On to Jerusalem

While we were moving ahead with the consultation word camne that Peter Akinola, arcbishop of Nigeria abd a key leader had been denied an entry visa at the border into Jordan.Govermental help was requested, and extensive negotiations ensued, but nothing availed. Ap. Akinola could not come into the country. It was finally decided to move the rest of the consultation to Jerusalem when our travel arrangment people worked it out for all of us to stay in Jerusalem at no extra cost to any participant. The sad piece was that those among us who were not allowed by their governments to go to Israel could not go with us. Some were comissioned to stay with them and then bring a report back to the rest of us later in Jerusalem.
While we were very grateful for how quickly God provided us new accomodations, we were sad to part from those we had learned to love.

Added to this was the bad news that a completely false report aout our consutation had appeared in the London newspaper, the Telegraph accusing the GAFCON leaders of deciding split from the Communion, saying our plan was to lead a " schism." Consequently a press conference was called for this evening when we arrived in Jerusalem. Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney, Australia and the Rev. Dr. Vinay Samuel(Oxford Center for Mission Studies, Oxford, England) spoke at the press conference. Both did a masterful job of debunking the Telegraph's report as well as laying out the true purpose and agenda of the conference, even though a reporter from the Telegraph did his best to confirm the report that had appeared in his paper that morning. To no avail!

So, it has been a tough day.Just getting from Jordan to Jerusalem took most of the day, with meticulous screening for all of us both leaving Jordan and entering Israel. However, even with these difficulties, the singing at our evening was glorious and spirits are high.These are a very determined people who are used to difficulty. Tomrrow morning, we will receive a new agenda for these remaining days. Do continue to pray for us!