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Christian Pilgrims Take 'In Our Hands' to the Ends of the Earth

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JERUSALEM, Israel – This year's biblical Feast of Tabernacles celebration in Israel also marks the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War, when Jerusalem was re-united under Israeli sovereignty. And CBN'S docudrama "In Our Hands" is taking festival goers back in time for that amazing story.

"[CBN CEO] Gordon Robertson says if you don't understand the history you can't understand today's headlines," CBN Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell told Feast participants.

"I think that's part of the purpose of 'In Our Hands,' not only to commemorate and celebrate what these soldiers did 50 years ago but also to help educate and inspire us here," Mitchell said at a preview for the film.

"In Our Hands, the Battle for Jerusalem" follows the lives of the paratroopers who captured Jerusalem's Old City and Temple Mount in 1967.

ICEJ Vice President David Parsons says that's why they made the film "a central feature" of this year's feast.

"We said, this is the proper way to tell the story. We could have all kinds of people coming and speaking and giving the story but when it's done with the paratroopers that actually fought for the city and with the actual footage and the re-enactments like 'In Our Hands' – how it presents it – it's the perfect narrative, the perfect way to tell the story," Parsons told CBN News.

"We're going to have several of the paratroopers that are in the film, 'In Our Hands,' Israel Harel and some of the others on stage, to honor them. It's a great moment for us," he said.

Parsons says Christians shouldn't forget the significance of a united Jerusalem.

"If this city was still divided like it was for those 19 years of Jordanian occupation and you came here to visit, you'd have to go through all sorts of checkpoints and security, and it would be hard to cross," he continued.

Sites from the Western Wall to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher would be in Jordanian hands.

"It's so wonderful now to be able to come to a united and open, free city, where we're free to move about, you feel safe and to celebrate this now and even the prophetic significance what it means in God's time table, like Jerusalem is God's time piece," Parsons said.

Feast participants enjoyed the film.

"This film was absolutely spectacular, dramatization, great performances," said Aaron Braunstein with the Jewish Covenant Alliance.   

Dalzilea from Brazil, who lives in Hong Kong, said "[To] see them tell this story is really touching and helps us to love more Israel and the people of this Land."

"It was very moving, this message, that Jerusalem is united never to be parted anymore," Folke Josephson from Sweden said.

"I didn't know much about the past and what happened in '67 and I felt it was very touching to me to see how the Israeli army fought the battle for the Temple Mount," said Andreas Nolte from Germany.

Participants also received DVDs to take home and spread the word.

"I'm even thinking of taking it back home and screening it for my youth and also at the church," Koni from Fiji said. "I think this really will have a huge impact especially for Christians."

"I really weep many times when I saw it and I thought I really want to bring this film to Finland to my congregation and to the people to see the reality what happened here in 1967," said Andy from Finland.

His wife Paula was also moved. "[It was] so eye-opening and also on the heart level, it spoke to me and I will hide this [in] my heart. It helps me to pray even more, like we are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem," she said.

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About The Author

Chris Mitchell
Chris
Mitchell

In a time where the world's attention is riveted on events in the Middle East, CBN viewers have come to appreciate Chris Mitchell's timely reports from this explosive region of the world. Chris brings a Biblical and prophetic perspective to these daily news events that shape our world. He first began reporting on the Middle East in the mid-1990s. Chris repeatedly traveled there to report on the religious and political issues facing Israel and the surrounding Arab states. One of his more significant reports focused on the emigration of persecuted Christians from the Middle East. In the past