treasure chest of teaching to proclaim Yeshua to the Nations. Please see our ever-growing storehouse of wisdom — teaching archives — at www.levitt.com.

Our Jewish Roots programs this month

Letters and Revelation Preview
Dr. Jeffrey Seif and David and Kirsten Hart answer letters from viewers and discuss COVID-19’s effect on the ministry. See a preview of our new series on prophecy Revelation: Unveiling the Visions that begins next week.
Jeff Seif

Revelation: Unveiling the Visions

The last book of the Bible is filled with veiled visions that look toward the edge of human history. Filmed just before the COVID shutdown, Dr. Jeffrey Seif walks us through each of Revelation’s 22 chapters, including their glorious visions and angelic visitations along with darkness and judgment. Amidst the turbulence of trying times, this series encourages you to release your fear of the future and focus on God’s plan of salvation and ultimate restoration. These eight programs include insights from David and Kirsten Hart and music by Zola Levitt.

Message to the Churches
The Book of Revelation brings its readers a promise of blessing. In the first two chapters, Jesus appears to John as the great Judge and addresses the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, and Thyatira.
Vision of Heaven
Chapters 3, 4, and 5 reveal a rare bright spot in Revelation. The message to the seven churches also includes Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. A peek behind the veil gives a glimpse of God’s throne and Heaven singing praises to the Lamb.
The Six Seals
Revelation takes a dark turn in chapters 6 and 7 as the first waves of judgment begin to pour out on the Earth. The four horsemen of the Apocalypse bring pestilence, war, famine, and death. God’s servants from Israel and every nation received His seal.
Impending Judgments
Chapters 8–10 show that the Word of God is both bitter and sweet. The Seven Trumpets herald judgment for those who refuse to turn from wickedness. Believers can call on Messiah to help them persevere through difficulties.

Despite the recent, ongoing upheaval in everyone’s lives, our ministry marches on with its mission. Thankfully, the weekly TV program — Our Jewish Roots — and our monthly publications have continued uninterrupted. We have yet to stop preaching the Word of God and the roots of Christianity as seen through Jewish eyes.

Decades ago, Zola Levitt realized that opening the eyes of Believers to the vitally important Jewish roots of our faith is worth the behind-the-scenes efforts of a television ministry. You, our supporter and prayer partner, realize that also, and we sincerely appreciate your faithful help.

Sha’alu shalom Yerushalayim!
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!” (Psalm 122:6),

David & Kirsten

P.S. Did you know that by prayerfully and financially supporting this ministry, you also uphold ministries in Israel? Zola’s heart extended beyond a television outreach to augment what God is doing through Messianic Believers in the Holy Land. Your dollars reach across America and all the way to the Middle East via international TV broadcasts and more. *

Zola Levitt Ministries is ECFA approved and has Charity Navigator’s top rating of 4 stars.

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