Kehilat HaCarmel (Carmel Congregation) began in 1991 at a very significant time in Israel’s history. The Soviet Union had just fallen and a great wave of Russian-speaking Jews were returning to their ancient homeland. In January of that year, the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein began bombarding the city of Haifa at the foot of Mount Carmel. After the Gulf War ended, it was clear that many people in our city were seeking a spiritual home and that God was calling us to establish a new congregation. Its roots were in a Bible study that was held at Beit Nitzachon (House of Victory), a men’s rehabilitation center for Jews and Arabs, founded by David and Karen Davis. The Davises were joined by Peter Tsukahira in leading the fledgling congregation. In June, the meetings were moved to Stella Carmel, a retreat center, at the top of Mount Carmel, as we officially launched the new congregation.
Within a few years, as our numbers grew and the need for a larger, permanent meeting place became apparent, a piece of unused land at the back of the Stella Carmel property was offered to the congregation. More than five hundred volunteers from over fifty nations came to participate in the construction of the new Kehilat HaCarmel worship center. Completed in 1998, the design expresses the vision for the congregation from 1 Kings 18 where the prophet Elijah confronted the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. The scriptures say he repaired the altar of the Lord that had broken down and after praying in faith, the fire fell and consumed his sacrifice. When all the people saw it, they knew that the God of Israel was the only true God.
The altar in our sanctuary has twelve stones, representing the re-unified tribes of Israel and Judah, and the present day re-gathered nation. A skylight sits high above the altar, symbolizing an open heaven. Our prayer is for the fire of the Lord to fall once again on Mount Carmel and for the people of Israel to cry out, “the Lord, He is God!” as they did in the days of Elijah.
In the years following the dedication of the worship center, the Lord enabled us to gradually purchase the remaining property of Stella Carmel. In 2003, the Or HaCarmel Ministry Center was established in the existing buildings, which became the home of our women’s shelter, the headquarters for the Mount Carmel School of Ministry, and a base for a number of new ministry initiatives.
In 2005 a conference center in central Haifa, called “Beit Yedidia,” was donated to the congregation. It serves as acommunity center for numerous activities and in recent years, has been receiving refugees from the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine, as well as Israeli families needing shelter from the terrible attacks in both the north and south of our country.
VISION
ONE NEW MAN
Our founding vision is based on the Lord’s desire to reach both Jews and Arabs in Israel and to demonstrate the unity that Messiah Yeshua has accomplished for us. “He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation…to create in Himself one new man….[as we] are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:14-15,22).
THE CENTRALITY OF THE WORD AND WORSHIP
Strategically positioned on the highest point of Mount Carmel, we have a calling to proclaim the Word of the Lord with prophetic worship and intercession, “making known to the principalities and powers the manifold wisdom of God”(Ephesians 3:10). Understanding that worship is essential to the advancing of His Kingdom, we “shout from the top of the mountain…give glory to the Lord….and He will prevail againstHis enemies” (Isaiah 42:11-13). We are committed to fervent, sustained intercession, “until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field[carmel]” (Isaiah 32:15).
HUMANITARIAN AID
We have had an ongoing mandate from the Lord to express His love through practical help to people of all backgrounds. The value of serving others is an integral part of all our ministries and is at work in all our facilities. The prophet Isaiah wrote: “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily…the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard” (Isaiah 58:7-8).
A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS
We are also committed to teaching God’s covenantal relationship with Israel, and His end-time purposes for the worldwide church and the nations. For this reason, we hold a School of Ministry here on Mount Carmel, and our leaderstravel to many countries imparting revelation about the restoration of Israel and its relation to the body of Messiah. Individuals and groups are invited to come to Israel to worship and pray together with us as we seek to fulfill our calling to be “a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7).
David Davis
Tribute to David Davis, Founding Pastor
David Davis, Founding Pastor of Kehilat HaCarmel, was a visionary and a spiritual pioneer. After a dramatic encounter with the Lord in the midst of a successful acting career, he began ministering to drug addicts and alcoholics in New York City, under the mentorship of David Wilkerson. Like Abraham in the Bible, he heard God’s call to come to the Land of Israel and obeyed, arriving with his Jewish wife, Karen, in 1989. The following year, they moved to Haifa and established the House of Victory, the first Bible-based rehabilitation center in Israel. Despite the challenges, they knew God was saying to welcome both Jewish and Arab men into the program. David firmly believed in the “one new man” of Ephesians 2:14-18 and trusted that as these men, some former enemies, came to know Yeshua, the walls separating them would be torn down. David had a tremendous gift for teaching the Scriptures and people began to meet in their apartment above the House of Victory for Bible study and worship. It was clear that the Holy Spirit was moving in these meetings, and after the first Gulf War ended in 1991, together with Peter Tsukahira, they founded Kehilat HaCarmel. Those early years were exciting ones as the community grew. David had a shepherd’s heart and a keen ability to see spiritual gifting in others. Because his greatest desire was to see lives transformed by the power of the Spirit, he became a spiritual father and beloved mentor to Lead Pastor Dani Sayag, as well as many others. In May 2017, after a long period of illness, David went to be with the Lord whom he loved and served with all his heart. He will be remembered as a prophetic voice on Mt. Carmel and a man of great compassion for the lost. The foundation he helped to lay during his 25 years serving as Senior Pastor will continue to support the growth of our community into the future. The family of Kehilat HaCarmel and the thousands whose lives he touched are forever grateful for the time he spent with us.