It’s hard to believe that 2010 is nearly over! We have been taking a look back at our calendar and are thanking our Creator for all that he accomplished through this ministry he has called us to.

This year started out with the release of our new CD Hoop of Life in January. Hoop of Life went on to be nominated for the Best Gospel/Inspirational recording for the Native American Music Awards this year.

This is the 7th time RainSong has been nominated for this award–Creator is opening new doors for the Gospel through these nominations. We want to thank everyone who voted for us. We are still working on writing new songs but we have taken a break from recording so Terry can work on a new book he is writing.

This new book takes a look at the historic and prophetic landscape of America taking into account all that has happened in relationship to the Native peoples of this land. It looks at the teachings of the Bible regarding Righteousness and Justice in light of how America was founded. We hope to have this book published in early 2011.

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I was asked to give a quick report on our trip to Israel but quick seems nearly impossible since it was an incredibly busy time packed with one amazing experience after the other. Can you believe the following is an “abbreviated version”!

Rainsong was joined by Sean Soukkala a young Ojibwe man from the Fon Du Lac Reservation in Northern Minnesota. He is learning more about the bible and growing in his faith. It was so great to see Israel through his eyes since he didn’t know what to expect. For him this was his first time to step out and share his faith with strangers on the street and he did better than we could have hoped for. Through all of this time he drew closer to God and received some significant healing in his life.

So for us this trip was about Sean’s journey and about touching the people of the land with the Great Story and the message of Yeshua. We carried 200 copies of The Great Story from the Sacred Book which is our Storytelling CD that tells the narrative of the bible through Native American storytelling style.

Traveling to Israel is like taking a time machine and sending yourself back. Well almost… It’s also a sophisticated, technically advanced society… the ancient world and the modern rolled into one.

After arriving in Tel Aviv we boarded our bus and began a long drive through military check points, through lush valleys, across the desert to the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth. We began our time together at a Feast of Tabernacles celebration hosted by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. Dinner, music and dance and a powerful message by Reinhard Bonnke was served up to thousands on the shore of the Dead Sea. Our tour leaders were smart enough to give us some resting time at the Dead Sea after the long flight and before the busy week ahead. So we enjoyed a good float on the saltiest water in the world looking across to the country of Jordan. No boats on the Dead Sea.

On our way to Jerusalem we took a walk through Qumran the site of the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls. An amazing story.

Our tour guide was born in Israel, raised as a Jew and is now a follower of our Messiah Yeshua. Tour guides in Israel are heavily educated in the history of the land, the history of the different people groups that live there, the bible and modern day cultures as well. Speaking perfect “American English” but with a first language understanding of Hebrew, it was beautiful to see the Holy Spirit bring it all to life as he wove together scripture with culture and history.

I was amazed when he quoted from Isaiah 27: 5-7 “In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit.” Did you know that today Israel is a major exporter of fresh produce, especially fruits of all kinds and a world leader in agricultural technologies?

In Jerusalem we prayed at the Western Wall with thousands of pilgrims from all over the world celebrating Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) in the traditional way. It was very crowded.

RainSong led our group in a time of worship in the Upper Room. This room of course is not the original one since most of the old city is now maybe 30 or 40 feet above where it originally was. So today’s Upper Room is a newer room built above the original. But the presence of the Holy Spirit is powerful in that place… It seems that when we sang in there that our voices were multiplied many times over.

Later while resting in a square in the Jewish Quarter RainSong began to play. Softly at first then more strongly with the guitar, flute and hand drum. We sang songs about Yeshua our redeemer. A few people stopped to listen and drop shekels in a guitar case we mistakenly left open. One young man, wearing his orthodox clothing, stood and listened for a long time. He smiled and danced around. He stayed until we finished and told us how much he loved the music.

I often have the feeling in the Old City that the rocks (nearly everything is built of rock) are just bursting to cry out. I can almost hear them humming… “Hosannah… Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”.

This being Sean’s first time, nothing was lost on him. I think he felt and tasted and touched it all and the Holy Spirit moved on him powerfully.

On Friday we were blessed to be asked to the Sabbath meal and meeting of a Messianic Jewish fellowship at a house in Tel Aviv. It’s a funny story of our bus driver taking us into a residential neighborhood, finding a place to park the big, purple tour bus and quietly leading 26 people through the neighborhood streets to find the exact home that hosts the “secret underground church”.

It was an amazing time of fellowship for the meal. Several of the people greeted us with astonishment. One man remarked with tears in his eyes… “This is a fulfillment of prophecy that the American Indians would come to us!!! I can’t believe it, I just can’t believe it… God is so good! Prophecy fulfilled before my eyes!”

As RainSong, along with Sean, led worship the whole atmosphere in the room began to change preparing the way for David’s Herzog’s message and the Holy Spirit fell… Two men from Argentina asked Jesus to fill their hearts with his spirit. Another man was healed from a hernia. There were several reports of other healings and God touched the hearts of some for the first time. Terry and I were led to pray for a Jewish young man who just looked like we imagine Jesus would have looked… and the Holy Spirit touched him in a significant way. So many things happened that night. I believe that group will be growing and multiplying from there.

On Sunday we partnered with a local ministry for some out reach times in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv. In the morning we drove to the Main bus station in Jerusalem. Our plan was to hand out sweet rolls to soldiers passing through and look for opportunities to talk with them and pray for them. But it was nearly impossible to strike up a conversation with folks rushing to catch their next bus. It seems the soldiers are watching their weight or they aren’t too keen on taking food from strangers. But we did discover that they do want to talk and several of them spent time with Sean and Kyle his roommate.

Later that evening we drove to Tel Aviv and set up a barbecue in a park and fed several hundred people hot dogs and hamburgers in pita bread. Since this was considered to be a dangerous neighborhood we came accompanied by two armed guards.

RainSong drew a crowd in our Native American regalia and we danced and sang for hours. That night we passed out 120 of our Great Story from the Sacred Book CD’s. We prayed for many people from all over the world… Nigeria, Nepal, Ethiopia, Sudan and Darfur. Many of these people are refugee immigrants to Israel and were thankful for someone who would pray for them and tell them about Jesus.

On Monday night RainSong led worship at the House of Prayer for Jerusalem. The room was packed and we stood in front of large windows that looked out on Mt Zion and the “Temple Mount” area. Again the Holy Spirit fell as we sang and David ministered. Several people were healed from sicknesses and injuries. A couple from Ireland prayed for Jesus the Messiah to come into their lives. We gave several of our Great Story CD’s to the IHOP leaders to sew into Jerusalem.

Much of our time was spent visiting the exciting sites like the tunnels that go under the Temple Mount. Here orthodox Jews pray 24/7 in front of a rock wall that they believe to be just below the actual site of the Holy of Holies 50 feet below the Arab Quarter of the Old City. We spent time at the pool of Bethesda, the Temple steps and walked around the Temple Mount. Boarding a bulletproof bus we traveled through the West Bank check points to spend some time resting on the rocks of Beth El… where Jacob dreamed of the Ladder with the Angels ascending and descending. RainSong played flute and guitar and the people rested and had many amazing dreams…

Even though Terry and I had been baptized many years ago we found it so exciting to join Sean in his baptism in the Jordan River. Why not get baptized in the same river as Jesus?

On Wednesday we took a long bus ride through the Golan Heights and the Druze villages to a ski lift on Mount Herman. There we rode the lift to the top and walked through several military outposts to reach the very top of the mountain. This was the site of the Mount of Transfiguration and an incredibly historic place. From there we could see into Syria and Lebanon as well as Israel. Our tour guide had never been there before and was so excited. He told us the stories of the Six Day War and the battles with the Syrians. We prayed and prophesied over the countries and the land. We were also able to speak with some of the soldiers. They were so happy to talk with us and take pictures with one hand on a grenade launcher and a big smile on their faces.

RainSong took to the streets of Tiberius on our last evening. Dressed in regalia we immediately drew a crowd of young men from the local Orthodox Jewish school. They couldn’t believe they were seeing “Red Indians” as they called us. They loved Seans songs and began to dance around him. Later we moved down the pier a bit and the crowd grew larger with many Orthodox Jewish adults asking questions… and wanting to hear all about why we were there and what we were singing. Darlene prayed with two ladies who sang her songs from the psalms in Hebrew. We passed out 70 of our Great Story CD’s… everyone wanted one and they went fast. It was the best kind of “outreach” we could have done. Terry addressed the crowd and told them “We are Native American Indians from America, we are here to pray for blessing on the land and the people. We want you all to know that we believe in the God of Israel and love the people here because of Yeshua the Messiah!” We were told later that the name of Yeshua was whispered and repeated through the crowd!

In 10 days we visited many different regions of Israel, prayed over the land and with many people… Jews and Gentiles from many lands, and we gave away 200 CD’s in Jerusalem, Tiberias and Tel Aviv.

There are so many more stories that we could tell and would love to share with anyone who wants to hear more!