I am on the Australian Board of the International Christian Chamber of Commerce (ICCC). Recently, we had our International Conference in Jerusalem which I attended. The following is my report on the conference. It challenged me, I hope it will do so for you.

The Commonwealth of Israel – Releasing a blessing for the nations

November 3-7^th, 2018, Jerusalem

The opening address for the conference was given by Jan Sturesson, Chairman of ICCC International on the evening prior to Day One of the conference.

The hour has come for ICCC to serve in a new way – reformation in practice.

DAY ONE

The Commonwealth of Israel – Releasing a blessing for the nations

What does it mean for Israel, the nations and the body of Christ?

The timing and location of the conference was strategic, Israel is celebrating its 70^th anniversary. It is no accident that the USA and other nations are or will move their embassies to Jerusalem. Do their leaders know that God will rule and reign from there in the Millennium? Probably not.  Little do these nations know how important it is for them to support Israel:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, as a shepherd divides His sheep from the goats. Then He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left hand.” Matthew 25:31-33

The sheep nations get to live on in the Millennial reign of Yeshua but the goat nations do not.

Will your nation be a sheep or goat nation?

Our International Board were Holy Spirit lead to choose Rick Riding of Succat Hallel as the opening speaker. Aligning with God and His purposes for this time.

Succat Hallel (Hebrew for Tabernacle of Praise) is a dynamic community of worshippers and intercessors from five continents drawn together to stand as watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem.

I will urge all people who want to connect with God’s purposes for these “last days” to connect with and support Succat Hallel. Rick challenged me to do all I can to ensure Australia is not a goat nation.

Recent events in Australia, particularly Scott Morrison’s elevation to Prime Minister and Josh Fryberg to Deputy, indicate God has given us a window of opportunity to get in step with His purposes. The fact our Prime Minister and his Deputy indicate they will consider moving the Australian embassy to Jerusalem is another very significant indicator, but requires significant prayer and Holy Spirit led action to become a reality. I will make sure all Prayer Networks in Australia get a copy of this document.

The second speaker, Calev Myers, Founder and President of Arise (Alliance to Reinforce Israel’s Security and Economy) was also a Holy Spirit inspired choice that reinforced the message given by Rick Riding that Israel is on track with God’s plan to be a blessing to the nations with emerging technologies that will change the world. One day of the ICCC conference was devoted to support the first ARISE SUMMIT more on that later.

The rest of the first day of the ICCC Conference was spent on: Leveraging the relationship between business organisations in the body of Christ and the state of Israel. Including Breakout Sessions.

Once again, the choice of speakers was Holy Spirit inspired particularly as Jan shared that he did not think all would turn up. ICCC played a significant role in connecting these men and forming what will be significant relationships – Jews/Christians.

Marian Cohen, Chairman of Israel Federal Bi-National Chambers of Commerce.

Robert Ilatov, Chairman Knesset Christian Allies and Israel Hi-Tech Caucus

Rabbi Tuly Weisz Jerusalem

Leaders of Christian Business Organisations present:

Timo Plutschinski, WEA (World Evangelical Alliance) Business Coalition

Dennis Peacocke, Go Strategic (Strategic Christian Services)

Arleen Westerhof, European Economic Summit

Wim Kater, CMBC (Certified Master Business Coaches) International

Jan Sturesson ICCC International

DAY TWO

Key note: A Commonwealth Future Starts with Prayer

Albert Veksler, Director of Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast Movement

The first-ever Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast was hosted at the Israel Knesset (Israeli Parliament) on June 6^th by the Speaker of the Knesset Yuli-Yoel Edelstein and Members of the Knesset, Robert Ilatov (Chairman of the Beiteinu party) and Rabbi Yahuda Glick.

More than 550 delegates from 56 countries attended, representing politicians, pastors, leaders, and business people from all walks of life (ICCC was well represented including our Chairman).

At the reception in the Knesset commemorating the 50-year anniversary of the reunification of the ancient city of Jerusalem, Mr Ilatov (as mentioned, a speaker on Day One of our conference) spoke of the need to stand together to promote the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy of Jerusalem as the undivided capital and ‘eternal home’ of the people of Israel. “Now is the time to put prayer into action and to put pressure on our governments to relocate their embassies to Jerusalem.”

Michele Bachman. Former U.S. Congresswoman. And head of the U.S. Allies Caucus, received a standing ovation as she gave her commitment on behalf of the U.S. to stand with Israel, including a reminder that those who bless Israel will be blessed (Genesis 12:2-3 and Acts 3:25).

After Albert Veksler on “the future starts with prayer”, there was a distinguished panel on:

“How do we stand in the GAP for Israel and Jerusalem?”

Panel speakers:

Dr Jorgen Buhler, Director, International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem (trained physicist and ordained minister (German Pentecostal Federation)

Israel Pochtar, Founder of Voice of Judah Israel and Senior Pastor in Ashdad. Hebrew speaking Messianic Congregation.

Voice of Judah Israel is a voice in the land that proclaims the Good News to the people of Israel; reaches out a helping hand to feed and clothe the poor, plants and cultivates congregations, and raises up a generation of servant leaders.

Dr Naim Khoury, cofounder of Holy Land Missions based in Bethlehem working with Arab Christians (60% of church members unemployed)

ICCC’s participation in the first Arise Summit 2018 (Connecting Businesses, Facilitating Investments in Israeli Industries, Advancing Peaceful Coexistence) in Tel Aviv on the third day of the conference was a major initiative for ICCC in how we can stand in the GAP for Israel and Jerusalem.

ARISE exists to combat such threats to the security and economy of Israel through highly strategic advocacy.

What’s the Impact of BDS on Palestinians?

Well over 100,000 Palestinians are employed, this very day, in Jewish businesses across Israel, Judea and Samaria. Currently, some 70,000 Palestinians possess Israeli work permits, with experts estimating that tens of thousands more are employed illegally by Jewish citizens of Israel. Approximately 30,000 Palestinians are employed in Jewish-owned businesses throughout the West Bank, providing upwards of USD $300,000,000 in salaries to Palestinians per annum.

Each salary earned by them supports an average of ten people, due to the traditional multi-generational co-habitation in Palestinian households. The very businesses which the boycott movement would like to shut down put food on the table for approximately 1,000,000 Palestinians every day. 

Arab Christians: All agreed, ICCC needs to consider how we work with people such as Dr Khoury to help, particularly with training (TWL) and mentoring of Arab Christian business people starting in Bethlehem.

Every ICCC Chapter needs to connect with local, State and National Prayer Networks to participate with prayer for the nation, prayer for Israel and other nations as led by the Holy Spirit.

The rest of the DAY THREE provided “A Taste of the Kingdom in business and working life” with testimonies and excellent choice of Breakout Sessions:

1. Business Clinic for Israeli Entrepreneurs.
2. Serving the Body of Christ using the new ICCC training materials – Transformed Working Life.
3. How to make a Biblical based business/life plan.
4. Stand in the GAP in prayer (What does it mean in real life).

The evening session “Releasing a blessing from Israel to the nations – Business in the days to come” was the last session of the conference as Day 4 was devoted to the Arise Summit.

The speaker Peter Tsuahira, Director of Or HaCarmel (Light of Carmel) Ministry Centre. It is a residential community to be a demonstration of the love of God to Israel. Since its beginning in 2002 it has become a place for the development and launching of new projects and areas of service for those in need. Peter is also an International Business Consultant.

He reinforced the message we had been getting since the start of the conference. God will rule nations when He returns and He will rule with a rod of iron. Zechariah expresses this well.

“And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain.” Zechariah 14:16-17

For me once again it asks the question; will my nation be a sheep or goat nation and what am I doing now to ensure the truth of where we are in Biblical history is made known.

My calling is to provide resources (power point sermons, podcasts and videos) to equip the “last days” church and to partner with organisations that understand the times and know their calling from God (www.powerpointsermons.net)

I am convinced that apart from its leading role in supporting Israel, ICCC is playing an important role at this time to both train up marketplace leaders and to connect with and support other marketplace ministries.