Behind-the-Scenes look at Feast 2020
By: Julaine Stark

Late last year, the ICEJ began to prepare for the Feast of Tabernacles 2020, which would be special as it marks our 40th Anniversary. Yet little did we know then the impact COVID-19 would have on Israel and the entire world just a few months later. As Israel’s borders remained closed to tourism month after month, the ICEJ leadership sought the Lord on how to “keep the Feast”, as Zechariah 14:16 commands, even with the shutdowns and travel restrictions.

“If people cannot come to celebrate Sukkot with us in Jerusalem, we felt to broadcast the Feast from Jerusalem and make it available for viewing in every living room, church and nation”, said ICEJ President Dr Jürgen Bühler. “We quickly saw the opportunity with an online Global Feast to reach more people with more Feast content than we have ever offered before. This now will include seven daily live worship services from Jerusalem and over 80 seminar sessions, all featuring an anointed array of Israeli and international speakers and worship artists.”

To bring this vision to pass, the ICEJ has been working with major Christian TV channels TBN and GOD TV, among other partners, and employed the skills of Israeli software experts to create an online conference platform which will not only take the Feast around the world, but also serve the ministry for years to come.

Taking it ‘Global’
What exactly does it look like to take Israel’s largest annual Christian gathering, which has attracted thousands of Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem from over 100 nations every year since 1980, and now adapt it to become a virtual, online event?

With Israel’s borders closed to foreign visitors this year, it fell on every department to shift the way we prepare for this Feast: From the TV team scouting venues and our social media team producing new virtual promotional content, to the contributions of ICEJ branches producing seminar videos in various languages, this Feast is truly a global collaborative effort.

Feast webinars recount Feast miracles
In another ‘first’ for Feast 2020, we have been hosting special local and international guests for a weekly Feast Webinar, streamed on ICEJ social media. These episodes have featured South African evangelist Angus Buchan, Egyptian worship leader Hossam Nabil, Hananya Naftali of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, Apostle Alberto Magno from ICEJ-Bolivia, James Lunney and Adam Gabeli from Canada, and Jani Salokangas from ICEJ-Finland, and many others.

Local partners and hi-tech solutions
At the center of this transition to a virtual Feast is an online conference platform designed specifically for the ICEJ in cooperation with Sar-El Media, an Israeli production company operated by local believers. Once complete, the ICEJ will utilise this platform for future Feasts and other special events and initiatives as well, making our Israel-related content from Jerusalem more widely available than ever before!

Developing a platform like this from scratch in two months is a major feat. For this year’s Feast, we will be able to offer simultaneous translations of live events in 10 languages, plus additional language capabilities, making sure the content is widely available around the globe. The live shows plus the seminars and all other special content also can be viewed on demand through the end of 2020 (or October 2021, depending on your selected Feast package).

This year’s Feast also will feature virtual tours of Bible sites throughout Israel, as well as a 24/7 Zoom Virtual Prayer Room, with watches focusing on different language groups and regions of the world. If you would like to represent your nation during one of these prayer watches please contact ICEJ Prayer Coordinator Joshua Gooding at Joshua.gooding@icej.org.

Even with all the new and daunting challenges of producing this year’s Feast, its essence will remain the same. Believers from many nations will still gather together, albeit online, to worship the Lord and to keep this Feast of joy, of God’s faithfulness, and of the soon coming of Jesus.

We invite you to “appear in Zion” this year by joining us for the online Global Feast of Tabernacles 2020, as we all “Prepare the Way of the Lord!”