Most of my understanding about Israel in 1983 was from reading the Bible. I knew that oil in Israel was a blessing God had promised. It was also in 1983 that the Lord told me I would go to Israel. I saved my pennies and obtained a passport by faith. In the years following this dream, I watched the news for any information that would relate to an amazing find of oil in Israel—and I prayed. I learned that the places on the map where I saw the oil in Israel were in areas south of Haifa, south of Tel Aviv and near the south end of the Dead Sea. The areas where the oil drained from are the geographical areas of Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia. I informally gathered bits and pieces of information through the years. I developed a desire to join an archeological dig and thought perhaps that might be the avenue to bring me to Israel but it never materialized. In 2000, I began to use the internet to find more information about Israel. I also continued reading and studying scripture with a deep sense of connection with the land of Israel while my relationship with the Lord grew on many levels. In 2002, at Pesach (Passover), I finally had the opportunity to visit Israel. I went again that year during Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) and again in 2003, and 2004. Beginning with my first visit, my connection to Israel, her land and her people, grew even deeper. The more I understood about Israel, the Middle East and oil, the more I prayed. I met a pastor from California in Jerusalem, in 2004. I returned in 2005 to marry him and serve together as ministers in Jerusalem. In 2006, my research on the internet led me to find lots of information about oil exploration in Israel. I was excited to share with anyone who would listen about Zion Oil—a company with a divine vision and desire to bless Israel. They were Christian Zionists, men of integrity. I was thrilled to know that someone else had a dream like mine to see Israel prosper by finding the hidden oil promised in scripture. I even considered writing a letter to John Brown to tell him about my dream and that I knew he had to drill deeper. But I waited for God’s timing. I wanted to buy stock when it first became available—but as ministers, we had no funds. So I continued to pray—praying for God’s blessing of oil for Israel.
In 2009, we returned to Rochester, NY, while my husband recovered from some health issues. I worked part-time as a software consultant while caring for him while he regained his strength. In February 2010, God led me to investigate getting a mortgage because rent was so expensive. Suddenly, I found myself with a pre-approval of a mortgage. Two weeks later an offer was accepted on a house. The house was perfect. A ranch built in 1955 that needed some extensive cosmetic work, but not more than I could handle. The previous owner built the house but had passed away. The house had been left through the cold NY winter with no utilities so there were some complications in accomplishing the closing that was originally to happen at the end of March. At the beginning of June, we had taken pre-possession and were living in the house while we painted and began upgrading the kitchen and bathroom. When the tile around the shower began leaking into the basement, I worked to clean out the old grout. However the wall was so rotted from being wet that the soap dish fell into my hand with a huge lump of plaster and newspaper stuck to the back of it. One large piece of newspaper fell into the wall. As I cleaned up the mess, I reached into the wall to retrieve it. The paper was from an advertisement section of The Daily News, November 25, 1955. The paper was brown with age and had some water damage but was fairly legible. Later, on closer examination, I saw not only stoves, toasters, ice skates and various things for sale, but one tiny news article in the middle of a page. I gasped as I read the title, “First Oil Well Gushes in Israel”. I had to photograph the page to decipher all the writing.
Heletz Oil Field, Israel, Nov 24, (AP) Israel’s first oil well started production today when Development Minister Mordecai Bentov touched a lever which sent crude oil 4800 feet down gushing into huge tanks. After three or four days of tests, the oil will be taken to the oil refineries at Haifa.
I was surprised that I never heard of the Heletz Oil Field, especially after I researched and found that it continued to produce through the years. I noted that it had been in the news several times in the past year and wondered what it all meant. I marveled that God had orchestrated events for this paper to be placed in the wall of a house built in 1955, that I would buy in 2010, with leaking tiles for me to find “at such a time as this”. I didn’t understand what it might mean but I anticipated that God would soon show me.
I was able to go to the CUFI Summit in Washington, DC as a bus captain, in 2010. I was able to work out the trip at the last minute, because I really felt I had to be there. On July 20, 2010, I met John Brown and Steven Spillman and was able to share this story. That day I read the entire book, Breaking the Treasure Code, by James R. Spillman and Steven M. Spillman. As I read, missing pieces regarding Israel’s oil began to fall into place and I understood that God has done much more than I had imagined in directing my steps and my life according to His purposes. My word to those at Zion Oil is still—Drill deeper!
May the Lord direct and bless the efforts of Zion Oil as they seek to glorify God and bring blessing to His people.
